Bard of the Wild (Chapter 5) (Patreon)

A quest has been completed!

Find the Kakariko Fairy Fountain:
You have heard tales of a large flower residing outside of Kakariko village, one that houses the great fairy known as Cotera. You should seek her out to see if she can help you on your journey.

Objective:
Find the Great Fairy Fountain: [x]

Rewards: 2500 Exp

With this, I am inching closer and closer to level 5.

In front of us is a large, green, lightly spiked bulb. There seems to be a platform of glowing orange fungi leading up to it.

Linkle slowly walks forwards, stepping up onto the Fungi and placing a hand on the bulb. "H-Hello? Miss Great Fairy? Are you in there? We need help."

Nothing seems to happen for a moment before the air vibrates, an ethereal voice echoing out "Child... sweet child... please. Listen to my story."

"O-Oh? Okay?" Linkle mutters in confusion.

"I am the great fairy, Cotera. This place was once a beautiful spring, in the past, fewer and fewer travelers have arrived to offer me rupees, and, as a result, my power has abandoned me."

Alright. She's spewing some mad bullshit right now. My ranks in sense motive can smell something is up.

"I am nearly powerless now, so I beg for your help. I need rupees to become whole again... all I need is one hundred rupees. Once my power has been restored I can help you do great things, girl"

"While it is true that Rupees do hold some form of magical power, I... do not feel as if a mere one hundred would be enough to restore her power should she have actually lost it." My sword frowns.

"I... I'm sorry." Linkle whispers. "We... We only have fifty right now."

The plant warbles slightly as an absolutely massive hand pokes out, from wrist to fingertip, its about as long as Linkle is tall. "That... will have to do. May I?"

Linkle takes the purple Rupee that we had received and offers it to the giant woman.

The hand practically snatches the gem out of her hand and disappears back into the flower.

"…"

Nothing happens.

"Hello?"

There is no response.

"M-Miss Fairy?"

There is still no response.

I let out a quiet snort. "Heh! Get scammed, idiot."

The girl turns and scowls at me before touching the flower. "Miss Cotera... please... we need your help stopping Calamity Ganon."

There is still no response.

"Hn. A fairly bothersome fairy." My sword observes. "Hmm... there was a song that you used to play that fairies seemed to deeply enjoy. Perhaps it might draw out the fairy? It goes something like this..."

A quiet thrum of energy passes through me in a slow and high pitched rhythm, I tilt my head to the side as I let out a low hum. 'Oh? It's that song? That's curious.'

"This power... is not enough..." An ethereal voice echoes out finally. "Please... return with one hundred more Rupees."

"YOU-" Linkle seethes, clenching her fists.

"Linkle." I call out. "Let me."

**Linebreak**

Pov: nearby.

A blonde girl with twin braides tilts her head as she looks back to her traveling companion.

She... honestly still doesn't really know what to think of him.

He pretty much shot himself into her life, proclaimed himself a hero of equal measure to herself- with a sword to prove it, mind you- then proceeded to follow her around and help out where he can.

She will admit. She'd be long since dead if he hadn't been here.

She never expected the Yiga to find her on the first night.

As powerful as she used to be, that power has long since left her.

Ever since she woke up naked in the shrine of resurrection- after spending an hour screaming in abject horror because of the idea that she was about to be forced to roam Hyrule without any clothes- she has come to realize that she is a lot weaker than she used to be.

It's slowly getting better, of course, but it'll probably take time until she is capable of defeating stronger foes... if that one Yiga guy was anything to go by, the both of them have a long way to go.

Back to the white haired hero.

She... has a lot of questions about him.

Where does he come from? What was his life like? How did he come to find that sword of his?

It’s a true shame that he lost his memories.

But in the past week or so they have been traveling, she has been deeply struggling to get a read on his personality and his capabilities.

He is strong.

Physically stronger than her, at least.

Those damned abs and muscles. So distracting. It's not like she hasn't seen muscles before, most of the Hyrule guardsmen trained shirtless. It's just...

She hates to admit that Aurum is right, but he is really handsome.

Smug bastard.

From her time with him, she can tell that he is smug, mischievous, a little prideful, and most of all flirtatious.

She thinks he's doing it primarily to get a reaction out of her... and, well, it works, which seems to make it more likely for him to do it again and again.

