Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story.
Weiss's shriek echoed all over Kakariko, startling everyone who was going about their day.
"Weiss!" Teba reached out to her but she kept screaming.
At that moment, Winter came running in and put her hands on her shoulder. "Weiss! It's me! Weiss!" She pulled her into a hug as Weiss wrapped her arms around Winter and buried her face into her chest, her screams replaced with sobs the moment Winter hugged her.
"What happened down there…?" Winter asked, rubbing her back as Zwei jumped up on the bed and whined while Revali landed on the bedside. "Deep breaths…"
"It… it was horrible…" Weiss whimpered. "I was dragged down into the depths where… where I met Salem… she…"
She trembled.
"I thought I could take her… but she… she had her way with me… and then she brings out her pet scorpion and transforms him into this… man/scorpion hybrid! My shield gets destroyed, I get stung by him… I run into Adam as I try to run away…"
"Adam? I thought he was dead when he fell into that pit five years ago…"
"No… he's alive…" Weiss sniffled. "By the time I beat him, that man scorpion… thing tried to-"
"Easy…" Winter cooed, rubbing her back. "You're safe now. We got you…"
"Hey, Weiss?" Impa approached as she sat on the bed. "Do you know why you were taken to Salem?"
"She… wanted to know who was responsible for destroying the monster that was burying Rito Village in sno-... wait, why are you-"
"Because I felt like all hands should be on deck and I wanted to fight Salem too. As much as I lived a good life, now's not a good time to die in peace. I wanted to look into the dragon tears, but I've asked a few Sheikah to look into 'em for me considering what we're up against."
"Oh… okay." Weiss closed her eyes. "About the Hylian Shield, I-"
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure we can find a way to make a new one… maybe. It's gonna be interesting to craft it." Impa shook her head. "For now, we just gotta settle with this." She handed Weiss an Iron Shield. "Oh, and some new clothes too."
She handed her the Sheikah set.
"The Snowquil looks like it took a heavy beating."
Weiss looked down, seeing rips and tears on her clothing. "Oh, okay…"
"Are you sure you're okay, Weiss?" Teba asked. "You took quite a beating and scared all of us."
"I'm fine… I should be…" Weiss responded, removing herself from Winter and sitting on the edge of the bed, clutching her head and hunching over a bit, groaning. "I just… need some time to myself."
"We'll be here if you need anything." Weiss said as they walked out of the room with only Zwei and Revali accompanying her.
Weiss was left alone in her own thoughts. Usually anything that came her way, she would just brush it off like no big deal. Even her supposed "death" a century ago didn't bother her that much. After all, Weiss was the gal to move forward and stay focused.
But… Salem and that Tyrian guy were different. The casualness from Salem, her sadistically wicked brutality, Tyrian's creepy smile, his laugh, his… general creepiness, the way he was throttling her…
It was enough to make even the most stoic of people cringe at the memory. She had close encounters with death before, so this shouldn't have bothered her… yet, something about Salem and Tyrian was enough to make her skin crawl and scream for Hylia's mercy.
With a few deep breaths, Weiss rose up from the bed, feeling a tad achy but she pushed herself up, changed into the Sheikah clothing and walked out of her room and out of the building, realizing she was in Impa's house.
BGM: Kakariko Village (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
"What the…?" Weiss wondered, seeing that Kakariko was entirely different. Floating debris that looked like it could fall at any moment, a giant ring shaped structure just above Impa's home. "That's new…"
"Oh hey, Weiss-y!" Purah approached her.
"Purah? You're here too?"
"Yeah, some folks from Lookout Landing came to rescue you." Purah explained. "Heck, they're here wandering around just in case."
"Oh, I see."
"And by the way-" Purah pulled out the Purah Pad. "I fixed the Purah Pad. I dunno what the hell you did to the Pad, but I got it all fixed. Teleported to the tower at Lookout Landing and then at the tower near here. Yeah, I activated the tower for ya while you were knocked out. It was really exhilarating! Tulin caught me on the way down… which was nice but it ruined my landing strategy I came up with on the fly."
