Bard of the Wild (Chapter 9) (Patreon)

We slowly drive through the dark cave, my hands tightly gripping around the metal frame of the buggy as we follow the twisting curves and roll over bumps and dips in the ground.

The three of us are jostled left to right as the buggy bounces. The low hum of its engine reverberating off the walls, little stones rain down on us from up above as our eyes are locked forwards.

"These rock formations are pretty interesting." Purah notes, her red eyes some of the only light in the cabin as they gleam with the power from the gold triangle on the back of her hand. "But I can see that there's a small air current, we are almost through it seems."

I have been on edge the entire time we have been in this cave... primarily because nearly five minutes in, we nearly careened over the edge of a massive pit. And, according to Purah after she turned off the car, got out, and hurled a rock over the edge, seems to be around four thousand feet deep and, according to her as she listened to the reverberations of the stone hitting the ground below, opens up into a truly massive cavern beneath the mountain range.

That's... a little scary. Thus I've sort of been on edge.

Knowing my luck, a divine beast fell down there sometime in the past.

"Heeeey, uh, Purah." I begin slowly.

"Yes?"

"Can you get one of your crafted scouting guardians to take a look in that massive hole?" I question.

"Oh yeah! Of course!" The scientist beams. "I was just thinking about that! I wonder what's down there. How life has evolved differently due to the lack of sunlight, what sort of minerals are down that deep, is there intelligent life? An entire society of people living beneath Hylian soil?"

She taps her chin. "I could see the Gorons doing so. Perhaps a group that split off thousands of years ago, going beneath the earth! Ohoho I'm so excited!

I wince as we drive around a corner, a beam of light striking us as and rendering us blind for a moment.

We leave the cave, wincing and blinking the spots from our vision as we adjust to the lighting outside.

Linkle rubs her eyes as Purah lets out a quiet annoyed groan.

The tweeting of birds and rustling of wind through the treetops reaches our ears, the musty, stale, earthy scent of the cave behind us now fully dissipating as we drive out into a small forest clearing.

Purah pulls out her Sheikah slate and seemingly looks over a map. "Hm. According to my Sheikah Slate here, we should be just to the east of Palmorae ruins."

She looks up with a bright smile. "But it worked! We got through to the other side in a fraction of the time!"

"That's good." I agree. "Now there's less of a chance for the Yiga clan to know what we are up to. Though. With how loud this thing is, I doubt it'll be long before people find out about the 'never before seen guardian with people riding it'. You'll be an urban myth."

"It isn't the most subtle thing." Linkle agrees with a sole nod. "But it is faster than a horse and can carry much more as well. I think it's quite nice."

"I never said it wasn't. I just wished it was quieter." I state as I gaze around slowly. "So. Where's this fishing village from here? Also please be aware that they are probably going to freak out when they hear us and see us approach."

I hear Purah let out a small hiss of realization. "That is... true."

**Linebreak**

A quest has been completed!

Travel to Lurelin Village:
You have heard tales... from your magic Japanese instrument... that there is a hint to an undiscovered divine beast somewhere within this fishing village.

Objective:
Travel to Lurelin Village: [x]

Bonus Objectives:
Reach Lurelin in 24 Hours (01:51:23) [x]
Reach Lurelin in 48 Hours (25:51:23) [x]
Reach Lurelin in 72 Hours (49:51:23) [x]

Reward: 2500 Exp

Bonus Reward: 4500 Exp, two items from the shop, both worth up to 8000 Gold Pieces each.

'huh. Not enough to level up. A shame.'

The three of us walk into the small village, supplies on our backs. I look to the Sheikah woman leading us. "So. Where to now, woman with the mystic triangle."

She casts a slow glance around, her eyes seeming to glow briefly. The village itself is comprised of at most thirty buildings. All little stilt houses about a foot off the ground, people mill around, children weaving grass and sticks into rope and fishing baskets, men carving bone and branches into sharpened hooks.

It's... peaceful.

