Bard of the Wild (Chapter 22) (Patreon)

"Why- Why are you asking so many questions?!" Saria staggers back. "I- calm down! Please!" 

"Oh, well, I've just never met a Kokiri before, so there's a lot I want to know." Purah grins. 

"You've never... met a Kokiri before?" Saria mutters in confusion. "Surely you've met at least one, right? Towards the southwest of Hyrule? Across Hylia's Bridge?" 

Shit. 

"Ah. Shit." Purah mutters under her breath. 

"What is it?" Saria frowns. 

"That sort of area is... roughly where Vah Sarin crash landed?" Purah begins quietly, wincing slightly. 

"S-So I'm alone?" The girl whispers. 

"W-Well, it's highly possible the Kokiri could have left Hyrule after their homes were destroyed." Purah continues as Saria rubs her temples. 

Saria's shoulders slump slightly as a quiet sigh leaves her lips. "Well, I don't know if this really changes anything... after nine thousand years, I doubt many of my friends would be alive now, regardless of agelessness... let alone remember me." 

I place a hand on her shoulder, a small frown on my face. "Don't worry... after the Calamity is gone... we will go and see if we can find your people..." 

The corners of the girl's mouth turn up slightly, but she appears to be putting on the smile as it doesn't reach her sad eyes.  

Her hand comes to rest atop my own. "Thank you for your concern... I might take you up on that offer. But... I would like to be alone for a little while." 

I let her go, my eyes following after her as she walks into the distance. I can see her step up to one of the dead trees surrounding us. 

With a wave of her hand, vines and flowers expand across its surface. She cradles a flower briefly before turning around and taking a seat on a nearby dead stump, her eyes stare at the ground in front of her, flicking back and forth as she seems to be desperately to comprehend that she might just be the... last of her kind... 

Sadly, I don't think we're close enough for me to barge in and give her a pep talk like Linkle. I... don't really want to hurt her any more than she already is hurting. 

I'll leave her to work it out by herself. 

*Linebreak*

I look to the gigantic tree person who stands at like over ten feet fall, a green canopy of leaves atop his tree-like head and a leaf that looks a bit like a beard. 

It has been about a day since Purah gave poor Saria the realization that she could be the last Kokiri.  

Then, this morning, this big guy showed up. 

The entire gang is here. Saria is stood off to the side, looking mildly interested at our new guest, Purah is tinkering nearby with the grappling hook Linkle nabbed and Linkle is, well, right beside me as we were having a brief little spar moments before the Korok showed up. 

"Soo uh... who is this guy?" I question, looking over to my co-hero. 

"I don't know." Linkle replies. "I've never met them." 

"Shalaka! I'm Hestu!" The tree exclaims in a high pitched voice. 

Saria looks over and decides to explain a little bit. "This guy is a 'greater' Korok. Koroks become a lot bigger as they grow older." 

"I'm over a thousand years old!" Hestu informs chipperly. 

"I see... was Makar also a greater Korok?" I question. 

"He was." Saria mutely whispers. 

Seeing my train of thought Purah holds out the Zonai secret stone. "Here." 

"Hah?" The Korok mutters. "What's this?" 

"Can you see if you can draw any power out of this?" Purah questions. 

"Ah... huh?" The Korok slowly reaches out. 

The greyish stone suddenly glows and floats above Purah's hand. 

The grey coloration is slowly replaced, a pale tan color rapidly spreads across its surface, ancient runes being carved in its side. 

"Shaka?" Hestu gasps.  

I look up to the sky and let out a long sigh as Linkle looks as if she aged a few years, her face wilting, shoulders sagging. 

Of course he can use it. 

With a twinkle the little tomoe shoots forwards towards the Korok's maraca, legitimate gold seems to creep from the stone, like the setting for a gemstone, locking the tomoe to the top of the maraca. 

I'm so fucking dead inside. 

"Shaa?" He gasps. 

He begins dancing around, shaking his maracas, music notes begin to form as a feeling of indignation quickly fills my body. 

"Cha!" He exclaims as he finishes his little jig and strikes a pose. 

Saria gives him a polite golf clap. 

"Linkle... was that what it looked like?" I sigh. 

"Music?" She questions. 

"Fuck. I just had my gimmick stolen." I note, a frown on my face. "That... irritates me to no end." 

