Breath of the Wild: Link and Friends

Chapter 30

   They had to be very careful as they crossed the Tabantha Great Bridge the next morning. On the bright side, they could see a giant flying Divine Beast in the sky. Or maybe that wasn't really a bright side.
   The bridge was old looking and that made Elijah feel like the boards would snap beneath him and he'd fall to his death. There were already chunks of wood that must have fallen away. They were walking single file across the bridge leading their horses. They were spread out on the bridge as to not put too much weight in one area and...you know, fall to their death.
   Well, obviously, looks were deceiving because they made it across the bridge without anyone falling to their death.
   Elijah breathed a sigh of relief, glaring at the bridge. Apparently, he wasn't a huge fan of heights. Of course, Kenton was grinning like a mad man.
   Maniac.
   Elijah mounted his horse, and waited for the others to do the same. Elijah hoped there wouldn't be anymore scary bridges like that. The terrain was very different on this side of Hyrule.
   The others finally mounted, and they had barely started forward when they all noticed flying guardians, going around the giant pillars of rock. That's what they looked like at least. The only real difference was the red circle they projected onto the ground.
   This wasn't good.
   "Uh, Guys? What do we do about the flying death machines in the sky?" Elijah asked.
   "Uh, we go around them," Kenton said, grinning. "Or through them."
   Maniac.
   "Kenton, I think you're enjoying this a little too much," Zalie said, even though she was smiling at him.
   "Honestly. It's like you have a death wish. There's a rickety bridge back there that needs you to jump on it a few times," Elyza added, smirking. "Your wish will come true."
   Link grinned at the banter. Elijah just looked at them. We're they not concerned that Kenton was a thrill-seeking MANIAC?!
   "Hey, this makes life exciting. Even walking on a bridge wasn't something I did every day," Kenton said, throwing up his hands, continuing to grin.
   "Yeah, well, try walking off a bridge next time," Elijah grumbled. Elyza threw a dry look at him. He shrugged. Kenton had the base of a psychopath without the killing people sadistically part. Guy was crazy.
   "Alright, so we have to get past them. How? Just run through?" Link asked. "What's with the red circles?"
   "Hmm. Well, it looks like the red circles are projected from the things eye. That's probably how it spots people. If something or someone comes into the cuticle it can focus on it and attack. That's my guess at least," Zalie jumped in.
   "That's...a very educated guess there, Zal," Link said, grinning. She smiled.
   "So we dodge the red circles and don't get shot at. Sounds easy enough," Elijah said, folding his arms. "Even though Kenton might enjoy getting shot at."
   Kenton grinned wider. "Hey! You ever been shot at by a guardian?" His grin immediately died. "It's not something you want to try." All lightheartedness was gone from his expression and tone. He got on his horse and started away.
   Elijah winced. Oops. There was something major he was missing here. Indeed, Zalie and Elyza gave him a glare and Elyza slapped his arm. Apparently they knew something about Kenton he didn't. They rushed to follow him. (Yes I know Zalie doesn't know exactly how Kenton's parents died. She's observant when she wants to be)
   Link gave him a confused look. "I think we are both missing something here."
   "Apparently." Elijah followed them as did Link, dodging past the circling guardians.
   They caught up to the others pretty quickly. Elyza threw another glare at him. Kenton didn't really look all that upset though. He was leading the group. Zalie was riding with Elyza at the moment. They slowed till they were next to Elijah.
   "Elijah! Why are you so insensitive?!" Elyza hissed.
   "What am I being insensitive about?! I missing something here," Elijah hissed back.
   "His dad was killed by a guardian beam! You can't say he would enjoy getting shot by one. It's not a joke!" Elyza looked pretty mad.
   "Sorry! I didn't exactly know that! He told you not me," Elijah said, defensive.
   "I just saw his expression. I didn't know that either," Zalie added.
   Elyza seemed to calm a bit. "Still. Go apologize."
