Several things before the chapter
The name of the chapter is identical to one of the Vah Naboris missions in Age of Calamity, since I felt it fit the chapter.
First, I apologize for the long chapter, but I wanted to finish this story arc without making another chapter.
Second, I get that some people might get confused why Toothless and Stormfly can tolerate volcanic heat fine, but can't tolerate desert heat. Using the general rule that light colors reflect heat, but dark colors absorb it, I immediately figured that Toothless is ill suited to be in a desert during the hot period of the day since he is black with dark gray/dark navy blue splotches, all of which are colors and easily absorb heat. I also ruled out using the elixirs since dragons have different biology that humans and Hylians. I had Stormfly stay behind to keep Toothless company since he is a social dragon.
Additionally I also had the heat resistance elixirs be less effective than they are in-game, since in my personal experience, high temperatures wear me out faster than cold temperatures.
Thirdly, Gerudo Town, the Lookout Post, the exterior and interior of Vah Naboris, the Radiant Shield, the palm trees(the 'fern leaved trees' as Hiccup calls them since palm trees don't live in Berk), and the Southern Oasis are all identical to their appearances in Breath of the Wild.
Next, the sizes of Vah Naboris and the Molduga come from their respective pages on Zelda Dungeon, which are in turn measured from their in-game models.
One more thing, Sav'aaq means good day in Gerudo and Sarqso means thank you in Gerudo.
Finally, Happy New Year to those reading this chapter around its original release.
Chapter 10-Molduga Deluge
As the group walks to Gerudo Town, Urbosa talks with Zelda and Link follows her, leaving Hiccup and Astrid in the rear.
Both boys notice that the Gerduo outfits provided to them are actually really breathable, letting their body temperatures stay reasonable, but are still embarrassed by the girls' reactions.
The distant shape of Gerudo Town grows closer, along with Vah Naboris, positioned southeast of town and behind a small lookout post. From the closer vantage point, Hiccup can see more details on the Divine Beast including several spines on the neck, spikes on the humps, and a bridge connecting the humps.
After a half hour of walking from the Bazaar, they arrive at the gate of Gerudo Town. Two guards stand at the door, dressed similar to Urbosa but with pants instead of a skirt, forearm bracers, shin bracers, and masks on their lower faces. They have much shorter hair than Urbosa and both wield a three pronged spear.
"Sav'aaq, Lady Urbosa, Princess Zelda, and Sav'aaq to you as well, you three cute Hylian vai," one of the guards says. Urbosa and Zelda nod in reply while Hiccup, Astrid, and Link blush, though the boys' action is partially hidden by their veils. The chief, princess, and Astrid walk into town with the two boys following.
Astrid looks around as they enter town. The main plaza that they walk through has shops lining the sides with six of the fern-leaved trees lining the center of the plaza. Several of the townspeople call out greetings to Urbosa and Zelda who nod or wave in acknowledgement. At the southwest side of the plaza, a wide staircase leads to a raised building with two guards flanking the door.
Inside, Astrid sees two statues of Gerudo warriors, two entrances from the left and right sides of the room, a simple throne at the back, and a stand next to the throne holding a peculiar gold helmet. Behind the throne, the open wall allows a view into the desert beyond town. Before the statues, Urbosa turns left, walking to a small staircase leading to a higher exit. At the top, they turn left, heading outside, then left again as they climb another short staircase. At the top of the stairs Urbosa turns left again, heading into a large room with a bed in the middle, and several other pieces of furniture. Astrid realizes that this must be Urbosa's room.
The Gerudo chief gestures to the couch in front of the raised platform containing the bed and Hiccup, Astrid, and Link sit on it. Zelda sits on one of the arms while Urbosa grabs five mugs of water and sets them on the table next to the couch. Link also places the satchel containing his and Hiccup's normal attire on the table. She chuckles as all four of the younger people grab a mug and take a drink, sighing contently at the cold water.
Granted, Hiccup and Link have to awkwardly raise their face coverings to do so, while trying to keep their lower faces hidden. Urbosa smiles at the boys before speaking. "It's okay you two, you can pull the lower face veils off in here, but please leave the other part on." The two young men eagerly pull the face coverings off, though unintentionally revealing their red cheeks, still embarrassed with the clothing. Zelda, Astrid, and Urbosa all laugh at the sight, causing the boys' cheeks to redden even more. Before Hiccup or Link can implode from embarrassment, Urbosa stops the girls from laughing with a stern glance before looking at Hiccup and Astrid. "Alright, tell me, how did the two of you and your dragons end up in Hyrule?"
Hiccup and Astrid relay their tale to Urbosa, along with some of their backstories, and what they've been doing in Hyrule. Throughout it all, Urbosa listens intently, occasionally nodding or noting a question to ask later. After their tale, Urbosa shares the recent happenings in the desert. After the long conversation, Urbosa is pondering her thoughts for a minute before snapping and saying "Right!"
Ignoring the loud impact on the roof above that has Hiccup and Astrid momentarily startled, she continues.
"Zelda, I wanted to tell you something. The Molduga that has its territory around the Southern Oasis is moving further north, towards the Sand Seal Rally. Since the Calamity was sealed away, I've noticed that the Molduga are much more docile and keep to themselves, I've even seen them eating carless Lizalfos and Moblins, so I want to try to get this individual away from the rally without killing it, since they are a rare species."
Hiccup's eyes immediately perk up at the mention of the creature. "Molduga? What are those?" Zelda looks at him as she replies. "A Molduga is a large creature endemic to the desert that swims through sand like the Sand Seals. There's an entry on them in the Hyrule Compendium, so let me show you that." She pulls the Sheikah Slate off her hip and taps it, the familiar activation noise of the device sounding. She taps the screen, then swipes it several times, then taps again before handing the relic to Hiccup.