"Doesn't feel too god, now does it, fucker." The blonde pouts, glancing over to me. 

Is she referring to Saria or when I pulled out the master sword? 

"Huh... so these sacred stones can change their element to suit the user?" Purah ponders. "It was definitely last attuned to mist... but now it's music." 

A long sigh leaves my lips. 

"Oh. And don't feel too bad, Aurum, there's nothing saying that there can't be two Sacred Stones of music." 

"Yeah. Sure." I roll my eyes. "Hey Saria. What ever happened with Vah Pami? That one was piloted by someone who used a master sword, right?" 

"Uhhh... well, the last I checked, it was parked... right there. By the stones the Master Sword is typically sheathed in..." She points at the great Deku tree in the distance. "But nine thousand years have passed, so... at this point, I genuinely have no idea... the same could be said for most of the divine beasts." 

"Damn." I sigh, knowing for a fact it isn't here as we've already checked with Saria's Ocarina. "There goes a relatively easy powerup, I suppose." 

"It is what it is." Linkle shrugs. "We can find it eventually." 

She grasps my hand and begins pulling me away. "let's keep going." 

*Linebreak*

I watch Linkle bound across the ground, looking to be slightly weightless. 

It's as if she were jumping on the moon. 

"This is awesome!" She cheers, easily clearing eight feet with each hop. 

"I feel so much faster!" She continues quickly rushing around the clearing. 

She is... startlingly fast. 

Like, with my fast movement, I was barely able to keep up with her at night... but now? 

Her eyes narrow slightly, then she leaps seemingly as hard as she can, reaching fifteen feet of height. 

"Try a long jump." I call out. 

She turns, then runs, being just a blur, then she leaps, and just goes... on and on. Eventually she lands quite far away, looking around in surprise. "DAMN!"  

She quickly rushes over, a bright smile on her face. "Is this how you feel all the time?" 

"Pretty much." I nod. "I can do a bunch of crazy leaps n shit. Just wait till you can leap off leaves and water." 

Linkle's hands shake with poorly contained excitement. 

Two days to learn to control Sheikah energy- for all intents and purposes, 'Ki', and another five to learn the jump and fast movement techniques. 

"what you learned are sort of the basics, though... I'm unsure how long it'll take you to learn the rest, but you are given a prodigious learning curve by the mask... so... hm..." 

I cup my chin. 

"Can we start right away?!" She begs. 

My eyes stray to the green haired girl sat in a nearby tree, one leg hung over the side of the branch she is sitting on, the other pulled up to her chest, using her knee as a chin-prop, with her arms wrapped around it. 

She offers me a small wave. 

My gaze snaps back to Linkle. "Sure." 

Saria has been watching over Linkle and myself at a distance pretty much since she woke up. 

She is... emotionally muted. 

Where Vah Sarin landed seems to have shaken her quite a bit. 

She looks at Linkle and myself with... caution... 

It seems like She doesn't want to form connections with us, but... at the same time really wants friends to lean on and be merry with. 

She doesn't want to lose anyone else... 

That is... sad... 

"Alright, So. I have no real idea how to teach you. My best guess, let's go find a pond and you can jump into it repeatedly while trying to leap off the water. At that, I'll start throwing stones at you for you to jump off of. After that, well, maybe Saria can create some leaves for you to try and leap off." I plan, looking over the blonde hero. "Oh, you'll probably want to take off the master sword so it doesn't get rusty." 

"Can you hold it?" Linkle asks. "Purah still has my sheikah slate." 

"Yeah, I've got it. I'll put it in the bag of holding." I nod. 

*Linebreak*

Splash 

I watch Linkle slowly climb out of the water briefly shake herself off then try again. 

Splash 

"I'll fucking get this!" She growls under her breath. 

Technically, she already did it, but now we're trying to get it so it's second nature for her like it is for me. 

By expending a little energy she can leap off the water, a hurled stone, or even a leaf, but that's the thing. 

By expending energy. 

Mine doesn't do that. 

It took a little time, to even learn that much. 

We've spent about a month here in the lost woods. 

At this point, I think we may just be ready to cleanse one of the divine beasts... 

But first, we should probably take care of the Yiga and reclaim my triforce of Magic from Kohga. 