   "Elyza, he doesn't even seem upset," Elijah protested.
   "You—" Elyza started.
   "Elyza. Chill. It's fine," Kenton called back. "He didn't know. Even Zalie didn't know."
   Elyza huffed, but let the matter drop. They continued on.
   Elijah watched Kenton. Elijah liked to think he wasn't judgmental. He'd already seen that Kenton was a nice guy. Yes, he was a thrill-seeking maniac, reckless, cocky, stubborn. Extreme on a lot of levels. But, he was also...sincere. Semi-calm. Understanding. There was a lot more to him than Elijah had first seen.
   Elijah sped up so that his horse was trotting next to Kenton's. Kenton glanced at him but continued to watch the scenery. Elijah had to admit that Tabantha was majestic and beautiful.
   "It's kinda weird being here," Kenton said.
   "Why?"
   "I mean, this has been my dream for a long time. I never thought people actually could live their dreams. That's why they're dreams," Kenton said. "Who knew you could."
   "For some at least," Elijah said.
   "Huh? What's your dream then?" Kenton asked.
   "Simple life. Back in Hateno," Elijah sighed.
   "Then why are you out here?"
   Elijah nodded back towards his sister. "Elyza. It's hard to know your sister could be out there but never come back because of some misfortune."
   Kenton nodded in understanding. "I get that. I'm just glad my sister is safe or I probably wouldn't be out here either."
   "Hey, guys, we need to veer off course for a bit," Link called.
   "Why?" Elyza asked.
   "I think one of my lost memories is near here," Link said. He looked at his Sheikah Slate and then off to the south. "I saw some ruins up there and in the photo there's some ruins and the Divine Beast in the background."
   They all nodded, except for Kenton. He looked confused but followed as Link took the lead. They sped up though, to a gallop.
   "Uh, what's he talking about?" Kenton asked Elijah.
   "His lost memories. He lost his memory when he woke up in the Shrine of Resurrection. He has pictures on his Slate that will lead him to recover some of them. It's important," Elijah explained.
   "Ah. How many has he gotten?" Kenton asked.
   "Not many of those pictures. He's gotten some of the old Champions, though," Elijah replied. Kenton nodded.
   They rode quickly, around and up a steep rocky slope. The ran past some moblins—they didn't have time—and came to some ruins. Elijah didn't know what they could have once been. There were many ruins in Hyrule. There was even some just outside of Hateno.
   Eventually, they saw a shrine coming up and so they slowed and dismounted. Link showed his friends the pictures. It was of a shrine and the bird-looking Divine Beast.
  "This looks right," Link said. He walked in front of the shrine and stared at it before Elijah recognized the glazed look in his eyes. He was seeing another memory.
  It wasn't long. Link blinked back after a few minutes.
   "Well?" Elyza asked.
   "It appears that Zelda and I didn't always get along," Link replied, looking troubled. "I hope that memory was from early on when I met her. I don't want her to hate me if I defeat Ganon."
   "When you defeat Ganon," Zalie corrected firmly.
   "Anyway, we should probably start going around and finding those. They might be helpful in defeating Ganon. And I want to remember Zelda before I see her again," Link said.
   "You'll have to show me those pictures. I've been around and I might be able to help you find your memories," Zalie jumped in. Link nodded, looking happier.
   "Well, we should probably get going again. I want to make it to the Rito Village by the end of the day," Link said. "But first I'm going to do this shrine. Wait here."
  "Ok." Link left and entered the shrine.
  They didn't have to wait very long, maybe 10 minutes before Link came back out. He looked a little worse for wear, like he'd been fighting. He was carrying a glowing blade though.
  "Link! Are you ok? How'd you get that sword?" Elyza asked.
  "It was the shrine. It was a test of my strength. I fought a mini guardian, and it did its very best the try and stab me," Kink replied wearily. "Anyway, let's get going."
