Live Your Own Story in Hyrule

The wave has yet to subside and feels invasive the way it feeds into a base, animal-like urge to attack. It draws up a certain bloodlust, calling to earlier and more aggressive ages of defending the waters of the land.

Link's senses the presence of some kind of disturbance. His eyes lock on Mipha’s and a low growl can be heard emanating from within. It's not a threat directed to the woman holding the trident, more of a warning to everyone within earshot.

“Princess…” he whispers to her. His frame remains in the same position but under the facade of his thick fur, his muscles tense in a way that can spring up and away.

Irina watches the princess confused and alert, seeing Mipha’s anger increases very quickly.

She looks at Link for a moment and then back to the Zora princess.

“Your… Your Highness,” Irina says softly as she very slowly approaches Mipha, holding her hands up just a bit, trying to calm her. Once Irina is close enough, she attempts to touch the princess’s arms with her hands in a swift move.

If she is successful, she will channel a strong current of her own water magic into the princess.

"N-no..." Mipha struggled to speak against the magic coursing through her. She wanted to tell them to stay back, to keep away, but she couldn't or rather, the magic wouldn't let her. Not that easily, at least. Unable to stop herself, her body stumbles forward, almost as if she she is being pulled and she proceeds to throw her trident around. Before she could finish her next maneuver, Irina's water magic pushes its way through her and clears out the residuals of the dark magic fueling her attacks.

The base of her trident is wedged into the ground and she uses it as a prop to hold herself up and regain her strength. "That was dreadful..." Her words were broken up by ragged breaths. "I couldn't control myself." The Sheikah is looked at with pity, but the gem: fear. "That gem. It's...it's bewitched."

Red had been standing far enough away that the polearm was out of reach, but what did that matter if this gem could just make up the distance? His feathers were standing on end and gave him a slightly more fluffier appearance. While he did have trust for Mipha, after that episode she just endured, he thinks he'll just stay over here for now. "How are you feeling now? Do you think you'll be okay?"

Wolf Link watches the trident bury into the ground in front of him. He senses the evil force subside and he approaches Mipha, touching her with his paw. “It's okay… just breathe.”

He stays close and looks back at the trident.He then turns to the crystal and says, “Dark magic already flows through this temple. I fear it is amplifying the curse on the crystal.” He thinks out loud. “Perhaps we should destroy that thing.”

"Cursed gems? What _happened_ here?" Revali was equally as bothered as Red, sporting a similar ruffing of feathers. "First the door, then this Sheikah and if I had to guess, the one in there might be one too." He thumb pointed back to the other false wall in the room. "I don't know, I haven't gone in yet to look. But aren't they supposed to be the ones that know all about this place? Besides, this room was a mess when we got in here. Some fight happened, but we don't know why."

He drew his bow and readied an arrow. "You won't hear any arguments out of me about destroying this thing. I'll gladly do it and if one just so happens to be on the other body--assuming there's one left to speak of--then it should be destroyed too."

"This gets more screwed up by the minute... I know some serious magic, so trust me when I say this is something on a different level..." _Gatu said, walking up to the corpse and looking down at the embedded gem in the back of the male sheikah's right hand._ "We need to find a way to dispose of it or break it, since I think it might take more than an arrow or anything we have to shatter it. I could sense its tainted magic earlier, but it was... muffled, concealed. Now that it's in the open like that, it practically radiates from where it sits there in what remains of that warrior."

"I don't know if I have something that can dispose of, or break it, properly. Do any of you guys have some ideas?"

Irina touches Mipha's arm as she recovers, trying to console her and happy to see that the princess feels better.

She glances at the Sheikah and the gem, listening to her friends as they discuss what to do with the gems. This entire place feels cursed. "Maybe we should locate that mirror," she adds.

"Yeah... We shouldn't linger in one spot for too long. If we're all ready, we need to advance forwards. Hopefully we'll find a map or a compass sooner or later so we can get a better layout of the Shadow Temple." _Gatu agrees with Irina._

Wolf Link looks to Irina then Gatu. He says in a voice that Gatu wouldn't understand, but hopefully he can tell by his body language. "I agree. We shouldn't linger. We came here for a mission." He continues walking deeper into the cavern. He does think out loud. "Affixing the gem to an arrow, and shooting it against another hard object might break it. It might also unleash more evil." He says it a bit indifferently, but in reality he is mulling over the potential consequences of dabbling with the dark object even further.

The wolf sniffs the ground and air, atuned to the Sheikah and the strange gem. Hopefully that gives him better insight into what lies ahead. He also seems to approach every surface with doubt regarding what he is seeing is actually there. False walls. Hidden dangers. His paranoia is on overdrive.