"Oh, thanks… but I didn't mess with the Pad. Salem did something with it and I couldn't teleport out of the depths."
"Hmmm… ya know, that makes a lot more sense." Purah mused. "You've taken nasty falls before and the Sheikah Slate, now Purah Pad, didn't have a scratch on it. Salem takes it from you and makes it impossible for you to teleport out, making you her bitch the whole time you're down there."
"...That paints a pretty picture." Weiss grimaced.
Purah chuckled. "Indeed. Anyway, as soon as you're ready to go, let me know. I'll have a whole team ready for ya."
"Wait… a whole team?"
"I know you're a one woman army, but considering you just screamed like a Poe earlier, I'd say it's better to have a team with you as a precaution. Last thing Hyrule needs is their own warrior getting killed. I know Hyrule has other warriors, but morale will tank heavily if you're no longer with us."
"Okay, I get it…" Weiss sighed.
"I know things are tough, especially when we're facing a threat we're not familiar with. Plus, one of the Divine Beasts is destroyed. I know they're saying they can rebuild, but Hyrule wasn't exactly built in a day. It's going to take a long time before that majestic beast can fly again. Months… years even. It's not going to take a few days or weeks."
"Right."
Purah smiled. "Cheer up, Weiss… once we defeat Salem and find your wife, things should go back to normal."
She looked at the structures around them.
"Key Word: "Should"."
Weiss shifted her eyes up on the hill, spotting a shrine nearby. Her legs automatically walked over toward the shrine as Purah took notice.
"Ah, fancy a shrine~?" Purah snickered.
Weiss approached the shrine, noticing that Paya was checking it out herself. "Paya?"
"Hmm? Oh, hey Weiss." Paya greeted. "Some weird times we're living in, huh?"
"That's one way of looking at it." Weiss mumbled. "How are you holding up?"
"Oh, it's okay. I got this whole "Chief of the village" down pretty well… and then my grandmother de-agifies herself to help you out and it's so WEIRD to see my grandmother around the same age as I am now, we could practically be sisters…"
"I was wondering how you'd take it…"
"It's going to take a while to get used to." Paya admitted.
"How's Ilia?"
"Ilia? Oh, she's doing well! Last I've heard from her, she and Blake are going at it pretty well."
"Good for them." Weiss smiled as she walked over to the shrine and opened it with her hand, then walked in with Zwei and Revali.
"...Oh, is that how we're opening them now?" Paya wondered as she peeked inside. "Hmm… kinda boring compared to the Sheikah shrines."
Pause BGM
BGM: Shrine (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
Makusara Shrine - An Upright Device
Weiss walked toward the wall and proceeded to use Ascend, then pulled herself up while Revali picked Zwei up. They turned to see a strange object attached to a metal grating. Weiss curiously walked over and kicked it out of curiosity, where the object suddenly sprang to life and stood upright immediately.
"It… stabilized the platform?" Weiss wondered. "...Ah, I get it. Stabilizer."
She used Ascend on the platform and then used her paraglider to cross the gap where she looked around to see two gates. She grabbed another Stabilizer platform and moved it toward the left side and kicked it, making it rise up and Weiss hitched a ride via Ascending.
She dropped down and saw another stabilizer, this time a dish was at the end. "I wonder…" She mused as she pulled out a Ruby for testing and kicked the stabilizer, where it catapulted the Ruby away.
"Fascinating~!" Weiss smiled, kicking it to deactivate it as she planted an orb that was next to her and then kicked it again, sending it flying out and into the switch in the middle of the room, opening up the locked door.
With a nod, Weiss walked over and used Ascend to get out of there, all the while Zwei and Revali spotted a chest. Zwei kicked the stabilizer as Revali grabbed the chest with his talons and flew over, putting it into the catapult and then Zwei kicked it again, sending the chest flying toward an unsuspecting Weiss.
"Hmhmhm~" Weiss hummed as she grabbed another catapult in the cell.
SLAM!
BANG!
"Wha?!" Weiss yelped, startled. She turned around to see the treasure chest having slammed into the cell wall and denting it effortlessly. "Oh!"
