Breath of the Wild: Link and Friends

Chapter 5

Elyza enjoyed being free of Hateno. She could ride at any pace she wanted and now she could go anywhere. She didn't have to worry about her brother. He had made it clear that he wouldn't leave Hateno with her. He would be fine. Still, she probably should have left a note, but he probably understood that she was leaving for a long time. He could stay in his little town, while Elyza explored the world with no strings.
      She galloped freely, with the wind whipping her red hair, away from Kakariko. She would stop at the stable for tonight and rest up her new horse that she had tamed. She would have to register her, but Elyza had sold some ore she had found, so she had some rupees to spare.
      She was thinking about naming the wild horse Frihet. She was fast and strong. She had been a lucky catch. The black mare had a gleam of excitement in her eye, and Elyza figured she would be a good companion for adventure. Elyza smiled wide and rode faster towards Dueling Peaks Stable.
      She soon arrived and slowed down until she was in front of the stable. She hopped off her horse and turned to the man at the desk.
     "Welcome to the Dueling Peaks Stable! I'm Tasseren. I see you've got a steed there. Would you like to register it?" the man asked.
      "Yes, I would," Elyza replied.
      "Great! Now. What would you like to name your new horse?" the stable man said.
      "Frihet. And I would like a saddle. Riding bareback is a little uncomfortable." He smiled.
      "Alright. That'll be 20 rupees. Will you be staying at our fine stable tonight?"
      "Yes, indeed."
      "Ah. Lovely! Well a bed will be another 20 rupees," Tasseren said. Elyza paused. She hadn't wanted to spend so much. It would be cheaper to make her own camp.
      "On second thought, I won't be staying the night, but here's for the registration." Elyza handed him a red rupee. He looked disappointed that she wouldn't be staying the night. She said goodbye then saddled her horse and hopped on it and road off towards the nearby woods. She crossed a bridge and rode out into the forest.
     She went a little ways in then got off Frihet. Elyza grabbed the reins and led her horse to a tree and, using the rope she had, leashed her to a tree. She then got out her tent and set it up, putting her bedroll inside and pack. She laid down on her bedroll and drifted off to sleep.

