A/N: I do not, in general, write kid stories. My adult ratings are for a reason. My stories feature: violence (often graphic), Sexuality (almost always graphic), and worse. The villains in my stories are typically very villainous. The heroes are not always heroic- even if most of the time they are. Readers should expect a blanket trigger warning on everything I write. Themes of dubious- or non-consenting sex, domination, violence, gore, and character death- including major characters- exist in many of them. I do not condone such activities in real life, but unfortunately they are real in our world, and I don't feel that I could write fiction fairly without including them.

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Ch. 6

Bombos

She did not wake for several hours.

When she did, once more, the princess was resolved.

She had dreamed. Memories, perhaps, of chaos and death, of fear. All around them, friends, acquaintances, dying as she failed and her failures mounted further still.

She could not give up. She had already failed too much.

So, with a whimper, Zelda pushed herself off the dry ground and stone, wiped the salt dried around her eyes, and started walking again.

This time, as she neared the abbey, her route was different. The bell-shaped device that had spotted her after coming to life was near the center of the ruins. She skirted north, where the walls were thickest, to avoid its deadly eye. Or even better, stay out of its sight completely.

That lasted ten minutes, as a second one activated just inches from her.

Again, Zelda ran.

But this time, she did so with purpose. Back, yes, and around the abbey. If one side didn't work, if straight in didn't work, she would try the other.

And again, until it worked, Goddess be damned!

Shuddering at her angry sacrilege, Zelda pushed on, fighting past the fear that threatened to overwhelm her.

The south side was no better, but at least Zelda was able to dash past the one in the southeast corner, taking cover behind the bastion wall of the plateau before the third one could blast her to smithereens. Whimpering in fear, she cowered for several minutes as it shot again and again. But unlike the abbey walls, the bastion held mostly firm, barely budging.

Eventually, its machine-mind seemed to decide she was either dead or gone, because the gears that turned the head and moved its eye ground to a halt.

Carefully, making sure to stay within cover as much as possible, she turned north, climbing up and over the ruined battlements themselves.

She found a weapon in a great steel door, but wasn't sure she could use it effectively against a creature like that. They seemed so rigid and hard, sturdier than even steel armor!

Beneath it, though, as she kicked a rock, Zelda was surprised by another of the strange plant-like creatures coming into view. This one was brown, covered in thick bark, with four eyes instead of just two, and it held two holly-berry sticks instead. "Ah, ha! You can see us! You can see us! A Hylian hasn't seen us forest spirits in so long! Ha, ha! You should take this. Find Hestu, and give it to him!"

Like the first, Zelda found her arm yanked forward, and another of the strange golden pellets dropped into her hand before the creature- the forest spirit, she supposed- vanished like its kin had before.

After spending several minutes carefully maneuvering the steel door into place, her fears had proven correct- the domed horror seemed completely unaffected by the massive door falling atop it, even from fifty or so feet up.

She tried again to be sure, but no... it didn't even slow the beast down. It looked totally impervious to such an attack.

Zelda heard herself whimper again, before resigning herself to slinking back under cover. She would have to scale the wall at the back of the abbey.

At least that way worked.

Like the Oman Au shrine, the Ja Baij shrine lit up in garish orange as she activated the pedestal, and followed the lift inside.

Not surprised this time, Zelda was still amazed at how far down the lift took her, and how quickly.

The strange, almost surreal architecture was similar to her first shrine too, but the layout was quite different. Too, the voice of some ancient, long-forgotten being rang out over the shrine as she stepped toward the pedestal on her left.

"To you who sets foot in this shrine: I am Ja Baij. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial, the Bombos Trial.

Zelda set the Sheikah Slate into the pedestal, and watched in pleased fascination as another rune was added to her list, just like the one before.. Not just one, in fact, but two.

Remote Bomb, the slate's screen read, A bomb that can be detonated remotely. The force of the blast can both damage monsters and destroy objects. There are both round and cube shaped bombs. Use whichever best fits your situation.

Zelda was no man-child, she was sure.

But still, holding a device that, as she tapped the button, could produce what looked like an endless supply of mid-yield, localized magical explosives was...

Well, it made her hyperventilate with giddiness.

The bombs themselves were brilliant blue, almost ghostly and nearly weightless as they were conjured into being with a press of either button, but the radius of the blast was at least fifteen feet across despite having almost no mass.