He takes it and looks at the picture. It shows a large fish-like creature leaping out of the sand with wide jaws, the lower jaw much longer than the upper, and four comically small legs. On the creature's back, eight spines stretch out, connected by webbing. The tail of the creature resembles the shape of a paddle, with three spines sticking out on each side.
Next to the picture, some information on the creature is listed. "This massive monster swims beneath the desert's sand. It spends most of its time submerged, but if it senses sound, it will breach the surface to feast on whatever it can grab. Running around carelessly can be dangerous if you suspect there may be one in the area."
Hiccup's eyes widen as he reads the description. "How big are these Molduga?" Urbosa shrugs as she replies. "I'm not exactly sure, though I'd guess around fifty feet long." Astrid looks at her boyfriend, concern appearing in her eyes as she speaks. "Wait, Hiccup… You're not thinking about trying to train one of these, are you?" Hiccup's eyes widen as he replies. "No, no!"
Astrid glares at him and he tenses as he sputters out a response. "A-alright. I was maybe considering trying to train a Molduga."
Astrid smirks, grabs the Sheikah Slate from him and looks at the information. Urbosa smiles at the byplay between the couple, while Astrid's eyes widen as she reads the information before looking at Hiccup. "You can't be serious, Hiccup! Look at this thing," she says as she shows him the picture again, before continuing. "It says that a Molduga will lunge at any sound it hears and try to eat it. I really don't want you getting eaten by some sand fish-worm creature!"
Hiccup makes a pouty face before replying. "Oh, come on Astrid! I excel at surviving dangerous situations." Astrid thinks 'Yeah, but usually with great personal cost like losing a leg or your father,' but she doesn't say it aloud.
Zelda interjects with a smile. "I have a possible compromise," she says. "Why don't we go have a look at the Molduga from a safe distance, then after observing it, decide if Hiccup can have a shot at training it?"
Hiccup and Astrid both immediately look at Zelda, their stubbornness for their own view preventing them from thinking about the logical solution proposed by the princess. Taking advantage of Zelda's idea, Urbosa speaks. "Good idea, Little Bird. We can do reconnaissance with Naboris. That way, Hiccup and Astrid can observe the Molduga while both being safely onboard Naboris." Hiccup and Astrid look at each other before nodding.
Seeing the acceptance of the plan, Urbosa continues. "You four, go to the Sand Seal rental shop and get five Seals please. Zelda, tell them that you're my guests. That will have them waive the rental cost. I'm going to get some things for us. Meet me at the east gate, then we'll head to the lookout post and Vah Naboris. Oh, Hiccup and Link, you'll need to put your veils back on." The two boys blush as they put the veils back on their faces, causing Zelda and Astrid to chuckle. Hiccup has fearlessly faced two colossal alpha dragons and numerous dangerous warlords, while Link has fearlessly faced off against all four of Calamity Ganon's elemental phantoms at the same time plus the Calamity itself, yet they are both embarrassed with the Gerudo disguises.
Urbosa takes a drink from her mug before walking out of the room. Hiccup, Astrid, Zelda, and Link also take a final gulp of the cold water, then get up. Link grabs the satchel with his and Hiccup's normal attire along with a dark red bow with golden decorations on the limbs before leaving Urbosa's room.
A smile appears on Hiccup's face as he sees the Sand Seals playing in their pen.
The large mammals are slightly taller than Link and have the fur on their upper spine trimmed into a mohawk. Like the Walruses that Hiccup has occasionally seen in the Archipelago, the Sand Seals have two large tusks descending from their mouths. One of the cute beasts is fanning himself with his tail, while another one is rolling on his back.
Zelda walks up to the shopkeeper and she turns to the princess. "Ah, Sav'aaq Princess Zelda and to you as well, young vai. I'm guessing you are here to rent some of our lovely Sand Seals?" Zelda nods as she replies. "Yes, we are. Lady Urbosa, myself, and our three guests are going out into the desert, so we'd like five Sand Seals." The shopkeeper smiles before continuing. "Alright Princess, I'll prepare our five best seals. Don't worry about the rental fee, any guests of the Chief don't have to pay. However, do you have shields?"
Another voice interjects. "Have them," says Urbosa, walking up, holding four shields in her hands along with a bundle of arrows with red balls for tips.
Seeing Astrid's mouth opening in a question, the Chief continues. "You need a shield to surf on when riding Sand Seals. I retrieved four Radiant Shields since you four deserve to ride on something more than a basic Gerudo Shield. I also grabbed bomb arrows to attract the Molduga's attention."
Astrid looks at the shields and is amazed. Each shield has the shape of a water drop with a large ruby mounted in the center. The main color of the shield is a rich purple, while the edge and ruby are trimmed with gold. From the center ruby, four lines of gold stretch outwards in an x shape. At the end of the lines, two branches split off and curl back towards the center. Four smaller rubies trimmed in gold adorn the borders of the shield, arranged in a t pattern.
Urbosa hands a Radiant Shield to Zelda, Hiccup, Astrid, and Link, plus the bomb arrows to Link, who puts them in a quiver he somehow pulls out of his pocket, before she turns to the shopkeeper. "Sarqso, we'll have the seals back before midnight." The shopkeeper smiles as she replies. "Sarqso Chief, You and your guests can wait outside the town. I'll get the seals harnessed and prepared." Urbosa nods and turns towards the east exit, followed by the others.
Outside town, Urbosa turns to Astrid and speaks. "Astrid, I grabbed these for you. They contain sapphires which have the power of ice." As she speaks, she reaches into a pouch next to her sword and pulls something out. She holds her hand out to Astrid, revealing the items. Astrid gasps as she beholds a beautiful pair of earrings. Each earring has an oval shaped blue gem, slightly smaller than Astrid's eye, mounted into a silver ring that surrounds the gem. The main piece is attached to a smaller piece consisting of two small silver pieces containing a small blue gem, connected by a silver rod.