Damn him and his calm melodious voice, pretty face, and muscled figure.

With a dull flash a violin appears in his hand, a bow in the other.

He's going to play a song? What's that going to do? To this lying bitch?

She was personally about to force this bulb open and give the fairy inside a piece of her mind.

An idle part of her mind wonders just how skilled he is. He hadn't done much with his music beyond playing a note here and there against the bokoblins in order to improve their strength minutely.

The bow is dragged across the greenish ethereal violin, causing a brief somber note to echo out.

It quickly changes into a happy chipper tune, Aurum whistling along and harmonizing with himself as the forest seems to come alive.

The trees rustle as if dancing, the little puddles around him vibrate, reverberating the sound as leaves swirl around him.

*POOF*

*POOF*

*POOF*

Several small tree-like creatures with leaf masks appear around him, one holding tiny maracas, another some sort of tree branch with vines on it like some form of cello, the final one has a pair of bongos.

"Yahaha!" They cheer as they begin playing along, she can see Aurum's eyes widening briefly at the new arrivals. Koroks. He hadn't expected that.

But he continues playing, the sounds of the forest and his new group of backing performers adding nicely to his own song as waves of green light creep from where his feet touch the ground and extend outwards.

She can see quite a few little glowing balls of pink light peek out from behind flowers and branches as the song continues.

The glowing forms of the fairies eventually come down and begin floating around the Sheikah bard as he continues playing.

Sheikah bard...

Those words remind her of before the calamity... there was a court poet who was a Sheikah. He was nothing like Aurum now that she thinks about it, besides the same hair color and eyes of their shared race, at least.

The Court Poet- who she for the life of her can't remember the name of at the moment- was quite flirtatious as well, however, he was... sort of creepy about it. Plus, his personality to anyone who wasn't a 'woman to be wooed' was rivaling Zelda's own when she was frankly, a bit of a bitch.

Once more, complete understanding for that due to the sheer pressure she was facing, but, unlike her, this guy didn't have an excuse. Hell, he even snapped at the chosen of the master sword herself- before she pulled the sword from the stone, of course- once after she refused his advances, calling her a 'commoner' and proclaiming that she should have been honored to spend a night with him.

There's a sheer difference between Aurum and that guy she doesn't care to remember the name of.

Aurum is powerful.

His music invokes emotion that the other guy's never could.

He is also not a coward like that one bard from one hundred years ago.

The Hero of Hyrule's eyes widen as the large bulb behind her pulses slightly, purple smoke spewing from its tip.

She staggers back as the petals flop open revealing a pink interior with a small pool at the base of the flower, large bits of metal line the edge of the pool of murky glittering water.

The water warbles, then an absolutely titanic woman shoots from the pool, sitting in it about half-way.

She has purple eye shadow, red lipstick and wears a glittering bathing suit that looks to be made of metal scales.

Around her neck is an elaborate jewelry piece with gemstones nearly as large as the blonde hero of hyrule is tall.

Wow...

S-she's big.

Maybe her earlier plan was a little reckless.

**Linebreak**

Pov: (returned)

The song comes to an end as I let out a quiet breath, sweat pools on my brow as my shoulders slump.

I look to the several fairies surrounding me, holding out a single finger.

One drifts down slightly, hovering just out of reach for a moment before moving on and quietly returning to the edges of the little clearing. Seemingly content with just watching what is happening.

The three Koroks who had appeared out of literally nowhere to join my band dance around briefly in circles.

"Yahaha! Old song! Old song! You're fun new guy!" They cheer as with a puff and a slight jingle they disappear.

You Have Unlocked an Achievement!

Learn the 'Minuet of the forest':
An ancient song, long thought lost to the bards of Hyrule. Clearly you are an exception, or, at the very least, the sword on your back is.
Reward: 'Minuet of the forest' Bardic Masterpiece, 5000 Exp

Woah! A level up? Also... the Ocarina of time songs are bardic masterpieces. Hrn. Interesting.

I look up to the large woman wading in the pool of the giant flower, she has a hand brought up to her mouth. "Oh my... how cute."

"That was a song I hadn't heard in ages." The great fairy hums, her voice causing my chest to vibrate slightly from its loud tone. As if I was at a concert and standing near a set of speakers. "Tell me... how did you learn it?"