"I think we should meet up with Purah soon and move on from the Lost wood." I announce suddenly as Linkle climbs from the water and shakes herself off again. 

The blonde glances over, then nods once. "Yeah... we've spent too much time here already. Let's go for Vah Sarin, then... want to head towards the Zora's domain and see if we can clense a divine beast?" 

"Sure. I had wanted to go stab Kohga first, but we might as well, plus, we are reasonably close." I agree. 

"Aurum! Linkle!" Purah exclaims as she rushes over, a bright smile on her face. 

"Well, speak of the scientist and she will arrive." I mutter as we both turn, seeing Purah sprinting over with an item clutched to her chest. 

"Look!" She grins as she holds out the sparkshot we took from Vah Sarin. 

"Okay?" I blink. "it's the sparkshot." 

"It's not JUST a sparkshot! Not anymore!" Purah cackles. "Say hello to the... ah... Sparkslate? Slateshot? Ahh... Spark Gauntlet?" 

She shakes her head. "Say hello this my THING!" 

She lifts it above her head. 

"Okay?" Linkle blinks this time. "What does your 'thing' do?" 

"Heh." I snort, causing Linkle to weakly slug me in the shoulder. 

"What does it do? Heheh What does it do?!" Purah questions aloud. "It does what your Sheikah slate did AND MORE!" 

"First off, you already know what the slate did, control metals, create bombs, put items in a stasis-like state where they don't take any damage until the stasis wears off, at which point all the damage, momentum and force hit it all at once, then the ability to freeze water. Those are the basics that I taught you... and I am guessing that you learned pretty much all of what you could do with the Sparkshot, grapple things, pull yourself towards things, and shock things with the electricity that crackled in between the grapple point at the sparkshot itself. So... I'll just tell you what has changed!" 

"Firstly... Magnesis is gone!" 

"What?! Why?!" Linkle questions. "Being able to control metal can be useful!" 

"Because why would you focus on metal when you can control ALL materials?" The white haired woman cackles as she slips on the gauntlet and points it at a nearby rock. 

A blue beam of energy shoots from the front of the bracer, enveloping the rock. 

Purah then slowly lifts the stone into the air. 

"Huh..." I blink. "That's useful. You can just hurl boulders at things now." 

With a single button push the beam stops abruptly, causing the rock to thud to the ground with a loud boom. 

"I call this... ah..." The woman ponders for a moment aloud. "Ultra hand sounds a little tacky... uh... Grasp? Yes. I call this function 'Grasp' instead of Magnesis!" 

"I gave you a little more control with Cryonis, now, so you can do some light water manipulation as you freeze it. You should be able to create a wall or pillar, at least, but any fine detail is beyond its capabilities. The bombs are more powerful, as for Stasis? I made it so it works on living creatures now!" 

"You did what?" Linkle blinks.  

"Observe." 

"Purah I swear-" I am covered in a golden glow before I can even finish, Linkle reaches out and pokes my cheek. 

The stasis shatters abruptly as I break free. 

"Huh..." Purah mutters. "It kept that deer trapped for a full sixty seconds..." 

"The stronger something is, the less time it takes to break out?" Linkle suggests, looking over me. "That was barely a second." 

"Maybe..." The white-haired woman whispers. "But it has quite the long cooldown after you use it on something living. About five times as long as if you just used it on a rock or something. As for the nonliving targets, I have made the stasis effect last longer! But, larger objects do still break free sooner." 

Purah shakes her head. "Anyways, now onto the changes to the sparkshot... firstly. I made it so you can toggle the shocking of the tether AND I made it so it's physical, so you can tie stuff up with it instead of the electricity just passing through it. This is better, because beforehand something could easily just pass through it, potentially, something large enough would even break the connection entirely. That won't be the case with this new version!" 

"Now... for the changes... firstly, I have increased the Sheikah slate's storage a ton what it was originally is now only one tenth of the new space. This'll REALLY help you as I've added a new feature to 'grasp'! 

She points at the boulder again, picking it up, then it disintegrates into blue light and flows into the gauntlet. "You can put things in and take things out at range!"  

She points up, summoning the rock high in the sky and allowing it to plummet to the floor yet again. The boulder kicking up dirt as it buries itself into the earth. 

"Plus, I made it so the Sparkshot can connect two things together!" 