     The next morning, Elyza awoke to a very, very angry face.
     Elyza sat up, shocked, then said, "Elijah?!"
     He glared at me, "Elyza. What in Hyrule do you think your doing?" Elijah demanded. Elyza blinked at his outburst. "Do you have any idea of how worried I was?! Running off in the middle of the night?! What if you had died?! Are you so immature that you would run away so that you could explore?"
     Elyza looked down, "I wasn't just exploring. I was—"
    "Chasing a legend?" Elijah cut in, "Finding some mythical Hero?"
     Elyza looked up angrily, "It's not just a legend. It's real. How else are you going to explain all these towers and shrines? Are you so stubborn as to not acknowledge that something is going on, if not the legend?"
     Elijah looked away. "I will admit something is happening. But I don't believe it's your legend."
     "Then what is it, Elijah? What's your explanation?" Elyza challenged.
     He looked back. "I don't know," Elijah admitted. "But I want proof of something before I believe it's true. Besides, who are you to challenge me when you ran away with no note and—"
     Elyza cut in, "That's because you had been a jerk. You also heard me talk about leaving, so it's not like you had no idea where I had gone."
    "Maybe, but it was still stupid and rash. You acted like a child."
     "Yeah, well, don't you want me to be happy?" Elyza asked.
     Elijah replied, "Of course I do. But I don't think this is the way. You can be happy in Hateno. Our home."
     Elyza walked out of the tent. "No. I really can't," she said softly, wrapping her arms around herself. "I can't live there anymore. There's nothing there for me. Nothing. All I get is memories that I can't face everyday for the rest of my life." Elijah followed her, silent. "I really can't. That's why I had to leave. But I also have a reason now. Maybe it isn't a good one, but I'd rather search than waste away in Hateno. It not really my home anymore. I'm sorry, but I'm not going back."
     Elijah was quiet for a moment, then muttered, "This is stupid." Then, louder, he said, "Then I'm coming with." Elyza looked at him. "I'm not going to let you go on your own. I don't have much in Hateno either if you're not there." Elyza smiled. It seemed like she hadn't done that much recently. Elijah held up a finger. "But. I have some rules. One, you will not run off on me unless I say so. Two, we will make an effort to get along. Three, we will have a destination in mind before we go. We won't wander aimlessly."
     Elyza shrugged, "That's reasonable, I guess. But I have a rule of my own. I get to decide where we go." Elijah nodded. "Right. Then, I say we go to the Central Plateau. That's where I think the Hero starts his journey."
     Elijah raises an eyebrow, "Are we still going to chase that legend?"
     Elyza met his eyes. "Yes."
     Elijah raised his hands. "Ok ok. Fine. Don't bite my head off."
    Elyza turned away and went to gather up her stuff. Eventually, Elijah came and helped pack up the tent and loaded the packs on their horses.
     "Alright. How do we even get to the Great Plateau, smart one?" Elijah asked.
     "Not sure," Elyza admitted, "but I was planning to ask someone at the stable. They probably know something." Elijah nodded. They both got on their horses and rode over to the stable. It was a little early in the day, maybe 7:30, but most people at the stable were up and moving.
    The twins walked up to the front desk. Tasseren was there, as was another man. The two looked very similar. Probably twins too.
    "Ah! Welcome back to our fine stable! What can I do for ya?" Tasseren asked.
     "Well, we were wondering if you could give us directions. To the Great Plateau?" Elyza asked.
     "Great Plateau? Hmm. Well, I'm no good with directions but my brother here can help you," Tasseren replied, pointing to the man sanding next to the desk.
     "Ok, thanks," Elyza said. She turned to the other man. "So, you can help us?"
     The man smiled. "Sure can! My name's Rensa." He held out his hand and Elyza shook it. "You say your looking for directions to the Great Plateau? Well, lucky for you, it's not to hard a place to get to, at least to the bottom."
     "What? What do you mean?" Elijah asked.
     "Well, young man, the Great Plateau is a, as the name implies, plateau. It has shear sides. Very difficult to get up to the top. You'd have to climb hundreds of feet! Normal people can really only get to the bottom. But, I can direct you to it if you really want," Rensa explained.
      Elyza and Elijah looked at each other. Elijah asked, "Do you mind if I talk to my sister a moment? Thanks." Elijah turned and towed Elyza over a ways. "Well, now what?"
     Elyza shrugged. "We go anyway. The Hero has to come down at some point if he's gonna save Hyrule. I say we wait at the bottom."
    "But what if he already got down? And how do we know he would travel this direction? That's a lot of 'ifs'." Elijah complained.
    "Hey. Remember the rules. I decide where we go. Besides, part of the reason for leaving is to explore. Yeah, we may not find the Hero, but the important part is the adventure," Elyza reminded her twin. Elijah sighed but nodded. They both walked back to Rensa who waited expectantly. "Alright. Tell us how to get there, Rensa."
     "My pleasure. First you're going to have to go through the pass between the Peaks. When you get out, follow the road. You'll eventually get to a bridge. It's pretty big so you can't miss it. Then you'll follow the road more, straight ahead and eventually you'll see a big plateau and then you'll be there. Can't miss it. I do warn you though, the path is crawling with monsters. More of those around all the time. Anyway, be prepared to defend yourself if you do go," Rensa warned.
     "Thanks. We appreciate the advice and directions," Elyza said.   
     Rensa nodded, then he walked off. Elyza motioned to her twin and together they went and got on their horses. Ellis and Frihet seemed to get along well; they'd been grazing next to each other. The twins steered their horses towards Dueling Peaks and started on their way.
     They went at a moderate pace. After all, there wasn't really much of a hurry. They might find the Hero, might not. Elyza would like to, of course, but she more just wanted to see the rest of Hyrule. It was an adventure. And she had her brother. Yes, he hadn't really wanted to leave, but he had come anyway for her. It was nice to know that he really cared and would put aside his own feelings to help her. He was a better brother than she really deserved.
     "Elyza?" Elyza shook herself out of her trance.
     "What?"
     "Did you really hate Hateno so much?" Elijah sounded pained.
    Elyza looked down. "Kinda. Yeah."
    "Why didn't you say anything earlier? Why did you subject yourself to that? Why didn't you tell me? I'm your brother. That's my job. To look after you." Elijah almost seemed on the verge of tears. "When our parents left, it became my job to protect you. Why wouldn't you tell me so I could?"
    "What would you have even done?" Elyza asked.
    "I don't know. Taken you to Lurelin or Kakariko. Somewhere else..." Elijah trailed off.
    Elyza moves her horse closer and put a hand on his arm. "Listen. I wasn't quite ready then. I was still grieving. It's not your fault. Besides, you did protect me. I would have starved without you, if nothing else. And I appreciate the sentiment even if I don't really need it." Elyza smiled. She could tell that Elijah was still bothered but he seemed ok for now.
    They rode on through Dueling Peaks. The pass was long and they passed camps of bokoblins and even lizalfos. Luckily, the bokoblins couldn't reach them because they were across the river and the lizalfos couldn't catch them when the twins galloped by. They passed a few traveling merchants, but the twins didn't have much rupees to spare.
    They eventually reached the end of the pass. It had taken longer than Elyza would have thought. They had passed another shrine on their way and as they reached the end, they saw another big blue tower.
     They went along a bit more. Elyza hoped that they could—Wait. A blue tower? That's not right. "Hey, Elijah!" Elyza exclaimed. He looked at her. "Look at that!" She pointed to the tower.
     Elijah frowned, "That's not right. Shouldn't it be orange? And...wasn't it orange a few minutes ago? What happened?"
     Elyza turned her horse around eagerly and said, "Maybe it's the Hero!!! Maybe it turning blue is the sign that he's been there! Let's go check it out." Elyza started back towards the tower at a gallop. She could hear Elijah curse, but then he followed.
     Elyza quickly reached the river and hopped off Frihet. Elijah followed in suit and then he groaned as he realized Elyza's intentions. "We're going to swim across aren't we?" Elijah groaned.
    Elyza smiled and laughed, then jumped into the river. The current wasn't too bad and Elyza was only wearing normal trousers, and a basic shirt. She had taken off her Hylian Hood, so she didn't have too much getting wet. Elijah had similar on, but he had never liked swimming much even if Mom had made him learn. Together they made it to the rocks at the bottom of the tower and climbed on them.
    "I really hate you sometimes," Elijah muttered. Elyza just smiled. He scowled at her then grudgingly motioned to the tower and they started up.
     The twins made good progress and tiredly pulled themselves on top. They lay there for a minute until they had enough breath to sit up. They turned to the middle of the tower to find an older teenager staring at them with his blade drawn and pointed threateningly at them.