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.

Finally, if you like this story or any of my other stories, please consider supporting me on SUB SCRIBE STAR dot ADULT slash KAJAWILDER. I can only continue my current (or faster) pace of updates if I can pay my bills. I'm not there yet, but I'm definitely getting you think about how much enjoyment you get out of a movie- about two hours worth of fun- for $10-20- you are getting far greater value by supporting a writer like myself. If even one in twenty people that read this supported me on Pa Tree On at any but the lowest level, I would be able to easily continue focusing on writing more... and you could read more. I'm going to keep writing anyway. But the pace would be and will be a lot faster if you can spare a few dollars monthly. My lowest tier isn't even a small drink at a theater, any more. Is it worth it? Is it worth it to you? If so, then please support me.
Of course, you can ALSO find more of the same stories there. Most everything here (including FwB, PoW, and TaL) are posted here at least a week after being posted on Sub Star. Also, DON'T go to Pa Tree On if you can help it any more. They are HEAVILY censoring my content there, including this story, which is why I'm trying to move to Sub Star. Currently it's up to date and 99% of what was on the first is now on Sub Star, so you aren't missing anything.

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That's enough out of me. Enjoy!


EDIT: I done screwed things up pretty bad with posting chapters out of order (that damned Prologue, Ch. 0, strikes again). But THIS chapter is only a day late, and the proper one. Enjoy! :)


Ch. 19

Path of Treachery and Loyalty

It was midafternoon as she passed the small bazaar that seemed ever present outside the Dueling Peaks Stable in daylight hours, but thankfully no one seemed to pay Zelda any mind as she rejoined the road heading north. If anyone noticed that it was the same road she had taken a couple of mornings earlier, with no one seeing her return, she did not hear about it.

Following the road and and down rolling hills on a more northerly path than the last time she had left the Stables, Zelda passed a small ruin that was either a sturdy farmhouse or a watch post some time ago. Now all that remained were two waist-high walls joined at an angle and a jumble of rocks to indicate where the others might have been. It was nestled between the same plateau she had climbed after discovering the miner's corpse and the rocky hill she had spotted from the same place, though now three miles north of where she had been then.

While the Princess spent a few minutes looking around for something useful, she spotted nothing of value and was forced to move on.

The sun was low, but not quite setting, when the old road took her, past a split to the east, a crumbling, moss-covered bridge. It was once a powerful structure, Zelda was sure. Wide enough for three carts abreast, with high columns and pennant-posts, and the ruins of more outbuildings to suggest that at one point the bridge had been a security checkpoint.

Now, only one of the four support columns was intact, the other three in various states of disrepair. One had nearly collapsed to the level of the bridge itself, which was reached by a long ramp with stairs on either side for foot traffic. Even those were old and worn, the edges of the carefully carved stones curved as thickly as her thumb, and all of it covered in moss, dust, and leaves. A rocky island at the south west side of Lake Siela, west of the center of the angled crescent, half supported the bridge and even jutted up past it on the east side, her right. From it, Zelda could see, more structures had tumbled and fallen, some into the river below and some onto the bridge, further damaging its already old and crumbling state.

Were it not so large, Zelda would have worried about crossing it, lest the bridge collapse under her weight. But no one had mentioned that as being a danger, so she figured it would be alright. Hopefully. "Maybe avoid the spots where the bridge has already crumbled though," Zelda murmured softly to herself.

The view as he walked, carefully testing each step of the Kakariko Bridge to make sure it was steady, was impressive. On her left, the western side of Lake Siela aimed north-northwest, far longer than it was wide from here, nearly out of sight past the horizon if it weren't for the fact that the northern edges of the lake were ringed with high mountains and the right, the lake narrowed and went on even longer, cut into the mountains between Kakariko Village and the Blatchery Plain by its own slow, steady current over untold years.

As she stared into the twilight, Zelda realized that there must have been an underwater drain for the lake, because at its far end to her east, a long, narrow ribbon of orange light began to flare as the sun dropped lower. A waterfall some hundred, or perhaps two, feet high fed the lake, while her map nor her vision showed her any other drain.

"It makes sense though," Zelda murmured as he pulled out the Sheikah Slate and examined the area, "Nabi Lake is to the west, and while I know we aren't that much higher here, if there's an underground channel it would probably flow in that direction, beneath the Mable Ridge."

Just thinking of that place made Zelda shuddered as she remembered Brigo and others telling her it was infested with Guardians. Looking at her map gave Zelda a better idea of her path ahead, too. "If I'm reading the distances right- and it's taken about five hours to reach the bridge... I'm looking at about twelve, maybe fifteen hours to reach Kakariko. Normally I would rest at night, but after those Shrines, I really don't feel the need. I suppose I will carry on, then."

The princess was half-way across the bridge when a soft whoosh briefly preceded shards of rock pelting her face and chest. "Ow!"

Thankfully, she was a bit more experienced than the last time that had happened, and Zelda quickly threw herself into the questionably sturdy but visibly solid cover of the bridge's sides. Not a moment too soon. Just after her trousers skidded on the algae and moss-covered masonry, a second stone hit the bridge on the far side, passing just through where she would have been if she had kept walking.

"Octorok," she growled, her mind going back to the first one she had met, the one that had tried to insert its thick, slimy tentacles into her body in more than one place.