  They all mounted their horses again and galloped back down the slip until they got back on the path once more. They passed craters in the ground and some more ruins and pillars of rock. There was towering cliff-sides all around them for a while until the land became narrower with a steady incline.
   They saw tougher terrain ahead that would be harder to get their horses around so they stopped and dismounted. They led their horses forward a bit but left them on the road to try and clear the rocks.
   Elijah tried to budge a smaller boulder but it was pretty stuck in the ground.
   Or so he thought.
   The ground started to shake and Elijah watched as the rocks they'd tried to move ripped itself free from the ground. It didn't have a face or anything but it was very vaguely humanoid.
   Well, that wasn't good.
   The girls both cried out, but quickly drew their weapons. Elijah didn't know how to kill a rock monster, but their was some special rock—ore—on its back that looked suspicious.
   "Uh, anybody know what this is or how to fight it?!" Kenton yelled. He threw himself to the side as a rock was throw at him. Elijah was confused. That was the rock monsters arm, wasn't it?
   "It's a normal talus!" Zalie shouted.
   "Great! How do we fight it, because it clearly doesn't want us to get by!"
   Elijah had to dive out of the way as another rock was throw at him. The talus fell to the ground and came back with two more arms. Great.
   "Elyza or Kenton! Try shooting that ore deposit on its back! It's not like the rest of it!" Elijah yelled.
   "He's right!" Zalie confirmed.
  They both must have both shot because two arrows came flying and hit the ore. It chipped the ore and the talus faltered and its "head" fell to the ground. Elijah ran on impulse and climbed on top of the monster as it got back to its feet. He started to wack the rock with his sword repeatedly. It seemed to hurt the talus because it shortly started to to shudder and it threw Elijah off.
   It hurt a little to land—there would be bruises—but nothing broke and he got back to his feet.
  Link took the hint and climbed on the talus next time it fell to the arrows from Elijah and Kenton. He did more damage with the Maser Sword and the ore finally broke apart and the rock monster exploded. Link was thrown pretty far but he looked fine from Elijah's quick glance. He put his sword back in its sheath.
   They all retrieved the horses and moved on like nothing happened. They got attacked all the time. It was nothing new.
   Elijah groaned as they topped the hill. Another bridge that wasn't safe at all.
   Kenton chuckled when he heard Elijah. "That's Kolami Bridge. Narrow, no sides, and famously windy." Indeed, it was windier as they approached the bridge. "We should probably walked across one or two at at time. And lead the horses carefully."
   Elijah muttered to himself as he got off Royal. He took the reins. "Y'all are crazy. Why am I here?"
   "Because you love me," Elyza said. Elijah sighed.
   Kenton led the way across, his horse walking behind him. Zalie followed without a horse and they crossed safely. Link and Elyza went next, leaving Elijah to go last.
   Elijah glanced down. The fall didn't seem that far but looks were deceiving. The fall could most certainly break his legs if not kill him. He started across. It was quite windy but Elijah managed to not be blown off. He got himself across safely and glared at his friends and family.
   "We are never doing that again," Elijah snapped.
   "Uh, we have to leave the Rito Village eventually," Zalie said.
   They mounted again. Link noted some camouflaged lizalfos and had Kenton and Elyza shoot them as they rode by in the cramped, enclosing rocks they trotted into. They didn't prove a problem, and the group was soon going down a very steep part of the road which forced them into a gallop. Fortunately, it led them right down to the stable and they slowly pulled to a stop.
   It was later in the day, and Link said he didn't want to keep going. He probably needed rest anyway, if he was going to fight the Divine Beast tomorrow or the day after. They checked in the horses and got beds for the night.
   Elijah tried to cheer himself up. It seemed he'd have to cross a bunch of bridges tomorrow to get to the village, but they looked more sturdy. They probably had some good food too, and maybe some good dishes for the region. He'd have to explore tomorrow.
   With that in mind, Elijah headed to bed, excited for the prospect of tomorrow.