A/N:
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Ch. 25
The Little Twin
While Magheren grumbled and complained about reckless young ladies who 'had no business getting anywhere near those bells of doom' for the entire two hours it took her to stitch up and bandage Zelda's wound, she was quite grateful for the twenty rupees Zelda had left her as payment, both for the current treatment and her care while Zelda had fallen ill.
The princess knew it was more than most would have, or could have, paid for the same. It also left her nearly penniless, almost as poor as she had been before the started trading with the few people she met on the roads after leaving the Plateau. But she still carried more wealth in terms of materials, crafting supplies, gemstones, ore, and even alchemical ingredients than she had held at any point thus far in Rupees. At least, that she could remember. Perhaps, as an actual princess in practice rather than in name only, she had once carried huge sums. She would probably never know, now.
After her Sheikah armor was back on and stitched back up as well thanks to the healer and innkeeper's steady hand, Zelda stopped only to buy the few arrows Canlen, the local fletcher, had made to restock his own supply before she got back on the road.
The first hour of her journey was simple, though not as familiar as she would have liked. Her golden hair swayed slightly in a rare breeze coming down off the Dueling Peaks blowing eastward as she moved down the road to the south. Though there were many tracks and the terrain itself was vaguely familiar, it was easiest simply to follow the road.
After all, the last time she had been near the same location, Zelda had been feverish, suffering from some kind of illness or infection, possibly poisoned, injured, and very tired... all during a ferocious storm. Still, she passed by the northern face of the gorge between the two peaks shortly after midmorning, and reached the first true sign of habitation after leaving the Stables a little over an hour later. Her Sheikah Slate marked the location as the Big Twin Bridge, a ramshackle but wide wooden construction that had clearly seen better days. Some of the timbers were covered in moss, aged and worn from the passing of, she supposed, a hundred years. Others were newer, but rougher-cut, thin, and haphazardly placed to cover gaps. What once might have been a sturdy railing on either side was now limited to just one twenty-foot span in the middle of the east side and a few posts scattered throughout the rest. Crumbled brick from what was probably an old watch tower lay strewn amid the sandbar and rocks on the eastern side as well, so that half the bridge moved over stone and smooth-worn gravel instead of actual water, though even those were still wet at the surface. A few logs, branches and even one whole tree, had come to rest against the bridge and spit, forming a crude, nature-made dam of sorts that was barely enough to widen the river on one end by a few feet.
Beyond it, on the right, Zelda could see the same distant wooden watchtower that rose over the east side of the gorge on the south bank, and where the road there continued both east and west, back between the great peaks. A small wood stretched on her left along the northern bank of the Squabble, and a larger one to the south, where she could just make out another low bridge crossing a narrower river on the left side of the Big Twin Bridge.
More immediately, there was a traveler, the first she had seen all morning, coming from the east and turning north onto the bridge as she hit its other end.
A familiar one, though not a face Zelda knew all that well. The dusky brown skin thick, curly black hair marked the man, even at a distance, as Mezer the hunter. Zelda smiled and waved. He waved back, and shouted something she couldn't quite make out due to the distance.
It was apparently bad timing, for his call had been much more audible to something close by.
Zelda shouted out a warning as the blue flotation sac of an Octorok expanded, rising into the air just behind the man on his left, her right. "Mezer, look out!"
She gestured, pointed wildly and broke into a run, while she struggled to draw and string her own hunting bow at a dead sprint. That action alone might have saved his life, for the hunter didn't seem to hear her warning either.
The movement did, and he crouched, one hand moving to pull his shield off his own pack, the other to the handle of his blade.