"Pure magic," she realized, "magical energy converted to physical energy. Fascinating."

She had not been idle while playing with the explosives now at her beck and call, either.

The way forward, previously closed by two cracked but huge, heavy stone blocks, was opened by the first pair of her explosives, one round and one square.

Of course, the round one rolled much better, but Zelda found that by using the attached handles, she could spin and whirl the bombs a considerable distance, well past the range of the detonation. Faced with a t-junction in a low tunnel, Zelda turned right first, blasting another pair of stones away after leaving for the larger chamber. It wouldn't do to shatter her eardrums, after all.

Behind those was an ornate chest, long and narrow, which held a sword nearly as tall as she was. Worn, pitted with age, it still kept something of an edge. It was the kind of common blade a strong man might use to protect himself on the road with little or no formal training.

With some reluctance, she dropped her second to last club and added the heavy steel weapon to her collection. Like the axe, it was almost too big for her to use. But, if she found a way to make it effective, she knew it would be devastating to those Bokoblins who crossed her path.

The right path took her instead to a higher chamber, accessed by a ladder. In the center of it, a floating platform moved back and forth endlessly over a shallow pit. If she fell, Zelda knew at once she could climb out again with a second ladder. But on the far side, a solid wall of six huge stone cubes, bigger than any she'd seen yet, blocked the way forward.

"But this is the Bombos Trial," the princess reasoned aloud, "and it stands to reason that bombs are the answer. After all, I already know the concussive force is enough to shatter stone. So first..."

She gingerly stepped onto the platform when it came close, and found it bore her weight without so much as a tremble. She almost fell as it lurched into motion, but when it reached the other side, she was better prepared.

Taking the moment she had to examine the stone, Zelda smiled. Cracked, worn, and old. Yes, the bombs would handle this nicely.

She set a square one down, suspecting a round bomb would simply roll off the platform as it moved or stopped, then waited until she could safely jump off on the original side again.

When the bomb reached the far end, the rocks shattered into a thousand tiny fragments, turned to dust by the blast of her explosion.

"Perfect shot, I got all six. Nice."

The trial was not over yet, however.

The next chamber was vast, several times larger than any other she'd seen inside a shrine. To her left and right, huge, angled pillars of stone with glowing squares of runes in the language Zelda was coming to believe was ancient Sheikah writing, slammed back and forth in counterpoint. The two to the left faced each other, and tossed a sphere made of some strange metal and ringed with orange Sheikah runes. Somehow, it was such a perfect shot that even though Zelda suspected the two pillars had thrown the ball back and forth for untold centuries, it still bounced to the exact same place every time.

A third pillar, unpaired, lay beyond that. Zelda could see a chest there on a raised platform. Was she meant to be thrown across? That seemed insane, yet, as fast as the pillars moved... The height was not that great.

As long as she didn't hit the chest itself, it was feasible. Maybe.

And on the right, another pillar with a feeding tube, round and formed of scrolled meshwork, faced a pile of the same huge blocks of stone.

Zelda rolled her eyes. A simpleton could figure out this puzzle at a glance, she was sure. Put a round bomb in the feeding tube so that it landed in a place to be hurled across, and blow the bomb when it was near the rocks. From there, simply scale the ladder on the far side of the depressed area.

The sage beyond, just as dead as the last she had seen, sat behind its glowing blue wall, just as it had for ages.

But she wanted that chest.

First things first, though.

Exactly as she had planned, her bomb rolled onto the pillar as it retracted, and then was thrown over the gap.

And yes, boom, the rocks were gone! Well, one had survived, half-fragmented, but it was still falling apart. Zelda didn't mind, the way was clear enough. Now she just had to get the chest.

What was that sphere for, too?

Her stomach churned as she went airborne, but the results of her first leap from the pillar was worth it.

The value of the chest might have been the amber.

What Zelda truly prized, though, was the shirt. A man's shirt, to be sure, but it would fit her well enough. The shirt was a deep crimson with some strange logo she did not recognize. Zelda glanced around the shrine for watchful eyes before lifting the remains of her dress off her body.

Grimy, grungy, covered in dirt and weeds both a century old and fresh, Zelda was glad to be rid of it for all its previous finery. She didn't discard the thing, though. Instead, she carefully folded it and shoved it inside the satchel. You never knew when a memento would be valuable.