She walked over and opened the door, pulling out a Fairy Tonic for her troubles as she then pulled the catapult out and attached it to a platform. She also grabbed the Ruby that she launched earlier and had an idea, proceeding to fuse it with her Iron Shield, creating a Ruby Shield with the iron plating now coated in crystallization. She got into the dish alongside Zwei and Revali as she threw a fireball at the Stabilizer, where they were launched high toward the shrine as Weiss gracefully landed and caught Zwei in her arms.
"Woof!"
Weiss giggled, putting him down as she activated the shrine to get a Blessing of Light, where she felt the aches in her body disappearing.
End BGM
Resume Kakariko Village BGM
Once she walked out, Weiss spotted a Dispenser nearby as she walked over to it and after putting in a few Zonai materials, it spat out a few balloons, fans, big wheels and even a few Stabilizers, which she proceeded to put them away and walked off to find Purah.
"Hey Purah!" Weiss walked over to her.
"Ah, Weiss-y! Good. I was just finishing assembling a team for ya." She said as Weiss looked over to see who would be accompanying her.
Penny, Terrako, Yang, Raven, Winter and Impa.
"Oh cool." Weiss said. "...Wait, what about Qrow, Kohga and Whitley?"
"They're back at Lookout Landing to keep an eye on things. Teba and his crew went back to Rito Village after knowing you were up and at 'em… oh, by the way, Teba asked me to give this to you." She said, handing her a basket of fish, cheese and even some meat that immediately caused Weiss's stomach to rumble.
"Oh wow…" Weiss whispered as she put the whole basket into her bottomless pit of a pocket.
"So where were you originally headed?" Winter asked.
"Death Mountain."
"Alright, let's head over there." Yang said, walking over to a vehicle that made Weiss raise her eyebrows.
"Wait… is that-...?"
"Oh yeah. Purah just put on the finishing touches to this bad boy. I was just testing it out right as the Rito arrived to tell us about you disappearing. I call it… Bumblebee! We can totally be motorbike sisters!"
Weiss laughed. "I didn't realize I was making you jealous."
"I wanted to ride one myself." Yang chuckled as she hopped on with Raven hopping in the back while Winter climbed in the back of Weiss's Master Cycle, all the while Terrako hopped into the side car with Zwei and Revali, then Winter made an ice bird for Impa to fly on.
"Thank you!" Impa hopped on.
"Alright, to Death Mountain!" Weiss said as she drove off as Yang and Impa followed after her.
"Good luck, Weiss… you're gonna need it."
End BGM
BGM: Field - Day (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
The group made their way through the field after exiting Kakariko, the two bikers drove forward as they would occasionally run over a Bokoblin or a small Grimm.
"So, that thing got anything?" Weiss asked.
"Aside from Anti-Gravity and a glider, not really. It's not jam packed with any weapons."
"Well, I can definitely find something that will make Bumblebee sting even harder."
Yang grinned. "Now we're talking!"
"Oh! I see a shrine up ahead!" Penny pointed off toward a distance where they saw a few platforms connected by tree trunks.
"Oh sweet." Weiss smirked, but suddenly Terrako started booping wildly.
"Danger! Malicious enemies detected!" Penny said as they would see red hands rising out of the ground.
Weiss gasped, her eyes shrinking in fear as Zwei started barking madly while Revali screeched at the Hands. Weiss' hands trembled as everything started to blur. Tyrian's laughter echoed in her head while she could feel the stinging pain from Salem's magic course through her.
"Weiss, your blood pressure is rising. Are you okay?" Penny asked, her scanners picking up on a spike. "...Weiss?"
Yang pulled forward. "Her irises are tiny! It's like we're looking at a ReDead here!"
"Winter, take control!" Raven said as Winter immediately latched onto the handle bars and swerved away, hearing Weiss's quickened breathing.
"It's okay, I got you." Winter whispered as they heard the Hands screaming at them as they tried to give chase, but they were long gone, forcing them to abort.
They quickly drove into a small forest that held not only a shrine, but a stable. They quickly parked next to the shrine. Weiss was still looking down, fear having a choke hold on her.
"Weiss…" Winter gently nudged her.
