Live Your Own Story in Hyrule

Tera and the Bokoblin prepare to disembark.

"Secure the vessel! We will join below to see what is going on." shouts Tera. She walks over to the Zora boy who is sharpening some sort of bone. "I guess that means you are in charge while we are gone. You technically have the most seniority."

The rough and tough Hylian descends down a rope into the water and is followed by Fred.

The rest of the crew stays aboard and tries their best to look busy while the captain and others are still within sight.

Irina joins the group, bowing her head to the old man. This is her way to respectfully greeting him without interrupting the conversation. She then looks at Mipha, trying to understand the meaning of old man's words.

Staying away from the fog, Irina walks close to the group of Zora.

Before:

Photos had spent the days since her last excursion resting within the halls of the crimson wolfos tavern. It was where her friends had welcomed her to the world of Light after all. And there was a not entirely small part of her that regarded it as a home away from home. It couldn't compare to the somber, forlorn elegance of her golden hued homeland, but it had its own charms. The lacquered beams, smoke scented interior and murmured hush of voices drifting from elated patrons intermingling in a strange sort of rush.

But as time ticked by, Photia became more and more perturbed by their absence. Spy as she might, she wasn’t privy to all of their secrets. She had yet to discover where Link had acquired that peculiar mask she had seen. But it was a conversation she had overheard that had truly set alarm bells ringing within her head. Photia had been traversing the shadows of the tavern whilst hidden within them, looking to pinch a delectable pastry from a passing plate. She had frozen in place upon mention of an obsidian doorway ringed with gold.

Photia knew that doorway. It was the same one that had spat her into the world of Light before. And she knew better than anyone, in living memory perhaps, the consequences of fiddling with it. Photia had bolted for the tavern’s entrance immediately. Her friends needed help. _‘And the sooner the better!’_

——————_-_

Now:


Off to the group’s left, a soft thump would sound from somewhere in the fog. Photia had used her magic to flit from shadow to shadow, searching rapidly. She had feared they might be changed, as the old stories had said a previous hero had been afflicted. Yet not long after, she received what she considered to be an assurance of her friend’s position. Considering the fact that most of the creatures within this realm both desired and reviled light simultaneously, a gigantic, glowing whale seemed like a safe indication of her friend’s position. There was that… and an odd sensation of being drawn to the center of a vortex. One that would sustain her and simultaneously could harm her.

“I should have known. You all did always have a penchant for getting lost.” The words carried through the fog, containing just enough bite in their melodic lilt to seem familiar. The shock of flaming hair occasionally glimpsed through the fog also felt familiar. Though its bearer’s stature was not. A woman’s silhouette stood at the very edge of the light, yet never crossing the threshold of the fog into it. She seemed as bedecked in finely woven silks. Intricate patterns of green bands melded between flesh and this purported gown. Ruby eyes rimmed in sapphire blue seemed to sparkle in the faded light. Between her hands, shadows were woven into a parasol, shielding her from the light cast by the spirit.

Link, still in his zora form, is the first to sense the presence, hearing, or simply sensing something in the fog. He turns and sees the woman standing there.

He does not immediately recognize her but he doesn't sense imminent danger either. His body shifts quickly and he lets out a gasp, all of this alerting anyone around him.

“My lady…” Link calls to her, assuming she is someone important, “We seek safe passage through this fog.”

The elder zora pauses momentarily and addresses the group, “We must not delay.” he says in a voice laden with fatigue.

Kayo and Kala pause as well. The captain draws a sword and Kala grips her spear, looking at the woman who lingers within the veil of fog.

The armored barmaid is surprised to hear a voice through the fog. As the two Zora grab their weapons, she moves aside, knowing the group does not have much room to maneuver without touching the fog.

She instinctively grabs her spear as well and steps between the old Zora and wherever the voice came from, intending to protect him. When the woman appears, she does not move, not recognizing her.

