Usually, transporting vegetables from Hateno to the Dueling Peaks stable was uneventful. Agus had made this trip back and forth many times, to the point that he could probably sleepwalk the path. Occasionally, a traveler would stop and buy from him, or sometimes a Bokoblin would attack. But that was the most excitement he faced along this well-worn path.
On this cloudy day, Agus was on his usual journey, his donkey's packs filled to the brim with high quality vegetables. In the distance, he heard some kind of growl, but thought nothing of it. This particular part of the path usually wasn't dangerous.
But the odd sounds persisted. The occasional growl, rustling leaves, and the sound of movement. Agus scanned the surrounding area for threats, though he saw nothing.
Then, a bear burst out of the bushes. Agus' first instinct was to scream, as you do, but the bear just whizzed past him. That's when he noticed…a man riding on the back of it?
He was riding it like a horse! He was even yelling "yah!" as if the bear understood! And somehow, it did!
Agus blinked two, three, four times. The bear whisperer was still there, riding the beast into the distance. Agus began to wonder if his difficulty sleeping the past few nights was finally catching up with him.
Once the madman was gone, Agus resumed his journey with the knowledge that he saw something he probably wasn't supposed to see. Or maybe he just hallucinated it. He didn't know which option was better.
When he arrived at the stable, he stopped to talk to the owner. "Did you see a guy riding a bear near here?" he asked, even though he definitely sounded completely insane.
"Oh, yeah, he does that sometimes," Tasseren said. "Don't worry about it."
Agus was, however, very worried about it.
Bolson lived in Link's yard. Why, you may ask? Because watching that boy was like a comedy hour. It was free entertainment.
He'd come bounding up to his house on all manner of horses. Sometimes they were ordinary brown and white ones, other times it was a huge black one that dwarfed all others around it. Sometimes he even showed up on some horse-like mechanical contraption and would not elaborate.
He spent an odd amount of time trying to get into that storage room at the back of his house. The door was jammed, but that never stopped Link. He would climb all over it, as if he expected a way in to suddenly appear. No such thing ever appeared.
It was also very odd that the only thing Link cared for was weapon display cases. Not furniture. Bolson got so tired of looking at the sad, empty house that he had to throw Link a bone and give him some furniture. Though he never saw Link use it. The closest he saw to Link using his table was him crouching upon it like some kind of beast.
Today, Link rode up to the house on that massive steed and hopped off of it without a care for broken ankles. He walked into his house, stayed inside for a moment, then walked back out with a…glowing blue chainsaw? Did he have that in one of those weapon displays? Is that a normal weapon to have?
Link climbed back onto his horse, a miraculous feat considering his height. And then he just rode off with the chainsaw on his back. Was he that sure it wouldn't cut him?
Genli's mother had always told her that Hylians couldn't fly. They could use devices to glide along the wind, but they could not fly on their own. It made sense, since Hylians only had skinny, bald arms. There's no way they could fly with those things.
That one Hylian, the one that had convinced her to join Kheel's recital, was visiting Rito Village today. Genli had seen him run by a few times, rushing as if he had somewhere to be but just kept going back and forth. Maybe he was shopping?
Eventually, it seemed as though he was done in the village. He jumped off a ledge with the aid of one of those gliding devices, and Genli assumed he would just float away. But then something blue appeared. And then there was an explosion.
Before Genli could figure out what was going on, she saw the Hylian go flying off into the distance. He didn't have that device out, but he was flying! He launched himself up into the air, something Amali said that Hylians couldn't do!
She watched as his form turned smaller and smaller, until it disappeared somewhere in the Hebra Mountains. Did he want to go to Hebra so badly that he unlocked the ability to fly?
Later, she told her mother. But Amali shook her head. "He must've caught a wind current and glided along it," she said. "Hylians can't truly fly."
"But he didn't have that wing thing out! He was flying on his own!" Genli protested.
Amali didn't seem to buy it, but just shrugged. "Maybe he's spent too much time in this village and is learning our ways."
Fronk was attempting to do his job. But when he heard a scuffle nearby, he had to look away and see what it was.
He looked to the side of the Zora's Domain, towards the cliff, and saw a figure rolling down the rocks. Luckily (or maybe unluckily), they were on a sloped part that they could simply roll down. Perhaps it would have been better if they simply fell into the water below, though. He was starting to worry about the person, especially when he saw a fairy pop out of nowhere and circle around them.
Then another fairy popped out. Then another. Fronk was very worried at this point.
Then they hit the water. Fronk ran to the ledge, looking over the railing, prepared to jump in and go save them. But the person just started swimming as if nothing had happened. They seemed completely fine, as if nothing happened.
Fronk debated whether he should still go help them, but they just went over to the waterfall and swam up it like a Zora. That made him realize it must be the Hylian that helped the Zora out.
Wow. Hylians must be very durable.
Oh, how Loone wanted to see a Guardian. Roscoe was fine, he was good enough for now, but she desperately wanted to see her one true love. Well, three. She didn't discriminate against Guardian type.
"Don't worry, I still love you, Roscoe," she reassured her lover. "And I won't let that man take you away, okay?"
Roscoe didn't respond. He was the silent type. Loone didn't mind, though. His presence was enough.
At least, until she got to see a Guardian.
How would she break the news to Roscoe? How would she tell him that she's leaving him for another man? How would he react?
Well. She knew how he would react. He wouldn't.
That was why she needed someone else, that was why she needed a Guardian. At least they moved. They may be just as silent as Roscoe, but at the very least, they would seem like they're listening.
She poked Roscoe. He didn't react, of course. The usual. "See, this is why we have problems," Roscoe," she admonished. "You act like I don't even exist!"
Roscoe said nothing.
"You're always like this!"
Still nothing.
She sighed. "You're lucky I still—"
The sound of distant thumping cut her off. It was loud and deep, as if something huge was approaching. She squeezed Roscoe in her arms and looked around for the source, until she finally saw it.
A Guardian. A Guardian stalker, to be precise, heading directly towards her. Any sane person would probably run away screaming, but her name prevents that. She instead leaves Roscoe on the ground and stands up, admiring the mechanical beast before her. It was beautiful, the most lovely thing she had ever seen in her life, and absolutely terrifying as well. That just added to the beauty, of course.
But the way it moved was odd. It didn't seem to notice her (just like Roscoe), and was instead staggering around like it had just come home from a tavern. And that was when she noticed something even more strange.
That man, the one that had wanted to kidnap her Roscoe, was standing atop the Guardian. Was he steering it, perhaps? Maybe that was why it moved like that. He didn't seem to know what he was doing.
She caught his eye, and he waved at her. This small motion was apparently enough to throw off his balance, and the Guardian retaliated by spinning its head to make him fall. The man fell to the ground before the Guardian, who immediately honed in on him. The man attempted to make a run for it, leaving her and Roscoe behind.
Then he promptly got shot by the Guardian's laser.
This Guardian was definitely the one for Loone.