Bard of the Wild: Chapter 29

It's slipping... 

Slowly but surely Zelda's hold on the calamity is slipping. 

She doesn't know how much longer she can hold out. 

She got distracted. 

That was her mistake. 

Damn it! She... 

She's too weak! 'I'm sorry... Linkle... I don't know how much longer I can...' 

Suddenly it's as if a large weight strikes her in the back. 

FLASH 

And... Suddenly... 

She's not in the barrier anymore. 

"What?" The girl blinks, looking around slowly. "This is... Hyrule Fields?" 

Her eyes are drawn to the back of her hand where a set of three triangles rests, one of them brightly glowing. 

She looks up, seeing a massive miasma curl around the castle... but it remains contained... 

She feels a constant drain from her goddess given powers... up towards the peak... 

But it feels almost... too easy... 

"What just happened?" 

[Split] 

"So... you think it went to Zelda?" Linkle tilts her head.  

"I mean, one princess had it... and the Hyrule Family's emblem IS the Tri-Force. Besides, that felt like the direction it was heading when it disappeared." 

I look down at the princess laying on the floor. 

"I see..." I mutter. "It's... a shame about her arm. But you can make her a new one, right?" 

"Oh! Of Course! That can be a nice quick project I use to warm up. It should take no time at all.  

"Alright. You'll also need to teach her how to speak the modern language. It's... strange, honestly... how language shifted for her, but not for Saria." 

The green haired girl perks up, hearing her name. 

"Oh! I have an ability to translate language. I'm actually speaking Kokri, it's just translated to words you know."  

"Huh..." Hum as I gently sit the princess on a bedroll. She still looks weak and Injured, but at the moment I'm out of spells. I've stablized her, so at least she's not getting worse. 

I rise to my feet, stretching my arms out. "That's neat."  

I look over to Impa and Linkle looking over the sword the sheikah woman had pulled out. 

I make my way over. "What have we here?" 

"Aurum! It's some sort of master short-sword." 

I cup my chin, a hum leaving my lips. 

Master Short Sword: 
Hardness: 30  
Health: 200  
Weight: 3 Lbs  
Damage: 4d6+10+(Str) (+2d8, +2d8)  
Crit Range: 15-20 (x2)  
Blade of Evil's Bane: Deals 2d8 additional damage to evil aligned individuals and a further 2d8 to creatures infused with the very essence of evil. In addition, this sword now shines brightly in the presence of truly vile creatures or magics. 

"Huh." I blink. "It's weaker than your sword by a fair bit, but overall it has the same enchantment. 

I look to the other two weapons. "What about those?" 

I gesture over to the two swords still stabbed into the stone. 

It is greenish in color with a large c-shaped cross guard. 

Ping 

"Hm." I hum mutely as I gaze over the blade. A zig-zagging pattern of lighter metal seems to travel down its length, resulting in a bunch of triangles on the blade's side. 

Lokomo Blade: 
Hardness: 25  
Health: 150  
Weight: 5 Lbs  
Damage: 4d6+5+(Str*1.5)  
Crit Range: 19-20 (x2) 
Shadow Key: The Locomo Blade has a unique interaction with '?' And is required to enter '?' Safely. 

"Huh... this sword is a key." I observe after a brief moment. 

"Really?" Linkle steps over. Gazing over the blade's large handguard. 

"It's called the Lokomo blade... as for what it opens? I've got no real clue. Just that it has a unique interaction with something and is required to safely enter something else." 

I offer her the blade, she looks over it briefly, giving it a test swing or two. "It's kind of unwieldy, isn't it? This handguard is ridiculous. It's almost as wide as the blade is long." 

"Yep." I nod once as I walk across the room and draw the other blade with a small grunt of exertion. This one is a little more tame, the handguard is blue in color, curling backwards slightly towards the wielder like a set of Ram's horns. The most eye-catching thing about it would probably be the large golden hourglass-shaped thing in the very middle and the strange blue symbol on the side of the blade above that, the symbol looking similar to a teardrop with a shield inside of it with an upward-facing crescent moon below it. 