The rock the Octorok had spat might well have hit him in the ribs if he hadn't stopped moving. As it was, it smashed into the side of the hunter's short sword, and snapped the blade clean in half. Thirty, forty feet closer, Zelda could more easily hear the yelp of surprise and shock as Mezer stared at his ruined weapon. "Move," she shouted again, still running. There, the loop was on one side of the bow, now she only had to somehow pull down the arc with a wounded shoulder, and she would-
The next stone hit Mezer's backpack, and sent him sprawling against the wooden planks. He bounced and rolled twice before coming to a halt, but this time at least the hunter seemed to have realized he was under attack, and not from Zelda herself. He came up on his knees, the sword clattered onto the mix of ancient and newer wood. His own bow was caught, the first few tugs not enough to free it from its straps. It was unstrung too, and he had little cover. "Stay down," Zelda shouted, "just dodge- I'll take care of it!"
At least the Octorok is focused on him, not me. I should be able to get a clean shot this time.
Eighty feet away, Zelda skidded to a halt, her sandals scuffing on the wood quietly enough she couldn't hear it over the passing of the river below the bridge, and the noise both the monster and human were making. That was good, it would make it harder for her to be spotted. The Octorok was not the only one who could make a sneak attack from range, after all.
It was much easier to string her bow from a crouch than sprinting, and Zelda had it done a moment later. A half-second after that, one of her arrows hit the knock. Another half-second was all it took to sight and draw.
Then she had to wait, three full seconds, for the Octorok to fall back into the water, gobble up another stone, and then rise into the air for a clean shot of its own.
Mezer was still struggling with his own bow, which was at least free now but completely unstrung, while he kept one eye on the monster.
Stationary: a perfect target for the Octorok. Zelda saw a blur in the water, saw the first tendrils of its sensory organs, the ones that resembled grass, rise out of the river, and exhaled. Half-way done, she loosed, trusting... hoping...
The Octorok's mouth stretched wide, the bulbous sacs inside its mostly empty body at full capacity with whatever allowed them to float and expel heavy stones with such lethal force. It was about to fire, and she wouldn't be able to-
It exploded with a bang as her arrow sank deeply into the pressurized body. Bits of blue plant-flesh and green stalks flew everywhere in a wide radius, and the stone itself moved laterally only about five feet before it plunked back down into the water.
Zelda exhaled the rest of the way and stood up, but carefully looked around before she lowered her weapon or approached the hunter. She could see no signs of grass in the water, or Bokoblins, or anything else.
Slowly, she relaxed, but left her weapon strung this time as she fixed it to her straps and started walking again, this time with more purpose.
"Fucking stupid," Mezer was grumbling as he finally finished stringing his bow, "Monsters get worse every day, you dumb idiot, why would you think it's safe now just because it was yesterday?"
"Hey, don't beat yourself up over it too much," Zelda told him in lieu of greeting, "one caught me by surprise just the other day, too. I actually ended up having to take that one out up close."
Mezer shuddered as he looked up at her, "I hate those slimy things. The rocks are worse, though. I still can't believe I just walked right by one, though."
"It was pretty silly, I'll admit," Zelda agreed, giving what she hoped was a disarming grin. "I don't suppose you were distracted by something? Like me?"
"Well, your hair is pretty distinctive," Mezer chuckled, "I was kind of hoping it was you." As soon as he stopped talking, Zelda saw his eyes trail down her body as his face darkened with a bit of purple. "That's... that's a nice, um, outfit. It, er, w- well, it s-suits y-you."
Zelda felt her own face heat. This was half of what she had been afraid of. The Sheikah armor truly was a marvel of craftsmanship, but the way it hugged her body was... well, essentially skin-tight. Aside from a little bit of reinforcement in the groin and across the chest, anyone could make out the details of her figure. "Sorry," she apologized, "It's just... well, it was the best armor they had, and I..."
"Oh, no need to 'pologize to me," Mezer chuckled, still blushing, though he at least had the decency to look away now, "I apologize for starin'. It's just, n- not often I see a beauty like you, dressed like... well, that. Ever since I left Lurelin, people're much more... modest. Most, anyway."
"I see. Well, uh... thanks for that. The help, I mean. Not sure I'd have been able to take more than a hit or two, and I've only a few arrows left- it was a productive trip. Need any meat, while I'm at it? Most isn't preserved yet, so it'll need salting."