As Astrid observes the earrings, Urbosa continues. "The earrings are designed to harness the ice power of the sapphires to keep the wearer cool in extreme heat. Also, they attach to your ear by friction, no piercing necessary." Astrid smiles and replies. "Thank you Urbosa. These are beautiful." She takes the earrings and puts them on her ears. Immediately, she feels some of the desert heat bearing down on her vanish, replaced by a pleasant coolness. "Wow, they're effective," Astrid says and Urbosa smiles at her, then turns to Hiccup.
"For you, young Chief, I have this," Urbosa says as she pulls out another item. Hiccup's eyebrows shoot up as Urbosa holds out an elaborate piece of jewelry. In her hands rests a circlet made of intertwining pieces of silver with a rounded rhombus shaped sapphire mounted on the centerpiece of the circlet. The back is open to allow for various head sizes.
Urbosa speaks while Hiccup looks at the circlet. "I figured that earrings wouldn't be your favorite, so I got you a Sapphire Circlet. Like Astrid's earrings, the gem's ice power helps cool you down in hot temperatures." Hiccup gently takes the circlet from Urbosa's hands and places it on his head, immediately feeling the cooling effect of the gem. He smiles at the Gerudo Chief and speaks. "Wow, thank you Urbosa."
Moments later, the Sand Seal shopkeeper walks up, five Sand Seals following her. All five seals have long ropes attached to their harnesses, with the ropes having large rings at the end of them.
Urbosa thanks the shopkeeper before turning to the others and speaking. "Here's how you ride a Sand Seal. Well, first off, it's not really riding, more like being dragged along by the seal while directing him where you want to go."
Hiccup and Astrid share a glance while Urbosa continues. "First flip your shield upside down. Then place your feet underneath the straps, with your right foot under the larger strap and your left foot under the small strap/handle. Hiccup, flip your feet around since you're left handed and because of your prosthetic, so left under the big strap and right under the small strap/handle. Once you've done that, I'll give you a Sand Seal."
They all correctly get onto their shields and Urbosa each hands them a rope connected to a Sand Seal. She then slides her elaborate Daybreaker shield off her scimitars scabbard, gets on it, and turns to the others before speaking. "To get the Sand Seals to start or speed up, swing the rope up. If you want to slow down, pull hard on the rope. To turn, pull the rope in the opposite direction of which way you want to turn. I'd recommend holding onto the ring with both hands and remember, our destination is the lookout post in front of Naboris. Alright, let's head out!"
Urbosa smiles and swings her rope up. Her Sand Seal lets out an eager bark and takes off, Urbosa surfing on her shield behind the energetic animal.
Hiccup, Astrid, Zelda, and Link all give each other encouraging smiles before repeating the action of swinging their ropes up. All four Sand Seals promptly take off, bolting through the sand like it's water.
Hiccup is caught off guard by the sudden acceleration and almost falls off, but manages to regain his balance. Astrid's seal continues to accelerate as the blonde warrior pulls ahead of the others, but still trailing Urbosa. Meanwhile Zelda is sliding side to side, struggling with guiding her seal, but heading in the right direction. Terrako clings to Zelda's shoulder, occasionally beeping to alert the princess to an obstacle. Link is having an easy time compared to Hiccup and Zelda, but still not as good as Urbosa or Astrid.
Five minutes later, the group arrives at the lookout post in stages. Urbosa arrives first, cleanly jumping off her shield, grabbing it, and slowing her Sand Seal with ease.
Astrid comes in second, jumping off her shield and letting go of her seal's handle at the same time. The shield flies into the rocks around the post, while the Sand Seal easily avoids them. Astrid slides through the sand up to the rocky ground around the lookout post, arms spread out for balance, a massive smile on her face. Though the smile fades when she realizes that her boots have a good deal of sand in them.
Around thirty seconds later, Link arrives, popping his shield onto his back while still holding the Sand Seal's rope in the other, before releasing it, running to a stop next to Urbosa and Astrid.
Surprisingly, Hiccup arrives next, guiding his seal into a hairpin turn, facing away from the post, before jumping backwards off his shield, landing shakily on the ground.
Soon after, Zelda arrives, but accidentally swings the rope up rather than pulling on it, causing her seal to accelerate. The Sand Seal lets out a surprised bark as he sees the fastly approaching rock and sharply veers right. Zelda is caught off guard and lets go of the handle, causing her shield to fly up into the air with her still on it. Terrako is propelled off of Zelda's shoulder and beeps in alarm. Zelda flails her arms uselessly as the shield leaves her feet, before she falls into the sand with a loud grunt. Terrako lands upside down in the sand a short distance away.
Urbosa and Link run up to her, making sure that she is okay while Astrid rounds up the Sand Seals and attaches the rings on the rope handles to a hitching like structure next to the lookout post. Terrako-having managed to get out of the sand and rightside up-runs over to Zelda's Sand Seal and starts angrily chirping at the gentle mammal currently rolling around in the sand.
As Zelda gets to her feet, Hiccup looks at the lookout post. It's a small rectangular building built underneath a large piece of sandstone. A wooden platform is constructed on the roof, with a wooden ladder leading up to it and to a higher wooden platform, while several tall flagpoles also adorn the roof.
A little ways beyond the lookout post, Divine Beast Vah Naboris stands in all its glory. The Divine Beast stands almost six hundred feet tall and Hiccup guesses that it is around five hundred feet long, from the furthest protruding neck spine to the tip of the upside down half dome tail. The legs of Naboris look like pots, stacked upside down, getting smaller the further from the main body, while the feet are slightly larger than the smallest leg segment. The rightside up pot-like feet glow the familiar blue of the Sheikah tech. Hiccup's eyebrows raise as he observes the 'face' of the Divine Beast. Oval in shape, the face contains six eyes, each glowing blue, with the pattern of the blue glow on the sides resembling a grin. Two large ear-like structures frame the face while two small horns poke out of the top and two small fins poke out of the bottom.
