The Lost Hero

Chapter 6

It was late in the morning when Dahvi finished eating and resting. He cooed to the horses that came through as their riders paused to rest from their travels, all the while his mind mulling over everything Pitar had taught him. He knew now that hunting was difficult and time consuming, to say the least. But based off of what Robbie and Pitar had told him, he could find just as much nutrients in the plants in the wild as he could find in the animals. He supposed it was worth learning what was edible, and what was not.

By midday, he set forth into Akkala once more, this time with a full pack of meat, eager to spend the afternoon gathering everything he could find to bring back to Robbie. He continued to venture south, keeping along the coast across the East Akkala Plains. He kicked at the stray wheel as he passed his crash sight, then made his way up the slope towards the Ukuku Plains. His sense of adventure got the best of him, however, when he came across the Akkala falls, and he jogged across the bridge to explore the small island in South Lake Akkala.

His adventure proved to be worthy as many unique plants were scattered around him, and he whistled to himself as he gathered anything and everything that looked interesting. He filled his pack until he could fill it no more, than took the opportunity to rest. He sat his pack on the ground, then sat on the edge of the island, letting his feet dangle in the water.

He was only allowed a few minutes of rest before he heard movement in the trees behind him. He froze, yet his pulse quickened as his mind went over every possibility. Sure, it could have been a bird, a fox, something small and innocent that certainly did not want to bother him.

Or it could have been a boar. A very pissed off boar.

Dahvi's eyes locked with the creature as it stood at the treeline. It stomped its hoof and huffed angrily at him. Dahvi moved slowly, his hand out as he got to his feet, but this did not convince the boar to stay put. He charged at Dahvi suddenly, and Dahvi yelped and sprinted across the island, the boar hot on his heels. He looked over his shoulder as the boar was nearing, and in a desperate attempt to escape its tusks, Dahvi threw himself to the side, rolling through a thicket of brush and thorns before tumbling down the bank and into the water.

When he surfaced, the boar was stalking the edge of the water. Dahvi didn't dare return to the island and instead swam across the small lake and onto the shore on the other side. He lay against the grass until he caught his breath, then pushed himself up onto his elbows. Across the lake on the island, the boar remained, huffing and pawing at the ground.

Dahvi sat up and examined himself. He was cut up and bruised badly, and there was a sharp pain in his arm that he could only guess was from a cracked bone. He cursed under his breath; in the condition he was in, it was unlikely he would be able to go back, fight off a boar, and retrieve his things, never mind the hike back up to Robbie's lab.

"You sure know how to get into trouble."

He jumped at the voice behind him and turned to see a young Zora girl standing a few yards away. She was far shorter than he expected, roughly around his height, and at the realization, he couldn't help but wonder - why in Hylia was every other race taller than Hylians? Though he had never seen a Zora in person, he knew from Urbosa that they were a tall race. The Zora that stood before him, however, was even more remarkable than anything Urbosa had told him. Her skin was a bright pink with reddish hues, vivid against the greenery of Akkala. A long, shark-like tail jutted out from behind her head, which had silver jewels, like a sort of crown, draped across her and down on either side of her face. A jeweled belt hung around her hips, and other shimmering accessories marked her wrists and ankles. He didn't know if it was how Zoras typically dressed, but from what he had seen of royalty, he swore she came from royalty. Perhaps, then, it was the Zora princess who Zelda spoke of.