She didn't really care that her usually kind, gentle face had morphed into an almost cruel, vindictive sneer as she reached for and strung her bow. Instead, the young princess was firmly focused on counting the timing between the rocks as a fourth, and then fifth, arced overhead to smash and shatter against the bridge, which was far stronger than it looked if it was taking this punishment with minimal damage.

Then, just as she was about to stand and fire between its own spat stones, the rocks stopped coming. Zelda's golden eyebrows quirked, and slowly she peeked over the edge.

That was definitely an Octorok.

It wasn't spitting at her anymore, though. Instead, the thing was clearly gulping in air, its bulbous body rising out of the water slowly as it inhaled more and more, the gas somehow converting into something light enough to make it truly boyant.

But its eyes were still glaring in her direction. "Oh... smart enough to get some elevation, are you," Zelda murmured, and lifted her bow, an arrow already knocked.

She saw its fear the moment it realized how the situation had changed. At once, the Octorok tried to release all of its stored gasses, and it hurled backward away from her, dropping like a stone or a punctured balloon. Unfortunately for it, Zelda's arrow was faster still, and her aim true. Even as it started to lose momentum and fall, the sharp tip slammed into and through one of the tentacled monster's eyeballs.

It wasn't intact when its pieces started raining down onto the slowly rippling surface of the lake.

Shortly after, Zelda had used the magic of Cryonis several times and carefully timed jumps, and had gathered up the remains of the monster without having so much as a drop of water land on her, despite being in the middle of the lake.

It took nearly an hour by the same route to get back to land, once again on the south side of the bridge, but Zelda felt it was well worth it just to kill one of the horrid things. That meant night had fallen, yes, but Zelda didn't mind, she was still quite energetic.

As she was climbing the steps up the Kakariko Bridge again, a strange glow from between some of the old, cut stones caught her eye. Zelda paused mid-step, moving back and forth several times, looking intently downward... No, she wasn't imagining it.

With a glance around to make sure no one was watching, she threw herself downward and put her eye against the crack.

Yes... wait. No, it wasn't mysterious. That was the light of a fire!

Frowning, Zelda stood up, brushed off her trousers, and then, just as she was resolved to continue on, a confident, female voice, rough but toned, called out, "Is someone there? I can hear you, you know. If you want trouble, you've come to the wrong place. But if you're peaceful, come share dinner!"

Zelda, who startled at the first loud call, glanced around again, but there was still no one in sight. She swallowed... did she dare answer back?

"If that's you, Rindo, you know I hate getting startled! Either announce yourself, or move on!"

"I- It's not Rindo," Zelda called back, not truly sure why. "My name's Ze- Zina."

There was a brief pause, then, "A woman, on her own? Sounds young, too. Huh. May's well come down if you're hungry. Long walk to either Kakariko or the Stables from here."

Again she hesitated. She couldn't just ask, could she? Even if she did, Zelda felt like asking someone, "Can I trust you?" was a waste. Either you could... or they would lie, and say you could. "F- Fine," she finally replied, a bit quieter, then, "How do I get down?"

There was a loud, unladylike snort, "Climb? From the big rock, there's plenty of hand-holds. Used to be pitons, but Bokoblins stole them a few years back."

Zelda frowned. Little bastards, she thought, more accurately than unkindly. "A-Alright. I'll be down in a moment, then."

Indeed, despite her fear of heights, knowing that she would just drop into the lake if she fell helped, and there were plenty of convenient places to put her hands and feet as Zelda climbed. She was wary of being attacked, but within the first few feet she could see a short, somewhat wide woman in a heavy, segmented breastplate stirring something in a pot. She seemed intensely more interested in cooking than in Zelda herself, aside from sparing her a glance, until Zelda reached the pebbly little shore.

"Zina, y'say? I'm Brokka," the woman introduced, gesturing with a meaty, dirty thumb as she looked up. "Welcome t'my camp. Ain't seen you 'round before. New in the area?"

Zelda nodded, "That's right. Um, it's a pleasure to meet you. Brokka, right?"

The shorter woman nodded, a wide, genuine smile splitting her face to reveal clean, straight and bright teeth, "'S right. Come on in, don't need to be shy. It's just us here, and I'm not of a type to attack a lone woman, rest you worry. I'm more'a type to defend one. Aside from't bein' my job an' all."

The woman's accent was strong, and of course with precious few memories not one Zelda could place, but she thought she understood well enough anyway. Besides that, her casual nature, and the casual, confident way she moved around the heavy mace belted to her hip, told Zelda that this wasn't a helpless person, but nor one she needed to worry about overmuch.

What she found as she followed the guidance was a quiet little nook, about the size of a single room, hidden away beneath the bridge from almost any casual observer. It was sheltered on three sides by the huge rock and the bridge's support structures, with the bluffs that circled the lake providing some cover from travelers even on the open side.

Apart from Brokka's cooking fire and pots, there was a section devoted to woven baskets and a couple earthenware jugs, clearly labeled water and booze without specifying what kind, and a rickety cot piled high with blankets, shielded from driving lakewater by a curtain hung over a line, which was held in place by two rusted iron spikes. "Do... do you live here?"

If Brokka was offended by her prying, the shorter woman didn't show it. She chuckled, at least, before answering, "As often as not, I s'pose. Technically live'n Hateno, but I spend mos' my time here, or goin' 'tween the Stables an' Kakariko."

