Bard of the Wild (Chapter 20) (Patreon)

"Saria, we found you injured... can you tell us what lead up to that situation?" Linkle questions.

"Oh?" She mutters. "Oh. Yeah. I see."

She lets out a long sigh. "I was trapped in sap, wasn't I?"

Linkle offers her a small nod as the girl lets out a melancholic sigh.

"So, how many years has it been? It's got to have been a few decades at the very least if you forgot king Harkinian. A century or three maybe?"

"..."

"Can you tell us what happened?" I ask.

"I... sure. I guess since you saved me you deserve to know... It all started- well, actually I should probably start from the beginning, you deserve that much, at least... and if you call the Ars Mechanica 'Divine Beasts' their actual names must have been forgotten as well."

"So... about one thousand five hundred years ago- plus whatever time I've been trapped in amber- the Hyrule Family's seer foretold a great disaster would fall upon the kingdom of Hyrule... the birth of Calamity Ganon... we thought all was lost, but... then a few of the Sheikah discovered a ruin holding technology from an age long past. From what they said, they were guided to it by a large metal and stone construct in the shape of an owl."

"Wait... what?" I question.

"I... I am unsure. This was about three hundred years before I was born, after all." Saria states.

A bonus objective has been revealed.

"But as I was saying, they were guided to an ancient ruin with technology that the people of that age could only dream of. This stone owl supposedly spoke to them before disappearing into the clouds above... it said 'Protect them.'

Using the technology found in the ruin, the Sheikah got to work, it took them a few decades to learn the ways of this new technology- and centuries to learn how to replicate it with their own materials- but eventually a prototype Ars Mechanica was created. Much smaller than the ones you likely know, being about the size of a horse instead of a mountain. It was simply called the 'master cycle zero' as it could only be powered and driven by the energy of the master sword and it was... well, not enough of a success that they could call it the 'first' Ars Mechanica."

A bonus objective has been revealed.

"After that, came the creation of a second prototype. This one a bit larger, simply called 'Remote' it was a test for the Sheikah artificial intelligence systems, it was created roughly around the time of my birth, so I actually saw it in person... it was quite impressive. Tell me, do you have striders around still?"

"The giant metallic spider-like things the size of houses that can shoot lasers?" Linkle questions.

"Yeah! It was about the size of one of those!"

"We call the smaller sheikah technology guardians now." Linkle informs. "Specifically, Guardian Stalkers for those, Scouts for the smaller ones who can wield weapons, sentries for the ones that can't move and skywatchers for the ones that can fly."

"Hm... Well, it fits better than 'Divine Beast'." Saria admits. "The 'Remote' on the other hand was superior to these 'guardians', it just wasn't cost effective to create and maintain, so the Sheikah moved onto the 'scout' build, then, made a bigger variant later on."

"Then, about two hundred years before the calamity appeared, they made the first true Ars Mechanica. The smallest of the sixteen created. It didn't have a name at the time, simply being labeled 'number one', but, these sixteen creations were eventually named after their wielders."

"Thus, Vah Sarin, right?"

"Mhm." The girl nods slowly.

"Vah Sarin for me, Vah Rudania for the Goron Darunia, Vah Ruta after the Zora princess Ruto, the fourth, Vah Noha, named after the king himself who entered the fray himself, King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, Vah Naboris after the Gerudo Cheiftan Nabooru, Vah Pami for the current wielder of the master sword of that time, Impi. The previous wielder who rode the Master Cycle regretfully passing due to old age."

She takes a deep breath before continuing. "The seventh, not named after a person, but a place, Hyrule's Castle, Vah Castelia."

"Wait... Hyrule Castle is a Divine Beast?" The Hero of Hyrule blinks.

"More of a trap or fortification than a legitimate divine beast. It is by far the largest one though, capable of storing and deploying thousands of Sheikah Striders in mere minutes."

A look of realization crosses Linkle's face. "Ah... yeah, that makes sense."

"After that, was the first- and last- purely aquatic divine beast, Vah Laruta, Piloted by the younger sister of Princess Ruto, Princess Laruto."

"Seriously?" I ask with a half-lidded stare, causing the girl to simply shrug.