"My sword told me." I shrug as I gesture to the blade on my back with a thumb. "Though... it does seem familiar."

I cup my chin. "Actually I've got a couple songs that come to mind... and that one seems to have reinvigorated me just a little bit."

"Oh? Then why don't you play some more?" The sword questions.

"Fair point, Vivi. I guess I should. Just to see if I can gain some more strength."

I gently drag the bow off the violin, then follow it with a second note.

"DO. NOT!" The sword screams, causing me to flinch forwards, a painful sounding 'SKRRT' echoing out from my spectral violin as I roughly skip the ethereal bow across the strings.

"Okay. Not that one."

"If you tried that as you are now, you'd surely die."

"Noted... do not try that one otherwise it could kill me." I whisper quietly.

I look back to the great fairy. "I deeply apologize for getting distracted for a moment. You see, my name is Aurum and this is Linkle. She is the girl who was chosen to wield the master sword one hundred years ago. Regretfully she fell in battle with Calamity Ganon's forces and as a result, was forced to spent one hundred years in a coma while she, well, revived."

"This process was greatly draining for her and left her in an incredibly weakened state." I continue the tale. "This is when she met me, an amnesiac who had nothing to his name, merely a sword on his back that seemed to have the potential to equal her sword that sealed the darkness. The journey has been incredibly dangerous for the both of us. Even at the Sheikah village we aren't safe, nearly having been assassinated by the dangerous Yiga clan. Since that day, we have gained some better protection, yes, but... these clothes will not save us from swords... or arrows... or knives. That is why I plead to you, great fairy of the fountain, Cotera. Please assist us. I know that you have been weakened, and I know that whatever magic you might have might not be enough, but I plead to you... every little bit helps."

The large woman lets out a low hum, a smile on her face as she looks over me, then Linkle who slowly backs up to the point where she is standing beside me.

She nods once. "Very well. After hearing such a nostalgic song, I suppose I could help out."

She holds out her hands and with a flash...

Suddenly Linkle and I are both standing in our underwear.

"…"

I glance over to Linkle, she glances over to me, her face a scarlet red as she realizes what has just happened.

"Speak of this to no one?" I ask.

She shakily nods her head, letting out a low embarrassed whine as we both look forwards

"Maybe I'll consider it." I eventually announce, causing the girl to pointedly glare at me.

The fairy dives back into her fountain.

A beat of horrified silence passes between the two of us.

Her quiet embarressed whine rises in pitch after the fairy disappears. Now into full on internal screaming.

"If she just disappeared with our clothes, I might just contemplate running this sword through my chest and seeing just what happens."

I glance over to her and quickly look her up and down.

"H-HEY! S-STOP LOOKING!" She snaps.

I meet her gaze and shoot her a smug smile. "How would you know I was looking unless you were looking first? Nice figure, by the way, you are really toned."

"Though I suppose I will stop looking. If I do for any longer, I might get a boner... and wouldn't that be awkward." I snort with a slight eye roll.

"MHHHHHHHHHHH!" Her internal screaming increases as she looks away.

With a large splash the fairy returns, her hands glowing.

With two finger guns, two beams are shot at us faster than we can dodge.

Our clothes are now back causing me to look down over my body.

Sheikah Stealth Armor +2:
{Light Armor}
Armor Bonus +5  
Max Dex Bonus +6  
Armor Check Penalty -0  
Arcane Spell Failure Chance 5%  
Movement Speed Reduction: None
Stealth Armor: Grants a +7 bonus to Stealth Checks
Set Bonus: Grants a +10 Enhancement bonus to movement speed at Night

"Sorry that took so long. I am just a little bit out of practice." The fairy announces. "So. What do you think?"

"This is... incredible." I mutter "It gained an additional special trait?!"

"Oh? You noticed that hm? Cute, charismatic and perceptive. A total catch." The fairy announces with a sultry smirk. "Do you two cuties need anything else?"

"Uh no?" Linkle weakly mutters.

"Wait. Linkle show her the mask." I state, quickly cutting in before the fairy could leave.

"Huh? Oh. Right. The mask." With a dull blue flash she retrieves the mask of truth from her sheikah slate.

Linkle holds up the white mask towards the Fairy.

