He tumbled motionlessly through a purple void. Blue beams of energy occasionally illuminated the shadows, throwing scenes of destruction and misery into stark relief. In the flashes, he caught glimpses of charred buildings, bloodstained battlefields, and the occasional face frozen in terror. Most often though, the lasers lit up a giant, regal face with blazing red hair.

The images tore at him. A village burned by moblins. A citadel covered in swarming robots. Men shielding women and children with their bodies. Visions of terror and bloodshed and war. Above them all, the redheaded head laughed. Laughed at the destruction, laughed at the suffering, and, most of all, laughed at him as he stood before it.

"Your end comes, monster!" he yelled. "You will pay for what you've done here!"

The face laughed harder. All around him, the land started to shake and quake. Plumes of lava and smoke filled the sky before the land around him started to fall away. Cities, robots, mountains, people—all dropped into a bottomless void. He tried to run, to fight, to hide—anything—but before he could take a step, everything turned to blackness.

He fell through this oppressive emptiness for what must have been an eternity before a flickering light caught his attention. It zipped around in the blackness, somehow moving and remaining stationary at the same time, before suddenly it enveloped him.

He thudded to the ground and looked around him in surprise. He was in a building composed entirely of faintly glowing white stone. Windows of sparkling crystal lined the walls, and a towering statue of the Goddess looked out from the far side of the room. As he looked around, he couldn't help but feel like he should recognize it. Another flash of light at the base of the statue caught his attention, and he looked down.

Standing at the base of the statue was an armored skeleton with a single, glowing red eye peering out from beneath the shadows of its helmet. Flanking it on its left was a muscular man with a wild mane of reddish blond hair and flowing green clothing. On its right, oddly enough, was a big, gray wolf with white patterns in its fur and piercing blue eyes.

The three eyed him expectantly before the skeleton stepped forward.

"So, you are the princess's Champion, eh? Well, you may be destined to become the hero of legend, but your current power would disgrace your proud lineage. You must use your courage to seek power... and find it you must. Only then will you become the hero for whom this world despairs."

The wolf stepped up beside the skeleton. His eyes widened as the wolf transformed into a blond man in a faded green tunic and cap. The man's shadow seemed to move and twist with a life of its own, only stilling as he began to speak.

"Hear us, Descendant of Courage. The powers of darkness rise again to consume Hyrule. Use your courage to seek wisdom. Only then will you have the understanding to become the hero for whom this world despairs."

His eyes shifted to the wild man expectantly, and he stepped forward, pushing his flowing mane of hair out of his face to reveal a similar set of piercing blue eyes."

"Chosen of the Goddess, you must become Chosen again. Malice rises from the earth, heralding an evil long forgotten. You must use your courage to seek balance. Only then will the Light of the Goddesses transform you into the hero for whom this world despairs."

The figure's cryptic words didn't make any sense. Use courage to seek power, wisdom, and balance? Proud lineage? And what was this about the world despairing for a hero? He opened his mouth to ask, but nothing came out.

Seemingly in response to his unasked question, the three raised their arms, the skeleton and the wild man their right and the wolfman his left. A brilliant golden light shone from the back of their hands, mixing with the cold white glow of the temple. The golden light spread out and surrounded him, warmed him, caressed him.

"There is no time for questions now," the wolfman said.

The wild man smiled. "Patience, little brother; all things will make sense in time."

"Now," the skeleton growled, "return to the land of the living! Return to Hyrule! When you are ready, we will be waiting."

Link jerked into a sitting position with a gasp. For a moment, he could still see the three figures standing in front of him in the blindingly white chapel. Then the vision faded, the warm, peaceful feeling from the dream was replaced with aches and bruises, and the reality of his surroundings set in.

He was back in the stable, tucked into his stall. From the light streaming through the openings in the wall and ceiling, it was well past dawn. He could hear the horses occasionally whuffing and munching on food. He could also hear voices talking quietly outside along with the crackle of fire. He sniffed; from the smell of it, something tasty was just about ready to eat.