"Next, came Vah Medoh, named after the Rito Medly, then the tenth divine beast... named after my fellow Kokiri Fado..." A small depressed look crosses the girl's eyes as she stares blankly at the floor for a long moment. "Vah Fadin... but it... it was utterly destroyed...leaving behind nothing but rubble."

She takes a brief second to regain her composure. "Next, Vah Marak."

She stares for an even longer moment, rubbing her forehead, tears prickle at her eyes as I take a seat beside her, gently rubbing her back as Linkle does the same.

"Take your time." Linkle continues. "We've got time."

Saria audibly swallows. "Vah Marak... was piloted by the Korok Makar... but... I... I think he is dead and gone."

"Oh, sweet Hylia! We need to get to Vah Marak! There is this... this... thing inside of it! Inside of Makar!"

"Calm down." I wave off. "We've visited Vah Marak already and killed the strange bitey plant inside of it."

Her shoulders sag as she looks over to me. "You- you did?"

"Mhm." Linkle nods, causing the girl to wipe a tear.

"So... he must really be gone, then. Our last moments were... not that civil, but he was one of my greatest friends. I-I'll miss him."

"Do you need time to process this?" I ask gently.

"No- I- I'm used to it... to people dying around me... untouched by age like the rest of the Kokiri." She gives me a slightly broken smile, her eyes glistening and slightly glassy.

"Vah Oshala for the Hylian, Osphala, Vah Rossca for the Hylian Rosso, Orem for the Queen of the Zora, Oren, Vah Gullva for the Hylian Gully and finally, Vah Raem for the Hylian Rael... anyways, after the Calamity Ganon was sealed, Hyrule was at peace for a thousand years, the calamity had been mostly forgotten... advancements were slowly being made by the Sheikah as they furthered their technology... but... the king of that time, King Harkinian, foolishly saw it as a threat. He made a decree for the Sheikah to abandon their technology and cease researching entirely... otherwise he would declare them as enemies to the kingdom of Hyrule."

"Seeing this, Makar was Infuriated... so, I quickly left to speak with him before he could do something that he would regret." The girl sighs.

**Linebreak**

Pov: In the past.

Wind blows through the green hair of a girl as she falls down towards a massive mechanical construct in the vague shape of a spider, a cloak made of massive leaves billows out behind her as she uses it to slow her fall.

She drifts downwards landing with a small flourish as she takes her bow off her back, knocking an arrow and aiming it at a large figure with a gnarled wooden staff.

It is tree-like in appearance, with brown skin that has a few lighter patches here and there.

It's not necessarily bark, like you'd see on an oak, scaly and thick, but more like you'd see on a birch. Just, instead of white and grey, a dark blackened-brown and a lighter tannish grey.

Its head looks like a tree, with branches leading up into a thick crown of orange leaves.

There are gaps in its barky exterior, scars, seemingly healed over, leaving large yellow and sappy lines within its body.

"Makar!" The green haired girl shouts. "Why are you doing this?!"

The tree creature turns, crooked staff in hand, a gourd tied on the end,

On his face, there's a large leaf that a pointed nose pierces, the large orange leaf looking similar to a beard as it hangs downwards. He has some form of bushy large wooden eyebrow-like piece of wood, the other side has been cleaved off, revealing a glowing eye socket.

"Saria..." The tree slowly whispers, voice slightly high pitched, but with its own form of harsh gravel.

A large orb-like mechanical construct circles overhead, two large circular wings on each side of the orb.

"So you have finally arrived..." Makar continues. "Your weapon drawn... Do you plan to stand in my way?"

"This- this isn't right!" The green haired girl shouts. "We are meant to protect the royal family! To protect Hyrule!"

"I am." The tree whispers. "I AM protecting Hyrule! You know this just as well as I! Only we are left of the original warriors! Only WE know what we face! The Calamity is going to return! There is no doubt in this! Yet that foolish king wishes to bury the Sheikah technology?! Force the people who have made sacrifice after sacrifice and advancement after advancement to return to peasantry?! The sole people who could FIND a solution to the calamity before it returns?! Harkinian is a fool! A shortsighted imbecile and a danger to ALL of Hyrule! I serve only King Daphnes!"

"As should you..." The Korok glares.

