Of Royal Blood - The Legend Of Zelda

[] Patrol.

After the events of the other day patrolling seemed to be the best option. Not only would you get an idea if someone was going to try and steal cattle or had to plan around any vantage points but you figured it'd be good to have Malon keep busy and after what happened last night anything to help her feel safer would probably be a decent idea.

Throwing on your armour and strapping the master sword to your back you make your way out to begin preparing the horses for the round trip. You'll be riding Epona while Irene will be using her broom close to the ground so she can quickly hop off if anyone spots you. Malon meanwhile will be riding Malanya, with Mipha riding with her as Malon was only one here second to you in riding skill purely out of lack of practice but was completely inexperienced in regards to combat.

Speaking of Mipha was walking up now with her trident resting on her shoulder contrasting sharply with the simple armour she was wearing. While your hero's outfit was of impossibly high-quality Mipha's outfit did highlight how oddly mismatched you all must look, especially with the extra armour you've thrown on over top. Even those who delve into Hyrule's ancient ruins wouldn't have the same kind of gear your group has acquired despite your constant state of poverty. Even the casual observer might notice somethings off...

Mipha seems to notice you staring at her though quickly looks away awkwardly scratching her neck, "Is um... something the matter Link?" She asks, hesitating slightly.

"We're way to conspicuous with our gear," You reply honestly, "We might be fine at a distance but if we keep going into towns..."

The Zora princess sighs, "I've been noticing that too... I thought... I assumed that it isn't totally suspicious even without that broken collar but we can't exactly pretend to be just mercenaries with what we have," She holds out her trident in front of her, seemingly looking at her expression reflected in its polished silver, "Even wrapping them up would just endanger us, as we're too often attacked to worry about needing to unwrap it."

"It's starting to reach the point that spending any rupees we earn on some fancy gear might make us less obvious," You observe, rubbing your chin in thought, "But we burn through funds so quickly, and the type of equipment we need..."

"But we barely have the time," Mipha responds, looking back to Malon's manor, "Link, you and I are the only ones with long-term combat experience. I'm sure you've noticed that it's almost like we're being worn down by... whatever our enemy is."

You fold your arms across your chest and nod. Every time you've been in a tough fight it was always after your group and worn themselves down fighting a foe or was half exhausted after a day's events, "Considering what we saw with those Keese monsters it wouldn't surprise me if we're being watched from the shadows. We're catching them off guard, I don't think they expected... well, you know but they're adapting, wearing down our resources so they can beat us in a fight. We need a proper supply chain or we'll never make it to the other maidens."

"Neither of us logistician's though," Mipha gives you small smile, "We're good at hitting things, but Zelda's been the one on top of things on that front. Her intuition was incredible, Malon's just what we need but..." She frowns, "I fear it may only be buying us time once we get her out of here..."

"Having a source of food will be enough for us to make it through the wilderness to find wherever Medli has ended up, from there I guess we'll have to talk with the others to get a plan," You say with a shrug.

"Speaking of, I wonder where Malon and Irene are. Surely they should be ready by now?" Mipha ponders aloud, peering around the corner of the barn you were both standing in front of to get a better look of the rest of the property and almost immediately jumping back in surprise.

Raising an eyebrow you follow Mipha, only to behold Irene with her head pressed against the side of the barn, hat eschew and broom held loosely in her hands as she gives a groan of acknowledgement.

"Allergies still?" You ask.

"Mrglblrgl..." Was the unintelligible response from the witch.

"It's probably the cattle, I'm sure being on this journey will make you feel better," Mipha tries to reassure Irene, patting her on the back. Irene only groans in response.