"The power has no answer to that. It's not omnipotence, merely retrocognition. Hn. We should probably look for a leader. A village elder. Someone who knows the stories and legends of the land." Purah supplies.

"Alright. In that case. I've got this. Let me show you how a bard gathers information." I smirk as I step past the two, offering the women a quick wink as I pull my slightly menacing face mask down.

I walk over to a person seemingly at random. "Oh, hello. My name is Aurum and I am traveling across Hyrule with my companions over there."

"Hn? Strangers?" The man grunts, he is old and grizzled, a rough brown beard about an inch long on his chin, a small scar on his eyebrow. "What can I do you for?"

"We are looking for something... maybe you could help us?" I begin, the man frowning slightly as he looks over me. "We have heard that someone around here might have seen something... unnatural... during their lives, something that could frankly only be called magic."

"Magic?" The man snorts. "Yeah. It's pretty common."

"No, I'm not talking about a wizzrobe or a simple gem explosion... I'm talking about something widespread. Like an endless downpour, or bolts of lightning that strike the exact same place like clockwork, or maybe even something large changing a mountain face." I explain with a disarming smile. "Do you know anyone in your village who might know something?"

"I... am not sure." The man replies with a small shake of his head.

He cups his head and thinks for a long moment. "Oh. Actually, there is something that rings a bell. I remember a couple years ago Logga told me that he went to sleep in a forest one time and the very grass itself grew inches overnight and tried to strangle him while he was asleep... I personally always thought he was full of shit, but... hrm... you should go ask him if you want to know more."

"Do you know where he is?" I question.

He gestures over his shoulder with a thumb. "Should be over by the docks preparing to smoke today's excess catch."

"Oh! Thanks for the tip! You genuinely have no idea how helpful you have been." I brightly grin as I turn and walk away, gesturing for the two girls hanging back to follow behind me.

We make our way through the village, eventually coming up to the beachfront, where three men are stood, crouched over a small pile of sticks that has a tri pod of branches stood above it. Gutted fish hanging up above, the scent of the ocean particularly strong as the waves gently crash on the shore.

One lets out a quiet curse as he strikes a piece of flint along a dagger. "Come on... damn it!"

"Are you alright?" I ask as I come to a stop a short distance away.

"Hn?" One of the men hums. "Outsiders?"

"It's nothing. The damned tender got wet." The man crouching down grunts, he doesn't even look back as he strikes the flint along his blade.

"Maybe I can help with that." I offer as I walk over, pointing two fingers at campfire.

Sparks explode from my fingertips, and with a loud 'fwoomph' the sticks ignite.

The man who had been trying to light it lets out a small shout of surprise as he falls back onto his ass, scooting away from the new blaze, eyes wide.

The three men instantly look to me, eyes wide with surprise and a little fear.

My gaze slides between them as I give them a kindhearted smile that seems to ease them slightly. "So. Which one of you are Logga. I have a few questions to ask you."

The man on the ground lifts a hand. "I am. What do you need?"

"I heard from someone in the village that in the past you had plants try and strangle you in your sleep. I want to hear more about that." I say as I crouch down and offer the man a hand.

the two other men let out a huff of laughter. "Yeah, Logga. Tell this man about how the forest was angry with you."

"Shut it!" The man growls to the two of them as he takes my hand and allows himself to be pulled up, he lets out a quiet sigh as the two laugh, eyes turning back to me. "Well. Since you helped out I guess I can tell you."

"It happened a couple of decades ago when I was nothing more than an inexperienced teenager. Traveling throughout Hyrule. Going from place to place." The man begins his tale as Purah and Linkle walk over, standing a short distance away so they can listen in on his tale. "It was around the time I was first leaving the village. I had wanted to go see Gerudo town because... well..."

"They are an exclusively female race that rely on boys from other races to reproduce. I'm a guy. I get it." I wave off.