Astrid walks over to Hiccup, also observing the Divine Beast. Urbosa joins them, followed by Link, Terrako, and Zelda, who is wiping sand off her back. Urbosa turns to the princess and asks. "Little Bird, can you do the honors?"
Zelda nods while Hiccup and Astrid share a confused look, unsure what 'the honors' are. With a small smile, Zelda grabs the Sheikah Slate, activates it, taps the screen, before the device beeps. Astrid's eyes widen as she sees the entire group glow blue, then turn blue, then dissipate into blue streaks as she loses her vision.
Astrid regains her vision to find the group on a travel gate situated on a t shaped platform. Looking around, she sees four large pot-like shapes sticking down from the roof above them. When she looks down and sees a two hundred and seventy foot drop to the distant sand below, she realizes that they're onboard Vah Naboris. Urbosa smiles at Zelda as she says "Thanks, Zelda." She then turns to the others and gestures for them to follow.
They follow Urbosa up the walkway to where it slants up before flattening again. From the small platform, they go up a ramp that doubles back, putting them on a higher platform above the travel gate walkway. Following Urbosa through a half oval shaped opening, Hiccup gasps as they enter the main body of Naboris.
The room is a massive horizontal cylinder with various walkways on it. In the middle of the belly, on a raised platform connected to stairs leading to the exterior of the Divine Beast, sits what Hiccup recognizes as a device identical to the main control unit on Vah Medoh. Passing underneath the unit which gives off a relaxing hum, Urbosa gestures for them to stop next to two ramps leading up to a bridge coming off the main control unit. Turning to Zelda, she says, "Hey Zelda, can you rotate the back belly segment twice please? That'll get us to the tail where we can observe the Molduga."
The princess nods and pulls out the Sheikah Slate, taps twice, then looks at Hiccup and Astrid. "Be ready," she says. "I'm about to rotate this portion of the belly, so walk against the direction that it's rotating in and don't tense up." Before either Berkian can reply, she taps the Sheikah Slate.
Suddenly, the entire third of the belly that the group is standing on begins rotating at a decent pace. Caught by surprise, Hiccup stumbles and falls over, while Astrid is able to maintain her footing, along with the Hylians. Seeing her fallen boyfriend on the moving floor, Astrid strides over to him and helps him up. Then holding hands, the couple follow Zelda's advice, walking against the moving floor. Astrid's eyes widen as she sees a large block heading right at them, but after seeing Zelda, Link, Urbosa, and Terrako aiming to walk on it, she follows them. As the large block becomes more floor than wall, Astrid and Hiccup get more in tune with the moving belly. Once the incline is gentle enough, the group walks onto the large block. Shortly after getting on the block, the belly stops rotating with a loud rumble while Vah Naboris lets out a loud call.
With the belly having halted, Hiccup realizes that the block they are standing on connects to a platform on the back wall of the belly, which leads up to an opening at the top of the cylinder. The group walks on to the path leading up to the doorway and through it, passing some metal blocks on rails. Hiccup and Astrid gasp in amazement as they walk onto the large circular tail of Vah Naboris. At the back of the tail, a large piece of stone rises up at a slight obtuse angle.
The view from the tail is incredible. Pretty much the entire Gerudo Highlands are visible, both the lower Gerudo Canyon with Spectacle Rock, along with the northern and eastern higher snow covered areas. In the lower northern highlands, Hiccup notices another Sheikah Tower, identical to the one on Spectacle Rock, but extending down further. Below the highlands, the desert extends right up to the cliff bases. Both Hiccup and Astrid also notice the cooler temperatures due to being high above the desert floor.
Urbosa turns to Zelda and quietly says something to the princess who nods. The Gerudo Champion then walks back into the belly of Naboris. Zelda pulls out the Sheikah Slate, taps it thrice, then puts it back on her hip. Hiccup hears the belly rotating before it stops and Naboris calls out again. Tuning to look at Hiccup and Astrid, Zelda speaks. "Alright, we're ready to head to the Southern Oasis to observe the Molduga."
The Berkians nod in response as they hear air escaping from something and something else compressing. Astrid walks over to the left edge of the tail and looks down. Her eyes widen as she sees the leg segments of the Divine Beast compressing before the left legs step forward. Even high above the desert, they can feel the impact of the feet landing on the desert surface. Astrid hears a gentle almost purr-like sound emanating from Vah Naboris as the Divine Beast starts striding forward, towards a noticeable large rock with some of the fern-leafed trees, some ways south of Gerudo Town.
Several minutes later, Vah Naboris arrives at the scattered rocks north of the Southern Oasis and halts. Receiving a beep on the Sheikah Slate, Zelda taps it three times again. A minute later, Urbosa walks back out onto the tail. Turning to Hiccup, she addresses him. "This is as close as I will take you with Naboris. The Moldugas are smart enough to have developed recognition of the vibrations that Naboris makes and don't actively pursue if Naboris stays off their territory. If the Divine Beast does enter their territory, they will try to defend it against Naboris."
Hiccup nods in acknowledgement before pulling out his spyglass from his satchel. He'd had one in his pouch on that fateful day when he and Astrid were pulled into Hyrule, so this spyglass is a Berkian one. Looking towards the Southern Oasis, he sees a large lump of uplifted sand moving, patrolling the area around the oasis.
Urbosa nods to Link who pulls the Golden Bow off his back and selects an arrow from his quiver. Astrid notices a lit fuse below the red ball at the head of the arrow as Link draws the string back while aiming the bow. As the fletching of the arrow brushes his mouth, he smiles and fires. Astrid winces slightly at the loud snapping of the bowstring as the lit arrow arcs away. She tries to follow it, but quickly loses sight of the arrow. A moment later, she sees and hears a small explosion down on the desert floor.
Hiccup squints as he sees the moving sand lump suddenly change course and move towards where the explosion was. As he observes, he hears another arrow fire and moments later, a second explosion appears where the first one was. The sand lump increases its speed before jumping upwards.