Ping 

Phantom Sword: 
Hardness: 35  
Health: 250  
Weight: 3.5 Lbs  
Damage: 4d6+5+(Str)  
Crit Range: 18-20 (x2) 
Incomplete: The true power of this weapon is yet to be seen as it was incomplete when it was sent out into battle and used as a seal for the Demon Malladus. 
The Three Metals: The Phantom Sword was made out of three unique and rare metals, Crimsonine, Azurine, and Aquaine. As a result the hardness of this weapon is improved by 10 and the health by 100. 

"Huh..." I mutter under my breath. "This weapon is... incomplete..." 

It swipes through the air as Purah glances over, her eyes glow slightly. 

She blinks twice and quickly rushes over as Linkle wanders over. 

"Incomplete?" The hero of hyrule asks slowly. 

"Let me see that!" Purah gasps. 

I shrug and offer the blade to her. She begins to look over it, a frown on her lips, muttering under her breath as she examines the hourglass in at the core of the blade. 

As she continues looking over it my eyes stray to the side. 

Swords of Sealing: 
Across Hyrule there are apparently half a dozen Master Swords lingering about... how strange... oh well, just another thing to collect! I wonder if any of the other important Legend of Zelda weapons are just lying around? 
Objectives: 
Retrieve the weapons that (can) seal the darkness: 3/6 

Bonus Objective: 
1: Reclaim the Kokiri Sword: [x]  
3: Reclaim the Lokomo Blade: [x] 
4: Reclaim the Phantom Blade: [x] 

Rewards: 
Bonus 3: 10000 Exp 
Bonus 4: 10000 Exp 

We skipped number two... 

If I had to make a guess of what it is, though. I'd say that'd be the Four Sword. Or maybe it's something else. I don't know. 

My eyes return to Purah who has slid the hourglass out of the sword and is examining it up close. "I see... I see... fascinating..." 

"What, can the sword stop time or something?" 

"It's supposed to." The white haired woman answers after a brief moment. "But it is like you said... the blade is incomplete. The hourglass is completely empty." 

"And I take it that we can't just walk outside and fill it with a bunch of sand from the beach?" 

"You would be correct." The scientist nods only to pause. "Or would you?" 

"Mundane ordinary sand could theoretically trigger this sword's power... yet at a strength that is... less than ideal. If, with the sword at full power with a perfect material within? You might be able to stop time for five seconds. Possibly ten. With normal sand? You might only be able to slow- and only slow- time for not even a tenth of a second. The potency of the effect but also the duration will be drastically decreased. Then you'd need to realize that the sand would be completely used up in that fraction of a second." 

"You might get somewhere if you were to combine the sand with certain powdered gemstone. However, in that case the issue is actually reducing said gemstones into powder as most gems typically are quite... elementally charged. Sapphire or Topaz may offer the best results, however this sort of... elemental sand would still be a one-time use consumable as well. But it would also be far more potent and last longer. Maybe... a second's worth of perceived time at maybe one hundred times slower? That's a rough estimate." 

I can feel waves of giddy excitement beginning to flow through my empathic link-le, a bright grin appears on my girlfriend's face. "A sword that can stop time?! That is- That is SO cool!" 

"it's also more durable than that master shortsword." I comment idly. "Apparently it's made of three special metals." 

"Crimsonine, Azurine, and Aquaine." Purah lists off. "I've never heard of any of those before. They must be considerably rare. I will fully admit that it is a weapon that has potential equal to or greater than the master sword, however." 

Her gaze turns to Linkle. "Actually, Linkle. You'd perhaps be able to use it better than most due to your innate talent in Chronomancy." 

"I know! That's what I was just thinking!" The blonde clenches her fists which shake with poorly contained excitement, she seems ECSTATIC about the new weapon.  

I run my hand through my hair. "Alright. We've basically done everything we could here, right?" 

"I want to read through the books in the library!" Purah announces. 

"Later." I deadpan as I turn, walking over to the unconscious form of Styla. "First. we need to get this princess some medical attention." 

[Split] 

Shit Shit Shit! 

Zelda rushes as fast as she can, loud thudding footsteps echoing out behind her as spindly mechanical limbs spasm and flail after her. 

Beep Beep Beep Beep 

A red light glows from the singular eye of the large metal and stone construct, a Guardian. 