Zelda nodded. Maybe this would be a good person to ask, then. "What... what's the road like? To Kakariko. I've... never been."

"Oh, headed t'see the Sheikah? Fine folk. Bit stingy fer me, but nice enough. I make more sellin' down t'the Stables, ter be honest."

"Make more...? Oh, what do you sell?"

Brokka smiled at Zelda's curiosity, gesturing at a laden pack sitting next to the baskets, "Gems and ore, mos'ly. Mine 'em. Hills 'round here are rich, y'know."

Zelda found herself nodding quickly, "I've discovered that myself, actually. I- well... no. I don't suppose you'd be interested in buying from me, if you're a seller."

"Eh, I wouldn't say that right off," Brokka protested, "but you might be righ'. Normally, I'd jump on t' chance. Bit strapped currently, though. Had t'buy me a knew pick, an' it's been harder until it gets finished. Hit me up again sometime, though. Always happy ter at leas' see a pretty stone."

Zelda smiled, and allowed herself to relax.

Soon, the two were chatting amiably about what things were like these days, where the best stones could be found (usually near water in rocky cliffs), what the best stones were (opal, hands down, though diamonds were also nice), and so on. Before Zelda knew it, the hour had grown late, and Brokka yawned, not bothering to cover her gaping mouth with a hand. "Well, I'm t'bed. You're welcome ter join, if you don' mind snugglin'."

Zelda blushed, then deeper as she realized the many glances Brokka had been giving her were not as innocent as she had first thought. In fact, if she wasn't mistaken, right now the woman was practically inviting her to undress and then sleep in her bed!

Her green eyes widened as Brokka's overshirt, her armor long since discarded and set carefully aside, raised, baring a scarred, muscular body beneath it.

And she felt herself staring, but couldn't look away as Brokka sent her a grin, shirtless, and even used her powerful pectoral muscles to make her small breasts bounce a bit. "Heh... I love watchin' people's faces when I do tha'. Anyway, choice's yours. Tho' I'll admit to bein' a bit disappointed if t'answer is nay."

Zelda could only swallow, wide eyed and mouth hanging open in a most un-princess like fashion as the muscular, stocky woman turned and sauntered to her bed, pulled back the covers, and threw herself into it.

She wasn't really tempted, Zelda was sure of that. But seeing Mina also looking at her in the same way (and to a lesser extent, her brother, Mils), and then Sagessa as she had sex with that man, Hino, and then hearing the prostitute say she would enjoy time with Zelda, too... it was a bit much. Now, this muscular woman had expressed interest, too.

Had Hyrule changed so much?

No... she couldn't say that.

How would she know, if it had? She could not remember the Hyrule before, after all. Maybe women regularly spent intimate time together. Zelda certainly didn't seem to find the idea abhorrent, at any rate, though she didn't think she would mind with a handsome male suitor, either.

Brokka might not be her type, all muscle and unclean and all, but still... she was very open about her invitation.

Was that just the way of things, now?

Sagessa had certainly implied that it was. People were in constant fear of attack by Bokoblins, Moblins, Lizalfos, and even Guardians. Or worse, the Calamity itself breaking free of the castle. It would not be a shock if they were more... free, with themselves. Take pleasure where you can seemed to be an unspoken motto of nearly everyone she'd met.

Tasseren and Magheren seemed to love each other from what little Zelda had observed, but Sagessa also said the Stable's owner was a regular customer of hers. Did that mean people just didn't value the intimacy of a true romantic partner as much, anymore...? Or did it mean they simply didn't equate marriage and sex as much as the princess felt her past self would have?

Her mental meanderings, predictably, yielded no actual answer, only more questions.

Still, after watching the cook-fire burn low, Zelda dutifully banked it (not that there was much danger of it spreading, so close to the lake and with all flammable objects well away and behind stone or brick), and carefully, slowly, climbed her way out and back up onto the bridge, accompanied by the low, steady snores of Brokka.

Hopefully, throwing a couple of stones from the bridge into a Korok's stone ring hadn't woken her.

Shortly before reaching the end of the bridge, a bobbing, yellow light caught Zelda's attention. Immediately suspicious, she took cover behind one of the shattered, broken columns, throwing her jacket over the Sheikah Slate to hide its dim lights, too.

Several minutes later, a swarthy-looking man in simple garb and with only the most basic of weapons, came around the corner of the pillar she hid behind. "Up past my bedtime," the man burst into song, making her jump and flinch as the sudden volume, "waay~ up late! Travelin'! Between these towns! Is a merchant's faaaate~! I don' even kno-oooow, if I'm sellin' things todaa-aay!"

He was about twenty feet past, his voice horribly off-key (if there was a key, which Zelda was already doubting), when she stood up, "Ex- Excuse me!"

This time, the man's lines cut off in a squeal of fright, "-I gotta try~, cause otherwise I don't e-yeaaaahhh!"

The man, now facing her with both hands clutched over his heart, looked wide-eyed at Zelda. "I-I-I don' want no trouble! Just a humble merchant, barely scraping by!"

"Whoah, whoa," Zelda shouted, placatingly she hoped, "I'm not asking for trouble, either! I- you said you were a merchant, right?"

The small, short, swarthy man nodded, and, still stiff and wary in his posture, he straightened up a little and fixed his worn travel clothing. "Th- That's right. Bugut's my name."