"Oh?" She hums "My. That is quite interesting. fairly powerful if I do say so myself. Regretfully I can't do anything with this mask, but what I can tell you is that its power isn't exactly at full capacity quite yet. I haven't seen anything like that in ages."

"Huh?" I mutter.

"Oh yes." The gigantic woman nods. "It would say it is at roughly... twenty- no. Fifteen percent of its total capabilities."

"Do you know how we can return it to its full power?" Linkle asks.

"No. I do not. A shame. I feel as if that would truly help you on your adventure." The woman sighs.

A quest has been-

I minimize the alert as I ask another question. "You said that you hadn't seen anything like it in a long time. You are saying that there are other masks like it?"

"Oh, of course. I have seen three of such. Though I doubt that a majority still remains where I saw them." The woman nods.

"Then... does that mean that there is one that you know the location of?" The blonde to my left gasps, looking over to me, eyes wide.

Cotera looks between the two of us then a mischievous smirk appears on her lips. "I may."

"The mask I saw was within the pond shaped like a broken heart on the top of Ebon Mountain just south of where Hateno Village currently resides. That is where you can begin your search."

A quest has been-

Alright, now I feel like the system is fucking with me. There have been DECICIVELY over ten quests in Kakariko. Are all main 'villages' and 'towns' going to be like this?

Meh. I won't complain. More quests. More exp. More exp. Faster level ups. Faser level ups, sooner I don't get killed by a random ass Yiga assassin in a one on one.

"Broken heart pond on Ebon mountain." Linkle repeats with a slow nod. "Got it. Thank you for you help, truly."

"No, thank the two of you, I had been quite sad in thinking that the calamity had won, that the beauty of Hyrule was bound to be snuffed out. Your mere presence and that wonderful song you have played has raised my spirits!"

"I pray for your safety, twin heroes. May Hylia protect you. If, in the future, you find new clothing needs to be enhanced, I will gladly do so."

"Thank you, Cotera. I'll bring one hundred rupees next time!" Linkle resolutely declares, causing the fairy's smile to grow.

We turn and leave the fairy fountain, beginning our trek back to the village.

Linkle's gaze slowly strays over to me. "So... I didn't know your music was that powerful."

"Hm?" I hum as I meet her gaze. "I told you I was a bard and could use magic literally like... day one."

"I just didn't expect it would be this powerful." She proclaims.

"Well, to be fair, do you actually know what that song does?" I question.

"No?"

"Its effects aren't really the best. I'd personally say it was 'decent'." I shrug idly.

Minuet of the forest: (String, Wind)
Prerequisites: Perform (String), or Perform (Wind) 4 ranks.
Effect: Your song revitalizes the land beneath your feet as you play, drawing in creatures of the forest to listen.
When this song is played the surrounding 30 foot radius is affected as if the 'Enrichment' quality of the 'Plant Growth' spell, next, 'creatures of the forest' in the area will find themselves drawn to the performance, if you attempt to use a Diplomacy or Handle Animal check to influence creatures of the forest who are drawn to this performance, you increase your result by 5.
Use: 5 Rounds of Bardic Performance

"Just a little plant enrichment, improves the mood of forest creatures a little as well. Not truly that good." I nod once after fully skimming over the text of the song.

"Yes... but what about the song you were about to play? The one that you said would kill you if you tried it as you were now?" Linkle points out.

"Ah. That one. Yeah. A little bold, if I do say so myself." I admit as I embarrassedly scratch the back of my head. "Speaking of which, since that one increased my strength slightly... perhaps I should see about..."

A quest has been received.

"Trying the rest?" I suggest with a small shrug.

"By all means, it would probably help out a lot." The girl beside me nods.

I resummon a spectral instrument and play the first two notes of the song of healing before I get cut off by my own weapon.

"Not this one either."

"So, no song of time, no song of healing. What about this?" I mutter under my breath.

"Songs of what now?" Linkle blinks owlishly.

I play the first three notes of the song of storms.

"Nope. Closer than the first two to your skill level, you might even manage to play it for a few moments, but it'll take you out of commission for a while."

"Damn. Not that one either?" I frown.

I quickly shift instruments to a small hand-held flute and play three quick notes followed by the same three notes.