_Gatu may not understand Link since they're a wolf right now, but while they don't have a translator gem or spell accessible right now, he can read their body language. It's something he picked up and learned even before coming to Hyrule._
"Maybe by the time we're done with the Shadow Temple and make us all something to eat with my trusty cooking pot, I can use my Magic to whip up a Translation spell so we can talk Link. I've been meaning to find you since there's some stuff I wanted to talk with you about, but so many things happened since the flood ended and after I repaired the Temple of Time, that I lost track of trying to find you." _Gatu says, making some small talk with Wolfie as the party advances forwards together._

Irina does not answer immediately. She nods about the dark stone. “That gem twisted healing magic. It pulled at something older inside the Princess, despite her power. I would advise against touching anything in this place. Also, just like there are false floors here, just like there were falls walls. Let's be careful and stay close.”

Her lantern light flickers against the stone walls and her eyes lift slowly toward the darkness ahead and she exhales, steadying herself. “We came for a mirror. If something here is amplifying dark magic… there is a chance it might be that mirror.” Her gaze lingers briefly on Mipha, then returns to the corridor.

Mipha retracted from the comforting touches, not from any desire to refuse them, but from fear she'd still bring harm. She was still gathering herself and didn't want to risk hurting someone. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be stubborn, I'm just concerned." She closed her eyes to center herself and reclaim some semblance of control. With slower breaths, she could clear her thoughts and train her mind back onto the objective.

"The mirror, yes, we should continue seeking it out. Despite what we're facing here, we must find it if we hope to have a chance to resolve what's taking place at the market." Raising herself from her trident, she cautiously extended her arm out with it in hand, testing to ensure her body was truly back to normal.

"Thank you, Irina. I fear what may have happened if you had not intervened," she smiled appreciatively to her. "Now, as much as a meal treat would be nice to think about, I can hardly think of it when our present is more immediate. In the matter of Link's condition, he wasn't always a wolf. It is as much our desire to find a cure for him so translation won't be necessary. However, there is some benefit to this, as well. A wolf to Ganondorf, may not be much more than a common beast. It may work to Link's advantage to not be translated, should a cure not be found. We must keep in mind speech is considered a trait of people and that translation may risk possible exposure."

She then looks upon the Sheikah in the room, "I think touching the gem is fine. Nothing happened until I imparted magic into it. So, it's safe to assume it responds to application. I... don't know if anything will be freed from it should it be destroyed, but the only way we will know is if we try. I am in agreement it should be destroyed."

Heeeeeere comes trouble. 83

Naomi comes tripping (almost literally) down the stairs and rounds the corner into the tavern, looking for something fun to interact with like Crispy or a fishy-man or Mommy's wallOOOOOO, OTHER KIDS!!! 8D And they have a glowy-ball too! Naomi trots up and rests her chin on the edge of the table. "Hi, I'm Naomi! Wanna play when you're done eating?"

The international language of children is play. Even though he didn't really understand the girl, he understood the offer. He drinks his glass of milk in a single action and wipes his mouth with his arm, then jumps up. "Play!" He repeats a word he just learned, and runs out of the Wolfos into the field. The feeling of the sun and cool air on his skin amplifies his excitement.

Saria giggles and nods to Naomi. "Let's go!" she drinks her water in one big gulp and follows after Aio, forgetting about the food, the adults, and everything else.

Ion jumps up. "But... but... Saria!" He follows after her, making sure he gets out the door before it closes.

"Tell you what, I'll think of a surprise and it'll be on the house." Fallon replies to Saria, jotting down 'surprise' and circling it. "Okay, that ought to take care of things and--" her head lowers to see her little one at the table. "Play? That is what you are offering after they have just arrived?" She smiles, giving way to the table so they can all take off. "Of course, they wouldn't say no to that offer."

She chuckles and clears the milk and water cups while she determines what would be good for them to eat. "Make sure you stay close by!!" She called out to them, ensuring her voice could be heard through and beyond the door.

"Okay, now what to feed to them... Perhaps some cuccoo tenders. I think that'll be good. Side of greenery and that ought to cover it."

That in mind, she quickly heads to the kitchen to drop off the glasses and put the order in. She then hustles towards the exit so she could watch them and wait for the order to finish.

"Okay Mommy!" Naomi says as she follows the other two, her brain immediately filing the instruction under 'Things that have been responded to and thus require no further thought'.