So the others were fine then. He wasn't sure if they would have been after last night. Had he really deflected a Guardian's laser? He flexed his right arm and winced as the muscles cried in protest. 'I guess so. Either that or I was doing one-armed push-ups in my sleep.'

Hesitantly, he reviewed the encounter. Overall, it hadn't gone too poorly. He felt like he should have anticipated its movements better, but he'd survived. Midoriya too; the greenhead's timely arrival had definitely swung things in their favor.

Something about the sequence of events still bothered him, and it took a moment of combing his memory to find it. When he did, he frowned. There had been someone else there. Right before Midoriya's timely arrival, someone had shot the Guardian in the eye with an arrow. None of his students—because they were, to an extent—could have made a shot like that in the dark. It couldn't have been monsters either, otherwise he and Midoriya would be very dead.

That meant someone else had intervened. But who would have been out on the trails traveling through a dead village in the dead of night? Stal monsters were a serious deterrent to that sort of travel. 'A Sheikah, maybe?'

His stomach growled, and he chuckled half-heartedly to himself. Whoever the mysterious helper was, he wasn't going to figure it out sitting here, and he had a sneaking suspicion that he was going to find the answer soon anyway. He pulled himself to his feet, idly noting that his legs weren't all that sore at all. The salve had done its work. "Too bad I don't have any more," he mumbled. "Could use some for my arm."

Epona looked up as he stepped out of his stall and whuffed quietly. He stepped over and gave her nose a scritch, noting a black mare in the next stall over. The horse's presence confirmed his suspicions, and with a final scritch, he left Epona to her food and made his way to the doorway to figure out just what their current situation was.

Outside, Ashido was slowly turning a bird over a cheerfully crackling fire in front of the ruined inn. Beside her, Midoriya was helping Yaoyorozu with a small pot. Based on the steam rising from it and the veggies they were shelling into it, it was the source of the delicious smell.

All of this Link took in with a glance, his attention zeroing in on a fourth person who most certainly hadn't been part of the group the night before. The tanned woman was dressed in dark red and gray leathers, and her dark hair hung in a loose ponytail tucked out of the way. Rather than helping with the meal, she was sharpening a knife while fiddling with some feathers. 'She's capable, dangerous.'

He watched for a few moments before deciding to make his presence known. "Good morning!" he called, stepping out of the doorway.

Four heads swiveled toward him. "Link, you're awake!" Midoriya scrambled to his feet.

"We were wondering when you'd get up," Ashido said. "Speaking of which, Yaomomo, you lose."

Yaoyorozu just shook her head, her eyes never leaving the pot. "I had thought as much. I will pay you later. The stew is ready for the bird, Ashido."

"You were taking bets?"

"Yup!" Ashido carefully pulled the bird off the spit and gave it to the woman, who neatly sliced it apart with her newly-sharpened knife. "Midori thought you'd be up as early as possible, I bet you'd be up when you smelled food, and Yaomomo bet we wouldn't see you until we were ready to go."

Link shook his head and sat on a log beside the fire. "Do you really think so little of me to believe you'd have to wake me up?"

The new woman's snort was accompanied by the splashes of meat mixing with the stew. "From what I gathered, they were trying to cover their bases. They were almost surprised that you weren't up before them."

"Rising early is a habit; it keeps my mind sharp and my eyes sharper." Link eyed the woman as she cleaned the knife and sheathed it in a single fluid motion. "Something, I believe, someone who put an arrow into a Guardian's eye in the middle of the night might appreciate."

The woman flashed him a grin. "Saw that, did you? I'm impressed. Of course, I was already impressed. Imagine riding through the night to avoid unwanted monster attention only to find some poor fool fighting one of those death robots—and winning? I couldn't just let you get cooked when you tripped."

Link allowed a small smile to slip onto his face. "I'm Link, and I appreciate the assist."

"Yneira, and the pleasure was mine."