Zelda cocked her head as she considered. She was very poor, but good-quality meat prepared by an actual hunter with skill in field dressing was... well, better than anything she would be able to do. She was learning, remembering, a little bit more every day, but she was no expert woodswoman. Or hunter. "I suppose, but I'm running low on funds. I've got about... eighteen Rupees I can spare."
"Ah. Well... let me get you a slab of this venison, then. It'll hold you... 'bout two pounds worth sound good?"
"Sure," Zelda agreed.
Ten minutes later, she had that added to her satchel and Mezer reluctantly carried on, but she felt his eyes on her every thirty seconds or so until he had passed out of sight, well beyond the bridge.
She stayed there a little while longer, though. There were fish in the river, and a slab of stone that a few key blows struck under Stasis might have some use.
The slab she dealt with first, aiming carefully and precisely with her sledgehammer while the thing was locked in time. It jerked and flew suddenly shortly after she finished, skated across the water with a bound and spray, then sank into the deepest parts of the Squabble about eighty feet beyond where it had been lodged against the sandbar's furthest tip. Underneath it, half-buried in gravel and river stones in a rainbow of pastel colors, a wooden chest had been lodged, now half-crushed too. Inside was a small smattering of Rupees, some waterlogged papers that all-but disintegrated the moment Zelda touched them, and a cut, pearlescent opal about as large as her thumb nail. She grinned as she took it, but shifting her hand through the rest of the area revealed nothing but waterlogged splinters and dirt, which was swiftly carried away by even the gentle current that made its way through the spit of rocks.
As she made her way back up to the bridge itself, a pair of blue bombs netting her a pair of Staminoka Bass from the gentle flow the dam had created, Zelda found further evidence that the brick-work had indeed once at least been a watch hut if not a tower. Three rusted shields, and two pitted iron swords were embedded in the crumbled rocks and bricks. She left them where they were as a memorial to the fallen more than anything else, before she moved further south.
She climbed the long way up the watch tower soon after reaching the other side of the long bridge, and was rewarded with a cache of a few apples and arrows. They were of decent make, but the markings on them suggested to her that the supplies were created and kept by the nearby Bokoblin camp which, thankfully, lay empty still. She didn't feel bad about taking them, at any rate, and snacked on both of the red-skinned fruits as she moved further south and east.
With more bass, Armored Carp, and a pair of Stamella Shrooms added to her stores, Zelda was already feeling better about her relatively poor state. She could and likely would be able to make quite a lot more money just selling excess foodstuffs if necessary. Not that many people dared travel the wilds, and fewer still would go off the beaten path as she seemed to do quite a lot.
It made for more danger, yes, but also quite a fast way to make money.
The princess turned her eyes to the skies as an unexpected shower caught her. The day itself was still sunny for the most part, but one heavier cloud was causing a small rain. As the water ran down her face, soaking her clothes, the young woman felt a bit of gratitude for it: she had gotten sweaty, and it was almost as good as a bath. Even if her clothes would chafe a little while they dried. The Sheikah, at least, knew how to make that a little less unpleasant.
She found the sign a few minutes later: Big Twin Bridge, Little Twin Bridge .
Then Zelda stared for a good thirty seconds, wondering just what kind of idiots Prissen and Domidak were. How long had they been hunting that clue down...? Months?
Yet not five miles from where they camped, a sign pointed out the last bit they would need for their 'secret knowledge' to make sense. "Stupid," she muttered, then turned her eyes to the south.
Mount Rozudo loomed due south-east, while a high ridge of sharp bluffs separated it and the equally high Dueling Peaks. Hickaly Woods were nestled between them, and the smaller river she had seen from a distance was now less than a thousand yards away. The bridge that crossed it was in similar disrepair, but Zelda did not follow the path across it just yet.