BWEEEEE- 

The blonde princess lets out a cry as a blue beam begins to form deep within the eye and flash towards her, the strange mark that now rests on the back of her hand glowing dimly as she swings an arm backwards. 

-PING  

The beam is deflected to the side abruptly as the girl is knocked off her feet. 

She rolls in the dirt for a moment as the thudding heavy footsteps rapidly grow closer. 

Her eyes widen in horror as one of the long spindly limbs arc back, the foot of the guardian clamping down into a sharp point.  

She flinches back as the appendage shoots down at her with great speed. 

TOCK 

Her eyes crack open a moment later as the blow doesn't come. 

the guardian seems to be cloaked in some form of yellowish energy. The entire construct seems almost... paused... 

It abruptly lurches backwards, running in almost... reverse? 

It grows further and further away, disappearing over a hill and seemingly continuing even further if the rumbling footsteps are to be believed. Zelda turns with wide eyes as she can hear grass rustling underfoot. Zelda herself hadn't been the one to do that... whatever that was. 

A hooded figure walks forwards, a sheathed blade clutched to her chest. 

That sword looks... familiar- "The master s- Linkle?!" 

The hooded figure doesn't reply, simply walking past the blonde princess as if she wasn't even there. 

"No... you... who are you?" Zelda demands. "Linkle had the master sword with her when I had that vision! What is this?! Who are you! What did you do to Linkle?!" 

The cloaked figure continues to walk. 

Magic power flickers to life in Zelda's hand. "Hey! Quit ignoring me!" 

She stalks forwards, placing her hand on the figure's shoulder and trying to turn them around. 

Zelda fails spectacularly. She doesn't even jostle the figure, even as she plants both of her feet against the ground she is just pulled forwards, carving two little lines in the dirt as they continue walking without even the slightest bit of strain or pause. 

Zelda steps around the figure, placing her hands on the stranger's shoulders. 

The hood slowly falls causing the princess to let out a gasp. 

"Wh-" 

Two dazed eyes bore into her own... no... It's more that they stare past her. Through her. Gazing into the distance that she happened to step in front of. 

They're utterly striking eyes. A black orb surrounded by a sea of green... then... blue? It's as if the eye has two separate iris in each eye, one outside the first. Then beyond that, the whites of the figure's eye- even with how little there is as the extra ring of iris causes the eye to look extra-large- is a light purple. 

The eyes aren't the weirdest thing about this figure... this woman. 

She doesn't' even slightly react to being touched, just continuing to stare into the distance. Oblivious and unaware of her surroundings. 

Light seems to pool in her arms, but she's not using it to do anything, in fact... it looks like... she's channeling light into the master sword? 

Zelda walks backwards, gazing suspiciously at the pale blonde woman in front of her. She looks really familiar but she can't quite put her finger on it. 

Oh. 

She also has horns. 

Weird jagged blue crystal-like horns sprouting from her forehead like antlers. her hands are a darker color than her face and her nails are hook-like. 

She isn't Hylian. Similar, but frankly, Zelda has never seen anything like her before. 

She even has a tail, a row of that blue crystal trailing down the back like spikes. 

Zelda slowly reaches out, confusion on her face as she calls upon her light magic. 

The moment she touches the blade the girl's eyes regain clarity, a snarl leaves her lips as she tightly clutches the blade to her chest. 

The woman's eyes widen upon seeing Zelda, trailing down her arm to where she touches the master sword. Recognition briefly flutters in the woman's gaze. 

Finally, the horned woman speaks her first word. It's rough, coarse, and mildly raspy. "You... " 

"Aren't... be... free..." The woman with faint scales upon her body hisses out, her words broken as she staggers backwards. "Y-Yet..." 

What the heck does she mean by that?! 

[Split] 

Pov: Returned 

I let out a small yawn, wiping my eyes, tiredly sitting up from the bed that Linkle and I share. 

On the other side of the room is the sleeping form of princess Styla. She's still unconscious despite the extra healing I gave her when we got back to camp. 

I picked a new fourth level spell. Path of Glory. 

It's a spell that lets me create an area of expanding healing. It lasts for one round per 'caster level' and starts fairly small, four five foot squares, but for each 'round' I focus on it the area increases by four more squares and the healing triggers. 