"Er... yeah... that." The man weakly states. "Anyways, as I was leaving, I made a bit of a wrong turn. Instead of going north, over the Bridge of Hylia, I went south. I ended up crossing a natural land bridge and came across a lush forest with some sort of large skull shaped rock."

"Around this point I realized I had gone the wrong way, but it was becoming night and I didn't want to sleep out in the open." The man continues with his story. "I entered the forest and found a nice clearing for myself, I went to sleep without much fanfare, but when I woke up, the grass I had cut and flattened had not only regrown but tripled in length! It wrapped around my arms and legs and was slowly coiling around my neck. I was lucky in a way. I had my arm on my chest and was able to get hold of my knife. If I didn't... I would have died."

"What do you think caused it?" I question.

"I don't know. Damned magicians is all I can guess- No offence." The man states.

"None taken. I'm a bard. Not a magician." I wave off. "Still. Quite the story. I'm glad you survived... and thanks for telling me."

"No problem... it feels good to tell someone who isn't an absolute bastard and laughs in my face." He growls, glaring at his friends in the corner of his eye.

With that I turn and walk away, coming to my two traveling companions who turn and match my pace as we begin out walk back to where Purah had parked her little pet project.

"So, you heard him?" I question.

"Yeah." Linkle nods once. "Somewhere south of Hylia bridge."

"The south west." Purah states. "Reasonably if he was heading to Gerudo town, he would have been heading west. This narrows down the area we have to look tremendously."

She cups her chin and closes her eyes. "If I remember correctly from the maps I saw one hundred years ago... before the calamity struck... There was a thicket around there that had quite a few mysterious disappearances. That is probably the place."

"I can check and see if we have enough information now with my Samisen soon enough. I should be nearing the time when I can use it again." I offer.

"That would be wise." Purah agrees. "But first, we should probably go see the Lover's pond."

"Yeah. While we are there we can do whatever we need to and if it hasn't been enough time yet we could take a small break." I nod as we come to the parked buggy.

I hop up into it and sit down in the shoddy back seat, Linkle climbing into the chair just in front of me as Purah returns to the driver's seat.

The engine rumbles to life as Purah slides her Sheikah slate into a small port on the dash, then in the next moment we speed off, leaving the bushes with a loud roar, the wheels leaving the ground briefly as we ramp up the small dirt incline leading onto the road.

Linkle lets out a quiet loathing groan as she slips on the mask of truth, slumping in her chair as we get jostled slightly from Purah swerving, nearly going off the dirt path entirely with her little jump stunt.

"Purah! I swear if you don't slow down I'll make you regret it!" The blonde shouts as we move to dangerous speeds, turning around a bend in the road, two of our wheels slightly lifting from the ground.

"I can't hear you over the engine, Linkle!" Purah shouts. Totally lying.

"That's it!" Linkle snaps as she reaches over.

The car swerves violently as the girl pinches Purah's breast.

"AAAhn-" Purah shouts in surprise.

She fights off Linkle with a sole arm as the car bounces slightly.

But we do noticeably slow down.

"Linkle!" Purah gasps. "I never knew you were so forward!"

"Alright. You two knock it off." I butt into the fight placing a hand on each of their shoulders and more or less separating them. "Purah. Drive slower and keep your eyes on the road. Linkle stop bothering the girl who could very easily crash us into a tree. Can you fucking imagine how embarrassing it will be to enter the afterlife, not killed by some sort of giant beast, but by flying through the guardian windshield and splattering my brains on a large rock? I swear I will grope the hell out of both of you if you don't chill the fuck out."

"Promise?" Purah smirks with a slightly sultry gaze.

"EYES ON THE FUCKING ROAD! THERE'S A GUY!" I shout.

The man walking along the road lets out a shout as Purah swerves to the side.

I blink owlishly as Linkle leans out the window with a crossbow and headshots the guy.

A horrified beat of silence crosses between myself and Purah. The guardian mobile rolls to a halt.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" The scientist screams, her eyes a blaring, glowing red.

She pauses and seems to calm down, letting out a long breath and a quiet 'ah well' under her breath.