"And it is my pleasure to announce that food is ready," Yaoyorozu interjected, ladling the stew into bowls. "This is heartier—and has more calories—than what I would normally make for breakfast, but after your solo adventure last night, I thought it best."

"Yeah, why didn't you get us up?" Ashido pouted into her stew. "We, like, didn't know anything was happening until something exploded. You totally left without us, and by the time we got there you'd killed the robit super dead and you two were sucking dirt. Miss Yneira was checking you for injuries and everything."

Link quietly accepted the bowl of stew Midoriya offered him and took a bite. A wash of warm flavor ran across his tongue. It was thick and savory, but not unpleasantly so. And what was that delightful undertone? He'd absolutely have to ask Yaoyorozu how she'd made this.

To buy himself some more time, he took another bite. Why hadn't he woken them? He'd wanted to keep the kids safe—nevermind their weird abilities—but was that the actual reason?

"I think," he started, slowly feeling out each of his words, "that I needed to prove something to myself. I told myself that it was to protect you all, but that doesn't feel entirely right. I wanted to see if I could handle them." He glanced over at Yneira. "A test of courage, if you will. Evidently, I wasn't quite ready."

The woman snorted. "Seemed pretty ready to me. I don't know if the girls saw you deflect a energy beam, but I sure as Calamity did."

Midoirya choked. "You WHAT?"

Link laughed at the look on the greenhead's face. "You heard the lady; I deflected a laser. Though I don't know if that's what it is, actually; it felt… liquidy. Like, weirdly solid, but not."

"Laser or not, that is still quite the feat. I had wondered how you deflected a laser without a mirror, but given its not-quite substance, I believe I have some semblance of an answer," Yaoyorozu said.

"Not really!" Ashido cut in. "Link, you were using that rinky-dink Sheikah shield, right? When we found you, the shield looked totally fine. No scorch marks or anything."

He shrugged. "I don't have an answer for you, other than I don't think this is the first time I've done this."

Midoriya slurped up the remnants of his stew. "It's probably another part of your Quirk."

"Quirk?"

Yneira's innocent question caught Link's attention. While he was grateful to her for the save, he didn't know her. There was no reason for her to know his full abilities. "A term for spiritual abilities or superpowers that is commonly used in these three's homeland. I don't have one, but it's the term they know, so we use it."

The woman slowly nodded her head. "And each of you do? What do you mean by superpowers?"

All three kids grinned before demonstrating their powers. Link didn't pay much attention to them—he'd gotten the rundown yesterday, after all. Instead, he was much more interested in Yneira's reaction.

There was the shock he was expecting—it was a little gratifying to watch her eyes go wider and wider as the kids did things to rocks that Hylians shouldn't be able to do. But behind the wonder, Link caught glimpses of something else. Between demonstrations, the woman's eyes took on a calculating light; she even suggested one or two uses for the quirks that the kids hadn't thought of before.

'Oh yes, she is dangerous.'

Link glanced up at the sun, noted its position, and slurped down the rest of his stew. "Let's finish up. I would like to get moving again soon; we've a lot of ground to cover."

As the others hastily began scarfing down the remnants of their stew, Link turned to Yneira. "And you? Where are you bound?"

The warrior tilted her head. "I'm headed to Zora's Domain. Heard they've an infestation of lizalfos armed with shock arrows, so figured I'd lend 'em a hand and make some money. If you're headed that way, why don't we travel together? I would love some help, and given your abilities, I think we'll be able to make a killing."

The quiet emphasis she put on "killing" made Link shiver. 'Very dangerous.' To avoid answering, Link glanced at the others. "What do you think?"

"Sounds great to me!"

"Yeah! Like, the more the merrier."

"I agree. Her skills could prove useful."

Link sighed. He didn't like it. The offer felt too tidy, convenient. But if she'd meant them harm, she could have killed him and Midoriya while they were down last night. "All right, we'll join forces. Welcome to the party."

Mina stretched as much as she could while riding, careful to not let any of the drizzling rain slip past her cloak. "Man, am I, like, super glad to be out of there. Those lizalfos were mean!"