"King Daphnes... has been dead for nearly a thousand years... what you are planning... it- it will only make Harkinian's fears come to fruition! You wish to use Vah Marak to destroy the Hyrulian royal family! This is madness. How many people would die from this show of force? How many people would grow to fear the protectors that even the last generation looked up to as saviors?" The girl whispers, slowly releasing the tension in her bowstring and rising to her- rather short- full height.

"I do not wish to destroy the royal family..." The tree sighs. "That would be an injustice to Daphnes... but the false king currently sitting upon the throne needs to be removed. He has gone mad with power. Paranoia. Delusions. He is not fit to rule this kingdom."

"Are you implying that you are?!" Saria questions.

"No." The tree sighs, shaking its head. "I am not. However, that does not mean I cannot clear the way for someone who is. Hyrule's army follow the current king. A Hylian's life is so short... they can struggle to see the bigger picture. They will see what I am doing as a great injustice and attempt to stop me. This much is certain. I cannot make my way to the heart of the kingdom. You know as well as I that the king has told the army to detain us if we are seen... thus, Vah Marak is needed."

The green haired girl stares at the korok for a long moment, steeling her expression, she crouches slightly, hand clenching tightly around her bow as she pulls back the bowstring. "I see this as a great injustice... and I will attempt to stop you."

"..."

"So be it."

The Korok twists out of the way of the arrow, slamming his staff on the ground, a large gout of thick fog explodes forwards from the gourd, shrouding the back of the mechanical spider in dense mist and obscuring the girl's vision.

The girl carefully peers around, bowstring drawn back as she knocks another arrow, her blue gaze flickering amongst the numerous shapes in the fog.

She dives forwards, avoiding a swing from the staff that carries with it a line of fog, the small girl flips, unleashing the arrow.

*Crack*

It slams into the metal floor, shattering and detonating into a swathe of vines that lunge forwards.

The small girl lands on her feet after pushing off the ground with a sole hand, she raises said free hand above her head, a large leaf sprouting from seemingly nothing.

She swings her hand downwards, creating a gale of wind that disperses a large chunk of the mist.

Her eyes widen as she reveals that she had caught nothing with her vine arrow, narrowly leaping over a swing from behind that would have swept her legs out from under her.

She turns, kicking off the stomach of the large figure behind her, showing tremendous agility as she flips through the air, drawing her bow and knocking two arrows at once.

The arrows shoot downwards, the first shattering against the metal of the Sheikah technology and creating a massive outward gale that blows the mist aside, but the second creates another explosion of plant life.

Within the cleared mist Makar stands, looking annoyed at the vines and flowers trapping one of his legs.

Before Saria even touches the ground, she has pulled back another arrow and shot it.

*Thunk*

As the large korok swings his staff downwards severing the vines keeping him trapped, an expertly aimed arrow threads the needle and strikes the gourd in the crook of the staff.

The vine keeping it tied up snaps, causing it to fly off, skipping across the back of the divine beast as it eventually tumbles off the side entirely.

"Stop this Makar!" Saria shouts. "This next arrow won't miss!"

"I did not want to do this..." The korok growls. "But you leave me no choice."

He slams the end of his staff on the back of the machine underfoot.

Saria is jostled side to side as the mechanical beast underfoot abruptly moves.

The girl's gaze snaps to the side as a torrent of blue energy is shot from the mandibles of the large spider Saria's body is almost completely tinted blue by the pillar of light.

Her eyes widen as she watches the laser clip the wing of her own divine beast which was circling overhead.

It had dodged most of it but that little damage it had received causes it to spin wildly out of control into the distance.

"What have you done?!" Saria screams as she turns.

The staff of her adversary slams into the side of her head.

She regains consciousness a moment later, having been hurled across the floor where she lays a crumpled heap.

"The Sheikah... when they have returned to their roots... can... and will fix whatever damage I have done to Vah Sarin."

Saria brings a hand to her head, blood pooling and dripping down her temple, her eyes moving towards the broken bow strewn across the back of the divine beast.

Her eyes flick back upwards to see Vah Sarin drift further and further towards the horizon... there is no telling where it will crash.

"Makar..." Saria whispers as she shakily gets to her feet. "What is wrong with you? This... this isn't you! What happened?! You're not acting like you normally do!"