Still, she wiggled and shimmied into the shirt, tugging it down. It didn't quite cover her entire midriff, and Zelda felt a bit scandalous showing that much skin even over her new, doeskin trousers, but that was because it fit so snugly around her chest. She wasn't showing much cleavage now, but she was sure the old man would get an eyeful of her modest-to-large breasts anyway by the shape of it.

At least she had a bra, because the air in the shrine was quite cool, if not cold, and her nipples were already swelling without the extra protection.

It was so comfortable, too! It bent and stretched with her, far better than even the doeskin breeches. Zelda sighed in relief. The ancient Sheikah really knew their stuff, if this was the kind of clothing they wore.

She could see no reason to bother catching the sphere, or even really a reason for it to be there. Was it only part of the trial to show her how the pillars worked? Ridiculous. Wasteful, even.

The princess had more pressing concerns, however, so she put the thought from her mind as she hurried down into the lower area before climbing the ladder.

Like before, too, Ja Baim had ancient words to dispense. After being compared favorably by another forgotten sage to a great hero, Zelda felt her chest puff slightly with pride as the second Spirit Orb entered her body.

She was half-way done, and had some truly powerful new tools and weapons at her disposal.

Zelda was accosted by another pair of skeletal Bokoblins as she stepped from the shrine a short time later, but they were easily dispatched with a bomb tossed between them, and then a dashing lunge with her last club that smashed each skull to splinters.

Left behind was another shortsword, a great find for her. Now she had three of the quick, light blades, and could toss the heavier, slower, and more fragile club she had left.

The other carried another bark-crafted shield, too, which Zelda eagerly added to her collection. There weren't going to be many more of those she could carry, perhaps just one, but having three made her odds of survival against anything like a Bokoblin seem much better. Even the mighty blue one, perhaps.

That last, newest sword lasted about ten minutes. As Zelda fought her way out of the abbey, she was set upon by not just three, but six more Stalkoblins. Fighting off the lot, even as efficiently as she could, netted Zelda another bruise on her ribcage from a thrown rock, and a slash across her right arm just above the elbow from a claw. But at least she had so far avoided the death-beams from the- whatever they were.

She realized, as she was picking up the remnants, that one of the creature's arms was still intact, too. Bony, it flexed and moved along the fingers, almost like a club of its own.

It was gruesome... and Zelda, wrinkling her nose with distaste, picked it up anyway, giving the thing a few practice swings. It won't last long, she thought, but the claws are sharp and jagged, like all Bokoblins. Even more without protective flesh to dull the blow.

It wriggled and grasped at her even while she started moving again, throwing her subtly off-balance. Attached at her waist though, the skeletal arm could do little more than twitch toward her boots.

From there, she went further south, following the crumbling bastion wall, until the abbey was lost behind the hills at her back. Ahead, Zelda could see a dense aspen stand, a fence guarding no home- possibly a former corral- and another Bokoblin's camp. Beyond that, a cabin.

The old man's home, probably, she reasoned.

As she crept closer to the camp, Zelda spotted a meager two red Bokoblins sitting near a fire, munching on old, charred bones. Their weapons sat nearby, but neither had one at hand. She could take them, she was sure, with speed and maybe a few arrows as she approached. But there was another way.

A nearby tree held a rich-looking beehive.

And bees, she knew, hated being disturbed. They would viciously attack anything in the vicinity if the hive was harmed.

She would, if all went to plan, be able to shoot down the hive, setting the bees on the Bokoblins, and then flee before the flying swarm could find her.

Maybe.

It was worth a shot, anyway.

From the cover of a nearby boulder, Zelda put her plan in motion.

Yes! The hive fell, the swarm attacked, and both Bokoblins fled from the angry, stinging bees.

But the bees alone would take too long to make the area safe.. Bee stings were toxic, yes, but didn't possess powerful enough venom to kill Bokoblins outright. So she used them as a distraction, getting closer and closer while the Bokoblins scurried about, swatting uselessly at the much smaller creatures. An arrow found an unsuspecting Bokoblin's heart on her first shot, while the second pierced the other Bokoblin's left thigh. It winced and hollered, not least because it was still being stung by a swarm of bees.

A third arrow found a better mark, smashing into the thing's scrawny neck. It fell and vanished in a moment.

Not long after, Zelda watched the hive dissipate in search of their new queen, or perhaps a new nesting-spot.