"LINKLE WHAT THE FUCK?! YOU JUST FUCKING ICED THAT GUY FOR NO REASON!" I shout in abject horror.

"He was a Yiga clan member." The girl scoffs.

"…"

I lean out the window, gazing back at the crumpled heap of a person in the road.

*Poof*

He is replaced by a figure wearing red with a white mask. A pool of blood quickly forms under him as he remains there, completely unmoving.

"…" I slowly turn to the two women sat in front of me.

We begin driving again without much fanfare.

"I literally have no words." I sigh.

"The mask works great!" Linkle beams totally unbothered about the fact that from an outside view it looked like the hero of Hyrule decided to drive by someone for fun. "If I didn't headshot him the second I saw him, he'd tell the rest where we were and that we have this vehicle. That'd be bad."

"Whatever." I sigh. "If I have to get used to you shooting random people we drive past I'm going to be seriously uncomfortable."

"Would you rather Kohga know where we are and what we are doing?" The girl questions.

I don't reply.

"If not, you'll just need to accept that as long as I have this mask, I'll be forced to shoot people at seemingly random." Linkle smiles.

"You are sort of making it sound like the mask is cursed and is making you shoot people. You should probably not word it that way if anyone else ever asks you about your sudden murderous habits." I blandly deadpan.

"Yeah yeah, sure." The girl snorts.

**Linebreak**

We roll to a stop just before a fairly large pond. I hop out of the buggy, stretching my arms above my head as I let out a long groan.

Linkle lands next to me, just as happy to get out of the cramped vehicle and stretch her legs.

"So. This is the place?" I question, gazing over to Purah as she steps out of the vehicle.

"Yes." She simply nods once, crossing her arms under her bust as she looks around. "Hn. I don't see anything special that would-"

She pauses, gazing out over the large heart shaped pond and walks forwards, a slim frown on her face.

I follow after her, coming to a halt right beside her as she pauses at the edge of the lake, her eyes glowing, the Tri force of knowledge visibly present on the back of her hand.

"So?" I vocally prod. "What is it?"

Linkle comes to stop beside us as Purah gazes deep into the water.

"How deep is this pond?" Purah questions.

I take a moment to process the question and give her a flat stare. "I don't know. You tell me. You have the literal embodiment of knowledge stapled onto the back of your hand."

"It is at most fifteen feet deep... then you hit a wall... or rather, a door." She explains quietly, cupping her chin in intrigue. "The only issue is that it seems to have two keys... two magical keys which I am unsure of where-"

"Linkle." I begin as I reach into my bag and pull out the sun mask.

"Yeah yeah." The girl agrees as she takes off the mask of truth, clipping it to her hip, then takes her moon mask from her sheikah slate.

She places the mask on her face as I put the sun mask on.

A pillar of water splashes upwards as the center of the lake lowers slightly, the outside bits of the water rushing towards the now lowered middle and sending a spray of water upwards as they collide in the center.

There's a dull rumble as the ground shakes, the water is a little murky, but you can still see a fair distance.

I shift my mask, making it hang on the side of my head instead of over my entire face, Linkle takes it off entirely and keeps it held in one hand.

"Oh. I see. Those masks are the keys... the door opened up a new chamber, one leading downwards roughly thirty feet and into an underwater archway that is the door to an underwater path that coils downwards like a spring."

"How far down does it go?" I question as I glance to the side, pulling up my quest window to see if any additional information has been given.

"I don't know." Purah replies with a small headshake. I was just looking at the way the water bounced around the surface to determine a general shape of the pond itself. It looks like the bottom, past the door that just opened, is all stone."

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: [x]
Find the Sun and Moon masks: [x]
Travel to the Lovers Pond: [x]
Complete the Temple of Unity: [ ]

"Hrn. The temple of Unity." I mutter as I look down and begin looking through my bag. "Any ideas on how to get down there?"

"Air will be an issue." Purah frowns. "We should come back with a Zora. They could easily take a look down there and tell us what to do."

