Eijiro grunted as he tried to get a good grip on Nargek. Who knew that Gorons could be so slippery? For big, manly dudes made of rock, they could certainly move when they wanted to.
Shouts of encouragement washed over him from all sides as he circled his opponent. He grinned as he caught a glimpse of Iida cheering him on from behind Beedle's massive pack. Iida would never admit it, but he needed this just as much as Eijiro did.
It had been a few days, but Eijiro still couldn't believe that he'd found someone else from home. It had majorly calmed his nerves, having someone else he could rely on, someone who got what it was like being stranded on another world.
His mind was abruptly brought back to the matter at hand when Nargek lunged toward him. He sidestepped—only to be immediately grabbed by the Goron's huge, meaty hands. The lunge had been a feint, and Eijiro had fallen for it. Ignoring his struggles, Nargek picked him up and, with a cheeky grin, tossed him from the ring.
People scrambled out of the way as Eijiro arced through the air before thudding to the grassy earth. The crowd exploded into cheers of congratulation and cries of commiseration as they surged around him and the Goron. Within moments, Eijiro was surrounded by helping hands pulling him back up to his feet.
Nargek grinned at him over the top of the shorter Hylians. "You nearly had me there at the end. A good show, little brother!"
Eijiro thumped a fist his chest and returned the grin. "You too, man! Wanna go again?"
The Goron mouth gaped open wide enough to engulf Eijiro's head as he laughed. "Oh yeah, you got it, little brother! I'll toss you out of the ring all day—after I've had a snack, that is."
"You heard the man," one of the Hylians yelled. "Let's get these two some food!"
Eijiro just shook his head at the crowd's enthusiasm as they streamed away to their carts and cookfires. From their midst, Beedle waved at them, and Eijiro waved back. The strange little merchant had asked them to guard this caravan, and he and Iida had jumped at the chance—and had quickly been "adopted" by the travelers.
They were simple people, coming together for safety in numbers while traveling between the outposts of civilization. They found easy joy in everything from wrestling to food. Honestly, their attitude had its own kind of manliness to it.
It was something both he and Iida could use some more of. His grin faded as he gazed out across the land below them. They were up on the edge of the Akkala highlands, and while they still had a lot of climbing to do to make it up onto the East Akkala Ridge, the foothills still granted a remarkable view of the rest of Hyrule. Below him, he could see the vague outlines of ruined buildings representing wrecked villages. Beyond them, Hyrule Castle rose high into the sky, towering over the rest of the nearby ruins. Up close, it probably felt like lookup up at a small mountain.
The entire scene had weird, post-apocalyptic beauty to it, but it was hard to see that beauty when he remembered that it should have been a bustling kingdom. This was the kind of thing that the League of Villains was after. Which was weird; it would suck for everyone. Nobody would win if they lost the Internet.
The sound of footsteps pulled him out of his thoughts, and he reflexively Hardened his fists, trying to get himself to focus as Iida stepped up beside him. "That was quite the match, Kirishima! I thought you had that one."
Eijiro snorted. "You and me both. I got distracted right at the end, and he totally used that against me. Dude's got a good arm."
"Yes, well, I'm glad that it was only an exhibition match and not the real thing."
"Nah man, don't worry. It's pretty hard to get distracted by your thoughts when a monster's trying to turn your insides into your outsides."
Iida's response was cut off as a thunderous, trumpeting roar smashed into them.
BAAAARRRRRRRrrrrRRRRUUHHErrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRR!
Both Eijiro and Iida spun around looking for the source of the sound. Eijiro wasn't aware of any monsters that sounded like that, but whatever it was sounded big. If it was angry, they needed to get the caravan moving and away from it before—
Something glinted in the afternoon sunlight from one of the ridges to the south. Eijiro froze, his mouth slowly falling open as what looked like a giant, metal elephant slowly climbed up onto the top of the plateau. It ponderously shuffled around, slowly rotating until it faced the castle. It settled in place, and after a few moments, it raised its head and pointed its trunk. A thick beam of red light shot out from beneath the trunk, zipping through the air and disappearing into the depths of the castle.
Eijiro stared at it with wide eyes. It wasn't every day you saw a giant robot elephant shoot lasers, though the castle didn't seem to be taking any damage. Maybe it was a targeting laser? One of the battle royales he'd tried had laser sight attachments; maybe this was like that.
