After the fall of Ganon, peace returned to Hyrule. In theory. There was a lot of theory running around these days, to be perfectly frank, not that you minded much. The desert was still the desert, and Gerudo Town was still Gerudo Town. The guard still patrolled the walls, water still flowed from the Spring of the Desert, and most importantly Riju was finally, finally growing into her throne.
You had to watch out for your best friend, after all.
Well, no, you should probably explain first. Friendship for the Gerudo was a bit of an odd topic, and then that had to get multiplied by the amount of bullshit that royalty had to deal with. Your mother, Rivka, was a water tester. That meant you grew up knowing everyone- even the child too young for her throne. Playing around under the watchful eye of Bullah was always an experience, getting to watch the young Princess- and now Chieftess- of Gerudo Town try and cope with the weight her mother had left her.
Then your friend became more capable, taking on more of the titles she'd been left, and you'd learned water testing. How to determine hardness, salinity, the differences between spring water and snowmelt and oasis water. How to keep it fresh, clean, and sterile; as well as the more esoteric uses. Along the way, you learned what else your mother, and all water testers, did: fighting spirits.
Out in the desert, there were more creatures of every type than you could name. It wasn't just the corporeal powers that were dangerous, though: djinn roamed the hills. Creatures with souls of fire and mythologized deeply, they were capricious, neither knowing nor unknowing and possessed by Din's blessings all the while. Water was balm and bane to them, soothing bodies of flesh and tormenting beasts of fire. All of them traded in other things, little drips and drops of magic and mystery that were near-always for the taking, if one knew how to barter with them.
When you were twelve, a scant year before Ganon died and the Calamity was put to rest once again, you made your first contact with a djinn. Your mother was away, praying at the Shrine to the Eighth Heroine, when it came to you as a burst of light, like a shooting star to be caught in your hand yet still falling.
"Hey there!" It called, voice full of laughter. You got up from where you were doodling in the mountain-sand, turning to look at it for the first time.
"Good evening, Mister Djinn," you replied. Mother had always taught you to be polite.
"Hey there!"
Now, though, you were confused. "Do you need something?"
"Follow me!"
Going after the little djinn, you made your way out across some steady sand, before coming to a little cave. "In here!" it chirped, leading you inside. The inside was surprisingly cool, brightly-lit with glowstone. It had to be inhabited by someone to keep the glowstone charged, but as you moved through it, there were no signs of passage other than your own.
When you came to the end of the cave, though, you found a small altar to Din, as well as a handful of tomes. Picking one up, you couldn't make out the script on the cover, before a voice from behind you started laughing. This place was inhabited, and you were trespassing- it would be best to not cause more offense.
"Oh ho ho?" it asked. "Has one of the desert-spirits gotten lost again?"
"Friend!" the djinn said, smiling.
"Considering she didn't touch the bait, I'm inclined to agree with you," the voice said, now more identifiable. Still holding the tome, you turned around to see only the most wizened crone imaginable. Wrinkles crossed every facet of her skin, a great beak of a nose hooking downward, and her once-dark skin paled to an unhealthy dusk. "So, little water-tender, what brings you here?"
"I just followed the djinn," you explained, before moving to set the tome back down. Waving her hand idly, the crone dismissed your concerns.
"A dangerous habit, that."
You shrugged lightly, and stood at an impasse as the crone looked you over before smiling.
"More sense than the young folk who come in, more courage than the old, and enough gumption not to let herself be cowed. Yes, you'll do just fine."
"Excuse me?" you asked.
"Take the tome and go, little one. Don't tell anyone what you saw here, and don't worry about the tome getting lost- if you set it down, it'll find you."
"Thank… you?"
The crone just laughed, making a motion to pull down an invisible pair of spectacles. The motion completed, her eyes shone with a fire like lightning, and a bright smile came to her face. "What you do for the least of my sisters, you have done for me. This I promise."
With a flash of flame, she disappeared, leaving you in a rapidly-darkening cave. Stumbling out and back to your mother's place where she ascended to the temple, you tried to keep your eyes open against the dark. A sip of water and a nibble from one of your ration crackers kept you awake, though.
The hours dragged on, the sands of time passing by one after another. In the distance, the moon started to rise over the dunes and the mountains, and you smiled. It was a moon so rich and full that you could see the woman in the moon, smiling down on us. Then, with an audible roar, everything started to turn red.
Any thoughts of sleep or rest left you then, body shooting upright as you frantically scrambled through your pack to find something, anything to fight with. A Blood Moon, now, of all times? Seriously? Pulling out a dagger, you took it in a proper backhand grip, before heading up the trail towards the temple. Frog statues surrounded it, and you still couldn't see your mother. With your nerves jangling, you pulled your way up past the switchback, into the small shelter that would normally hold the temple. It had been displaced a year ago with an ancient building covered in Shiekah constellations, but your mother had restored the important bits.
But now, your mother was missing, and the panic was rising. There were a handful of glowstone nodes providing a faint light, and the glowing blue ancient shrine that illuminated the area- and most importantly, a discarded sword. It was long and straight-edged, but you didn't care as you picked it up. Any blade was better than no blade right now. As you felt it in your hand, a grim sort of fatalism came down upon you. If you were to try and escape now,
"Come and get me you sons of forgotten Malice," you yelled down the slope, where you could feel a group of Lizalfos starting to form up. The air was thick with the scent of an abandoned hell, and flakes of red and purple began circulating in the air. "Come up and see what Gerudo will do when her misbegotten bastards forget their place! See what the daughters of Din will do to what remains of your breathing corpses!"
A paper-dry laugh came from nearby, where one of the frogs had been defiled by a tag with an inverted eye. Taking a moment to look, you saw something human- if only just- perched there.
"I should capture you for the glory of our lord," it said, the inverse eye on its mask leering, "but it seems he has other plans. If you pass this trial, then next time we'll have a less pleasant meeting."
"Did someone come up this way?" you ask, ignoring the threat.
"The Gerudo? Oh, don't worry about her." it said, a hostile incantation in its breath. "She wanted to go to the temple of the Eighth Heroine. We took her to the Shrine instead. Imagine, such courtesy, to allow her to make such a pilgrimage without any of the work!"
Your throat closed. Nobody knew where the Shrine of the Eighth Heroine was- young Gerudo had been trying to find it for
decades. "I'll kill you."
"Someday, perhaps," it whispered. "Or perhaps you die now. Good luck, little temple brat."
With that, it vanished in a cloud of brimstone and burning paper tags, and you had to focus- the Lizalfos were coming.
///
How are you getting out of this one?
[] Blade: You learned the sword, the few times you were with Riju in the palace for a long period of time. Keep it simple, and don't try anything that'll get you killed.
[] Tome: You know that the djinn who gave you this book wouldn't make it useless, and that those spirits of fire know potent magic. You'll need an edge here: this might be it.
[] Run: You're not a fighter by trade, and the Gerudo might be legendarily good with sword and sorcery, but you
aren't. Your mother's around here somewhere: that bastard had to be lying.
Even if you don't get out, what will they leave on your tombstone?
[] Ha'the
[] Fikriyah
[] Ceyda
(AN: Yes, I know BOTW 2 is gonna be a thing. We'll pretend it's not for sake of this quest.)
(AN2: This is being simulcast on SB too; feel free to follow it there