I pull out a bottle that I had just purchased from the shop.

"Or. Hear me out. We go down there because I really don't feel like coming back later." I state. "Also. Now that it's open, it's likely someone will go down there and find the mask we are looking for."

I lift the steel bottle with a cork in it. Wispy lines and clouds have been engraved on the outside of the bottle. "This will be our lifeline."

A bottle of air, an item worth seven thousand two hundred and fifty gold. Typically a glass bottle with a cork.

Having a glass object be our lifeline sounds like a nightmare, so I spent the remaining seven hundred and fifty gold to change its base material and look somewhat.

Purah's eyes glow. "What will a simple bottle- oh... I see... hn. That could just work."

"A bottle?" Linkle mutters. "What does it do?"

Purah answers for me. "It is a continuously renewing source of air. The bottle will never fill with water and upon going underwater it will release a constant stream of air for us to breathe."

"Us?" I echo. "You're coming with us?"

"Why wouldn't I?" The glasses wearing woman frowns.

"I sort of thought you'd want to stay by your creation to make sure nobody messes with it." Linkle agrees with a small nod towards the Ancient Buggy.

"Linkle... you thought I would stay out of a temple... that has been sealed for possibly thousands of years. To stay with something that I made purely for fun." The Sheikah woman deadpans. "Do you know how much ancient history could be down there?! I'm going!"

"Alright." I relent. "We'll be forced to share the bottle for air. We can pass it around as we go down. Stay close."

I begin to wade into the water, Linkle letting out a low hum as she joins me.

We both tread water, gazing back to Purah who takes off her glasses and slips them into her front pocket, then enters the water after us.

I take a deep breath, then dive under the surface.

We begin swimming downwards, passing a threshold where murky reeds and dirt turns to worked stone.

The visibility drops immensely as we go downwards, it appears that the dirt and algae which had come to rest on the top of door got kicked up when it opened.

We reach the bottom, a spray of bubbles traveling upwards as I pop open the bottle.

Purah swims forwards and puts her lips around the bottle's mouth, taking a big gulp of air before passing it to Linkle.

We travel along the bottom of the stony floor, eventually passing under an archway.

Immediately after, the water clears, allowing us to see much further than we originally were able.

The bottle is offered to me as I take a breath. Taking time to note the indirect kiss I just got from both Purah and Linkle.

Purah briefly touches the stone walls, a look of intrigue on her face as we begin to follow the curve downwards.

We remain as a group, traveling deeper and deeper, the water pressure is beginning to get a little uncomfortable...

Eventually we come to a flat wall, the ceiling expanding upwards. But there is no water beyond.

We all clamber out of the water, coming to a small pathway with air in it. The ceiling isn't tall enough to stand, so it looks like we'll be forced to crawl from here on out.

We take a brief moment to catch our breath, the stale musty air being quite refreshing from the several minute swim we had just endured.

"Alright." I sigh as I reach over and take the bottle of air, replacing the cork with an annoyed huff. "Well, I'm wet and bothered. What about you two."

"Ugh. I don't like water." Linkle frowns as she plucks a small branch out of her hair.

"I fail to see how this temple here is supposed to promote unity when any normal person would drown- oh... I see... you would have been given the ability to breathe the water if you had worn your masks." The Scientist supplies.

"Ah. Shit." I lowly curse as I refix it to my face. "There's probably going to be a few challenges we have to face like that so you should probably get your own mask on, Linkle."

"Right." The girl nods as I turn and begin crawling deeper into the cave.

"Hey... wait. It's dark in here. Slow down." Linkle calls after me.

I pause my crawl and go back slightly.

"Alright. One second." I lowly mutter as I reach out and touch the white mask on her face.

A dull light explodes off it, briefly blinding me as I wince, blinking the spots from my vision.

She looks around slowly then nods once I can see her eyes blinking repeatedly through the mask's eye holes.

"Alright. This is good." She nods as we crawl forwards, the ceiling begins to slowly grow taller and taller, allowing us to stand.