She quickly reaches in her bags and brings out a small Ocarina. She begins to blow into it but the korok swings a hand forwards, erupting from the Korok's side, is a long vine with the bulb of a flower on the end. Without a moment of hesitation, it shoots towards Saria.

"What-" she gasps moments before she can even bring the instrument to her mouth.

The bulb splits, revealing a row of sharp teeth within that sink into her forearm.

Her breath comes out in a sharp hiss as the bulb lets go abruptly, quickly retracting and leaving a bored hole within the korok's body.

"What was that?!" The girl shrieks. "You- You've got a parasite in you!"

"I-" the Korok begins, looking slightly dazed. "I do?"

"No. That's not possible." The figure shakes his head a moment later.

"YOU HAVE A HOLE IN YOU!" Saria shouts.

Makar's hand prods at his side, pulling his hand back to reveal yellowed sap.

"..."

"It appears I do." He observes.

Wait.

This...

This aura.

"Calamity Ganon." Saria whispers.

"You have been infected by the calamity's malice!" The girl exclaims, eyes flicking down to her forearm which is rapidly discoloring.

"Then it is even more important that I do this." Makar declares. "Vah Marak. Full speed ahead."

The machine underfoot wobbles and jerks as its legs begin to rise and fall, slowly but surly marching forwards.

"NO."

Large roots shoot from the ground, coiling around the limbs of the spider.

"DAMN YOU! DEKU TREE! YOU WISH TO HINDER ME AS WELL?!" The korok shouts.

"ENOUGH OF THIS." An absolutely massive tree in the distance booms. "I WILL STOP YOU!"

"I thought you understood..." Makar seethes.

The large spider shakes and shudders as it begins marching towards the tree. "I THOUGHT YOU UNDERSTOOD!"

The divine beast skitters across the forest at high speed, rushing towards the tree.

"I am sorry... Saria." The tree whispers as the girl is hurled from the back of the spider.

"I... I am unable to heal you... it is beyond my power. But, what I can do is preserve you... and pray that in the future, someone is capable of saving your life." The girl's world turns to black as she thuds to the ground below, the sounds of near deafening revving reaching her ears.

**Linebreak**

Pov: Returned.

"And that... was the last thing I remember." Saria sighs.

"So, you are one of the original pilots of the divine beasts?"

"That's right." The green haired girl nods once. "We need to find the sheikah and get them to start learning how their own technology works... if we're lucky, we might still have enough time to fix up the divine beasts, heck, maybe even make a few new ones!"

My gaze strays to Linkle as she offers me a single nod.

"Saria... I... I don't know how to say this, but... the calamity started one hundred years ago."

"W-What?!"

"You were trapped in that amber for roughly nine thousand years."

"That- That's impossible! I-" her eyes dart around the little cave. "Wh- No..."

"Wait... you said the calamity started one hundred years ago, then we won?! Did Hyrule survive?!" She asks.

"About that..." Linkle winces. "The Calamity miiiight have been more than we could handle."

"H-Huh?! Wh-"

"It's currently being sealed by Princess Zelda and has been for the past one hundred years." I supply.

"How- how could you possibly lose?!"

"Calamity Ganon took over the divine beasts and guardians." Linkle casually drops that bomb.

The green haired girl's hands shake as she blankly stares forwards in horror. "W-What?"

"Yeah. The four divine beasts that we unearthed- which we somehow got the correct names for- seemed to be taken over by the calamity. Most guardians are utterly fucked as well."

"It- It took the Sheikah technology over?!" Saria whispers. "How?!"

I open my mouth to reply only to pause and look over to Linkle. "Huh... that is... a good question actually."

"We should ask Purah." Linkle agrees.

"If- if the calamity has taken over the guardians and divine beasts... we... we are doomed." The girl whispers.

"No we aren't." Linkle shakes her head. "Sheikah tech might have failed us, but Aurum and I are going to beat that gaseous motherfucker within an inch of his life using a bit of elbow grease."

"Tell me." She continues. "Have you ever heard of this thing called a 'Tri-Force'?"

From reading the girl's surface thoughts, and the confused expression plastered over her face, she clearly has no idea what we are talking about.

"So... it was before even your time, huh?" I mutter under my breath. "That's interesting"

That must mean that good ol Congo Bongo was created to seal something before the sheikah had access to the guardian tech...