Purah shoots the grapple towards the stone, then attaches it to a nearby tree, causing the dried and decayed wood to groan and crack slightly as she pushes another button, seemingly causing the tether to retract towards each other. 

"Oh! And you can do pretty much ALL of the sheikah slate's nonsense with these tethers now! Watch this!" 

The blue line of energy connecting rock to tree dissipates, then another tether is shot at the tree, a large circular bomb sprouting from the front of the gauntlet. 

It rapidly approaches the space the sparkshot was targeted, then connects with a dull thud as the bomb sticks to the trunk of the tree. "As a result, the remote bombs can now be stuck to things." 

vvm-BOOM 

My ears ring slightly as a gigantic blue explosion practically erases the tree. 

"Pretty cool, huh?" Purah proudly grins. "This should let you use the Sheikah Slate's powers without taking up one of your hands! Plus it should be far more durable now." 

"Is it waterproof?" I ask. 

"Yes. It is entirely waterproof. Plus, it shouldn't rust." The woman nods. 

"Good, good." I nod slowly. 

"It is surprising to see you advance Sheikah Technology so much in such a short amount of time." Saria observes from a nearby tree. "You are definitely skilled, Purah." 

"I am, aren't I?" The white haired woman proudly smirks. 

I look to Linkle. "Want to go now?" 

"Might as well." She agrees. "Purah, get the car started. We're going to Zora's domain to free Vah Ruta." 

With a wave of my hand, Linkle dries off, she struts towards Purah and reclaims her Sheikah Slate, now vastly improved then nods slowly. 

Purah seems a little surprised. "You want to go and try to clense Vah Ruta?" 

"Mhm." Linkle nods. "it's flooding is causing an ecological disaster, right?" 

I'm a little surprised she knows that word, actually. 

It doesn't seem like something casually taught in this medieval-magical world. 

"It has been for quite a while." Purah nods. 

"Out of all the divine beasts, its endless downpour might be the largest problem for Hyrule." 

"Well, I mean, the largest that isn't inside a superheated volcano." I shrug, causing the blonde to nod slowly. 

"Alright, we'll stop by Vah Ruta, then head onto Vah Sarin!" Purah declares. 

Saria drops from a nearby tree, landing with a crouch. 

"I will go prepare the car!" Purah exclaims as she rushes off. 

My eyes stray to Saria who is still stood a little far away, gazing off where Purah just left. 

Fuck it. We can't save Hyrule unless we all work together. 

"Saria..." I begin slowly. 

"Yes?" She asks, looking over towards me. 

"I've noticed that you've been distant for the past month." I frown.  

The girl flinches. 

"He's right." Linkle agrees. 

"That is-" Saria weakly begins. 

"We can't save Hyrule if we are all dysfunctional and not a unified group." I continue. 

"It's just- I... I'm used to losing people... old age. Battle. Disease... I... I might be used to it, but that doesn't mean it feels any better when it happens. I-I look at you two... and... I can just tell that we'd be fast friends... but I don't want that. I don't want to lose anyone else." 

"Saria..." I whisper, a long sigh leaving my lips. "Living your life with a fear of forming an emotional bond is no way to live. You are going to agonize over not connecting with people, wondering what could have possibly been done different, but, it'll always be too late... Death is a part of life. This is a fact. People will always die." 

She glances down at the ground as I continue. "All you will be doing by avoiding people is making yourself miserable... and you deserve to be happy." 

I place a hand on her shoulder, causing her to glance up to me. 

"Most of your worries are sort of unfounded at the moment anyways. You are worried about us aging to death, right? Well, let me just say... you know Purah? She's over one hundred years old." 

"W-What?!" The green haired girl's eyes widen, body stiffening. 

"Purah figured out a way to stop her own aging, so realistically, you won't have to worry about any of us turning old." I whisper. 

The Kokiri remains silent, shoulders stiff, blue eyes wide in mute shock. 

"You won't... grow old?" The girl whispers. 

"Nope." I shake my head.  

A small breath leaves her lips. "I- Alright... I'll... stop being so distant." 

"That's all I can ask for." I smile as I turn and begin walking in the direction Purah left. "I hope you can go back to teasing Linkle like you were a while back. That was funny." 

"Oi." Linkle frowns. "But... same." 