"Sorry to make you all wait!" A voice suddenly calls out, and you all turn to see a familiar red-head farmgirl. Instead of her typical dress, she was wearing a sleeveless purple tunic over a long-sleeved shirt though she had kept the yellow shawl and broach she normally wore. Rugged, dark grey trousers ended in sturdy work boots and around her waist was a strip of wool cloth and a belt from which hung a small bag and notably a powder horn. A frayed straw hat sat lopsided on her head from under which Malon gave an apologetic smile. What all your eyes were drawn too, however, was the royal rifle hanging loosely from her back by a long leather strap. "It took a while to um... well I wasn't really sure how to carry it," She said nervously, glancing at your and Mipha's heavily armed state her smile vanished and with a tense voice said, "I... guess I didn't over-prepare though..."

"Hopefully we won't need to fight, but we should discourage anyone deciding to do anything stupid," You say, mounting Epona, "We'll follow behind when you're ready."

Malon nervously gulped, before clapping both hands to her cheeks and rubbing them before she ran off to mount Malayna, with Mipha climbing up behind her.

Then she took off, with you and Irene following close behind.

Malon's property it turned out was mostly grassy fields and rolling hills, with a few clumps of tree's ranging from sparse to densely packed. Shallow creeks wound their way through the property on their way towards the far more massive Hylia river. There were also ruins, odd clumps of crumbling stonework sticking out from hills that suggested the remains of some structures, yet they were far too old to identify by anyone not named Zelda. Yet for what is intended as grazing land for cattle Malon had to frequently call out to prevent you from stumbling onto someone's property that was marked by a barely perceptible stone marker as it cut into Malon's land. Most of it seemed like wilderness but you could see the beginnings of ramshackle structures being constructed.

"They're building farms this far from the road?" You ask as Epona trots up next to Malon, Irene following beside you as she hovered only a few inches off the ground.

Malon, however, shakes her head, "I don't know what they're building, whatever it is it looks cheap. But last time I had cattle wander over they fined me an incredible amount of Rupees so keep your distance. "

"Didn't know they were that strict with livestock," You reply, before a thought hits you, "Hey, this area must be full of deer and fowl. Do they allow you to hunt at all?"

Malon lets out a bark of bitter laughter that makes Mipha jump slightly behind her, "They actually went out of their way to threaten me about that, had to pull out my pitchfork to get them to leave me alone."

Mipha leaned over on the horse, blinking her yellow eyes, "But you own this land, surely that means you can hunt game upon it? Was there some decree?"

Malon shook her head, "I don't know, and I never hunted before so I didn't look into it. But from what I hear you aren't even allowed to hunt or fish on common land," She stopped to adjust her hat, to block the sun's glare, "I don't even know if common land is even a thing anymore, and apparently they own all livestock now too. The only reason my cattle haven't been confiscated is because the Empire only declared animals that are intended to have their meat consumed as being owned by them, thankfully. But who knows, they might even declare crops, wood and foraged food as belonging to the empire."

Your hands tighten on Epona's reigns, that was... bad. REALLY bad. Many communities in Hyrule relied on what the land surrounding them could provide, and you'd heard from Zelda and Paya that Hyrule's wealth came in large part from its agriculture. To just suddenly decide that... the people couldn't even rebel as the Empire vastly outnumbered them with their autonomous armour and the wilderness was full of monsters. Yet why were the people then so against helping the holdouts against that like Malon?

"Hey!" Malon suddenly calls out as she urges her horse ahead, pointing toward a hill covered in thorny looking bushes "Up there on that hill is a great vantage point!"

"Thank goodness, I need to lie down..." You hear a mumbled reply beside you and you look down to see Irene trailing slightly behind practically slumped over her broom as her feet drag on the ground. Before you inquire about her health she shoots off, catching up with Malon and Mipha who were getting off Malayna to carefully pick their way around the oddly familiar thorns.

You stop, watching the girls as Irene flies up to the peak of the hill and drunkenly swaying begins to pull herself off her broom as Malon stumbles up next to her through the increasingly thick brush. Something was bothering you as you began to approach, before realizing far too late what it was.

"GET OUT OF THERE! RUN!" You scream, yet Irene and Malon don't seem to hear you as they both turn to look at you in confusion as the plants and thorns shifted revealing a massive plant bulb that opened to reveal rows of sharp, needle-like teeth.