I glance back to Linkle and Purah, their hair wet and weighed down, their clothes clinging to their bodies and becoming slightly see-through in some places.

"Ah. Right." I blink as I hold out a hand and quickly dry our bodies, then with another casting of prestidigitation I clean us. "There. Now we are nice and dry."

With that we turn, following the square hallway until we come to a large stone double door. They are covered in ancient scribbling and designs that look sort of like thorned rose vines, at the very center of a door is a swirling symbol reminiscent of both an ouroboros and a Yin and Yang. A sun made of golden orange crystal seems to be chasing a moon of opal.

It is frankly stunning. Damn. Opal is genuinely such an underrated gemstone. It's always 'Diamond' or 'Ruby' or 'Sapphire' but nobody respects Opal. I'll get me something made of Opal soon enough. Hell, I still have an eight thousand gold item left to pick out. I wonder what sort of rings are around this price.

I glance over to Linkle and Purah, then slowly walk towards the door.

"The temple of unity, huh." Purah mutters as we come to a stop just before the door.

Now that we are closer I can see two little indents on the large door, one on each of the double doors.

I let out a low hum as I approach resting my hand on the 'Sun' door.

I look expectantly to Linkle who looks up at the crystal sun and moon.

"Oh. Right." She mutters as she steps forwards and places her own hand into the hand slot on the other side.

The sun and moon symbols begin to glow, then with a low rumble and the grinding of stone, the twin doors are slowly pulled back away from us.

On the other side of the door is a sizable descending staircase leading into a large room, standing at the center is a platform with pedestals separated by a glass wall.

Two lines on the floor lead forwards up to the buttons. One gold and one white.

"Ah. Puzzles. Fun. I assume most of this is going to take two people, right?" I Idly question

"Probably." Linkle agrees with a single nod.

My shoulder slump slightly as I let out a quiet and mildly bored sigh. "Ah well, better than some sort of ancient evil. But I swear if I have to answer a riddle about something having a different number of legs depending on the time of the day, or how to get a bag of grain, a goose, and a fox across a river in a boat that can carry only two things max per trip, I'm going to be sooo peeved."

As we make our way down the stairs Linkle slowly glances over to me. "H-Huh?"

"Oh? You've never heard that riddle, Linkle?" I ask as we continue to descend towards the puzzle. "What has four legs in the morning, two at mid-day and three in the evening?"

"Uh... wh-" the girl blinks owlishly.

"It's a pretty common riddle." I shrug.

Her eyes seem to stray across my face briefly, but Purah who is walking slightly behind us interjects. "The answer is 'man', right?"

"Yep. Purah got it." I snort.

"How is it man?! Men don't have four legs! Or three!" The blonde hero exclaims.

"Eh. I've heard people call their cocks their third legs before." I shrug, causing Linkle to sputter.

"Heh." Purah snorts. "Anyways, Linkle, the riddle is that a 'day' is their life cycle. You crawl as a baby, walk as an adult, and some people use canes when they grow older. Thus four, two and three."

"Ugh. Stupid riddles." The hero sighs.

"Honestly, with the literal embodiment of knowledge here with us, I'd take riddles. That'd be nice and quick." I announce.

"Oh. You'll probably want to take your time here." Purah announces with a bright smile. "I bet a few of these puzzles will be quite hard and a real pain in the rear."

"Heh." She huffs under her breath seemingly to an inside joke that Neither Linkle nor I understand. "Heheheh."

We step up to the lightly raised button platform and stare forwards to the thing in front of us. Down below is a barred gate made of solid metal. Behind it is another... then another... and another.

Four gates of metal sit down in a hallway before us, seemingly leading to the next room.

On my side, there is a simple lever, sort of like a light switch, only facing left and right. Gazing through the glass I can see four buttons on Linkle's panel.

I look back to the wall to see four hoops on the ceiling.

"Alright. What the hell is this?" I question with a half-lidded stare.