She felt Midori shift behind her. "Yeah, I think I'll stick to bokoblins, or maybe even moblins. Lizalfos are a little too fast for me."

They were strung out along the main road. Ahead of them, Yneira and Yaomomo had their heads together, talking. With the constant drizzle and the fact that they both had their hoods up, Mina had no idea what they were talking about, but she suspected Yneira was quizzing Yaomomo on how Creation worked. The woman's eyes had nearly popped out of her head when Creati had pulled a cute green cloak from her arm.

She was still impressed at how well the cloaks repelled water. Maybe they'd had something woven into them? She'd have to ask Yaomomo later; she had to know if she'd been able to create one.

Link had ridden off from the group again. With all the monsters, he'd apparently decided to be some kind of scout and would disappear for fifteen or so minutes every now and then. Turns out, doing some recon before fighting was super helpful; his scouting had helped them get the drop on a couple groups of baddies.

It'd taken them the rest of the morning and a little after lunch to make it out of the wetlands. Honestly, they would have made it out a lot sooner if they hadn't stopped at that shrine and had to fight those stupid lizalfos. They looked like big ol' chameleons, except they could walk on two legs, ran really fast, and usually had sharp swords. They were super creepy, and the party'd had to wade through what might have been a village of 'em.

Then there was the Sheikah tower. Up on some cliffs on the other side of the wetlands, the tower, well, towered over the landscape. They'd had to leave their horses at the base in order to climb up. There were some ruins that they sheltered the horses in, which was nice.

The rain had started on the climb up to the tower. And it was weird rain, too; there were clouds in the sky, but they were fluffy white-gray clouds, not dark, grumbly storm clouds. It was the kind of rain that made you want to splash in puddles, the kind that stuck around for days and days.

The crag had also been swarming with monsters. They'd had to fight through all sorts of critters to make it through. Yneira had definitely helped with that. She'd bounced around the perimeter of the group, clearing out bokoblins as they came. She occasionally disappeared for a while only to reappear and tell them that the path was clear. The lady was seriously cool.

In short, it had been a long, busy day, and they weren't even close to being done yet.

They were back on the main road, which ran around the back of the outcrop the tower was on and up into the mountains. The cliffs loomed ominously in the dark-not-dark rain, soaring even over the tower. Little bits of light dotted them, ghostly green-teal specks that flickered and disappeared whenever the sun broke through.

It looked foreboding, and she groaned just looking up at it. "Do ya think we'll make it to the Domain today?"

"I think so. L-Link showed me the map when he got back down from the tower. It didn't look too far, even on foot."

Mina shivered. "Well, I'm definitely glad that we don't hafta walk. I did the whole mountain-climbing thing on day one, and it sucked."

Midori fidgeted behind her, and when he spoke, his voice suddenly seemed a lot less certain. "Wh-what was it like?"

She knew immediately that he wasn't asking about the mountain climbing and took her time answering. Though it had only been a few days—only a few days! She could hardly believe it—since she'd met up with Midori and Yaomomo, she felt like they'd been together a lot longer. Idly, she used her free hand to pull Mr. Zora out of her bag.

The little doll had held up to days of salty ocean air and dusty roads remarkably well. Its red scales were a little duller than when Esial had given it to her, but his grin was as blindingly bright as ever.

She was avoiding the question. "It was… hard." She blew out a breath. "I—you know me. I'm super extroverted. I love people, I love my friends, and I love my family. So what's a girl like me to do when she wakes up completely alone on top of a mountain on another planet? I tried not to think about it in the moment. I had to survive, push through, you know? Being sad on top of a mountain wouldn't have done me much good."

The memories of that first day washed over her again: the long trek, the hunger, the terror at fighting a monster that refused to die. She shook her head and blinked suddenly wet eyes. "Wh-when I got to Lurelin, I basically collapsed into Erim's arms. She took me in, got me back on my feet. She was kinda like my surrogate Hyrulian mom, which is super cool, but…"

"But," Midori said when she trailed off, "she wasn't your mom."