Both Hiccup and Astrid's eyes widen as the Molduga emerges from the sand, jaws agape, identical to the one pictured in the Hyrule Compendium. The large beast snaps its jaws shut as it falls to the sand, sitting for a moment before wriggling back into the sand. A moment later, the sand lump reappears and resumes patrolling.
Observing Hiccup, Astrid, Zelda, Link, and Urbosa can basically hear the gears turning in his head as he formulates a plan.
Link nocks another arrow to his bow but Hiccup holds up his hand. "Wait," he says. "No need for that, I've got the foundations of a plan." Link nods and replaces the arrow in his quiver along with returning his bow to his back.
Turning to Urbosa, Hiccup continues. "Thank you for bringing me out here Chief Urbosa. Tomorrow, me, Astrid, and our dragons will go out to guide the Molduga further away from your town."
Urbosa smiles at the younger chief as she replies. "I wish you good luck, Chief Hiccup and Lady Astrid. You will be doing my town a great service if you succeed, which I feel that you will."
Astrid's eyes widen as she sees the scimitar swinging through the air, straight at her.
Seeing that the blade is coming too fast for her to dodge, she raises her shield and her arm rings as the scimitar slams to a halt upon meeting the shield. Taking advantage of her opponent's momentary disadvantage, Astrid shoves her shield forward, knocking the scimitar aside and slides the flat side of her axe inside her opponent's shield, before pushing it aside, and ramming her knee into her opponent's stomach.
Urbosa stumbles back, winded and looks up at Astrid, a smile on her face.
"That was well executed Astrid, you caught me by surprise," the chief says. The sound of clapping pulls their attention to the three people seated nearby on the stone bench in a private courtyard next to the Gerudo throne room. Zelda has an impressed look on her face. Link and Hiccup are both still in their Gerudo outfits, with Link having a studious expression on his face and Hiccup is visibly happy at seeing his girlfriend enjoying a spar with Urbosa.
The tall Champion sheathes her scimitar and replaces her shield on the scimitar sheath as she addresses Astrid. "You want to go again?" Astrid nods before Urbosa continues. "Alright then, come at me!"
Astrid rushes the Gerudo chief, raising her axe back for an overhand swing. With lightning fast speed, Urbosa unsheathes her scimitar and slides her shield off the sheath. As Astrid approaches Urbosa, the chief raises her sword in a defensive pose. Astrid's axe and Urbosa's scimitar crash into each other, screeching to a halt.
Urbosa's Scimitar of the Seven holds strong since it's one of the few non Master Sword weapons in the kingdom able to withstand blades made of Sheikah tech. Urbosa used it, along with her beautiful yet durable Daybreaker shield-also able to tank blows from Sheikah tech blades-to fight the phantom of Calamity Ganon that was sent to kill her and corrupt Vah Naboris four years ago.
Astrid suddenly pulls back, startling Urbosa as the Champion finds no resistance against her blade.
Astrid surprises Urbosa again as she places her axe-Hiccup notices that the handle is easily accessible over her right shoulder and shield on her back before pulling her daggers out. Now armed with two seven inch blades, Astrid looks far less intimidating than Urbosa, still wielding the Scimitar of the Seven and Daybreaker.
Curious at Astrid's tactics, Urbosa slides the Daybreaker back onto the scimitar sheath. Rushing Astrid, Urbosa thrusts her scimitar forward. The blonde warrior jumps to the side and swings her daggers at the scimitar as she doges. Even mid-thrust, Urbosa's eyes widen as she feels her scimitar thrust get deflected by Astrid's daggers.
Despite looking basic, Astrid's daggers were personally made by Hiccup with Gronckle iron, making them very strong, yet lightweight.
Even as her thrust is thwarted, Urbosa continues the ruined thrust into an overhand slice at the blonde warrior. Astrid sees the blade coming down and raises her daggers into an x shape while shoving the crossed daggers forward a short distance. Urbosa's scimitar connects with the crossed blades and abruptly stops, trapped by the sturdy daggers.
Urbosa is once again startled by the moves used by Astrid. Using Urbosa's momentary confusion to her advantage, Astrid goes on the offensive. She swings her daggers outwards, causing Urbosa's scimitar to be shoved aside, whilst jumping back at the same time, raising her arms and simultaneously hurling both her daggers at Urbosa. The Gerudo raises her shield and blocks one dagger, while the other hits her right upper arm armor and is deflected, both daggers clattering to the ground. The watchers whistle in admiration of the skillfully executed maneuver.
Astrid promptly lunges forward again, drawing her Royal Broadsword with her right hand and raising it above her right shoulder in a two handed grip. Urbosa, having used Astrid's brief retreat to raise her shield, is able to block the two handed horizontal sweeping slash delivered by Astrid. However, Astrid immediately reverses her swing, bringing her sword back around-still in a two handed grip-and slams across Urbosa's shield, causing the chief to stagger.
As Astrid's hands pass her right shoulder, she releases her right hand from the sword and grabs her axe, activating the blades as she swings both weapons towards Urbosa. Caught in the excitement of the moment, Astrid fails to notice Urbosa adapting a defensive stance with her shield raised. The joy in Hiccup's eyes fades as he realizes what is about to happen.
Astrid's determined look turns to a smile as she prepares to break Urbosa's guard and win this bout, having only won one of the four sparring matches that the two have had after returning from Molduga reconnaissance.
As her sword and axe connect with Urbosa's shield, the Gerudo Champion thrusts her shield in an outward arc, parrying Astrid's powerful strike. Caught completely by surprise, Astrid's eyes widen as she is shoved backwards by her suddenly reversed strike, her sword flying out of her grip and clattering to the stone floor. Seizing her advantage, Urbosa spins around and shoves the pommel of her scimitar-decorated with a pointed ruby that was padded for the spar-into Astrid's stomach. The blow causes the off balance blonde to fall to the ground, landing on her back with a groan, dropping her axe.