The music continues as I continue walking, pleased that this is something that my sword thinks I can pull off.

*FLASH* a green beam shoots from the front of my flute and goes off into the distance. Nothing seems to happen as I continue to play, it is like a simple laser pointer.

You Have Unlocked an Achievement!

Learn 'Saria's Song':
A song played by one who was once loved by the guardians of the forest. A remnant of a time long since passed.
Reward: 'Saria's Song' Bardic Masterpiece, 500 Exp

Saria's Song (Wind)
Prerequisites: Perform (Wind) 1 rank.
Effect: This Song seems to be pointing somewhere.
Use: 1 Rounds of Bardic Performance

I move the flute around, causing the laser to remain static for a few moments before it winks out of existence.

"Huh. It's pointing towards something." I note with a low hum as I look over to my companion. "We should check that out later. Whatever it was seemed pretty far away."

Also a little strange I didn't get a quest for it. Oh well.

"Let's try this then." I play a quiet and reserved tune on my flute.

You Have Unlocked an Achievement!

Learn 'Zelda's Lullaby':
A song that the queen of Hyrule used to sing to a younger Zelda to soothe her to sleep.
Reward: 'Zelda's Lullaby' Bardic Masterpiece, 500 Exp

"WAIT-" Linkle shouts after around thirty seconds. "HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!"

"Hm?" I hum as I stop abruptly.

"Oh? Does Hilda's Lullaby hold some form of importance here?"

"That's... the lullaby Zelda's mother used to sing her." Linkle whispers, eyes growing wide. "How do you know it?!"

"Huh..." I blink. "I guess it sort of just came to me? Next question. Vivi. Who the heck is Hilda?"

"A person... which you have long since forgotten. Perhaps it would be best to not dwell on it. After observing a few things I have come to the conclusion that it is unlikely that you will ever see her again."

"I see. Alright." I shrug as I look back to my flute. "Let's see what else I can play."

**Linebreak**

I let out a small yawn as I look through the assortment of screens before me.

Yesterday was a little tiring. My whole bardic thing took quite a bit out of me.

It was pretty late when we finally returned to kakariko village, about an hour and a half to get to the forest where the fairy fountain resided, roughly two to find it, and and a slightly shorter time back, as we were primarily going downhill.

I discovered quite a few interesting little things yesterday, firstly, the most obvious being that the ocarina of time songs exist here, as do presumably the rest of the zelda series songs.

Said realization led to the birth of a quest after I finished what used to be the forest temple warp song.

I had gotten quite a few quests yesterday, the chicken one, the finding the fairy fountain one, then the ones after finding said fountain.

Three new quests had found themselves in my rapidly growing quest list.

The first of which, being the quest to revitalize the mask of truth.

Seeking Truth:
The mask of truth is currently in a sealed state for some strange reason. Despite this, it is still an incredibly powerful mask that allows the wearer to pierce through the veil of invisibility. What powers could it have held when it was at its full strength? Perhaps it would be beneficial to find out!

Objective:
Return the Mask of Truth to its full strength: [ ]

The next quest, to find the mask in the broken heart pool

Till Death Do You Part:
You have been told of a mask hidden away on a nearby mountaintop. Let's hope that it is still there. It'd really help your rapidly growing case of kleptomania.

Objectives:
Travel to Ebon Mountain: [ ]
?: [ ]
?: [ ]  
?: [ ]

That name sounds ominous, if its at the 'broken heart' pond, I sort of fear what happened in close proximity to that mask. I'm personally betting on someone going full yandere sicko-mode on their soon to be husband-slash-wife.

The final quest was to find basically every song.

Ancient Lyrical Lament (Volume 1):
Songs that hold power apparently have really gone out of style! That’s depressing. Perhaps you should see about returning some of these mythical songs to the limelight.

Objectives:
Learn the 12 'Ancient Songs'. (5/12) [ ]

Yep.

So far, I've got Saria's Song, Minuet of the Forest, Zelda's Lullaby, Bolero of Fire, and finally, Epona's Song.

Then I ran out of bardic energy and decided to stop.

A slight issue with this whole thing... I don't exactly remember most of the songs post ocarina of time.

Hell, even the warp songs are a little iffy for me.

According to Vivi I've basically gotten everything I can play so far. Regretfully they weren't large enough achievements to level me up again, but oh well.