Malon turned first, a horrified scream tearing itself from her throat as she desperately tried to pull the rifle from her back. Irene was too slow, looking at you with a dazed expression before her eyes widened, a crimson cloud erupting from her mouth as the Deku Baba shot out and clamped its massive jaw around her torso, sinking its long teeth into her flesh with a bone-shattering crunch you heard from the bottom of the hill. It lifted Irene into the air, its snake-like stalk rising from the ground as it shook Irene like a ragdoll, splashing Malon with a torrent of blood and sending Irene's hat careening off out of sight as Malayna reared back in fright.

Malon then slammed her rifle into the monstrous plant like a club, striking it in its bulb-like head with enough force to make it drop Irene who crumpled with a wet sound at its base as it jerked its head back. Then a ruby scaled meteor slammed into it, silver prongs erupting from the bottom of its jaw with a spray of blackish-green fluid before with a snarl from Mipha a tornado of water surrounded her tearing the Deku Baba apart. Mipha then practically threw her trident away as she dove to press her hands into Irene's side, a blue glow surrounding them.

You sprinted up the hill, master sword in hand, it's shining glow bright even in the noontime sun. Malon had fallen to her knees, staring with wide horrified eyes at the gurgling spasming form of Irene, her jaw working up and down as her hands reached up but didn't make it to her blood-splattered face.

Irene side was completely shredded, a bloody mess that resembled spilling offal then the side of a young woman with an arm that was hanging by a thread in two places. You almost slid to a stop beside her as you rip off the cork of a bottle of fairy tonic and press the bottle to her lips, the glowing pink liquid flowing down her throat.

Almost immediately her thin form glowed a bright pink through her clothes before the light disappeared just as quickly, all signs of injuries suddenly gone though her dress was shredded and soaked through with blood as she rolled over onto her side and gave several hacking coughs.

"Can you stand? Are you in pain?" You ask as you lean down close to Irene as she twists and pushes herself up onto her hands and knees, taking several deep shuddering breaths as she nods and then shakes her head. She swallows, makes a wretching sound and then vomits then and there as you shuffle back slightly to avoid being splashed.

When she finishes she collapses sideways, away from her sick and into your arms. Irene looks up at you, tears in her dark blue eyes as she cries to you, "I... I-I really h-hate t-that... T-that... p-part of me w-wants to get up n-now a-and continue o-on."

You don't let her, holding her tightly as you look over to see Mipha holding a blood-splattered Malon's just as you were holding Irene, resting the girl's head against her chest and rocking her back forth as Malon whispered in horrified shock, "Blood... h-her arm... w-what..."

You both hold the two Hylian girls until finally, Irene pulls herself away from you and shakily pulls herself to her feet. You offer Irene her broom, which she happily leans on as you collect her hat and hand it to her. As she holds it in her hands, the tatters of her bloody dress sticking to her thin frame she suddenly asks, "W-why does t-this f-feel normal? T-this shouldn't f-feel normal..."

You bring her close for a moment, before helping Irene onto Epona's saddle, "We're heading back."

Irene shakes her head, "No, L-Link there might be more-"

"Deku Baba's spew poison mist Irene, we need to check you over and neither you or Malon is in any state to continue anyways," You firmly tell her, before your expression softens, "Please, just try to rest for a moment."

Irene doesn't reply but gives you a nod as you head over to Malon. Malon was stumbling as if in a daze, jumping slightly at your touch before she clings to you. You and Mipha share a look, one that told you the memory of your earlier conversation was flashing to the forefront of both your minds before you both help Malon onto Malanya, the white horse calm despite all that had happened.

With Mipha getting up behind Malon to hold her steady you get onto Epona and with one hand holding the still weak Irene you urge Epona on, whistling for the well-trained Malanya to follow. At nearly a full gallop you reach the ranch in no time at all. Getting off Epona you help Irene down, looking over you see Malon get off Malanya under her own power while Mipha stays close nearby.

"You both feeling better?" You ask and you feel a sense of relief as they both nod.

