Linkguistics

Part 18: Rito Hospitality

Link, Epona, and Link had done their best to avoid the monsters near the Lost Woods. They had not succeeded and so Link, the currently bipedal one, was exhausted by the time they made it into the entrance. He spent a good deal of time soaking in the atmosphere while he was getting very lost. Link had a vague memory of these woods and it looked exactly the same as it did ten-thousand years ago.

Pity he didn't remember how to get through the woods. Some guy at the stable said something about wind when he asked about this forest?

Oh. Link thought. He looked at the torches he'd followed to get in and smacked himself on the forehead. He seriously regretted not asking the tiny tree people more when he did find them but their accent was really difficult to understand. He hadn't expected the giant tree person after the fog cleared up.

Link and his companion looked up at the bark-covered face. "Wh oi sthat...? D idid oz eoffa gain? Hrm?..."

"Sorry, could you repeat that? Oh, wait, um... Ple aser epe att hat."

"You finally decided to return. Better late than never. After 100 years, I'd nearly given up hope on seeing you. Even my patience has limits, you know... I have watched over Hyrule since time immemorial. Many have referred to me over the ages as the Deku Tree. That is the weapon created by the ancient Goddess. The sword that seals the darkness - that only the chosen knight can wield against the Calamity Ganon."

Link looked up at the Deku tree with tears of gratitude in his eyes. He knew it was his sword and at the moment there was another welcome surprise on his mind.

"Great Deku Tree, you understand the old language?"

"That I do. I have lived for centuries and the knowledge from the previous Great Deku Tree was passed on to me."

Link smiled. It was time to tell the joke to someone who could understand it. He'd tried it in Modern Hyrulean but it just didn't translate properly.

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I really set myself up for disappointment there, thought Link to himself. The tree did understand the joke. His intellect was very up to the task. He just... didn't laugh at it. Link's joke wasn't his cup of compost tea. Link decided it was a semi-victory that the Great Deku Tree understood it without interrupting or having to get it explained. The Great Deku Tree said it was clever. That was something.

Now that the little Korok had asked him to follow the other, Link walked up an introduced himself then found his company rejected. He went back to Tasho and reported back. Tasho squeaked something about not being seen. Link wished the adorable squeaky voices weren't so accented. Link had no idea how to get through to the shrine for this trial and Oaki got angry when he was seen. Link felt like he was cheating somehow when he followed Oaki to see where the shrine was in the fog.

The second trial he failed a few times. The weaponry was flammable. There was fire. There was one wolf watching and spectating with a look of resigned patience while Link figured out the trial.

The last trial forced Link to make use of his language notes and was otherwise an easy task.

Now that he had his sword back, he was considering if it was really necessary to go take on Vah Medoh. He felt bad for Revali and the guy had good reasons to not like him. Link didn't know if he'd be haunted by an angry bird ghost after helping. Revali might just blame Link for everything. Link had been incredibly lucky the other Champions liked him and didn't pin blame on him.

He could have teleported out, yet there was the matter of Epona finding her way out of the forest. Link asked a Korok what to do to find the way out of the Lost Woods with Epona. He wondered if he misunderstood. Climbing into the mouth of an Over Tree to leave sounded weird. Maybe they were referring to the Great Deku Tree as an Over Tree?

After waking up the Great Deku Tree to ask, Link was embarrassed to be informed he missed a sign pointing him in the correct direction. Link asked Epona to give him a while to reach the Woodland Stable and left the slate with her and Scruples. He knew Epona would be able to figure out how to activate the teleport rune to get there and didn't want to risk her being injured. Those Wizzrobes had been annoying.

There was a minor issue when Link came back to the stable as the story of Epona's firefighting was now known there. Link only had to struggle through some conversation before Epona arrived at the shrine. The stablehand stopped trying to recruit Link and stared at the horse appearing from thin air. Link retrieved his slate, climbed into the saddle, and they rode off to find Rito Village.

The stablehand's mouth remained hanging open after Link rode off. He knew no one was going to ever believe him about this magic horse.

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Kass was not blind.

Kass saw the pattern.

People reporting the odd traveler, odd traveler going around getting into fights with monsters, spontaneous wildfires, and explosions. He was the person who expressed the least surprise when he heard the rumors of Link's legendary horse-training capabilities. Kass didn't like how many scorch marks there were when he traced Link's progress. It slowed down considerably when Link started riding Epona around.

After Vah Naboris, Kass knew there was only one Divine Beast left to conquer and suspected Link was going to ask around town. The idea of Link wandering around a village that was practically constructed of kindling gave him goosebumps. Especially since his family lived there. Kass flew on home when he saw the third targeting laser illuminating Hyrule Castle. Given the patterns of Link behavior there would be at least a week of preparation time. He could allow a few days of Link travelling, a few days of monster fighting, and at least a week of being incredibly lost and confused.

Kass did hope he was wrong about the arson being caused by Link since the guy was making more progress in fighting Ganon's minions than anyone else had in living memory. Link was doing his best to help people with whatever they asked him to help with. Kass sought out Teba and explained that there was one short blond Hylian with a particular talent for conquering Divine Beasts headed their way. Link would show up eventually and Kass took up waiting at the stable.

It was only two weeks later when Kass spotted a thing being launched off a mountaintop. He hadn't seen the arrows from this distance so the boulder was the first thing to be spotted. It didn't come remotely close to Vah Medoh. It wasn't even close enough to trigger the laser defenses on the Divine Beast. He waited as Link paraglided down and in the general direction of the village. Link would probably welcome alternative suggestions on how to board Vah Medoh.

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Link found the area around Rito village to be lovely. Why, his friend Kass made the place even more inviting. Link said it wasn't necessary to have a tour guide every step of the way and found the constant escort excessive, yet Kass insisted. Link appreciated the hospitality. Link looked at the warm clothing in the store and after agonizing over if it was worth it, he spent his cash. The saving-for-a-matching-helmet fund was gone again. Link couldn't bring himself to care because now he could feel his toes.

He didn't see how he was going to get up there and was kind of glad for an excuse to not meet Revali's spirit. This was until he met some small and fluffy bird children who were looking at the sky and asking Kass how long until Vah Medoh stopped hurting people. Link realized he was going to make these kids happy or die trying.

The Elder's home had a familiar blue cloth hanging on the wall. Revali hadn't even gotten his scarf back before the Blight got him.