A gasp and a rumbling laugh from behind them pulled his attention away from the whatever-it-was. Behind him, Nargek stood, grinning, as he took in the sight. After a moment, Eijiro noticed that Beedle had returned from the crowd, plates in hand, and was also staring to the south.
"Well, wouldja look at that!" Nargek chuckled. "Looks like things might be turnin' around!"
Iida jumped and spun around. "Oh, Beedle, Nargek! I hadn't heard you return. Do you know that that is?"
"I believe so," Beedle said, giving himself a quick shake before stepping over to the two. "Here, some eggs. Branson said that the boar we caught earlier will be ready soon."
Eijiro happily accepted the plate and began chowing down. It wasn't much—eggs, with some radishes and mushrooms—but it hit the spot. After a few bites, he paused his eating long enough to ask, "So you know what that is?"
"I believe so," he repeated. "Unless I'm much mistaken, that is the Divine Beast Vah Ruta, one of four such devices. A hundred years ago, it was controlled by the Zora princess, Mipha. Last Beedle knew, it had gone wild and was flooding the Zora's reservoir. Looks like something's changed."
"Looks like it, Beedle-man!" Nargek said, joining them and clapping a massive hand on the merchant's omnipresent pack. "And that's good news; maybe that means Rudania will finally sort itself out."
"More likely, someone intervened," Beedle murmured.
Iida glanced at Eijiro over his own plate of eggs, his lips quirked upwards in a bemused smile. "What would you say the odds are of that someone being Midoriya?"
Eijiro almost choked on his next bite of eggy mushroom as he started to laugh. That made too much sense. Leave it to Midoriya to find his way to where people needed the most help. And if that help involved punching a giant robot elephant? Well, the dude was uniquely qualified to punch giant robots.
And that meant they were close. He looked back out at the robot again. "Maybe we can swing by after we're done escorting the caravan? It's not too far away, and if that big robot is actually a bad thing, we might be able to help out."
"Yes, I agree." Though he wasn't looking at the dude, Eijiro could practically hear the gears turning in his head. "Beedle, you said that this Divine Beast was one of four, right? Where are the others?"
"Scattered among the four vassal races and kingdoms of Hyrule. Until recently, they had lain dormant. Beedle doesn't know why, but something caused them to wake up and menace those they were meant to protect. The nearest to us would be among Nargek's people, Vah Rudania."
"And a pain in the crag it's been," the Goron grumbled. "Likes to shake the mountain and rain rocks and lava down on the city. S'not too bad for us, but all our trade's dried up, and it's too dangerous to mine too close. We make do, but it'll be bad if it actually wakes up the mountain."
Bad was an understatement. Eijiro remembered hearing about the last big eruption back on earth. It had caused tsunamis and flooding from Japan to the United States. If "Death Mountain" lived up to its name, Hyrule would quickly become a very uncomfortable place to live.
He forced himself to relax. He couldn't fight a mountain, but he could fight the thing causing the problems. "Is there anything we can do to it?"
Nargek shook his head. "Nope. We pelt it with our cannon whenever it gets too close, but that doesn't seem to do more than convince it to go away. And it's too toasty there for Hylians. We've got some flamebreaker armor, but not enough to outfit an army."
"I've seen that armor!" Beedle exclaimed. "Beedle's been in it before! It works very well, keeps the heat right out."
"Do you have enough for a few people?" Iida asked. "Kirishima and I are heroes in training; we can't let something like this slide. And if our friends did actually help with the other Divine Beast, they would be more than willing to lend you a hand as well."
Nargek ran a massive hand along his equally massive chin. "We might. I'll have to run it by the elder, see what he thinks."
"No worries, man," Eijiro said. "We're busy escorting the caravan anyways. Wouldn't be super manly to dip out on them when we promised we'd help."
"Not manly at all," he agreed. "I'll head up the mountain now. The elder likes to take his time to think things through, so the sooner I can get the idea to him, the sooner we can get a plan hammered out."
He held out a massive fist, and Eijiro Hardened his fist before bumping it against it. "Godspeed, my man."
The Goron grinned before turning and curling into a ball before rolling away. Eijiro just shook his head. He'd been surprised the first time he'd seen them do that. By now, he was used to it. It was just something Gorons could do.
As he turned back to the others, the smell of boar drifted up to them. His stomach grumbled, and he grinned at the other two. "Well, I guess there's nothing else to do. You guys hungry?"