Brigo and Giro had both mentioned the bears that frequented the Hickaly, so Zelda would preer not to explore it, especially as the weather turned foul and the day wore on. Bears would not, so far as she understood, worry overmuch about a bit of raid, and were as often nocturnal as diurnal.
She had a fair bit of energy left, thanks to the enhanced stamina the Goddess Hylia had blessed her with, but Zelda still did not want to wander around the forest all night, either.
The rock-strewn, flower-riddled meadow that separated the bluffs and foothills from the Little Twin River was a pleasant-smelling hike, and even in the wind and light rain bees buzzed about her.
Lit by moonlight a couple of hours later, Zelda started climbing the rocks as the grass was left behind, rising up a twenty-five foot bluff where a short waterfall fell downward.
Beyond that, she actually crossed the river via glider to gather up a few moonlight-shining Silent Mushrooms, but gathered up a Bladed Rhino Beetle and a Hearty Radish as well. She thought about using Cryonis to cross the river once more, but decided against it. The path there ended soon after, so that the western bank of the Little Twin was more or less sheer cliffs. Even passing by a slumbering bear didn't make Zelda any more eager for that long, long climb.
Of course, that was when her Sheikah Slate started giving off a distinctive ping, one she was growing very familiar with. "A Shrine? Here?"
It took her but a few moments to triangulate the location: Inside the very cliffs she would have had to go hand-over-hand as she crossed. Eventually, nearly an hour later, the princess figured out how the Shrine, which she had not yet seen, was to be accessed.
It was simple enough, but only for someone either very observant (like herself, she thought with an amused grin, but not so much like Mezer), or with a Slate to point out that it was close.
Cleverly disguised stones just above the waterline on the west bank had been held in place by thin mortar. Thin enough mortar that a single explosive would likely get rid of the whole thing, while the sturdier rocks of the cliff itself would be undamaged.
The princess puzzled out a solution easily enough, though. Cryonis would make a platform for her to stand on. Then a simple thrown bomb, perhaps two, and she would hopefully have a cleared path. The sonic charges did seem to be rather good at breaking apart loose rock and mud, after all.
It truly was as simple as that. Less than five minutes later, she was on the floor of the Toto Sah Shrine.
To you who sets foot in this shrine... I am Toto Sah. I grant you this Trial in the name of the Goddess Hylia: The Toto Sah Apparatus.
"Oh Hylia," she exhaled, her emerald eyes wide in admiration.
It was deceptively simple: A walkway, a stairway to the right, a strange, many-sided shape, and a platform on the right with, presumably, a treasure while the left, furthest away from her current position, held the Sage.
But she could tell at once it was not so.
The space was massive, huge in the extreme, a vast, square column the size of a small castle. It stretched up some nine hundred feet, easily a thousand on each side, and down into the dark depths of the earth. But that was only in the macro.
Each section of the three distinct ones Zelda could see held a strange thing she had not seen before, each at the start. The lower half resembled the pedestals in which she could insert the Sheikah Slate, or hold it over to enter the Shrines themselves. The upper half however was quite different. They ended in a spindle that spun horizontally, holding a half-crescent. At each top of that was a gear-shaped circle, and at the center of the same shape was a glowing orange-red ring that moved on a different axis. Inside that was another off-axis plate, this one a disc rather than ring. All three axis moved separately from each other, in an almost hypnotic way. Gyroscope, the depths of the princess' mind supplied, a long-forgotten word for a long-forgotten concept.
As she passed beneath a wide arch on the floating platform, the adventurer observed as the pedestal ahead of her lit up in familiar ways as well. She unclipped the Slate, and held it over the flat panel at the front of the device.
The screen lit up at once, familiar blue letters forming words.
Apparatus engaged.
As it did, the orange glow of the gyroscope shifted to blue. Zelda flinched, and the minute motion that transferred to her hand made something else happen, too: The three stone blocks held vertically, suspended in the air between her own platform and the next twitched.
She grinned. This was easy enough.