Mina shakily nodded. "Y-yeah. I love her and her kids—did I tell you her daughter gave me this doll?—b-but they just reminded me of my family. Looking back, I'm super grateful Beedle took me with him."

Midori didn't respond immediately, and when he did, it was with the most hesitant hug—a tightening of his arms, really—Mina had ever felt. "I think I understand."

"I know you do." Mina fell quiet for a moment before giving herself a mental shake. "Okay, yeah, that's enough sadness for now. Let's talk about something else."

"Umm… Oh, I-I've got something! These Zora—everyone's described them as fish people, right? Well, where do they live? If they're fish, wouldn't they live in the water? How would we visit them?"

'Oh damn, Midori out here with the big questions.'

"Well," she said aloud, stashing Mr. Zora away again, "maybe it's a little of both? 'Cause they're not just fish, they're people too. I betcha they're kinda like Gang Orca; more comfortable in the water, but… happy enough to live on land?"

"That's true. I wonder how similar they would be to him?"

This was more like it. Mina grinned, and for the next while, she and Midori speculated back and forth about what the Zora were and… their general existence, she guessed? While they talked, the road, following the twists of the river, gently ran around the crag of the tower.

Just as they were getting to the really interesting bit of the discussion—whether Zora had live births or laid eggs—Mina noticed Link and Epona on the road up ahead. He had ridden up to the top of a small hill and was looking at something hidden behind it. 'It must be something pretty bad if he felt he had to watch it.'

Mina nudged Kentaro into a quicker walk. Better find out what was going on now than wait until they got ambushed again. When they got to the top of the rise though, she didn't see any monsters.

"Hey guys, what're we stopped for?" she asked.

"The road," Link responded with an abrupt jerk of his head. "We can't take the horses any further."

'The road?' Mina looked down toward where he'd gestured. It took her a moment to spot what he was talking about since her brain still thought he meant monsters. The road was broken.

Broken may not be the right word, but Mina didn't know what you would call a road that stopped at a small cliff and started again on the top side. There was even a little building at the base of the cliff with a ladder set up to the top, and it looked like it had been there for a while.

Beyond the cliff, the dirt road turned into a gorgeous bridge made of blue and silvery-gray stonework. Two towers of cerulean marble rose into the air above the structure, flanking the bridge. They'd probably been a guard post or a checkpoint back in the days of the kingdom, but now they had nothing to check.

Behind her, Midori started to laugh. She turned around as far as she could to stare at him, and he just gestured. "How—hahahaha—how long do you think—hahaha—they stared at that before—hahahahaha—deciding to just stick a ladder down and call it a day?"

Mina looked back at the lone ladder and chuckled. "When you put it that way, it is kinda funny, hehehe."

That got a snort from Link and a weird look from Yneira, but Mina didn't care. Leave it to Midori to find something funny about the situation. Better than being grumpy about the landscape.

After a moment, Yaomomo finally asked the question that they were all thinking. "So what do we do? We cannot leave the horses to themselves; with all the monsters around, the poor things might find themselves working as their steeds again, if not in a pot."

"We might as well investigate the shack," Yneira said. "Maybe there's another way around that we missed? There was that crossroad we passed a little while ago."

Link nodded. "Agreed. I scouted a little ways up the second road and didn't see anything, but who knows? There might be a path that the locals know about that we can use to get around."

With that, Link chucked Epona's reins and urged her forward. Mina did likewise with Kentaro, and within minutes, the group was down at the bottom of the muddy incline in front of the hut. The building was fairly new, with fresh-ish paint and a wood-cloth roof that did a remarkable job of redirecting water from the roof away from the road. By the door, a sign with a multicolored horse head painted on hung from shiny new hinges.

Link swung off Epona and, with a glance back at the group, thumped on the door. A shutter slid open, revealing a Hylian in stable garb. "Hey-yo! Welcome to Inogo outpost! You folks headed up to the Domain? Did the Zora ask for your help, too?"

