Blighted Memories

Chapter 11. Truce

   Link left the Riverside Stable the next day. He thanked everyone there for nursing him back to health. He tried to hand over his money to Ember, but the offer was pushed away.

   "Link, I appreciate your kindness, but don't worry about pay," Ember said. "What you did for Parcy was enough. If you want, I could consider that good deed your payment."

   Link shook his head and held out the handful of money again. Ember refused it again.

   "You worry about yourself," Ember said. "You might need that money one day for something else."

   Link's eyes turned to the money in his hands. There wasn't much of it left. He'd gained money from raiding monster camps, uncovering buried treasure with the Magnesis rune and selling some unneeded items over the course of his journey. But he'd used his money for arrows, food, beds at the inn and for a donation made to a charity back in Hateno Village. After all that he only had a measly one hundred twelve rupees.

   "You seem like the type of person who likes to help others," Ember said. "Let me tell ya something. Everyone needs help at some point. Everyone needs a little bit of kindness to make life easier for them. That includes you. So take it when it comes to you, alright?"

   Ember crossed his arms, sending the message that he wouldn't budge on this. No matter what, he wouldn't take Link's money.

   Link hesitated for a moment. It felt so strange to have someone give him something without any strings attached. But it felt nice. A small part of him even felt like he deserved this. And it would be rude to refuse if Ember insisted on it.

   Link retracted his hand with the money in it. He gave Ember a smile and a polite bow.

   "Thank you for your kindness," Link said.
   Link departed from the stable, waving to everyone there as he left with a smile on his face.

   Link's next problem presented itself immediately. He had no horse. He'd left Talon all the way back at the Woodland Stable up north. Mekar Island was near the stable, thankfully. At the very least, Link would be able to leave with Talon once he was finished with his business on the island. But unfortunately, it still meant Link would have to take the long walk to the stable. He could've perhaps taken a horse from the Riverside Stable, but he didn't want to take too much from the kindly management or burn through the last of his money. Maybe if he ran across a wild horse he could tame it and ride it to the Woodland Stable. But for now, he would walk.

   Link didn't bother with the trail. It wound inwards and outwards around Central Hyrule around the grassy knolls, forests and ruins. He felt it would just waste time to take it. He decided it would be easier and more efficient to just dash across the hills on a direct route to the Woodland Stable. He couldn't afford to lose more time. Every moment was a moment closer to Calamity Ganon's freedom. Dawdling or wasting more time than he needed to could spell disaster for all of Hyrule. Unfortunately without a horse, it looked as though it could take a while before he arrived at the destination.

   But on his initial trek to Zora's Domain, Link spotted a Guardian Stalker skulking around that area. As he was now, he definitely couldn't handle a single one, much less a bunch. He'd barely survived the stationary ones on the Great Plateau. Their beams of light released so much energy that they caused deadly explosions that could annihilate armies with ease. Ganon had truly been smart to take advantage of them. They were incredible weapons that destroyed hordes of monsters and helped fight against Ganon in the days of the past. It was no wonder taking control of them was his first move. They were the perfect weapons of mass destruction.

   All he could do was avoid it. But Link didn't want to gamble with his life if he could help it. He wanted to assess the situation first to see if it was possible to sneak by. It shouldn't be too hard.