The Hyrule Paradox: Worlds Collide | BOTW Isekai (Book 1)

Chapter 39: West

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The light of the morning sun draped warmly across their shoulders as they appeared on the top of the Great Plateau Tower. Jordan's mind came back to him and the discombobulating feeling hit him hard. He almost lost his balance and put his hands on his knees as he recovered from the effects. Olivia and Matt fell over right away, holding their heads. Link stood firmly, like nothing happened.

"Ugh! This is fast travel?! That was terrible!" Matt complained.

"Yeah I don't really want to do that again." Olivia agreed as she stood up and dusted herself off.

Jordan lowered his hood and scanned their surroundings. They had decided to teleport to the sheikah tower on the Great Plateau to begin their journey. There was a route that ran along the northern border of the plateau that they could follow to Gerudo Canyon. To the west, the imposing Gerudo highlands sprawled out before them. As soon as everybody had gotten their heads back on straight, they jumped on their paragliders and flew down off the plateau to the route. Link surprised them all when he created a magical updraft that sent him high in the sky before he too began to glide down.

Jordan had forgotten that Link had that new ability. After he had recovered each Divine Beast, the spirits of the champions had bestowed their special abilities upon him. Mipha, the Zora champion had granted him her healing power, one that would heal him instantly if he ever suffered a fatal wound, though the magic was so powerful that it required a long recharge period after it was used. The Goron champion Daruk had given Link his unique shielding ability that gave him a protective crystal bubble that would stop almost any attack in its tracks, and now he had collected Revali's Gale, which they had just seen in the updraft. Jordan knew all of this from his time playing the video game, and given the situations that the abilities were for, he was glad he had not seen them used in person yet.

They landed on the route, stowed away their paragliders and began what they knew would be a long walk to the Gerudo region. They were right on schedule and now had the rest of the day to reach Gerudo Town, though it was clear that there was a sense of urgency in their strides as they continued on the path.

"What if we fixed the Great Plateau?" Olivia asked thoughtfully, looking up at the massive ancient architecture that surrounded the area. "It's been blocked off for over a century, right? What if we opened it back up again so that people could live on it? Or, if more humans are brought to Hyrule, maybe they could just live on the plateau instead of having to come all the way to Hateno." It was clear that she wasn't just making small talk. She was seriously considering the idea.

"I feel like that might be a conversation for another time." Matt said, "After...well, no offense Link, but if  you defeat Calamity Ganon–"

"None taken at all, Matt." the swordsman replied warmly, "I agree with your assessment. It would be easier to contemplate the idea once Hyrule is in a safer time."

"I think it's a good idea though," Jordan told her, "It could fix a lot of problems if more humans arrive in the future."

They continued to discuss as they walked, keeping themselves distracted from what was ahead. Link stayed quiet for most of their conversation, mostly just listening and observing as they went back and forth. Jordan figured he was just doing what he felt was comfortable, especially since this was his first time going for an extended amount of time around humans.

The path slowly curved around the ruins of the ancient colosseum where Jordan and Link had traveled to retrieve a fire weapon before. Ahead of them was a fork in the road. The right path would take them up to the Outskirt Stable, while the left one would take them to where they wanted to go. A large lake ahead of them marked the divide between the Gerudo Highlands and greater Hyrule. The Digdogg Suspension Bridge laid out before them, a set of bridges built upon rocky pillars that stuck out of the lake that would take them to the other side of the lake into the highlands.