_Gatu was just quietly following alone after Revali flown him down to join the others and not be left behind back up on solid ground. His Moblin Spear wasn't looking too well, so it could probably only get a few more hits in before it is reduced to another broken weapon._

_He's really wishing he had a sword and shield again right about now..._

The Zora child, now temporary captain, notices the state of Gatu's spear before he departs the ship. He tosses over the bone he is sharpening and winks at him before resuming his duties. It's a hard bone, not particularly long, but definitely very solid and has been shaped like a sword with lots of effort and care.

Mipha couldn't make out what the words of Oshus meant herself, but she did find herself wondering why they elicited such a response. Irina's look was met with some mild confusion, a mixture of two competing thoughts at the moment. There was Oshus and then there was Irina, herself. She was in Zora armor. No doubt useful in this circumstance, but who made it?

Her eyes went to Link and then back, but she didn't recall him having any particular innate knowledge to make something like that. Or did he? Who taught him how to do that?

She reaches for her trident, shaking off the thoughts for now to focus on their task ahead. Besides, they were being beckoned and it woudn't be good to get lost in this fog.

"Where are we going? And further, how are we lost? Did we lose our way that quickly?" Once again, her mind is divided, asking both the Zora family and the voice in the fog the questions.

Contrary to expectations perhaps, the group’s wariness seemed to only induce amusement in the “stranger” within the fog. The brandished spears in her direction caused her to quirk a brow, as she chuckled. “Ohoho, so prickly!” There would be a moment of pause before Photia continued in a much more serious tone. “Good, you will need it.”

Glancing towards the straining old Zora, Photia lifted two delicate fingers and beckoned. “Grandpa is correct. You can afford no delays. Come along then,” Photia replied as she swept along the perimeter of the fog’s edge to stand in front of the group. “I'll show you where to step.” With a snap of her fingers, the shadows of her parasol enveloped her and she disappeared from view only to reappear ahead of the group some distance away.

Irina takes Mipha’s confused looks to her and Link as related to the stranger’s appearance. She returns a confused look of her own, as if saying she had no clue of who that was either.

She follows the group through the fog, still wary about the stranger and trying to protect the elder Zora while she walks.

Link steps up towards the woman. He has his weapon in his hand but it is pointed down. He watches the woman carefully and curiously.

"Keep your wits about... but I feel like we can trust her. Or we don't have a choice." he says openly to the group behind him. He goes first, flanking the old man.

Something about her presence seems familiar to him, or at least not threatening.

In the distance, canon fire can be heard. There is some sort of commotion happening behind them, perhaps at the ship.

The Bokoblin turns and squeals in panic. He takes a few steps back towards the ship into the fog and appears to be grabbed by some invisible force. Only his scream can be heard as he disappears into the darkness, his scream becoming muffled.

Tera mutters something that sounds like profanity and takes a step towards him, but Kayo, the Zora captain, grabs her shoulder and says in a sharp, grave tone, "Do not leave the light. I don't know where he went but we will all surely be consumed by the fog if we enter it."

As he speaks, the sounds of something not human or Zora echo around them. It's like the sound of a small army marching in perfect unison. Whatever it is cannot be seen through the fog, but it is there.

The old Zora man seems oblivious to whatever is happening and just keeps advancing towards where the woman is standing. His demeanor is calm and focused.

Link gasps as he sees the Bokoblin disappear into the fog. He looks as if he is about to spring to wherever he went, but he hears Kayo's warning and stops himself. He doesn't have time for much else as they hear the strange noise all around them.

Irina almost jumps after whatever grabbed the Bokoblin. Despite Kayo’s words, she seems very uncomfortable with the idea of just continuing to walk.

She holds her spear and follows the group very reluctantly, looking in the direction of where Fred disappeared.

"But something keeps bugging me... I used the Master Sword to end the Flood and recede the waters... I went with Princess Zelda and her guards to return it to its pedestal in the Temple of Time. The Door of Time were sealed shut before the flood, and only opened after she used her Sage magic to open it up so I could return it with her since we didn't have the Spiritual Stones or the other two keys. So how was it the Master Sword got taken and brought here in the first place after the Door of Time was closed?"

