He's found a shrine just before a wooden bridge, one that crosses Hylia River. The Slate registers it as the Bosh Kala shrine.
He lets out a small laugh at the name. The Sheikah had a strange naming sense, at least for their shrines.
And the shrine itself turns out to be nothing more than a tutorial of sorts, helping him grow more comfortable with his paraglider. Of all the things it could be, that isn't that bad.
Link can see a Sheikah tower as well in the distance, glowing orange, right next to two massive mountains.
The Dueling Peaks, his mind supplies, another name that he remembers.
And both peaks utterly dwarf the Sheikah tower, a testament to the land. For all the Sheikah's ingenuity, even they can't hope to match the sheer scale of nature.
And, on the bright side, that tower will slot another piece of land into his map, currently looking like a jigsaw puzzle with only one piece.
That's his next destination.
There's a thing dancing above the surface of the water near the tower. It seems to be stepping on the air itself, and making splashes of sparkles wherever it steps. It's also humming, a song that sounds pleasant to Link's ears.
And then it turns.
Link recoils, even through his scope, as he can now see the thing's face. It's just a mass of darkness, with two beady eyes and teeth. Not even any discernible lips, just teeth. For all its singing and dancing, it's an ugly thing, most definitely a monster.
And it's just now that Link notices the stick its holds in its long, lanky fingers, which is in fact not a stick, but a weapon he recognises. A conduit, for channelling elemental magic, which takes the from of a rod, decorated with a symbol of that specific element. And if he was right, the Wizzrobe would as well...
Yep. The Wizzrobe in question has yellow markings on its cloak, signifying its control over electricity. And give that it's above water, that's not a good thing.
He feels a shock running through his body, like a phantom pain. Link knows he's got a resistance to the element, somehow, but the Wizzrobe twirling and waving that rod around brings a bad feeling to his head, growing, growing...
The headache hits hard and fast, forcing him into a crouch from where he stands on a spot in the road. He chokes out a gasp, trying to get some air in through the memory playing in his head.
Wizzrobes, Wizzrobes, so many Wizzrobes. Magic flying everywhere, lightning bolts and fireballs and gusts of ice-cold air. Being hit by a fireball, then instantly feeling the burn be frozen, only to be shocked again, and again, and again...
Multiple lightning bolts hitting him, overpowering his natural resistance to the element. And through it all, he can hear the cries of the princess, the roar of the Calamity in the distance, and the singing of the monsters above him.
"He... Hey! Get up! Look at me!"
The knight tilts his head up, seeing a face inches from his. The man has a comically large red nose, dividing his face in half like a tree trunk. He has a light smattering of freckles on either side of the nose, and his eyes are at the top, with just the tip of the nose between them.
"Friend, are you okay?" The man asks, looking at Link with concern. Link can only nod, gritting his teeth, while trying to move his body.
He fails. His ends up back on the ground, having fallen backwards from his crouch, leaving both legs in front of him while the arms support from the back.
The man moves backwards, reaching behind him to grab something, then pulling at the top of it. The cap pops off, and he puts the drink to Link's lips.
Link drinks it like a man starved. It clears up his mind, brings him back to reality. He can see again, and now realises what the guy had around him was actually a massive backpack.
The man stands up, wiping sweat off his forehead. "Whoo, thought you had something worse there, bud." He looks down at Link again, seeing him still staring up at him from the ground, then widens his eyes and reaches out towards him. "Oh, but where are my manners?! My name's Beedle, friend, what's yours?"
Link lets the man pulls him up, he did just help him, after all, and shakily signs, "Link."
Beedle regards his hands for a moment, then rolls his eyes up. Link's shoulders slump, as Beedle probably didn't know sign language, and he'll have to use his voice.
Beedle snaps his fingers. "Aha! Link, right? At least, if I remember it right..."
Link's eyes brighten, and he nods. Beedle cheers, and unfolds a table from a platform above his head, attached to the backpack. "Now then, friend, I'm a travelling merchant, and now I'll show you my wares!"
Link sees a few small animals, a few bugs, and then, a stash of arrows, split into single and five-packs. He points to them, and Beedle responds, understanding his unspoken question. "A single arrow costs six rupees, and a pack of five costs thirty. You want them?"
Link nods, but then falters, as he realises then, that he's technically broke. There was no government anymore, so he couldn't reference his money from the castle treasury, where he probably has piles upon piles of rupees saved up.
Beedle, bless the man, looks at Link's expression and reads it perfectly, immediately providing a solution. "Friend, I buy all sorts of things, no need to worry! Simply sell me a few items you don't want, and I'll trade them over for rupees, which you can then use to buy what you do want."
Link's eyebrows raise, and he opens his Sheikah Slate, looking through the inventory. Beedle's eyes peer at the device in curiosity and wonder, but he doesn't say anything, letting the knight sort through his items.
The knight taps a button, and in his arms, with a flash of blue light, items appear. A few mushrooms, some bugs, a lot of monster parts, and two precious stones he'd found from mining an ore deposit on the Plateau.
Beedle's eyes widen, and he cheers louder, pumping a fist. He grabs the items from Link's arms, stuffing them into his pack, and gives over the arrows and some rupees. "All of those things were actually worth more than the arrows, and I have a feeling you might need these soon enough." He explains, and Link nods to him gratefully.
Then he turns around, running to the edge of the land, just where the river met the grass, and jumps, unfurling his paraglider to get to the other side of the river. He doesn't make it, of course, and manages to swim to shore and climb up, dripping wet, but feeling better than before. He hears a shout behind him, seeing Beedle waving. "I'll see you again, friend!"
He waves back, a smile on his face for the first time since escaping the Plateau, and marches as close as he can to the tower, with the Wizzrobe dancing behind it, soon to come back into view.
And as the monster comes around, Links leaps off the edge, pulling his bow out.
Time slows. Another name pops into his head. Bullet-time.
A golden light shines from Link's right arm, the one pulling the bowstring back, with an arrow (one of Beedle's) nocked in it. His eyes also turn golden, not that he sees it himself, but he does notice his focus sharpening, his gaze locked onto the monster, whose eyes still haven't seen him yet, even though they're practically face-to-face.
He looses the arrow, watching it streak into the air and strike the monster in the face, prompting a slowed scream and its body ragdolling like the training dummies used to do.
He puts his bow away and opens his paraglider in the next second, managing to fly onto the tower and climb up to the top. Far below, he can see the rod floating in the water, producing a tiny electric current around it, and the purple dust left from the Wizzrobe's death. He's not going to even try to get that.
And then he gets the map chunk onto the Slate, which feels like it takes forever, watching a teardrop slowly be formed under the Sheikah eye. (Oh, that makes sense now.)
The chunk shows the rest of the path, requiring him to pass the cross two more bridges, pass the Pillars of Levia, and he'll be in Kakariko Village.
He feels good now, and he spares another glance to the castle in the distance, holding a hand over his chest while having a fierce expression on his face.
He will get to Zelda, and defeat Calamity Ganon. He'll do whatever it takes.
hahaha, i am the gate. keeping you from seeing the rest of this story.
go to AO3 or wattpad(ugh) if you wanna see the rest.
this site pisses me off immeasurably and i cant be asked to put everything else on here. maybe at a different date. that date is not today.
cya