"I... We've been bloodied before right? I'm just... I just need to clean myself up," Irene tells you, trying to stand up straight but looking very wobbly, "I... could you two worry about me after that? Please?"

With great reluctance you give Irene a nod, before you look over to Malon, "How're you holding up?"

"I..." She begins, before swallowing nervously, and you notice her touching one of the crimson wet spots on her clothes, looking over to Irene, "I-I don't think I'm ready for what you guys deal with..."

"We understand, I'm sure the village will be fine with-" You begin, but Malon shakes her head.

"I-I'm not ready but..." She pauses, taking another calming breath "...I don't think you guys should face that alone. I saw that look in both your eyes, Link and Your Maj- I mean Mipha, you're used to this even if it's... scary," She gives both you and Mipha a strained smile, "But I know really well when someone's trying to hide how much things hurt them," You and Mipha suddenly turn away, unable to look Malon in the eye but she doesn't comment instead addressing the blood-covered witch, "Irene I'll... I'll help you get cleaned up..."

"Hold on... weren't Zelda and Paya supposed to be caring for the animals today?" Mipha suddenly interjects and you all turn to see her scanning the ranch with narrowed eyes, "Why haven't they made their way towards us after we returned so quickly?"

Worry suddenly settles in your gut and your hand begins to reach up towards the sheathed master sword. However, a bit of relief washes over you as you suddenly spot a blue orb of light shoot out from the manor and zip over to you.

"Hey! You're back! We need some-" Proxi begins to shout before she stops dead in the air and suddenly screams "OH NO YOU'RE HURT?! WHAT HAPPENED?!" The fairy zips around Irene and Malon with dizzying speed, fretting over the two bloodied girls.

"Proxi," You say, holding up a hand in the fairy's path, "Proxi we need you to stay calm. What's going on here, what do you need?"

Proxi floats up to your face and you can just make out the tiny fretting fairy nervously wringing her hands through the aura of light surrounding her, "It's Romani, she started holding her head and looking all distressed but we can't do anything!"

You nod, just in time to see Malon sprint past towards the manor, with the rest of you quickly following behind. Entering the manor you see Zelda pressed into the wall next to the entrance of the dining room with Malon's red mane disappearing through the door, Zelda having evidentally pressed into the wall to avoid getting bowled over. She looks over to you, visible relief on her face... before she notices the state you're all in.

"WHY ARE YOU ALL COVERED IN BLOOD?!" She shouts, horrified.

"Deku Baba ambush, Irene needs to be checked for poisoning if the Fairy Tonic didn't cure her," You say quickly as you walk past her towards the dining room.

"Wha... R-right!" Zelda says, quickly taking Irene by the hand as she began to look over Irene. Poisons, after all, were rarely immediately obvious unless it had started spewing its toxic fumes, Irene would need to be watched for a few hours.

Stepping into the dining room you spot a distressed and unsure looking Paya who starts at your approach, but you make a quick motion to reassure her before looking over to Malon and Romani. Malon was kneeling beside her sister who was sitting in a chair, clutching her head and shaking.

"Nnnngh... no... no no no no..." A pained hoarse voice came from Romani, a sound you never wanted to hear from a child, "Romani... why... No... Nnnaaagh!!"

The girl spasmed and kept clutching her head and with a great deal of worry you began to approach but Malon suddenly spoke up, her voice strained, "She still doesn't react when she's like this, somethings hurting her but I don't know what..."

Mipha doesn't say a word, pushing past to lay a hand on Romani that glowed faintly, "Even if she doesn't react... if she's in pain I'll try to ease it."

Malon looked up to Mipha, giving a teary nod to the Zora Princess as she got to work. A thought though was at the back of your mind and you looked to Paya who was transfixed on Romani, worry clear on her face, "Paya, when did she start acting like this?"

"A-about an hour or two ago master Link," Paya says, "L-lady Zelda and I d-didn't know what to do..." She trails off, looking back to Romani with a worried expression "I-it's just like when Lady Zelda escaped the castle..."