**Linebreak**

Pov: elsewhere 

A white haired girl lets out a hacking cough as she rolls across the floor, clutching her stomach. 

A second girl who looks almost exactly like her stands above her, looking down at her fist.  

"You are strong, Paya." The standing twin slowly speaks. "Talented as well. But, that isn't enough. Calamity Ganon is barely being contained by our princess... golden monsters are beginning to appear, and who knows what the Yiga are planning." 

"We both need to be at the peak of our strength in order to survive the coming war... I am fully prepared to sacrifice my life to defeat the calamity... however. You... you should not. You have not truly lived yet. You have not experienced a free and happy Hyrule... I will not have your life cut short. That is why you must get stronger. To support Linkle and the others... and most importantly survive." 

The prone girl allows herself to be pulled to her feet. She is slightly unsteady, nearly stumbling but eventually letting out a long breath. "Grandmother... the Sheik's techniques... do you feel as if you are growing any closer?" 

"I am... unsure... they are a few steps more advanced than what I am used to... I am quite out of practice as well... old age does not do well with Sheikah arts." 

"But... the Yiga clan leader is older than you... isn't he? How is he still a threat, then?!" The younger girl gasps. 

"I... am unsure... the Yiga clan split off from the Sheikah clan thousands of years ago shortly after that shortsighted king forbade them from continuing their way of life. They could not stand the thought of working so hard for the good on the kingdom... only for the king to see them as a threat." 

"It is only relatively recent that the Yiga clan became hostile to the Sheikah people and the Hyrule royal family. When the resurrection of Calamity Ganon was drawing closer and closer... in the millennia gap between ages... it is possible that they continued their research... with less scale, of course." 

"That is why their silence worries me, Paya. What could they be planning? What is it that they are scheming... are they attacking Linkle and Aurum at this very moment? We have no way of knowing and that truly terrifies me." Impa whispers. "We can only hope and pray that our two heroes are able to withstand their brutal tactics and malicious cunning..." 

*Linebreak*

Pov: Elsewhere 

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE THEY?!" 

*Linebreak*

Pov: Elsewhere. 

A young man with lavender hair, red eyes, pointed ears and pale skin slowly trudges through a near endless expanse of sand. 

"So. This is Hyrule." He huffs. 

"Yes, my liege." An older man walking behind him answers. He wears a dark ragged cloak of black and gold, in his hand is a strange clockwork-like object. A large red orb in the center. His hair is a deep grey, face gaunt and yellow eyes slightly sunken. 

"Somehow it is even more disappointing than I imagined." The figure scoffs. "Astor are you sure Hyrule holds the power I seek?" 

"Yes..." The older man hisses. "In the past... a great Calamity befell upon this place." 

"Ah, yes. The Calamity Ganon... you worshiped it in the past, correct?" 

"Yes. My liege." The older man nods. 

"That was foolish. It isn't even a real demon. Just animalistic energy. It never would have benefitted you in any way to serve such a creature." 

"It didn't..." Astor nods. "The powerful magics I learned, assuming to be the work of the Calamity... was nothing more than my own efforts. One of the first things the calamity did upon breaking free all those years ago... was kill the entire cult that worshiped it as a god... all but me..." 

The younger of the two shifts the sword on his back slightly. "I still remember the Hyrule family before the calamity... so uppity. What was girl called again?" 

The blade shakes slightly at his touch. 

"Princess Zelda my Liege?" Astor begins. 

"No. Her mother." The smaller figure shakes his head. "It doesn't really matter, I suppose... I already got what I needed from her." 

There's a small flickering shine on the back of his hand. "Her power... her... light." 

"So. Where is this tomb you had a vision of?" He questions, gazing around the expansive desert yet again. 

The old man in the back slowly raises his hand, the sphere raising from his hand. Little dots of light form around it, lines being stretched between them. Constellations. "It should be... underfoot." 

The lavender haired figure glances downwards, then draws his sword. 

With a single swing of the saber-like blade a gale of wind carves into the sand dune underfoot. 

After around five minutes, worked stone brick is revealed. 

A sick grin slowly spreads across the pale elf's face. "Well... Astor... you have proven a useful investment." 

"Thank you, my Liege." The older man bows his head. 

"Now to find the entrance." 

Red light begins to pool around the sword as he raises it above his head. The blade shudders with excitement. "Or I could just make one."