"Zina," Zelda offered, reaching out a hand. She withdrew it quickly when he flinched. "I'm just interested in what you have. Alchemy ingredients, maybe...?"

She doubted he had much, and certainly no weapons, for the man was barely armed with a boot knife.

"O- Oh. W- Well, if you've got the Rupees or Trade... I do have a few things that an alchemist or a cook might want."

It took a few moments more to convince the man she wasn't a robber, but eventually the man showed her a ledger of his saleable inventory. She was right, it wasn't much. A single Staminoka Bass, a golden-shelled Energetic Rhino Beetle ('Been savin' that for Mr. Beedle, but I can sell if you want it... a pretty Rupee though, 'cause Mr. Beedle wants these pretty desperately for his weird collection.'), a few green-capped Stamella mushrooms, and some white-shelled, Bright-Eyed Crabs Bugut claimed to have caught himself from one of the highland lakes near Kakariko.

While the beetle was expensive, Zelda felt that Beedle- if Bugut's claim was true, and she had little reason to doubt it- she would more than make up for it later. Beedle, after all, might not buy as high from a competitor. But from an innocent traveler, he would offer a better deal... wouldn't he?

Zelda certainly hoped so. The bass she didn't need, having several prepared fish dishes and even more uncooked in her satchel, but the crabs, mushrooms, and beetle had to be hers.

Three hundred and thirty Rupees lighter, Zelda bade the much less twitchy, much happier, merchant farewell and continued on her way.

Thanks to the darkness and shining moon above, Zelda was able to spot several blue nightshade blossoms, for they shone like petalled stars against the backdrop of shadowed, dark cliffs. Around them, she found more herbs to pick too, and soon the princess' hands were stained green from the rich chlorophyll in the stems of both valuable varieties of flora.

The moon had risen high and bright, nearly full, so as the clouds that had dotted the sky passed while she picked herbs and flowers, the canyon through which the road wound became so well-lit Zelda wondered why she had worried. Surely, on a night where there was a new moon or heavy cloud-cover it would be treacherous and difficult to traverse even with the wide, well-traveled dirt road. She could twist her ankle on a wagon's rut, if nothing else.

But while it was not the equal of a sunny day by any means, the Princess found her eyes, always sharp and observant to begin with. adjusting well enough to pick out even fine details and colors that she had not expected.

It was enough to even reveal another outcropping of valuable ore, which a single bomb that shattered the soft quiet of the early night hours and sent several small animals scattering from the area, yielded a few clumps of raw silver and iron. Nothing exactly monetary, as to her knowledge Hyrule had no coin in its trade if it ever did. Still, both could be used for jewelry or tools or weapons, so she thought they might be of value to a smith or metalworker. Near to it, as she picked through the rubble, a strange, purple-bulbed blossom caught her eye, too. "What are you, aside from a pretty little flower, closed up for the night?" she murmured to it.

Of course, the plant did not respond, but Zelda quickly pulled up her Slate and held it close to analyze it. "Armoranth... medicinal... can't be chopped or crushed? Durable, flexible... used to coat armor or even clothing, adding temporary protection for soldiers heading into battle? That sounds most useful."

Indeed, as she poked and prodded, the young adventurer found she could not budge the bloom hardly at all. Not a single petal twitched, though the whole thing swung on its long, thin stalk when she tried. With a bemused grimace, Zelda eventually pulled out her boot knife and cut the stalk half way up, keeping just one of the three flowers to ensure the plant itself survived. "After all, it wouldn't do to strip you bare and never harvest you again, would it? If I come back in a few weeks, you might well have regrown."

The sky to the east lightened, first with a soft blue line and then a stronger, yellow-orange glow as she hiked up and east, eagerly crossing the canyon again and again as she spotted more herbs and even a few spices and wild peppers or beans to cook with. A fine shot just after dawn broke netted the princess a small handful of delicious, soft red meat from a young hare as well.

Though the climb was not particularly steep in most places, it was a constant uphill grind, and the princess felt like she had doubled or trebled the total distance about an hour after the sun rose and she paused to eat a quick breakfast.

Looking out over the valley of West Necluda from the north, sitting on a rock, Zelda was struck once more by the simple, wild beauty of the land she ruled, at least in theory. A part of her wondered if the ruins she could just see in the distance, far below now, were a result of the Calamity and its devastation, or if it had been abandoned and forgotten even before that. Too, the idle thought that perhaps the land itself was better without so much civilization upon it, leeching its resources, draining its rivers and damming others, or fishing the lakes until they were empty.

But she still could not leave things as they were. She knew too well that the Calamity, left unchecked for too much longer, would destroy more than just the last vestiges of her people. Even the beauty of the land would be ruined, the fish gone, the ores corrupted, and the trees burned away or twisted into dark mockeries of themselves.

Motivated thus, Zelda finished off her mushroom and venison skewers, took up yet another apple for the road, and washed it down with a long draught of water before she stood and stretched with both arms overhead, her back arched. "Oww... I'm really not used to pushing so hard," the princess murmured as she resumed a normal stance, then reached down to rub both the front and back of her thighs. "It burns, but at least it's the good kind. If there is a good kind. And it's not as bad yet as it was climbing Mount Hylia... maybe I'm returning to a decent shape?"