Mipha could understand Kala's sentiments, even if she may have been slightly disheartened at hearing her words. Still, she would hold out hope regarding the opportunity that might very well present itself.

"Evil has a way of overwhelming and corrupting what are considered sacred places. Each of the temples in the land served significance to its people in some form and Ganondorf invaded each one. The Master Sword, despite its power, I can imagine can be affected in similar fashion. However, unlike the temples, it bears a unique sentience that may have contributed to its disappearance. It may have ended up here due to fear or protection or something else," she offered her thoughts on the matter.

"That is what I think, at any rate."

Maintaining her hold on her trident, she turns away from the group to look towards the islands once again. It doesn't appear they're very active, which begs the question of where the others are. Were they successful? Why haven't they returned?

She'd placed a hand to her chest in a self-soothing manner to calm her heart, nearly sinking into the thought that they might very well be in trouble. Naturally, she lowered her eyes from the island feeling troubled. Yet, what was sadness was quickly turned into befuddlement. "What is happening in the water?"

She returned to the group. "Something has happened in the sea. It's filled with streams of light!"

_Gatu runs over and looks downwards to see what Mipha sees._
"Something important must have fallen into the water after what the others did over on the Floating Island. It's hard to tell, but... I think they went down to retrieve it. I think I see a craft of some sort down there, near the farthest stream of light over there." _Gatu said, pointing it out to Mipha if she hasn't spotted it._

"They went down? Are you certain?" Mipha inquired, her voice elevating as she'd stepped closer over the edge to take a look at where Gatu was looking. She couldn't quite make it out in the same way, but it didn't matter. They could very well be in danger. "But the waters... I thought--" She shook her head. "Nevermind, that. I'm going to go after them." She hastened towards the cliff that Link jumped from before. Looking over the ledge, she studied where the guiding light was leading towards. Without further hesitation she dove off the ledge and slipped through through the surface of the sea as smoothly as a knife through butter.

"Be careful Mipha!" _Gatu said after her, wishing her all the luck as she leap and dove down to see what's going on._

Kala crosses her arms and mutters something under her breath... something about "she is going to get herself killed" and "spoiled princess".

She walks to the edge then turns and gives Gatu a sharp look. "Well, are you coming or not?"

Revali came gliding in from above, circling over the area before coming to a landing. He didn't want to run into any issues on his way down. "Hey!" He calls out in greeting. "Me and Red have finally returned. We're coming to pick you guys up and fly you back to a boat out there. Seems a lot has happened and it'll be too hard to explain. Best way I can put it - A whale of light is tugging the boat." He shrugs.

"Don't ask me more, I just got there and got yelled at by Mipha."

Red comes landing soon after Blue and stretches a bit. "We've been doing a lot of flying..." He states. "But yeah, what the Blue guy says is correct. All the others are okay, though. That we know of, at least." He confirmed.

"If you all are ready, just say the word and we can carry you back. No need to get into the water."

Kala was about to jump into the water, maybe grabbing Gatu with or without his permission, but she stops when she sees the two figures on the horizon. She points and then runs to them as they land. "Boat?" She asks confused.

She stares out at murky water and frowns, then turns to the birds. Then the other thing he said clicks in her mind, "Whale... of light? What?" She looks more confused now. "Are they in danger? The people on the boat?"

Revali sighs, lifting his wing to his head to hold it briefly. "Yes, a boat. Whale of light. You heard it right. No one is in danger, thankfully. I'm not making any guarantees, I don't know anything about these waters, so they might not stay that way. But, for now, folks are fine. In fact, a lot of the crew looked like you," he pointed to Kala.

"We should probably get going before we lose sight of the boat. I don't think that whale is intent on stopping anytime soon."