Mipha settled on Ruta's head. The great elephant was focused intently on something within Hyrule Castle. She could only catch glimpses of it from Ruta, but what she saw reminded her of an octorok egg, except covered in cables. She shivered; whatever it was, she hoped it never hatched.
Ruta rumbled beneath her, and she patted the robot's head. "Yes, you're right. We've found a way to be useful to Link after all. And the others, of course. I imagine Link will save your siblings soon. If he doesn't, it will fall to you to use your ability to drain Ganon of his power."
The Divine Beast shivered again, and Mipha caught a glimpse of the machine's resolve. She smiled. Those who had never worked with a Divine Beast couldn't understand. They were more than mere autonomous robots; each had a personality. Ruta was alive, and she was furious at what Ganon had done to her.
The last of the clouds parted, fully revealing the sun for the first time since Ruta had awoken. Mipha basked in its light, but it was an empty light, a cold light. The sun's warmth could not reach her in the afterlife.
She should be grateful. According to Kapson, not many manifested as spirits. It took force of personality and spirit. Somehow, she had met those mystical requirements. Maybe it had something to do with her being able to pilot Ruta.
Whatever the reason, it had definitely given her another chance. She scooted around to look down at Zora's Domain. Even from here, she could see the shapes of her fellow Zora moving about like a shoal of guppies by the reef. If she had to guess, they'd be preparing a feast in celebration.
One figure stood out from all the others. Her father towered over the others, though he was still too far away to discern more than his general shape. She could imagine his great laugh and the pride in his eyes as he welcomed the warriors home—and the pain he hid so well whenever there were losses.
"Dear Father," she murmured, "I hope you are well. I know that you cannot hear me, but… I want you to know that I have always followed my heart. I'm sorry I made you worry, and I wish I could see you again."
Oddly, her father seemed to stop and turn up to face her. She smiled sadly and waved down at him, knowing that he wouldn't be able to see her.
There was hope, though she hardly dared to invest in it. Link had sworn that he would try and bring her back. It was foolish, impossible. The goddesses had decreed the lifespan of mortals, and none to her knowledge had evaded that.
None, except for Link.
It was impossible, but… Deep inside, she couldn't help but foster a small ember of hope.
Hope that wouldn't matter if Ganon escaped. She clenched her spectral fingers into a fist. They had to seal Ganon; they were the world's last hope. "We will not fail you, Link. We have been given one final opportunity. We will not fail!"
All for One studied the giant elephant. Early that afternoon, the machine—even from here, he could sense the same energy that powered the guardians—had appeared on top of the mountain to the west. He would not be overly concerned, save that it was targeting the egg in his throne room.
Now that night had fallen, he could sense the targeting laser, a thick beam of energy that radiated all the intensity of promised doom. He did not know what kind of weapon such a machine might possess, but was willing to wager that it was destructive.
And he wanted it.
The power called to him. He could see himself conquering this world and returning to Earth at the head of a machine army the likes the world had never seen. The spider bots—these Guardians—could outpace tanks, and having seen one obliterate a bokoblin, would massively outgun them as well.
And that was just the beginning. He turned and walked back into the throne room. Above him, the Calamity's cocoon pulsed gently. He'd been told that it glowed with a strange light, something that unnerved those who looked at it for too long. Such a thing suited him just fine.
He had told the impudent Yiga woman that he didn't intend to harm their Calamity. While that remained true, he felt himself growing more interested in it. Power radiated from it, seeping out into the castle. It dwarfed what he had witnessed from the Guardians—in fact, was the reason why there were so many. If such a thing could be tapped into, he might not need the Guardians.
Wsssp.
All for One allowed himself a small smile as Kurogiri appeared behind him. "You have information?"
"Yes, master." As always, the bartender's smooth voice carried a quiet sense of self-assurance. He knew his place. "There are four of these great robots, these Divine Beasts. The other three are scattered to the four corners of the land. Gaining access to them is difficult; legends state that only their pilots, beings of great spirit, could safely enter them."
He twitched a hand dismissively. "Unsurprising. Tools of such power often have legends surrounding them to discourage scrutiny and interference. We will peel back the stories and see just how much truth they're hiding.
"Until then, we have other matters to consider. What have you learned of this 'Prophet of the Calamity?'"