Out in the field, Naomi spreads her arms to the others. "So what should we play? How abouuuuuuuut" (points at Aio) "you're the heroic knight," (points at Saria) "you're the pretty princess," (points at self) "and I'M the ferocious dragon?" >:) Naomi raises her hands high like claws and stomps dramatically toward Saria. "IIIIII'M GOING TO EEEEAAAT YOOOOUUUUU!" >:O

Aio stares at Naomi blankly. He clearly didn't understand her. He wonders why this girl is threatening the other girl.

As he doesn't quite understand the rules of the game, he does the same and chases after Saria, holding his hands up like a dragon as well. He calls out "Raaawr!" and something unintelligible in his language.

Saria lets out a scream as both come after her and laughs, running. She looks at Aio and points at Naomi without stopping. "Attack HER, not me! We are the good guys! Dragon! Dragon! " She repeats, hoping to teach Aio a new word.

Aio begins chasing after Naomi, too, and calls her by what he thinks is probably her name, "Dragon! Dragon!"

Fallon opens the door and is immediately met with screaming and shouts of a dragon. She hurries outside, checking the sky and surroundings to see if one had suddenly popped up. Thankfully, there was no such creature and further processing allowed her to realize they were just playing out here. Of course, that's what they intended to do in the first place, but flashbacks of moldugas and spiders said otherwise. Briefly, anyway.

So, she heads back towards the walls of the inn and leans against them, watching them play and enjoy life for the time being. A refreshing change of scenery to what she knows lies beyond.

Naomi blinks at the swift derailment of her CAREFULLY CRAFTED FANTASY WORLD. o.O; At least Saria seems to get the idea and is trying to explain it to Aio -- but it looks like he still thinks _he's_ a dragon. Okay, well, maybe he can be a knight AND a dragon! Like some kind of...dragon man!

<https://i.redd.it/xcbi8yj0nhv81.jpg>

"Ummm...OHNOES IT IS THE DRAGONBORN! BUT YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT ME UNLESS YOU FIND THE, ummm, MAGICAL HELMET OF RAINBOW FLAMES! IT IS IN, ummmmmmmmmm...aaaaaa SECRET PLACE THAT--THAT ONLY THE ROYAL FAMILY KNOWS ABOUT!" Yeah, Naomi is totally engaging in AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION and not dumping her DM responsibilities on Saria. n.n

Those were a lot of words and Aio understood none of them! He continues to chase Dragon and shouts her name. He giggles with excitement as the air and sun and open space combine to create a volatile reaction of fun.

As the screams of the children echo through the field outside of the Wolfos, a tall imposing Gerudo woman cuts the horizon perpendicularly. She holds a spear and walks in a relaxed pace but with a serious expression. The expression softens when she sees the children playing, particularly the boy.

She stops and observes them by the stables outside of the inn.

Saria laughs and nods, pointing at Noemi! "Yes! Catch the dragon!"

Seeing Risa arrive, Saria hmms, touching her chin with a finger. She approaches Risa and Fallon and brings her hands to her back. "Excuse me, I have a question."

"As you know, Aio is living in the Kokiri Forest now. Do you know of any grown-ups that may help us build a treehouse for him?"

Risa crouches down to become eye-level with the forest child. She rests her elbow on her knee and says, "A treehouse?" She thinks, and says, "Sweetie, I am from the desert. I don't know much about trees. But I will find someone who can help."

Saria runs after the Wolfos family with Link. When they arrive at the temple, the kokiri's interest switches from the animals to the building. She runs to it, touching the wall and looking for the door curiously. "What is this place? Have you been here before?" she asks Link.

Link shakes his head. "I haven't. And from the looks of these vines, it doesn't look like anybody has been here for a while." He looks up at the stone walls and tries to peer into an opening. "Let's explore it!"

Saria grabs one of the vines to make a small climb to one of the openings. "Hellooooo!" She looks inside and hmms. "I am so curious to see what is in there..." She follows you, wondering if you fit into the opening.

Link barely fits but he squeezes in, pushing past vines and other plants. There is a sudden drop but plenty of vines to hold onto. He climbs down. Some light filters in from other windows and a hole in the roof. He reaches a large central room and calls out to you.

Saria almost falls as well, and not as gracefully as Link. She grabs onto the vines, almost getting trapped in them, but climbs down after Link and looks around. "This is place is so mysterious! I wonder how long it has been empty. We should be careful; there might be some skulltullas and deku babas around."

_------+++++++++++++++------_

A certain Gerudo chef is examining the few fallen logs at the edge of the Woods, turning them over and disturbing the life within as her little troop begin the trek to Kokiri Forest proper.