She went for the honeycomb first, wrapping it in several leaves, then around the hive, too. Once it was safely stowed away, the princess started looting.

There wasn't much, but she was able to add a fourth shield to her collection, the clatter now enough to convince her that no, without extensive enchantment, she would not be able to carry another. She replaced the claw arm, broken in the fray, with another club.

Zelda found a greater prize, perhaps her greatest yet, in a crumbled watchtower of the ancient edifice that circled the plateau. Half-buried in rubble, the stone lockbox had taken a bit of work to dig out, but it had been well worth it. Bomb arrows, which were exactly what they sounded like. About a stick's worth of dynamite bundled to the end of a shaft, with a striking flint at the front.

Essentially like the Bombos runes themselves, only with more fire and a lot more range, Zelda decided they would become a favorite tool if she had to deal with masses of enemies.

Near the cabin now, Zelda headed for it. The sound of distant chopping caught her ear, but she didn't see the old man as she reached the structure. What she did see was a small gathering of tools and weapons near a cookpot. A lit torch sat nearby, the fire already lit beneath it to heat the stone pot, while a viciously sharp pitchfork looked like a deadly weapon, if a bit old and worn.

Taking a glance inside, Zelda saw an old bed that looked like it hadn't been used in who knew how long, another axe against the far wall, some pots to store water in, and on a table, two peppers and a journal.

The writing was clean and clear, though the ink was old. The old man's handwriting, if this was indeed his home, was impeccable. Had he been a scribe or scholar in ages past?

She skimmed the diary in secret, and it told a dreary story. He had been here for years, alone, fending for himself while driving off the occasional Bokoblin who was brave enough to attack a man of his stature.

That had forced him to learn to survive. His clothing, it seemed, his weapons, all of it including the cabin and its furnishings, were built by the man himself.

But one entry in particular, near the end, caught her eye.

A recipe for a dish that could warm the soul.

Spicy meat and seafood fry, he had called it.

Zelda looked at the peppers on the table. Some ingredients she already had on hand, and he did too.

Seafood, well, she had a single fish in her satchel, caught with her bare hands through luck more than skill. The spear should help even the odds, so she wouldn't have to rely on luck.

But the meat...? That would take more work. She doubted the charred, overcooked haunches the Bokoblins occasionally roasted would do.

Still, it was something.

The entry ended with the man wishing that he could remember the last ingredient, and would happily trade his own hand-crafted doublet, insulated with thick furs, in return for the spicy dish.

Zelda thought, at that moment, that the old man was an idiot.

He had listed two ingredients, meat and peppers. But it was spicy meat and seafood fry.

The other ingredient must be a fish.

What else could he get up here? Certainly not some beach-dwelling crab or shrimp!

Shaking her head in frustrated amusement once more, Zelda stepped out of the cabin. She spotted him then, hacking away with another axe at an aspen, no doubt to make firewood from.

Before she could head in his direction, though, a high-pitched giggle caught her attention.

Another forest spirit? Here?

I wonder...

She searched low, around, and inside the cabin once more, gathering the occasional green mushroom or wide-capped, purple ones from a boulder-side nearby. But it wasn't until she stood on the high, grassy peak of the cabin for a better vantage that Zelda's eyes caught the whirl of fairy dust over the bow above the door.

Zelda waved her hand through the glittering lights, finding them warm, but they passed through her hand as if they were not really there. Still, another giggle, louder, rang out.

Soon, she had a third pellet in her hand. "Thanks," she murmured, throwing it in the satchel as quickly as she could to avoid the noxious smell. It was really quite unpleasant.

Of course, once she found the man, he enlisted her help again. Her, tiny little her next to his huge size, chopping down trees like a brute!

But, Zelda had to admit, some hours later, after helping restock his dwindling woodpile, it was good exercise. Covered in sweat and chilly from the afternoon wind that had sprung up as she stopped working, Zelda eagerly took the man up on his offer to take a bath while he cooked a dinner for them both outside.

The offer of his bed was less welcome, but as the man laughed, he clarified, "I do mean alone, Princess. I am far too old to engage in such nonsense if I wanted to. Besides, I sleep little these days. Sleep or not, the choice is yours, but either way, the night will be safe here. I will stand watch."

She had, in the end, agreed, and for the first time since waking up in the Shrine of Resurrection, actually slept on a half-comfortable bed.

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