"Wha?!" Weiss snapped out of it. "O-oh… sorry, I… I don't know what just came over me." She said as she noticed the shrine. "Oh hey, another shrine. Cool!"
She walked over toward it and activated it as everyone else looked at each other in concern.
"You… okay?" Yang asked.
"Yeah, I'm just peachy. Never better!" Weiss waved it off.
"If… you want to talk about it, we're here for ya." Impa said.
"No. Everything's fine." Weiss insisted as she placed her hand on the shrine.
"Okay… if you say so." Winter said, a bit unconvinced as they walked into the shrine with her.
Pause BGM
BGM: Shrine
Tukarok Shrine - Forward Force
Weiss rubbed her forehead a bit and shook her head as she walked forward, seeing a switch in the ground that told her she needed an orb to plant in there. She went ahead and dropped down to see a vehicle ready to go as Weiss planted a big orb in the middle of it.
She turned around to see the vehicle pointing directly toward a patch of lava. She proceeded to hop on and kicked a big wheel to activate it.
"Whoa there!" Yang put her hands on the front of the vehicle as Impa threw a kunai at the tire to get it to stop. "I know you don't mind driving yourself into danger, but after that panic attack you had, are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Mmmph… I'll be fine."
"Take a deep breath, Weiss." Winter requested. "I'm certain you're just not thinking straight."
Weiss sighed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath while Penny scanned the patch of lava with Terrako.
"What do you think?" Penny asked as Terrako booped and crawled into the lava, turning around and facing Penny.
"Boop boop!"
Penny sweatdropped. "Bro, just because it's waist deep for you…" She said as she walked over and hopped into the lava, seeing that it reached up to her calves. "See? It's calf deep."
"Guys, get out of there!" Impa exclaimed.
"Oh, relax. We've been upgraded to be lava proof after our excursion into Death Mountain one time!"
"Boop!"
Impa sweatdropped. "What goes on in my sister's head, I'll never know…"
Penny and Terrako climbed out as they pushed the vehicle into the lava while Weiss brought herself back to normal as they crossed the path via glyphs while Penny dislodged the orb from the vehicle and carried it up toward the platform above while everyone else used the ladder, or in Zwei's case, Revali.
Once they reached the water area, Weiss proceeded to freeze the water for them to get across, but Terrako fired a laser into the ice and hopped in, coming back out with a treasure chest as Weiss opened it up to reveal a Strong Zonaite Sword. She put it away as they made their way over and then Penny pushed the orb into the switch where they walked through as Weiss activated the shrine and got herself a Blessing of Light.
End BGM
"You need me to drive?" Winter asked.
"No, I'm good."
"Oh, okay. But let me know, okay?"
"Right." Weiss nodded as she climbed on as Yang hopped on Bumblebee as they drove off toward the Crenel Hills before crossing the the Thims Bridge and made a left that headed straight for the Woodland Stable, and a shrine in the distance.
They parked their bikes once they got there as Weiss opened up the shrine and walked in.
"Hey Koltin! Did you find any Bubbul gems?"
"I unfortunately didn't, Kilton! Not there!"
"Huh?" Raven wondered as she walked over to see what was going on and seeing Kilton and his brother discussing about "Bubbul Frogs". "Weirdos…" She mumbled as she emerged from the shrubs and walked into the shrine.
BGM: Shrine
Ekochiu Shrine - Rise and Fall
Raven power walked her way over to where the others were right as Weiss stepped onto the switch, causing a platform to shoot up toward the end and then came back down. With a smirk, Weiss hopped onto the platform and just when she was about to use Recall, Yang stepped on it.
"Waaaah!" Weiss yelped as she was launched, accidentally smacking into a wall by the time the platform abruptly slammed into the wall.
"Ooooh!" The others winced.
"Sorry! You okay?" Yang asked.
"I had a plan for that…" Weiss groaned as she stood up, now having a small goose egg on her as the others launched themselves forward as they regrouped, then made their way into the next room where a block fell into a stream.
Weiss climbed up and used Recall to get herself up there while Impa spotted a chest and climbed over it and opened it up to reveal a Zonaite Shield.