Link recoiled, and Mina chuckled. He clearly hadn't been expecting so much enthusiasm. "Erm, yes, we are. Headed up to the Domain, that is; we haven't met any Zora yet. You said this is an outpost? Would you know of any other way to get our horses up the cliff?"

The Hylian shook his head. "Oh, I'm afraid that won't work. There aren't any other paths, and the road up to the Domain isn't horse friendly. That's why the Stable Association decided to create an outpost here; we've got a small stable set up just over there where we can keep your horses while you visit. Don't worry about their safety; we've got a couple of Zora who patrol the area."

Link's face fell. "There isn't any other way?"

"Not unless you can fly, my guy."

"Then it looks like we're walking," Yneira said firmly. "How much for four horses?"

While the mercenary haggled with the stablemaster, Mina slipped off Kentaro, with Midori following close behind, and led him down the small side path the man had pointed at. She shared a glance with Yaomomo as they passed, who smiled knowingly at her before focusing on the bargaining. 'What do you think you know, Yaomomo?'

Sure enough, down among the trees and nestled right up against the big cliff was a small stable. A stablehand peeked out the window as she approached before disappearing. After a moment, warm light spilled out onto the mud as the doors swung open.

"Yew all heading up to the Domain? Got yer lots settled with Jank?"

'His name's Jank?' Mina snorted; "jank" certainly described the operation's setup.

"Our friend's talking with him now," Midori said. "He pointed us this way to get our horses stabled."

"'Orses? More'n jus' this'n, then?"

"Yeah, we've got four total."

The man grumbled something before gesturing for them to follow him. "Yer gonna fill me up. I gots six stalls'n total, an' one o' 'em's already taken. Go ahead an' stick yer beastie in that one there. We'll kip his friends around 'bout."

Mina did as instructed, leading Kentaro into the building. The greasy man hadn't been kidding when he said he didn't have a lot of room. The stalls in the ruined stable they'd stayed in the night before were almost twice as big as these. Kentaro would fit—barely—but he wouldn't be super comfortable.

"I don't know how you understood what he was saying," Midori murmured as they got Kentaro all situated. "I lost him when he started to go on about horses."

"Oh, it's super thick," Mina said cheerfully. "Just means you have to listen more carefully. I dunno, I'm pretty sure I've heard worse at school, and some of those kids don't technically have mouths."

She paused in her brushing as a thought struck her and grinned. "I've got plenty of practice deciphering your mumbles; what's a screw-gargling accent next to those?"

Midori snorted. "Th-that's fair. I do get going pretty quick sometimes, don't I?"

"Midori my guy, you're like one of those old-timey commercial guys mixed with a jug of anxiety." She peeked around Kentaro to grin at him so he knew she was just teasing. "It's super cute, honestly."

He flushed deep red, and she laughed as she resumed brushing. It was so easy to get him flustered. It was one of the things she found herself liking about him.

The sound of muted, squelching thuds heralded the arrival of the others. "We're all set with the stablemaster," Link said. "All thanks to our new friend's excellent bargaining skills."

"You needed me," Yneira grumbled. "The sand-blasted newt would have charged you more than the horses are worth."

"His rates did not seem all that unreasonable," Yaomomo said.

"And that's the reason you needed me."

Mina chuckled and stepped over to help get Etsu settled in. Within a few minutes, the horses were settled and the group had gathered their gear and were ready to go. The stablehand nodded approvingly as they gathered by the door. "Good folks, you lot. Yew can always tell from 'ow yew treat yer horse."

"They're good companions." Link glanced back at Epona fondly. "They've carried us through a lot in a short time. They deserve a break."

"Good lad. Now," he said, waving absently at them as he turned back for his cot, "yew lot 'ave a bit of a hike ahead of yew. Dunno why yer all 'eaded up to the Domain, but I reckon the Zora'll be right pleased. Been looking for 'elp for a bit now."