Zelda's Lullaby: (Sing, Wind)
Prerequisites: Perform (Sing), or Perform (Wind) 1 rank.
Effect: An ancient ballad of the Hyrule family. In times long past it was sometimes used as a musical 'key' of sorts, but that use has long since fallen out of style.
Your song has a natural calming effect, those who hear it will fall under the effects of the 'Lullaby' cantrip with a saving dc of 10+1/2 your bard level+Your Charisma Modifier. Those that manage to resist this song cannot be affected by it for the next 24 hours.
Use: 1 Round of Bardic Performance for every 5 rounds played

This one is pretty useless, to be honest.

Cantrips can be cast an infinite number of times and Lullaby is already an AOE. This increases its radius massively to 'anyone who can hear it', sure, and the save DC is actually a fair bit higher than normal, but still, it's not that good. Honestly, I'd go so far as to say that it is subpar. Lullaby doesn't even make people sleep; it just makes them a little drowsy for as long as it is played.

Oh well, it did its job of giving me five hundred experience points. That's good enough, I suppose.

The next song I unlocked, the Bolero of Fire, it'll definitely see some use if breath of the wild's gameplay was any indication.

Bolero of Fire: (Percussion, Wind, String)
Prerequisites: Perform (String), Perform (Percussion), or Perform (Wind) 3 ranks.
Effect: A song made by a traveling salesmen who was tired of dealing with the incredible temperatures of death mountain and the chilling cold of the Hebra Mountains.
This bardic masterpiece duplicates the effects of the 'Endure Elements' spell.
Use: 3 rounds of bardic performance per target.

This will definitely be useful for when we inevitably are forced to go to the desert, volcano, and fuckin mount Everest over there.

The final song I learned via past memories is one that will shortly be seeing a lot of use.

Epona's Song: (Sing, Wind, String)
Prerequisites: Perform (String), Perform (Sing), or Perform (Wind) 3 ranks.
Effect: A song made to honor the passing of an ancient hero's fallen steed.
This song duplicates the effect of the 'Mount' spell, treating your caster level for this effect as your bard level.
Use: 2 Rounds of bardic inspiration

Considering that Linkle and I don't have a true method of travel, this will be invaluable to us.

My only annoyance is that travel via horse fucking sucks.

That's quite a big issue, but, at least it'll cut our travel times down quite a bit.

We were thinking about leaving some time today.

We've gathered a bag of rupees that the Sheikah gave us, have all the food, water, and supplies we'll need to camp out in the wild, in one more day I'll no longer need to eat and drink, and we have done basically everything that we needed to here in Kakariko village.

Linkle has a surplus of weapons, with the store room being open if she ever needs any more, we both got some incredibly decent armor, enhanced it at the Great Fairy, got a fairly useful item in the form of the Mask of Truth, which I still have no ideas on how to improve, and the guardian sword which is currently our best weapon.

Linkle, on the other side of the room shifts slightly, letting out a quiet yawn and sitting up with a tired groan as she rubs her face with a hand.

She sleepily looks over to me, running a hand through her messy hair which she had let down to sleep. "Hm? Oh. You're awake."

"You ready to leave?" I ask.

"Hn." The girl hums. "After-"

She is cut off by a yawn as she rubs her eye.

"After breakfast." She eventually speaks.

A scream echoes through the house, coming from the crack in our room's slightly open door.

We both rocket to our feet, a sword flashing into Linkle's hand as I grab my own weapon, we rush outside, down the stairs and into the main room to see Paya sat on the floor, eyes wide, her shoulders shaking.

"Paya! What happened?!" Linkle exclaims as she crouches beside the girl.

"S-S-" Paya stutters as she points forwards to an empty red pillow with a visible indent. "Someone stole the Sheikah relic! I-It was MY responsibility! A-And I failed!"

Impa had actually mentioned that.

Apparently, the sphere that sat there is the key to some sort of Sheikah vault nearby.

However, she stated that it was not meant for the wielder of the master sword and would hold no true value to us.

She herself doesn't exactly even know what's in there, so a little bold, perhaps, to say its full of stuff that holds no value to us, but she herself said it was for the royal family's eyes only, so I guess I should believe her.

But. It looks like someone will be seeing it shortly.