It's healing is quite impressive as well, five every time it triggers, so for Styla I was able to heal fifty-five hitpoints. 

This is definitely going to be my go-to when we need healing. 

It also only functions on allies as well, so no need to worry about anything we are fighting taking advantage of the healing zones. 

I slide out of bed, stretching briefly with a quiet yawn, glancing back to Linkle's nude body for a moment with a small smile. 

With a brief casting of prestidigitation I clean my body, then for good measure I do the same for Linkle, then put on my clothes. 

Prestidigitation is by far my favorite spell, can you imagine having to take the time to climb into a river to do laundry and take a bath? 

Hell, we probably couldn't even do that if you consider where we are going next... the desert. 

The blonde in my bed lets out a low groan as she sits up, the blankets fall off her, a bleary glaze peering around the room for a moment before she slumps into me. 

My fingers trace down her back as her face nuzzles into my shoulder for a moment. 

"This is probably the last time we're going to have time to lay down and sleep for quite a while... so enjoy it." I whisper into her pointed ear. 

"Mnnnn." She groans. "Fuuuuuuuck." 

I gently rub the back of her head. 

She slowly gets up, grasping for her clothes from my bag of holding. 

As she bends over I slap her ass with a small smirk.  

"H-Hey!" She gasps, eyes widening slightly, now fully awake. 

She pouts slightly, a blush appearing on her cheeks. "You're... so mean..." 

"it woke you up, didn't it?" I hum as I rise to my feet and do a few more stretches, rolling my shoulders and tilting my head slightly. "Ugh. Kind of got a crick in my neck. Oh well. It'll work itself out." 

I fight off another yawn as Linkle finishes getting ready, then we make out way outside. 

"So. Todays the day we leave, right?" 

"Mhm." The girl nods once. 

"Well..." I sigh. "Let's go see Impa, then... I don't think Purah will be coming with us to the desert, no?" 

"I doubt it. She got her hands on a divine beast, an ancient library, an ancient sheikah storage site, and a massive workforce" The blonde grumbles. "You couldn't drag her away from here." 

"If we're being completely honest here? The only way this ends is if she repairs Vah Sarin or just decides to make an entirely new divine beast." 

"Speaking of divine beasts... what should I use my scrying shamisen on? We've got a good idea on where to start for most of them, so should we try and track the 'original' one that started it all?" 

"That could be a good use..." The blonde nods only for her eyes to widen slightly. "Or! Wait! I have an idea... Purah thinks that triangle thingy went to Zelda, right? Why don't you try and like... uh... scry on her or whatever? You can do that in addition to the one that lets you search for objectives, right?" 

"I... I kind of just want to see her again." Linkle finishes with a quiet whisper. 

"Alright." I agree instantly. "I can do that. It'll take a little while though." 

"We can afford to wait, what? Two hours before we leave? I'm going to be using... ugh... that for our journey, right?" The girl ponders. 

"Do you mean the creepy thing?" I reply as we make our way to the door. "Because you are. We'd save sooo much time." 

"I guess..." She sighs as we make our way through the camp towards where Impa's tent is. 

We brush aside the flap and step inside. 

Impa, Saria, and Purah are stood around a large wooden table, looking over it silently. 

"Hey." I call out. "How's everyone doing this morning?" 

"It's midday..." Impa deadpans. 

"..." 

"Meh. Semantics." I wave off as Linkle walks over and looks at the table.  

"Huh? What's this?" 

I pause next to her. 

"Oh... it looks like plans to repair Vah Sarin from what I can see." I cup my chin, eyes sweeping back and forth across the large paper.  "I take it you're not traveling with us."  

 "Of course not! The Purah Mobile would attract Molduga for miles with how much noise it makes. Besides, I've got work to do!" 

"Eh, we could run." I shrug. "It's not a big deal." 

"I... believe I may be staying as well." Saria admits. 

"Huh?" I mutter, looking to the green haired girl. "Why?" 

The corners of her mouth turn upwards slightly. "A few reasons... firstly, I am currently wielding Vah Sarin's power source. If we want to repair it, it makes sense that I'd need to be relatively close by. Next? I will be almost completely useless in the desert as my plants do need some moisture to grow. I can use my magic as a substitute for most things but generate that much moisture? I might be able to grow a few plants there but nothing like what I used on that Malladus thing." 