Of course, it wasn't as easy as she had hoped. Getting the short, three-block bridge- fifteen feet long- in place was, indeed, easy. Getting it lined up perfectly so she could walk across with no danger was less so.
In the end, Zelda huffed and settled for 'good enough'. It was, of course, at that exact moment she noticed the orange glow of a chest. One conveniently attached to the side of the bridge she wanted to cross.
She looked up at the still-spinning gyroscope. It had three axis.
Could it be that simple...? The blocks had moved in all sorts of ways as she had turned the Slate in her hand.
After that, it was simple enough to spin the bridge upside-down, so the walkway was facing downward now instead of on its side, and release the Gyro from the Slate's control.
With it set in place, held just as firmly as it had been for untold centuries, Zelda hesitated only a moment before stepping onto the gray stone.
Inside the chest, she found a treasure worth the work: A Sheikah-crafted shield, much like- in fact identical to, as far as she could tell- the one she already had. Zelda let the worn, reinforced Bokoblin-made shield fall into the dark depths as she added the newer, much superior, treasure to her collection instead.
The second Gyro controlled the stairs she had seen. The first set, anyway. It was broken into three sections, the middle of which was mounted on a rail so that it slid back and forth. Somehow, despite being disparate parts, the Apparatus controlled each section together. Still, she was a smart woman and it was not difficult to get the center section to slide into place, and gently spin the stairs to make a climbable space.
It was even a relatively simple hop between sections.
The third and final control Apparatus stood where she had first suspected a chest, far above and to the right of where she had entered the Shrine.
It controlled the many-sided shape, of course. The block was huge, fifty or sixty feet across. It was hard to tell, given the odd shape. Vaguely diamond-shaped, each side had strange knobs almost like a child's puzzle that fit together only a certain way. One end had a stair on the same kind of railing as the first, but opposite and beneath that as Zelda gave the shape an exploratory spin, she could see two torches- burning smokelessly with actual flame regardless of the angle- that flanked a second chest. It was not that unheard of for there to be more than one in a single Shrine, but it was still surprising enough her eyebrows rose.
A little more turning as she figured out how to get to the thing explained why, too: through the gap she could see the Sage's shield glowing brightly... but in between them was a locked gate.
"Which means the chest there holds a key," she whispered to herself.
It was still not that difficult, almost as if this Shrine was training for another, more challenging one later on. That, she supposed, was in fact very likely the case.
With the key safely in hand, it was a matter of just moments to spin the oddly-shaped block back into place, the longest section forming a zig-zag path from her location to the Sage itself.
While the princess was grateful for the Spirit Orb, it was the painful itch of the wound in her shoulder vanishing that she was most happy with as she stepped back out into the world a little while later. "No more burning, no more itchy poultice," she muttered, as she lowered the stretchy material around her collar just enough to jam one hand in and rip the poultice off her shoulder. It was tossed in the river, and, despite being near midnight now, Zelda kept moving.
There was no way she could sleep after a Shrine- it was just like waking from a full night's sleep, on top of the actual healing.
No... this seemed like a good time to make a climb.
After all, from here she could see the rest of what the twins had been talking about. The Little Twin River began at the base of a colossally high ribbon of water, a cascading torrent that rose hundreds of feet in the air. Even from here, her sharp eyes could pick out a cave near the top. It seemed highly likely a bandit-king would hide valuable treasures in a place so hard to reach, so hard to even see, that no one would ever think to look there. Those that would, doubtless would reconsider after realizing the climb that awaited them.
But she was not so weak as she had been after waking up. Zelda felt confident.
Her old strength, perhaps, was not quite back. But the Goddess had made her almost supernaturally healthy and strong, at least compared to a normal woman of her build.
And if worst came to worst... Cryonis on the waterfall itself would provide a safe, if cold, place to take a breather.
Yes... it was time to claim some ancient treasures that weren't placed by the Sheikah.
A bandit-king's treasure would be a good place to start.