With the canyon dropped away on the right, down to Lake Siela's eastern side, Zelda kept her eyes on the panoramic vista as she kept climbing, and thus nearly missed something that, when she noticed it, made her freeze in her tracks.

A Korok, standing there right in plain sight, and no puzzle needed.

Only this Korok (it could be nothing else) was...

Slowly, she put a hand down to about her knee, palm down and fingers extended, then lfited it higher. Up past her waist, her chest, her head, and as far up as she could go. Still only about half of it's height. So it's... perhaps twelve, fifteen times taller than most of the other Koroks I've seen. Huh. Terrifying.

Yet, as she stared, the Korok whose full-leaf mask covered only what might be a mustache and beard on a human, and had big, bushy eyebrows formed of the same matter as the rest of its striped body aside from the tree-like top, looked back. "C- Can you s-see me? Shalaka!"

Zelda flinched at its first words, and actually yelped as it shouted. The Korok had leaned in quickly, bringing it from about twenty feet away to closer to fifteen with that movement alone. A satchel at its side, larger than hers but about the same in proportion to her own, she guessed, and of similar design, rested over its shoulder and on the opposite hip, too. "I... I can..."

"Shala-zah! Shala-kah," the creature sang, doing what might have been a little twirl on narrow, pointy feet but that made a nearby tree creak with the passage of its wind, "It's been almost a hundred years since anyone has been able to see me! No- longer! It was that funny guy with the sword, and- and- you!"

Zelda flinched again at the louder cry, "M- Me?"

The huge creature nodded vigorously. At least, she thought so, for the boughs of its upper, tree-like body shook and wavered, and its eyebrows- or whatever it was that looked so much like them- wiggled, too. "Yes, yes! Don't you remember me? I'm Hestu! I need your help!"

She could only frown, a bit sadly, but mostly confused, "I... I'm afraid I don't remember you, no. I... I don't remember much of anything. Do... do you really know me?"

The creature, Hestu she supposed, nodded again, "Yes, yes! You're Princess Zelda, you came with the funny guy! The one who pulled out the Sword that Seals the Darkness!"

Her eyes widened so much that she thought they might burst. "You mean... the Champion?"

"Yes, yes, him! He was really funny. Can you help me, Princess?"

She blinked, stalled by the change of subject and tone again, "I... I think so. What do you need help with? Can you tell me anything about... well, me? Or the one who pulled free the sword...?"

Now the creature, who seemed quite expressive despite not having much in the way of visible features on its face, seemed to droop. "No... not too much, I'm afraid. I was just a sprout when we Koroks saw you last. I barely remembered it, but I remember you! You have really pretty... uh... what's the word... hair!"

Zelda felt herself blush softly, "Er, th- Thank you, Hestu. I'm Zelda, I suppose. It's a pleasure to meet you again."

Behind the leaf, she thought it was grinning as she gave a little bow, "You too, Princess! Anyway, what I need help with... see, I'm playing a game with my little brothers and sisters, but while I was searching for them, some monsters stole my beloved maracas!"

"Oh. Marathas...? What are those?"

"Maracas," the giant Korok corrected eagerly, "You shake-shakala-shake them, and they make muse-akala-usic! I need them back!"

"I see... well, far be it from me to turn down a request from someone... especially if monsters are involved. Could you not get them yourself? You are rather large..."

Again the creature drooped, "No... Hestu isn't much of a fighter-shaka... he is big but not fast. Monsters would rip him apart!"

"I suppose that's so... well, I'll do what I can. Do you know where these monsters are?"

"Oh, awesome-shakala! Yes, you see up there?"

She followed the pointing, branch-like finger that extended from Hestu's stubby arm to a narrow cleft in the rocks several hundred yards further up the road, after it had resumed being a canyon once more and turned more to the north. "Up there, they live in a little camp up there. If it was just one, maybe two, I could have done it, but there are so many... They would chop Hestu up!"

Zelda frowned, then glanced down at her Slate. "I might be able to thin their numbers before I attack directly. Maybe even take them all out by surprise, if I'm lucky. I'll do what I can. These Maracas... they aren't particularly fragile, are they?"

She saw the eyebrow-puffs spread out in alarm, "What? N- Well... no. Not really. They are magical Maracas, after all-akkala!"

"Good. I'll return as soon as I can, then."

"Yay! Good luck, Princess!"

She sent Hestu a grin, firmed up her resolve, and turned back to the road.

A most strange- and large- Korok... but... wait. His name is familiar...

It wasn't until she was nearly at the cleft that she remembered, the very first Korok she had met had mentioned the name. "Give the seed to big brother Hestu," she thought she remembered it saying.

Almost unconsciously, the princess found herself fingering the small side-pouch in her satchel that held her small collection of Korok Seeds.

Then she shook herself, and returned her mind to the task at hand. "Lots of monsters, I should be careful. Perhaps some scouting is in order... stealth and guile, as usual."

She could smell burning meat and hear guttural conversation and laughter as she passed the cleft, which was little more than a grass-filled hole about three feet wide between two huge masses of stone on the mountainside that her map, she knew, had named Bonooru's Stand. Another stone had fallen over it, forming a sort of awning over the gap, and more grass grew atop its flat upper side. Carefully, wary of being spotted, Zelda sank into a crouch and slunk past crevice, her eyes as much on it as her destination. A short way further on, she had spotted a small ledge that might be suitable for observation. Or, if nothing else, a bit of a height advantage as she lobbed a few bombs into their camp.