Red grumbled, "I'll pick up from where he left off. There's a boat that's currently manned with a crew. Some of them look like you. Whatever happened on that island there is also responsible for the light in the water. We think they're headed towards its source." He eyes Blue. "It really wasn't that much to describe..."

He then returns his attention to Kala. "But if we stay here, they're probably going to get further away and I don't really want to be stuck here, so can we start flying off?" He thumb points in the general direction of were the boat is.

Kala crosses her arms. This wasn't exactly helpful dialogue, and she doesn't seem to enjoy small talk.

She immediately quips as soon as Red finishes, “Look, take these two…” she points at Gatu and Impa. “I can manage. A few sea serpents don't frighten me. Just try not to get eaten out there. I don't know what your kind tastes like but I am sure our local species would find you all delicious.”

She seems suddenly agitated and impatient to get to that boat. With that brief monologue, she jumps into the water with her spear. She disappears into the sea mist, practically flying across the surface of the water.

"I don't want to find that out. This is exactly why I want to fly away from here and eventually, out of here entirely." Red slouched a bit, thinking about being some sort of sea serpent snack. He took off and grabbed up Gatu, leaving Blue to pick up Impa. "N-not without helping out. I mean, we did sort of make an agreement and I'd hate to be the one to break that..."

"I'm in peak form and I take very good care of myself, so I would assume my taste would be sublime. But, I'm not about to be anyone's snack. I work far too hard just to become some mince meat for a sea serpent out here. Should it come to pass that I am unfortunately eaten, I will make sure the sea serpent that did it will have the worst stomach pains of its life every step of the way." Revali flies over to grab up Impa. "Alright, just hold on and we'll get back to the boat in no time."

"Let's head out. The faster we can go snag that orb of light that fell off the island, the faster we can hopefully stabilize BOTH realms." _Gatu replies, willing to head down and rejoin the others. The sooner they get the Master Sword out of the Twilight Realm, the faster it can stabilize._

Not too far from the town, a royal guard sees the fog and hurries to ensure everybody is safe. Upon seeing the fog, Kagetora stops before he reaches it. He is aware of what will happen if he touches it... and frowns.

"Everybody, step back! Do not touch the fog!" He warns lifting his arms, stopping any villagers that attempt to approach the area.

The young yellow bird was near the fog but perched slightly above it on a stone chimney. He hops down to the roof and asks the soldier, “What is happening?”

Kagetora looks up to see the Rito while he tries to block people from entering the town. “This fog contains dark magic and is similar to that in Castle Market Town. Those who touch it will be cursed and turned into poes. Please warn everyone to stay away!”

The young Rito squawks in affirmation to the warrior's command, and then hops a few times before taking flight over the town. He begins to call out, "Beware! Beware! Everyone abandon the village! Avoid the fog!"

Ohhhhhjoy. >~< John pushes off from the wall and runs over to the building's door, yanking it open. "ANYBODY IN HERE, GET OUT FAST!!! THERE'S A POISON FOG FILLING THE TOWN!!!" John of course actually doesn't know if the fog _is_ poisonous, but it's a decent assumption based on the bird-man telling people to avoid it and it gets across the desired action quick and easy. A few confused townsfolk come tumbling out, including an old man with more wisdom than speed. U~U; John grabs his arm and throws it over his shoulders, trying to hasten his hobble toward the edge of town.

Meanwhile, the resident sky-watcher who's always hanging out on that roof is still rubbing his eyes from witnessing that sudden bright beam come down from Death Mountain. :dizzy_face: By the time his vision clears, the building he's on top of is already surrounded by fog, and it's starting to creep up the shingles toward him. He waves his arms up at Kanali. "HELP! I CAN'T GET DOWN!"

Over near Kagetora, a dog darts forward to bark and growl at the encroaching phenomenon. >O A small girl runs after it, wrapping her arms around its neck and tugging fruitlessly. "No no Duke, get back!" >n<

Kanali pauses, catching a glimpse of the curious man that is standing on the roof. He looks around, watching the fog rise. He sees a woman holding a cucco and both are transformed immediately into orbs of light as the fog touches him.