Urbosa sheathes the Scimitar of the Seven and slides the Daybreaker onto the scimitar's scabbard with practiced ease before walking over to Astrid. "I'll admit to you that you almost got the win for this spar," Urbosa says.
"You kept surprising me with all those different moves, and if you had used your axe in conjunction with your sword sooner, that might have gotten me." She offers a hand to Astrid and the warrior takes it as Urbosa helps boost Astrid back to her feet.
Hiccup walks over to Astrid, having grabbed her daggers and sword, and offers them to her. Astrid takes the weapons, sheathing the sword and one of the daggers before Urbosa stops her. "Wait," the Gerudo Chief says.
"Can I see that dagger please?" Astrid hands the other dagger to Urbosa who inspects it. The dagger is unremarkable in appearance, having a basic shaped blade, a small iron crossguard, a leather wrapped handle, and a simple half sphere iron pommel. Urbosa nods approval of the weapon as she returns it to Astrid. "I like it. Simple yet effective. That dagger is probably more dangerous than most of the weapons wielded by the monsters that inhabit the kingdom, especially in your hands." Astrid smiles and nods at the compliment before sheathing the dagger.
Astrid walks over to the stone bench-adorned with several pillows-where Link and Zelda are and sits down, taking a mug of water and drinking it in one shot. After resting for a moment, Hiccup clearing his throat gets the whole group's attention as he speaks. "Alright first thing, that sparring match was amazing. Well done Astrid and well done Lady Urbosa." Both warriors smile as Hiccup continues.
"Second thing, Looking at the angle of the sun, I would like to suggest that me and Astrid head back to Gerudo Canyon to take Toothless and Stormfly for flights and get ready for our mission tomorrow." Urbosa nods and replies. "Take Sand Seals back to the desert gateway, it'll maximize your flight time. If there's anything else that you need, I'll do my best to provide it."
Hiccup is roused from his sleep by something wet on his face. Groggily opening his eyes, he sees Toothless sitting back, a gummy grin visible on his face, despite the lack of light.
A groan alerts him to the fact that Astrid is up and he looks away, allowing her to fix her crazy bedroll hair with aid from Stormfly.
He ensures that his Sapphire Circlet is in Toothless's saddle bag. Right now at four in the morning, wearing it would be detrimental to his body temperature, but once the desert heats up, it will be useful. He also clips a small quiver containing five bomb arrows to the left side of his saddle and a lightweight Traveler's Bow to the right side of the saddle. As usual, Inferno rests on its clip on his right thigh. Additionally, he secures a piece of cloth over the gears of Toothless's tail fin to keep the sand off of it.
Hiccup sighs in happiness as he breathes in the cool air, feeling much more comfortable in this temperature, along with being back in his normal attire(he and Link had changed back when they arrived back at Kara Kara Bazaar, where Link and Zelda stayed the night while Hiccup and Astrid slept in the quarry with their dragons).
Looking over his shoulder, he sees Astrid placing her trusty axe on her back before attaching her sword to the weapon holder on Stormfly's saddle. Hiccup also sees a quiver of arrows and a Golden Bow attached to Astrid's saddle, though on the opposite sides compared to Hiccup since they have different dominant hands. Astrid has ten bomb arrows, five normal arrows, and unbeknownst to Hiccup, five arrows with special lightning charged tips that unleash a massive electrical charge upon making impact with a target. She keeps the shock arrows a secret from Hiccup because he wouldn't approve of them being used on the Molduga, even if the training attempt turns south.
Like Hiccup, she also has the Sapphire Earrings that Urbosa gave her, safely packed in Stormfly's saddlebag. Exchanging a glance and seeing that they are both ready, Hiccup and Astrid mount up. Toothless and Stormfly leap into the air and out into the cool predawn desert.
Hiccup smiles as the cool air rushes across his face, helping him to shake off any remaining sleepiness. Toothless looks around at the desert in wonder, since the largest patches of sand that the Night Fury has seen before are just large beaches. They silently pass Kara Kara Bazaar and veer away from the main path to Gerudo Town, heading south southwest. Toothless and Stormfly crest the high dune south of the Bazaar, zoom past Vah Naboris, the lookout post, approaching their destination.
Pulling out his spyglass, Hiccup can faintly see the moving sand lump that is the Molduga. Taking a deep breath, he grabs his Traveler's Bow and nocks a bomb arrow to the string. Glancing over at Astrid, he sees that she also has a bomb arrow nocked to her Golden Bow. Noticing Hiccup glancing her way, she gives him an encouraging smile and nods.
Flying over the scattered rocks poking out of the sand, they land on the large rock with the actual oasis. Turning to Astrid, Hiccup speaks. "Remember, here's the plan. We get the Molduga to jump out of the sand and then have Toothless try his alpha roar. If that doesn't work, we get it to jump out of the sand, then shoot a normal arrow at its back to stun it. Once it lands on the ground, I'll have Toothless alpha roar at the Molduga again, then try to calm it. Got it?"
Astrid nods and replies. "Just be careful Hiccup, please?" Hiccup grins at her as he responds. "When am I not careful, milady?" Toothless takes off for one of the nearby smaller rocks, while Astrid stays at the edge of the main oasis rock, ready to intervene if needed.
Landing on a rock right above the sand, Hiccup takes a final deep breath before drawing back his arrow, left hand brushing by his mouth, followed by the fletching of the arrow. When he sees the sand lump-much larger when close up, compared to seeing it from Naboris-getting close, Hiccup aims towards the sand nearby and releases the arrow. A moment later and about twenty feet away, a small explosion appears on the sand. The moving sand lets out a curious chirp and moves to investigate.
Hiccup tells Toothless "Now Bud!" Glancing over his shoulder, he sees Toothless's dorsal spines splitting apart as a blue glow appears underneath and inside them, accompanied by a blue glow on Toothless's head and nostrils. The Night Fury shoots a plasma blast at the same spot where Hiccup's arrow landed. The sand lump chirps eagerly and increases its pace towards the blast site.