She didn't see a large camp when the princess reached the narrow, steeply sloped ledge, but there were at least eight bedrolls. Enough to pose a significant threat, if all of its members were there. Perhaps some have gone hunting, she thought to herself, because I only see three there now. It's unfortunate they are all blue, though. The crates there won't provide much cover... They have one of those sealed chests on a tower, too. And look... one spear, one club, and one with a club and shield. Not particularly well, armed, all are basic Bokoblin sticks, mostly.

So even if they are blue I could probably handle them one at a time, maybe two. They are just too fast and strong to think about doing it directly. Especially since I don't know if or when a patrol or hunting party might be back.

Bombs it is.

She truly lucked out. The first round one, hurled as far as she could, was carried further still by the wind. It landed further than she had dared hope, right in the middle of the trio of laughing monsters. They were scattered and thrown about by the blast, and if not terribly hurt, each of the three was disoriented and a bit stunned, clearly taken completely by surprise.

A second square one, thrown right afterward, didn't move far enough since she hadn't put as much effort into it, but it threw the nearest further still, so close it teetered for a moment on the edge of the cliff that would, eventually, land at the northern edge of Lake Siela's east side before it pulled itself to its feet and scrambled back into the camp with a terrified look behind it.

I can use that, she thought harshly, but also in a practical way. None of the three had any maracas on them, or at least nothing she recognized as a musical instrument, much less a shaken one. And if they were suited for a creature Hestu's size, they would have to be large indeed, she reasoned.

That being the case... goodbye, have a nice trip!

The third, fourth, and fifth bombs, as fast as they could recharge for the first two of those, sent two of the Bokoblins straight over the edge, wailing with bruised, broken, and battered bodies as they sailed out and down into a long fall and a deadly impact with the unforgiving water far below. The last threw the spear-wielder, the slowest to recover, into the tree between her and their stack of crates, where its back cracked painfully. Still, somehow it got up despite the bruising injuries, and looked about quickly.

Too soon, it spotted her, and the spear, little more than a sharp branch, was hiked into the air as its grip shifted.

Then, overhand, it hurled the thing like a javelin.

Zelda's whole body tensed as she prepared to throw herself against the sloped side of the mountain, downward, or even down the slope to her right, and pray that she would be alright after rolling ten or twenty feet down to the slab that covered the crevice.

Only for the branch, thrown as hard as the blue Bokoblin's impressive strength could manage, curved wildly as its uneven body caught the air badly. It started spinning, and cracked against the rocks ten feet below Zelda, all momentum gone.

It slid down, bent and damaged but mostly intact, only to catch on a pair of stones before it returned to more level ground. Already, the Bokoblin below, hissing and snarling in fury, was picking up a rock to try again, yanking it from a pile that had been prepared for just that purpose.

Her last bomb detonated just between its legs, sending one stump flying left and most of its ruined body to the right once more, a moment before the rock was loosed. Caught by the explosion too, the stone rose high, far above Zelda's head, then came hurtling down to scatter the coals and embers of the fire.

Grass lit and smoldered, and Zelda's eyes widened. "Damn," she hissed, and threw herself into motion. Scrambling and sliding down on her boots, Zelda hastened into the camp itself. The meat over the fire was probably worthless, already too burned and blown to pieces by several bombs. But the fire was still spreading, which cut her time short if she was to search the crates for Hestu's missing instruments. And recover the chest, of course.

Bokoblin guts, horns, arrows, a couple more almost inedible apples that she discarded, rotten fish, and a few nuts and acorns were all she found in the crates. By the time she finished checking them, the fire had caught on much of the surrounding grass, and Zelda was starting to panic. There were no maracas in sight, only the damaged, ruined remains of what the Bokoblins had stolen and not eaten. Even if much of it was gnawed on.

Desperate now, she hurried for the chest on its tower, holding her arm up to shield her eyes from floating embers and holding her breath against the now scorching, acrid air. Finally, she thought, snatching up the two objects in the chest. She didn't know for sure that's what they were of course, there simply wasn't time to guess. But the two items, identical as far as she could tell at a quick glance, were painted bright red with circles or eye designs on four sides of the large, bulb-like ends, with massive handles that took her entire hand to simply close around the narrowest part. I sure hope these are the ones.

Clutching them to her chest, Zelda dashed back around the fire, skirting the same ledge she had thrown two of the blue monsters from with her explosives, and then back toward the cleft. In her haste, she did not see the lone red Bokoblin watching her with narrowed eyes from a far higher perch than she had reached.

A short time later, coughing from inhaled smoke, Zelda stopped in front of the giant Korok again, the two bright red instruments clutched in her arms.

"Shala-kala!," Hestu shouted, his voice high but booming, "Those are- Those are my Maracas! Please, giiiive them to meeeeeeee!"

Laughing, Zelda complied, "Here you go, Hestu."

At once, the creature launched into a dance, shaking the maracas madly but in what, to her, seemed like a good, steady rhythm. There was just one problem.

Hestu noticed the problem a moment later, and he brought both to his face and stared, then drooped once more. "Oh, noes... the Korok Seeds from inside are gone! How am I supposed to make magical music and dance now? Shoko..."

"Korok Seeds, you say," Zelda said, her voice coy, "Is that all it takes to cheer you up?"