Yneira huffed and headed for the door. "Well, we best not keep them waiting. Time's wasting, and we've got a ways yet to go if we want to get there before nightfall."

Link followed behind her. "You think we'll make it?"

"If we push hard. I've made the trek before…"

Mina looked at the other two. "Shall we?"

"Y-yeah." Midori made to pass her, paused, and gave her a quick hug. "I-i-it'll be all r-right; we'll get out of here," he muttered. When he pulled away, he was flushing crimson again, and he hurried out after the others.

Mina stared after him before brushing at her eyes. "You goober," she said quietly.

A chuckle from behind her reminded her that she wasn't the last one out. "I see things are advancing at an acceptable pace," Yaomomo said.

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about," Mina replied, pointedly ignoring her friend's knowing smile as she started out the door. "We were just talking earlier about stuff."

"Oh yes, 'stuff.'"

"Shut up."

Yaomomo's quiet laugh followed her back out into the weirdly cloudless rain. As much as she wanted to be grumpy at her friend, she had to wonder if she was right. 'There's no way. I'd know… right?'

It was something that she'd have to figure out later. She pushed it to the back of her mind for now; they had a long and potentially dangerous hike ahead of them, and she didn't want to get distracted. It would be a shame if she came to some deep, personal revelation only to get super dead because she wasn't paying attention.

The thought made her giggle, and she hurried back up the path to catch up. The squelching mud made her immensely grateful for her boots; no way sneakers would have held up in this kind of weather.

When she and Yaomomo caught up, Link was pulling Midori up over the top of the ledge. The shutter on the door to the little hut was firmly shut, and she couldn't blame Jank; it sounded like Yneira had given him a run for his money. Mina gestured for Yaomomo to take the lead, and then scrambled up after her once she was up.

Up top, the bridge was much more visible. The entire structure had waving patterns carved into it that totally looked like rippling water. Six pillars topped with some kind of lighted stone ran along each side of the bridge, shedding a soft, white light across the puddle-covered surface of the bridge.

As they started walking, she also got a better look at the guard towers. Each was beautifully crafted, made of this super pretty blue-green stone with more of the rippling water designs carved in them. They were also only on the Hylian side of the bridge. That made sense, Mina guessed—the Zora didn't really need to guard against themselves—but how did they get up top? There weren't any stairs or ladders or anything.

She was about to point this out to the others when a voice called out over them.

"Say, hey there! Young ones! Up top! Above you!"

Mina looked up in time to watch a flash of red leap out from one of the towers and come crashing down in front of them. Before she had time to react, both Link and Yneira had weapons up and pointed at the figure, who slowly straightened up before them.

"Pardon the entrance, but you're Hylians, aren't you? I was hoping perhaps you'd have a moment to talk."

Mina gawked. The being in front of her was tall, red, and absolutely shredded. She'd caught glimpses of some of the guys as they worked out, and none of them came close to this dude—and he was definitely a dude; his absolute lack of anything that could be called clothing confirmed that fact. Or, at least, she was pretty sure it did. She didn't see any… signs one way or another.

Next thing she noticed were his distinctly inhuman features. While he was generally human-shaped, there were some definite differences. Like the gills on his chest, or the fins that stuck out of his arms and legs, or the top of his head that looked like a mini hammerhead shark. Even his dazzling white and easy smile was shark toothed.

Had this guy been back in Japan, he would absolutely have been some kind of swimsuit or front cover model. Mina almost drooled a little before she noticed something else.

'He's the spitting image of Mr. Zora!'

From his coloration to his few bracelets and tassels to his general… himness, Mina was absolutely certain that he was the inspiration for the little doll. But if he was, then how had Esial ended up with it? That was miles from here, literal days away, and Hyrule didn't have online shopping.

A shifting in front of her broke her away from her thoughts. She shook her head and glanced at her companions, all of whom seemed to be recovering from their own shock. Yaomomo had gone super red and was fanning herself. Mina grinned at her, and she glared back. "Not a word," she hissed.