"Ooooh, she might like this." She said as she picked it up and went toward Weiss via glyphs courtesy of Winter. "Hey Weiss! Found something for ya!"
"Oh, thanks." Weiss said, putting away the Zonaite Shield as she then turned back to the puzzle in question. She pushed the block forward as the launcher rose up and stayed put. An idea came to her as she used recall to pull it back.
"Okay, someone give this a push when I'm ready." Weiss said as she hopped down and walked over to the launcher. "Okay, pull!"
Penny pushed it forward and once it hit the switch, Weiss launched high into the air as she glided her way over toward the shrine. The others soon followed as Weiss waited for them until she activated it and grabbed herself a Blessing of Light.
End BGM
The group walked out as they hopped on the bikes and drove off, but not before making a small detour where Weiss activated the Eldin Canyon Skyview Tower.
She used her dragon wings to safely land near the group as they made their way up the mountain.
"Alright, we're gonna need to be careful. Death Mountain-"
"That's peculiar…" Penny mused, looking into her scanners. "It says here that Death Mountain had cooled down significantly. The lava rivers are all dried up."
"Huh?!" Weiss said in surprise. "...So that's why Death Mountain was looking weird."
"I was wondering why it looked calmer than usual." Winter said.
"Did Vah Rudania plug it up?" Weiss wondered.
"That's the thing… I'm not picking up on Rudania being on top of Death Mountain anymore! It's not even around the vicinity either."
"What?!" Weiss said in surprise.
"Okay, that's weird. How does a Divine Beast disappear just like that?" Impa wondered.
"What's strange is that I'm picking up on faint readings of Rudania, but it's not here." Penny said.
The group made their way up the mountain where they discovered that the whole area was dried up.
Weiss narrowed her eyes. "It's hot… yet manageable? What's going on here?"
"Maybe we can ask that Goron over there." Winter said as they went over to him.
"Hey! You know what's going on?" Raven asked.
BGM: Tension in Goron City (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
"Oh hi there!" The Goron smiled, his eyes completely red. "If you're looking for marble rocks, you can find some at Goron City. The YunoboCo HQ have been mining these delicious rocks for us!"
"...The YunoboCo-... WHAT?" Weiss asked in disbelief.
"Can't talk. Must. Eat. Marble Rock!"
"...I'm sorry, Yunobo's running a business? THE Yunobo?"
"MUST. CONSUME. MARBLE ROCK."
"Huh, kid goes from being a timid Goron to a businessman. Talk about going places." Raven said.
Weiss looked at the Goron's eyes.
"...Something's wrong. I can feel it."
"You too?" Impa agreed as they took off, ignoring the Bokoblins now wandering around the area with a Boss Bokoblin.
As they went further in, they parked their bikes near the entrance to Goron City as they walked in. Not only did it feel like a sauna in there, but everyone was eating Marble Rocks left and right.
"Marble Rocks! Get your Marble Rocks here!"
"There ain't no way I'm eatin' that crud!"
"What's going on here?" Weiss asked as they approached.
"Ah, Weiss! Good timing. These Gorons keep wanting to make us eat Marble Rocks because of Yunobo! Not only that, but… hell, look at everyone. They're practically Goron ReDeads!"
Weiss grabbed a slab of a Marble Rock. "Hmm…" She mused, taking a good look at it while everyone else was looking around. She took a bite and started chewing before she spit it out. "Blegh! It's too bland… needs a lot more seasoning!"
"A rock needs seasoning…?" Yang deadpanned.
"Not to mention that I've eaten some bland food before and believe me, that had more taste than that. I was eating expired rock or something!"
"...Expired. Rock." Yang deadpanned again.
"Where do I go to forge a complaint? This is inexcusable!"
"Forging a complaint about eating a ro-... do you even hear yourself?"
"What's going on out here!" A voice said as they turned to see Yunobo approaching, wearing a businessman outfit and a luchador mask to boot.
"...Yunobo? Is that you…?" Weiss wondered.
"Oh. It's you. What the hell do you and your compadres want?"
Ah yes, the Marbled Rock craze... or as I liked to call it: Meth Rocks.