Slowly, the huge head rose until Hestu was looking at her with what Zelda chose to interpret as amazement. "You... you have some Korok Seeds? You've found my brothers and sisters?"

"Some," she agreed, smiling, and reached into that pocket of her satchel and pulled out two seeds.

As she held out her collection, Hestu's mouth finally became visible as it dropped below the level of his leaf-beard, which was larger than Zelda's whole torso. "F- For really-real-akala? I can have them?"

Zelda nodded.

"Sho! Sho-Shakala! Hestu can expand your inventory if you give them to me, too! Your bag is magic, right?"

She smiled, glancing down at her father's gift as he put a seed in each of his maracas, "It is, yes- how did you... you have one like it?"

Hestu's branches creaked as he nodded quickly again, "I do! I can add to your weapon strings, or your bow strings, or even your shield harness! So you can carry more of any of those! I'm not strong enough to expand the enchantment on the main pouch, though... only my dad can do that."

Green eyes widened at the idea of an even larger Korok, "W- Well... I could use more of all three," she admitted. "I'm fairly efficient with a bow, so they don't break too often, and I rarely have to use shields, so they last a while too. Still, I think... can I get an extra braid for each of them, and the rest for my other weapons? I'm not so good in hand to hand, but that makes my weapons break faster, it seems."

"Hestu can do that," the Korok agreed eagerly, "Shaky... sha-kah! Wah-ba-naa haa, whoop, dee-haa!"

His song and dance had the princess grinning madly, and she clapped as the short performance ended. Her smile widened further when the Korok pulled, from behind his mask, a woven, braided strip of leather... and another, and another. "Here," Hestu chirped happily, his fingers moving deftly, weaving and knotting. "A shield-harness, just like the one you have already, Princess!"

"Wow," she gasped, holding out her hands tentatively. In fact, it did look very much like the quick-draw harness on her back, the one that currently held four shields. There was, however, only one loop on this one. "And it works the same way...?"

Hestu danced and twirled again, his maracas shaking with the influx of seeds she had given him, "Yes, yes! I can make that magic, easy!"

"Amazing... and the bow, and other weapons...?"

It took perhaps thirty or forty minutes, and the great Korok was winded and panting, his whole body making great wooshes of air as he inhaled and exhaled past Zelda, when he helped her attach the last braided loop to her already existing bands of leather. From twenty-six total Korok Seeds, she still had twenty-four when Hestu groaned, "Sorry, I have to go, Princess. But I still need to get more of my Korok Seeds back, so bring me some in the Korok Forest when you get some more, okay?"

"I have mor," she tried to say, but, with a great gust of whirling wind and leaves, Hestu was gone.

"Silly Korok," she murmured, smiling fondly, "He really was quite good... and that enchantment work! So fast!"


Zelda was still smiling as the memories of the friendly, humongous forest spirit played through her mind an hour and more later. The steep climb had started to level out as the road turned gently back toward the northwest, still winding between the Pillars of Levia and Bonooru's Stand. Huge jumbles of rocks littered either side of the somewhat wider canyon, and birds chirped as she passed several small stands of trees, too.

It was a pastoral, gentle, quiet scene, and one that had lulled Zelda into a sense of safety and calm.

Perhaps it was not a surprise that it was in that moment of distraction, of relaxation, that she was ambushed.

The first Bokoblin, a blue one, stepped out calmly from behind a bunch of rocks on her left, a sword and steel-rimmed shield on its arms, grinning insanely at her. A moment later, two orange came from behind a large bush on the right.

Zelda drew her weapons as the blue spoke, its voice deep and guttural, "You kill camp. Kill Bronto's brothers. Snivfle see you."

"Snivfle see, Snivfle see," one of the orange ones cackled, pointing, "Snivfle see lady!"

The princess tried to assume a ready stance, her spear rising to her waist as she stepped back, prepared for their charge as best she could be.

Only to bump into something else, right behind her.

There was a momentary flash of white and red, and then everything went dark.

It was night when Zelda came to, her head splitting open with pounding pain, only exacerbated by the rhythmic thumping of feet on earth, and the cackle of two or more Bokoblins.

Dazed, her head swimming with pain and vertigo, Zelda cracked open her eyes and slowly looked around.

Her situation was not good.

She was bound, hand and feet, around a long pole of the same type the Bokoblins might use for a spear, while two of them carried her on their shoulders. She bounced and swung painfully, her entire weight on the coarse, rough ropes that bound her, but Zelda did not dare whimper, lest she call attention to herself.

Then a snort from nearby caught her attention, and the tempo of the feet changed slightly, "Bronto knows lady awake now. Stupid lady. You be Boko-mate soon, heh... smarter then, used for making Bokoblins. Bronto get much reward from Chief Death."

Zelda felt her face pale even as her eyes flew open. Above her, swaying in her vision along with what the blow to her head had done, the same blue Bokoblin walked beside her, tapping his sword on one shoulder. The other moved in his loincloth, and as he withdrew the hand, she caught the odor of sweat and... something far more foul.

He, it, grinned cruelly at her grimace of disgust, then slapped his hand over her mouth. "Smell it, lady, taste it... you gonna have more, soon. Chief Death gives orders. The one who catches you gets you. You gonna give Bronto lots and lots of Boko-brothers."