"We'll talk later," Mina mouthed as Link lowered his sword and stepped forward.

"Yes, we're Hylians. You're a Zora, right?"

The Zora grinned. "Aha! A Hylian! Yes, I knew it! Oh, pardon me... I am Sidon, the Zora prince! So yes, I am a Zora. And what is your name? Go on, please tell me!"

Mina couldn't help but laugh again at Link's face. "It's just not your day for avoiding cheerful people, is it?"

Link snorted. "I'm Link. The obnoxious pink one is Ashido Mina, the tall one next to her is Yaoyorozu Momo, the one with the green hair is Midoriya Izuku, and this is Yneira."

"Who would have preferred to remain unnamed until she had assessed the situation," the mercenary growled.

If Sidon was put off by Yneira's attitude, he didn't show it. He leaned forward, and Mina swore she saw an honest-to-god sparkle in his eye. "Link? Your name is Link?! What a fantastic name! Though I cannot shake the feeling that I have heard it somewhere before... Well, in any case, it is a strong name! They all are! Now, I should be honest; I've been watching you. I've seen the way you work. I can tell by how you carry yourself that you are no ordinary people. You must be strong warriors among the Hylians, correct?"

Link side-eyed them. "I would say so—"

"Aha!"

The Zora flashed them another dazzlingly bright smile. "Just as I suspected! I am a Zora prince, after all. I have an eye for talent that is unparalleled! Yes! Exquisite! I have been searching for someone like you for a long while. Right now, Zora's Domain is in grave danger because of the massive rainfall coming from Ruta! Please, promise you will help us! We need your strength, warriors! Won't you please come to Zora's Domain with me?"

"Go with you?" Mina cut in. She could feel herself grinning like an idiot, but she didn't care; she wanted to be friends with the fishman with the personality of a puppy. "Sure, we'll go with you! We're headed up to check out Ruta anyway."

"Wow! Really?! You were really coming to help already?"

Hesitantly, Link nodded.

"This is wonderful! Thank you! You are indeed the people I thought you were! Now Zora's Domain will be saved for certain! No time to waste! Hurry up and head over! Because of the rain, the cliffs are too wet to climb. To reach the Domain, you will need to go straight along this path."

Sidon turned and pointed up the road beyond the bridge. "As Hylians, I know you are unable to swim up the river. As such, the path to the Domain may be a bit treacherous. You likely have a tough fight in store—there are monsters up ahead that attack with electricity. Don't give up! I believe in you!"

'More electric monsters?' Mina groaned to herself before looking at her friend. "Any chance we can get, like, wearable versions of that super blanket you made at the USJ?"

Yaomomo shook herself, clearly still a little distracted by the Zora prince. "Can I what? The blanket—oh! I may be able to modify the design, yes."

"Good, so you're already prepared!" Sidon grinned down at them before extracting a jar of bright yellow liquid from… somewhere. "This is just a small trinket to show that I have faith in you. It is a drink that will increase your resistance to electricity! I am not sure why, but its effects do not seem to work for Zora. Perhaps because it was made specifically for Hylians. It should work wonders for you, though! Though you may have to share. I had not planned for multiple Hylians."

The prince seemed to deflate a little bit before immediately rebounding. "I shall go on ahead and make sure there is not anything strange going on where you are headed. I'm counting on you!"

With his final words, Sidon leapt backwards, somersaulting into a beautiful dive into the river. Mina clapped her hands and laughed. "Wow, 10/10. I wonder how often he's practiced that."

"I don't know about practice," Yneira said, "but we are expected, apparently. This is good; we'll have less negotiation to do when we get there."

"Th-then we should probably get going," Midori chimed in, starting off down the road. "Sounds like our hike might be a little longer than we planned."

Mina whined as the others followed after him. "Man, as if hiking in the rain wasn't bad enough, now we gotta fight a bunch of mini Kaminaris on the way up. Mountains hecking suck!"