That sort of makes me feel a little bit better about our chances, cause if the prime sheikah couldn't do anything about whatever is in there, I doubt there's much we could do either.

"To answer your unasked question." I begin quietly. "The Tri-Force is a magical artifact of supposed unbelievable power. The main issue is, the pieces are locked away... unable to reincarnate to their next holders."

"Then... if we collect this tri-force... we might stand a chance?!" The girl questions.

"We may." I nod. "The main issue is getting strong enough to retrieve them. We know where four are currently.

"Wait... four?" The girl blinks.

"There are two sets of three." Linkle admits.

"Though... knowing rules of three, there might be a third set that we don't know about." I mutter.

"Mhm?" Linkle gives me a half lidded stare.

'She was caught off guard by my master sword, so she clearly doesn't know about the other Master Swords. There's no point in asking about those.'

Linkle nods at my thoughts before looking towards Saria. "Another thing, do you know of any magical masks?"

"Magical masks?" Saria echoes. "Like... just in general?"

"These markings on our face were originally two masks... the sun and moon mask... after completing a trial, we in turn gained the Mask of Unity which gives us a host of benefits. We're not talking about masks that like... change color, but ones with use in combat."

Saria ponders for a moment. "I think I had a mask back on Vah Sarin. It wasn't that impressive, though. It just removed the wearer's need to sleep completely. The only issue is that it looked... pretty creepy."

"Eh, I'll take creepy, honestly. Not sleeping would easily give Aurum and myself more time to train."

"I would give it to you... but I don't know where Vah Sarin is... the last I saw it, it was completely out of control."

"Oh, it's currently towards the south of Hyrule castle, crashed into a small forest and is currently lashing out at basically everyone who comes to close."

"How... do you know this?!" Saria mutters.

"Magic instrument... and speaking of magic instruments. Your Ocarina. Can I use it?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Because I believe it can point us towards our next destinations."

"Wait- I thought only I could do that..."

"I'm a bard, so I'm able to create wondrous effects through playing instruments."

"He can change the weather." Linkle smirks proudly.

"Yep." I nod, wrapping an arm lazily around her shoulder. "So. Since we've gotten most of our questions out of the way, do... you need anything to eat?"

The green haired girl's stomach growls as a small blush appears on her face. "I-I yes. I do need something to eat."

"Any preferences?" I ask.

"No... anything is good."

Linkle pulls some rations from her sheikah slate, offering them to the girl who gladly takes them.

She looks up slowly. "Hero Linkle... Hero Aurum. I swear on my name as one of the sixeen sages that I will join you on your quest to save Hyrule from Calamity Ganon... I will not be defeated a second time!"

"Alright. We'll need all the help we can get." I smile. "I look forward to working with you, Saria."

Linkle and I turn, beginning to leave the little cave.

"Wait." Saria calls out.

"Hm?" I hum.

"Does... does the Great Deku Tree still exist?"

"A great deku tree does... not the one you are probably thinking of, though."

She lets out a sigh of relief, seemingly uncaring of the latter part of what I said. "Oh... he's still alive! Thank Hylia!"

"Saria." Linkle whispers. "The tree you are thinking of... It was cut down shortly after you were sealed in sap..."

"Oh, no, don't get me wrong. I... I know that, but the interesting thing about Deku Trees is that they sort of... reincarnate."

"Huh?" Linkle blinks owlishly. "What... What do you mean?"

"When a great deku tree regrows, its memories are inherited from the previous iteration... well, some of them, at least. A vast majority are lost."

"So... that's why he started crying when Aurum played that song?" Linkle realizes. "He was remembering you?"

"If they lose memories each time they regrow.... we're missing like a six-to-seven thousand year gap from the time yours got cut down and this new one started growing." I point out.

"Ah..." Saria mutters sadly. "So, it's likely he has gone through quite a few iterations... I... I believe I can get him to remember, though!"

"Well, he's right outside, so whenever you get ready to meet him."

The girl offers me a single nod as I turn to Linkle.

"So. Where were we?"

"The last time I checked, I was placing my fist somewhere between your lungs and stomach."

"Hey now. Don't make me mad or I might stop pulling my punches~" I hum.

"I could say the same thing." She points out with a heatless glare, that slowly devolves into a smile.