"Oh no... this is terrible." the bird mutters under his breath.

"Hold on!! Stay away from the fog!" he shouts at the man on the roof as he hops up and takes flight, being careful to put some height between himself and the encroaching haze. He swoops down and grabs onto the man, already struggling to keep aloft, but says, "I got you! Hold on to me!"

At that, he kicks down on the roof to give himself a boost, breaking several roof tiles in the effort and sending them tumbling into the fog. Kanali takes flight with the man and attempts to carry him to safety, although his piloting skills are rough with the added weight.

Kanali crashes off to the side with the man, away from the fog. "Quick! Run away from the fog!" He dusts himself off, then picks himself up and flies back to the rooftops to see if he can spot anybody else.

Kagetora moves quickly through the edge of the fog, intercepting the small girl and her dog before they can get any closer. He drops to a knee just long enough to steady her, guiding both back with firm but careful hands.

“Stay with the others,” he says, voice calm but urgent. “Do not approach the fog under any circumstance.”

Rising immediately, his gaze looks around the village. He tracks the spreading fog, the panicked movement, the flashes of light where people vanish into it. “This is the same phenomenon reported in Castle Town,” he calls out to those nearby. "Everybody, fall back now! Move to higher ground and keep distance between yourselves and the fog!”
He pauses only briefly, weighing the situation—then the decision is made.

He turns toward the direction of the road leading out of Kakariko, expression resolute. “I need to inform the castle,” he says, more to those who can hear than anyone in particular. “The Princess must know at once.”

Without hesitation, he breaks into motion, moving swiftly and silently along the outer edges of the village, leaving the evacuation in capable hands. He needs to carry the warning now.

Kanali watches Kagetora and hears him. He checks on the man he just helped one last time, then says, "Sorry, I must go. Please keep people away from the fog."

He jumps into the air and takes flight, catching up to Kagetora. "Sir!" he calls out from above. "Sir!. There is a similar fog near the castle. I can help you get the message to the castle if you want."

heads for the stairs leading up to the gate to Death Mountain with his burden. >_<; As they make it up the first flight and turn toward the north exit, the old man glances down worriedly and sees the spreading fog rising up to the ledge they just surmounted. >.>; "J-just leave me, we won't make it--" "Save it!" John snaps, tightening his grip on the man's arm. They stumble forward together, walking a deadly tightrope between going too slow and losing even more time by pushing too hard and falling down. Fortunately, the higher the fog goes, the more space it has to spread out in, so it moves outward slower...but it's definitely creeping along the ground behind them now.

In fact, it's also coming from their right. >.>; John watches tendrils form along the second set of stairs, cutting them off. Well, just have to hope they can hold their breath and withstand a little--

"Up here!" The gate guard kneels on the ledge on the left side of the stairs, holding his arms out urgently. o_o John quickly leans the old man against the wall, then crouches down and wraps his arms around his thighs. With a grunt of effort, he lifts the man upward. The guard grabs hold of the old man's arms and pulls from above. With the weight partially relieved, John switches hold and grabs the old man's feet, pushing him the rest of the way up just as the fog closes in around him.

After a tense moment of blindly following the wall to mount the stairs with eyes closed and breath held, John turns around and chances a peek. -xo The fog appears to be paused in its ascent, coming no higher than midway up the stairs. Whatever was releasing it must be running out. John exhales and trudges over to the old man and the guard. "Whew...that was a close one."

The old man doesn't look around. "He should've saved himself," he says sorrowfully. "He had so much life still ahead of him." v_v

John gives a short-breathed guffaw. "Hey, I think I'm gonna be okay. Stop moaning." X)

The guard peers cautiously over the ledge. "He just...disappeared. I can see the ground below us through the fog, but I can't see _him_. It's like it _dissolved_ him." o.o;

John furrows his brow. "Hey, I'm over here! Behind you!" John goes to put a hand on the guard's shoulder -- and it passes right through. o.o;