""Fair."" Linkle and I speak at the same time. 

"Thirdly... I am one of three people who can understand Princess Styla... in the past I was sworn to protect the Hyrule family as a champion... and as such... I will protect Styla Hyrule and help her adapt and act as a translator." 

"..." 

"I also... kind of need to learn how to read." Her cheeks redden slightly as she scratches the back of her head. "Spoken language is taken care of by my natural abilities... but... ah... written? Not so much." 

"That's completely fair... keep everyone safe, alright?"  

"You know I will!" She declares. 

I look to Impa and Purah. "So, we may have an additional divine beast up and running?" 

"Hopefully we can finish it in time." Purah admits. "If Zelda did gain the triforce of wisdom... realistically she could probably hold back the calamity for another hundred years." 

"We're not letting that happen." Linkle deadpans.  

"Of course not!" Purah waves off. "I'm just saying. Time isn't really an issue if she has the triforce. I mean, you all saw! Malladus, a demon who naturally would have a lower affinity for the holy energies of Styla's magic created barriers that required numerous clones wielding master swords coated in some of the most bullshit magic I have ever seen to barely crack them... then it created another barrier that almost shrugged off an ancient arrow in an instant!" 

"Speaking of Zelda, I was planning on scrying her soon, just to confirm if she has it or not. Do you have any of her possessions? That'd make it harder for her to resist the scrying- because yes, it's not a one-hundred percent chance, someone with enough willpower could theoretically shrug it off." 

"We held some back at the village... but we didn't bring any here, sadly." Impa informs. 

"Oh well." I sigh. "Anyways, might as well get started." 

I walk over to a nearby corner and drag the shamisen from my bag, the large pick I use to play it- a bachi- coming to my hand as I begin to strum it. 

[Split] 

Mist pools around me. Rapidly condensing into a large ball. 

Linkle sits next to me, looking expectantly at the sphere, Purah briefly looks over from her blueprints. 

Impa left a while ago, Saria doing the same. I'm unsure where Impa went, but Saria went to go watch over Styla. 

My eyes narrow slightly as images begin to form within the mist. "Holy shit it's actually working and-" 

"Wait what?" Linkle blinks. 

"Who... is that?" I whisper. 

"Who's who?" Purah's curiosity seems to get the best of her as she walks over. 

Zelda is seemingly sat right next to some horned girl. 

Honestly, I'd call her a dragon girl. She's got horns and a tail, I think I can see some scales here and there. 

Most notably, however, would be the fact that she is NOT in Hyrule Castle. 

Also notable is Purah as she repeatedly whispers 'what the fuck' under her breath over and over again. 

A dull light shines on the back of her hand, the triforce of wisdom. 

The blonde princess looks up, staring right at the scrying sensor. I'm unsure if she can detect- 

"What is that?" She speaks slowly, looking confused. Her voice very... British. 

It's kind of cute actually. 

"Zelda!" Linke gasps. "She- She's out! Can she hear us?" 

"Not like this. I can try and cast a message spell through the sensor but I give that only a fifty-fifty chance of working." I admit as Purah is having a FULL ON existential crisis in the corner- which bodes well-. "That being said, message is such a weak spell it takes literally no magical energy for me to use. I can do it repeatedly until I get a connection." 

"Hello Princess Zelda. I am Aurum. A companion of Linkle using scrying magic to send you this message." 

"..." 

"..." 

"Hello Princess Zelda. I am Aurum. A companion of Linkle using scrying magic to send you this message." 

"Aurum?" The girl seems to repeat. "Who... wait... how can I know if you are telling the truth?" 

"Linkle ate rock roast over one hundred years ago. Also, let me preface this by saying that this spell only has a fifty percent chance to work through the scrying sensor so you may miss entire sentences." 

I can see the blonde princess' face twitch slightly her face flattening slightly. 

"Are... are you that man whom Linkle was doing those utterly depraved acts with?!" 

"SHE SAW?!" Linkle cries. 

She... apparently saw us fucking. Uh... 

Quick! Hit her with a very true and accurate statement. "It's Purah's fault."