Oh... Oh, no, Zelda thought desperately. Her satchel was gone, and with it her weapons. Her Slate, too. A glance was all it took to see that even her belt-knife was gone. She drew in a breath to cry for help, and realized that she was gagged, too. A strip of leather around her jaw held cloth, presumably one of her own pieces of clothing, stuffed in her mouth.

Bronto's cruel grin widened as he licked wide lips with a long, rough tongue, then rested a hand on Zelda's breast. He gave it a rough squeeze, and she felt her hope fall away.

Was this her lot, then?

A failed princess, heir to nothing...

A would-be hero and savior, the land's last, desperate hope...

Reduced to breeding stock for a base creature like this... Bronto?

She hated it, but even as Zelda's hands twisted furiously in the bindings that held her to the spear, she knew it was useless. Bronto did too, for he laughed, and laughed.

He was still laughing as the sword left his grip, though the sound cut off as his head began to spin, separated from his shoulders.

The princess gasped in shock, as did the Bokoblin at her feet. The blade flashed in the night again, and she yelped as that half of her pole was dropped unceremoniously. "Hey, what the-" the front Bokoblin growled, and then she had the breath forced from her lungs as her upper half fell, too. "You! You bastard, what did you do- guh... gh... rrrk..."

Somehow, the spray of blood from the third blow only traced a dripping line across her dirty thighs. More cries of surprise, alarm, and pain rang through the night, and the sounds of combat, short, brutal, and fierce, echoed through the mountains that surrounded them. Her eyes had not adjusted, she still was not seeing straight, and the jarring drops had not helped. Her head swam again.

Then, after an interminable wait, her wrists and ankles both bleeding as she strained against her ropes, another shape materialized out of the shadows and night.

Blue, scaled skin made her recoil in fear and horror- was there no end to her terror?

But for some reason, the Bokoblin's bloody blade moved carefully in one hand toward the ropes, the other hand palm out and open, empty, toward her. "Ssh," the Bokoblin hissed, "blue fire lady stays quiet, or we all dies."

She whimpered, curling in on herself in a desperate bid to protect herself from this fiend. Her rescuer had been cut down by it, and now, now she...

Then her hands were free.

A moment later, as she stared, her legs were, too.

"Come," the Bokoblin hissed, "Come, you stuff here, lady."

She stared, then rolled to her hands and knees, ready to bolt, then went stock still.

All around her, there were dead Bokoblins. Nine in all. The one who had cut her free was bleeding profusely from several wounds, the sword in its hand shaking and trembling as he staggered forward from her position. One finger of the three on its left hand rose, "Stuff... there, lady. You gets it, and runs that way."

It pointed down the valley they were in, looking back at her with watery eyes. "You runs that way, find road. Then that way," it pointed to its right, "and you find white-hair village. White-hair helps you."

Then the Bokoblin staggered, and fell to a knee.

Something about him triggered something in Zelda's mind, and she gasped, "B- Bubmin?"

The Bokoblin nodded weakly, and fell to his side, the sword tumbling from its bloody grasp. "Bubmin help... lady..."

"But you're blue," she protested, and scrambled toward him, as if somehow changing its color would make this Bokoblin different in another way, or perhaps make its injuries unreal.

"Bubmin... mate... grow stronger," he whimpered, and for the first time she saw a Bokoblin smile in a way that was not cruel, "Bubmin mate happy... eat meat... save... save blue-fire lady... go get stuff... Bubmin... Bubmin fine..."

"But you're not fine," she whimpered, her hands waving uselessly over the monstrous, stout body of a creature that might have been a mortal enemy if she had not shown the slightest bit of mercy, "you're dying!"

"That... tha' okay," Bubmin whispered hoarsely, and a burble of blood came with the last syllable, "Blood Moon... soon... Bubmin feel. Bubmin ha- happy... helped..."

Slowly, far too fast all the same, the orange glow in her rescuer's eyes faded and went dim. His body slackened over an even greater time, and Zelda did not realize she was crying over a dead Bokoblin, a Bokoblin who, like his peers, did not disappear into smoke, until the sky was lightening in the east once more.

Numbly, then, her body abused by injury, being bound and carried roughly for hours, dropped, and then sitting, kneeling, for hours more, Zelda pushed herself to her feet then, and picked up the knicked, scarred blade.

The edge was worn, the soldier's weapon nearly degraded to worthlessness, but Zelda still stabbed down, piercing Bubmin's silent chest.

The body didn't twitch or move, nor did it vanish.

Slowly, though, she could see barely-visible wisps of shadow and violet, sickly light rising from each of the bodies, and then Bubmin's too.

They were vanishing, then... far slower than normal. Was it because they were killed by one of their own?

Zelda did not know.

She didn't stay around to harvest from their bodies, either. Instead, the princess, emotionally wrung out, exhausted, and aching in every place she could think of, staggered for the bag and re-equipped herself once more.

It took her nearly three hours to reach the road once more, a little north of where she had been attacked she thought, by climbing down a cliff near a stepped waterfall.

With numb fingers, too, she gathered a trio of nutrient-packed Endura shrooms from the pool at the waterfall's base after climbing down, and two of the green Stamella variety nearby, and gained another pair of Korok seeds from a simple magnetic block puzzle and from a ledge a couple of miles up the canyon.

Finally, her body in more pain than she had felt in weeks and her heart even worse, Zelda spied what could only be the gates of the ancient Sheikah village, Kakariko.