Seconds later, the Molduga leaps skyward, jaws agape. Hiccup gasps at how massive the creature is when close up, even as Toothless leaps into the air and lets out a loud commanding roar at the Molduga. The behemoth ignores the sound as it falls back to the ground and quickly digs itself back into the sand.
Hiccup curses in frustration as Toothless lands back on the rock. The chief pulls Inferno off his hip and ignites the blade, looking towards Astrid and thrusting the blade skywards twice before deactivating it. He sees the blue blades of Astrid's axe appear as she raises her axe skywards twice then collapses it and replaces it on her back, a prearranged signal for the second plan to begin.
Having been excited by the arrow and plasma blast, the Molduga stays in the area around Hiccup and Toothless, hoping for the two to make more vibrations. Hiccup closes his eyes and gathers his resolve before opening them.
He nocks a second bomb arrow to his bow and aims at the sand in front of him. An aside glance to the oasis sees the lit fuse of Astrid's arrow as she waits for the Molduga to surface. Hiccup releases his arrow, the bowstring slapping against his forearm bracer. As before, the explosion catches the attention of the Molduga as the sand fish-worm approaches the sound. Toothless lets out another plasma blast and leaps into the air as Hiccup nocks his third bomb arrow to his bow.
The sand bursts open, like a volcanic eruption as the Molduga lunges upwards, jaws closing on open air. As the beast begins to fall to the sand, suddenly it cries out as a bomb arrow hits it on the back and explodes. The Molduga lands on its side stunned by the blast for around ten seconds.
Hiccup sees the creature start to recover and yells "Now!" He lets his arrow fly, landing near the Molduga's dorsal spines and detonating. As Toothless fires a plasma blast, Hiccup sees three explosions suddenly appear within several feet of each other, all near the Molduga's belly. Three more explosions go off in front of the Molduga's large jaw as the creature gets to its feet. Hiccup realizes that Astrid must be firing three arrows at once to have achieved that, leaving her with three bomb arrows and himself with two bomb arrows.
The Molduga cries in confusion as Toothless lets out several consecutive blasts, all around the large beast. Seeing that it is thoroughly disorientated, Hiccup urges Toothless forward and the Night Fury lands on the sand, several feet away from the Molduga. He lets out another commanding alpha roar, but keeps roaring for nearly ten straight seconds before Hiccup can get him to stop. Looking at the Molduga, Hiccup is surprised to see the behemoth is actually still on the surface, looking hesitantly at the back dragon.
Taking advantage of the moment, Hiccup unclips his left leg from the saddle, switches it to walking mode, and jumps off Toothless before slowly walking towards the Molduga, holding his right hand out. "Hey there," he says gently. "You are beautiful, you know that?" Against all odds, the Molduga doesn't try to escape back into the sand, but stays looking at Hiccup. He continues speaking to the creature as he approaches. "I'm sorry that Astrid hit you in the back, but we needed a chance to approach you. I don't want to hurt you, just steer you away from Gerudo Town."
From her elevated position, Astrid holds her breath as Hiccup nears the Molduga, only a foot away from the massive lower jaw. She fidgets with an unlit bomb arrow as Hiccup continues to speak to the sand giant. "That's it buddy," he says soothingly.
Astrid almost faints as she sees Hiccup very gently reach out his hand and lightly touches the large fin-like protrusion on the lower jaw of the Molduga, while bowing his head in the other direction. The massive creature lets out a curious chirp at the feeling of Hiccup's hand on its skin, but doesn't retaliate. Very slowly, Hiccup brings his left hand up and rests it on the Molduga's jaw protrusion as well, looking up at it. Hiccup smiles in amazement as he slowly reaches for his pouch and pulls out a piece of smoked meat. He then gently tosses the meat to the Molduga's jaws and the beast gently gets the morsel into its mouth without jostling Hiccup too much.
As he observes the Molduga from close up, Hiccup notices a similarity between the sand giant and the benevolent White Bewilderbeast that his mom lived with for twenty years. Both beings only seem to protect their territory and aren't hostile by nature. He briefly grimaces due to the sad memories associated with the White Bewilderbeast, but returns his focus to the Molduga. Still talking gently, Hiccup slowly walks along the Molduga's jaw protrusion and towards its main head. He grabs another piece of smoked meat and tosses it to the Molduga, who gently eats the piece and chirps in appreciation.
By now the sun has crested over the eastern highlands enclosing the desert, bathing the sands in gentle morning light. Already feeling the temperature rising, Astrid puts on her earrings, sighing at the coolness brought by the beautiful gems. Hiccup looks at the Molduga and takes a breath before asking "May I ride you, beautiful behemoth?" Astrid promptly faints upon hearing this.
Astrid feels something messing with her hair as she comes to.
She is momentarily blinded by the bright sun, but makes out the blue shape of Stormfly as her vision clears. The sound of happy chirping and laughter clear the remnants of her fogginess as she remembers what happened. She had fainted upon hearing Hiccup ask the Molduga if he could ride it. Heart pounding in alarm, she gets to her feet and runs to the edge of the rock and looks around.
She gasps at seeing the Molduga, half submerged in the sand as it swims around. Suddenly noticing Toothless next to Stormfly, Astrid looks at the night Fury and panics upon seeing no sign of Hiccup, only the saddle, Traveler's Bow, and quiver with two arrows left.
She hears the laughter again and fumbles around in Toothless's saddle bag, grabbing Hiccup's spyglass and looks at the Molduga.
Astrid almost faints again at the sight of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Chief of Berk, sitting on the Molduga's head crest, a big smile on his face as his new friend swims through the sand. She facepalms and sighs in frustration before yelling. "HICCUP! Get over here, NOW!"
She sees him lean down and talk to the Molduga before the creature turns towards the oasis. When the Molduga reaches the base of the rock, she notices Hiccup crouching on the creature's crest as it gently flings its head upwards, launching Hiccup. He lands awkwardly in a crouch next to Astrid and turns to face her. The Molduga buries its body in the sand but keeps its head above ground, looking at Hiccup.