"That's when we were attacked..." You look over to Mipha, Romani and Malon. Could it possibly be...

"Wait, you said you were attacked at the same time?" A chiming sound followed a small voice, and you looked over to see Proxi floating a few inches from your head looking at you with a worried expression.

You nod, "Yeah, it doesn't seem like it could be a coincidence."

Proxi nods, and you see her close her eyes through the sphere of light that surrounded her, her wings beating slowly as she took a deep breath before they opened wide, "Whatever's here I can't sense it but..." She puts a hand to her chest, her expression serious, "I'm a fairy. We know when we see a sign that our hearts will always lead us true and all my heart is now telling me this is a curse."

Malon looks to you, the distress clear in her face at Proxi's words, "Someone... cursed Romani?!"

"I think it's tied to the monsters if you guys got attacked at the same time," The little fairy folds her arms, tapping her foot in the air as though lost in thought, "Ugh! I can't think of how it'd work! We need to find someone skilled with magic!"

"The master sword is used to dispell evil, can't we use it?" You ask, jerking a thumb to the sword on your back.

Proxi just shakes her head, "I'm just a fairy, but I think they're more complex than that."

"L-Lady Midna's really good with magic!" Paya interjects though she wilts as you all look to her, "M-m-maybe she'd know?"

"She is our expert, but has anyone seen her today? Even with the sun?" You ask, but everyone shakes their heads, "Damnit, now I'm worried..."

"Lady Midna is badly hurt by the sun and is unfamiliar with our world," Mipha states, stepping back from Romani, "If she was caught in a shadow as dawn approached she may be stuck until this evening."

Which means you'll need to wait till night to go looking for her, as literally any shadow around the Ranch could have her.

You will need to come up with a plan to discuss with everyone. Curses and monsters are intrinsically linked, you know that much. But even if you went out with the Master Sword you weren't sure if a monster was the source. The master sword at least could ease up the pressure on Malon's lands, even get some monster parts you can sell. But that would also almost definitely tip off the human element that Malon's "guests" are actually trained monster killers which is probably exactly what the Gorman brothers don't want and would definitely wear down your resources. Your group is also being hunted, so it may mean whatever foe is after you may come here if you're obvious which would put Malon and Romani in a horrific amount of danger, even if monsters seem to target you guys fir- no, that doesn't make sense.

The monsters previously targeted your allies, they waited for you to expend resources, tire yourselves out and you only ever got out of it thanks to a sudden save. Malon was the one by the Deku Baba, yet it waited till Irene got close. Deku Baba's normally were thought to lash out at anything that got near but even if it was being controlled why wait for Irene? Did it know Irene is a maiden or was there another reason? Why didn't it spew its toxic mist everywhere? If Deku Baba's are around why were the soldiers frightened of Chuchu's? Monsters weren't bound by property lines and Malon's lands weren't exactly the middle of nowhere, farms were all around it and you saw nearby construction.

You could investigate, slip into town, maybe even taunt them into making a mistake and revealing some information by taking Malon with you. But that might push the Gorman's into trying to exert their power to intimidate Malon and the rest of you, not as dire as them knowing Malon's playing host to trained killers but still an issue with you needing to evacuate her and Romani.

If there was something they knew about this you could keep to the farm, make it seem like Malon is scared and let them get careless. It'd be the safest bet, but when that portal opens you might not have a clear picture of what's going on here and be unprepared when it would act then.

So what do you do suggest as a plan?
[] Clear Malon's property. Reveal you're monster hunters even if it risks luring more intelligent foes to the ranch and alerting the Gorman's.
[] Investigate in town for a hint to the curse. Risk suspicion to better prepare for evacuating Malon and curing Romani.
[] Stay low. Keep everyone safe and trick your foes into getting careless at the risk of being unprepared come the evacuation.
[] Write-in.

Current Elixers:
6 Empty Elixir Bottles
1 Supreme Tough Elixir
3 Fairy Tonics
1 Keg of Fairy Tonic (10)

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