Astrid draws breath to yell at Hiccup but a glint of silver on his head stops her.
She notices that he is wearing the Sapphire Circlet that Urbosa gave him and that he looks really cute with it on. He has the front part including the sapphire on his forehead underneath his bangs, but on the back of his head, the circlet rests on top of his hair. Getting herself to ignore the cute new look, Astrid glares at him.
"What are you thinking?! Trying to calm the Molduga to get it to relocate is one thing, but getting it to trust you enough to ride it is a whole nother thing!"
Hiccup sighs and looks at Astrid as he replies. "Alright, fair point, but look how cute the Molduga is!" As he speaks, he gestures to the waiting creature. Astrid glances at it, then back at Hiccup, ignoring his cute wide eyes, trying to make her relent-not to mention the cuteness augmentation courtesy of the circlet-and punches him in the shoulder. "That's for not telling me that you wanted to ride it," she tells him.
Hiccup clutches his shoulder before Astrid grabs his shirt and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. "And that's for being Hiccup and managing to pull it off," she finishes, as a blush appears on her cheeks.
Zelda, Link, Urbosa, and Terrako are waiting at the quarry when Hiccup and Astrid return.
After scolding Hiccup, they had spent another half hour with the Molduga before leaving due to the dragons starting to get affected by the heat.
Hiccup has a massive grin as he gets off Toothless and addresses Urbosa. "Lady Urbosa, I'm delighted to inform you that the Molduga will stay around the Southern Oasis and not go further north." Urbosa smiles and gestures for Hiccup to tell the story.
Once Hiccup finishes the story, Zelda's mouth is wide open in surprise, Urbosa has a smile on her face, and Link has a slight smile on his face.
Urbosa then turns her attention to Toothless and Stormfly, sitting calmly behind their riders and asks "I take it that these beauties here are your dragons?" Hiccup and Astrid nod as Hiccup gestures for Urbosa to come forward. "I'm guessing you would like to meet them?" He asks and the Gerudo Champion nods before Hiccup continues. "Hold out your left hand in an open gesture, and look away. Then let them come to you. That shows them that you trust them."
Urbosa raises her left hand and looks at the ground to her right. Stormfly walks up to the tall woman and sniffs her hand before resting her snout against Urbosa's hand. The chief feels the warm scales and turns her head to look at Stormfly. The Nadder gently squawks as Urbosa lowers her hand, a smile growing on her face. Hiccup then guestres to Toothless to come over and Urbosa resumes her previous position. Several seconds later, Toothless presses his snout against Urbosa's hand and warbles happily. Hiccup, Astrid, Zelda, and Link smile as Urbosa starts scratching the Night Fury while Stormfly starts preening the Gerudo Champion's hair.
For a little while, Urbosa plays with the dragons with Hiccup occasionally showing her some of the things that they really like including certain scratching spots, reflected light beams and more.
After the playtime, Hiccup and Astrid return the bows, quivers and arrows to Urbosa as they prepare to return to Hyrule Castle. Hiccup offers a hand to Urbosa who shakes it as she speaks to Hiccup. "Thank you for introducing me to your dragons, Chief Hiccup. That was the most fun I've had in a while. Also, thank you so much for helping with the Molduga. You've done a great service to me and my people. I hope I can see you again before you return to Berk."
She smiles at Hiccup before walking to Astrid and shaking her hand while addressing the blonde warrior. "Lady Astrid, my thanks to you as well for your aid with the Molduga. Those sparring matches that we had were also really fun. You clearly earned the title of fiercest warrior on Berk and gave me a good challenge, something only achieved before by Link, the Malice clone of myself that I fought back during the war against Calamity Ganon, and the phantom of Calamity Ganon that was sent to kill me. I would also like to see you again before you return to your home."
Astrid smiles at Urbosa as she replies. "The pleasure is mine, Lady Urbosa, Hiccup and I have also had fun during this visit. Thank you for your hospitality and the beautiful sapphire jewelry. I also hope to see you again before we return home."
Urbosa warmly smiles at Astrid, touched by the blonde warrior's words. Hiccup walks over to Toothless and gets on the saddle, switching his leg to riding mode and pats the saddle behind him. Link walks over and gets on the Night Fury's saddle while Astrid climbs onto Stormfly's saddle before helping Zelda up, Terrako perched on the princess' shoulder.
Urbosa looks at Zelda and addresses her, still smiling. "Goodbye Little Bird. I hope to see you again soon, and you too Link," she turns to look at the Hylian Champion. "Keep her safe." Zelda chuckles as she replies to Urbosa. "I'm sure he will. I will visit again soon. Farewell, Urbosa." The Gerudo Champion nods and steps back as Toothless and Stormfly leap into the air.
Looking down, Zelda, Link, Hiccup, and Astrid see the shrinking figure of Urbosa waving in farewell as the dragons soar away, back to Hyrule Castle.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I have three more chapters planned in the second act of the story. I apologize for not having an adventure with each Champion, but I couldn't think of adventures for the gang to go on with Revali, Daruk, or Mipha.
Couple notes
Astrid's Sapphire Earring are just the Topaz Earrings but with the topaz swapped out for sapphires
The descriptions of how Link, Hiccup, and Astrid use their bows are based on how the bows are described to be used in the Ranger's Apprentice, which is known for being very accurate in its descriptions of how bows are drawn and fired. Also, the tactics that Astrid uses with her daggers while dueling Urbosa is directly based on how the rangers in Ranger's Apprentice use their two knives together, including the double knife defense. That series is another favorite of mine and I've referenced it several times when writing the sparring matches in this story, due to the accurate depictions of duels in the Ranger's Apprentice world.
Regarding the Molduga behavior, I've always liked them as animals and not monsters, so I channeled that into this story.
See you in the next chapter:)