[X] Zora domain
"Lanayru, we'll need to go Lanayru," Sheik says resolutely and Ganondorf nods.
"We better hurry to the village then, we're burning daylight."
Packing up, the three of you mount your horses (Sheik riding Epona with you) and set off towards the village. Even with Ganondorf's horse's massive size Epona easily keeps pace, not even showing the slightest sign of exertion. Light filtered down onto the path as your two horses winded through the trees onto the main road, a soft breeze rustling leaves as birds, insects and other creatures sang their songs around you. It was quiet and peaceful despite the carnage you had instigated in the last few hours, yet the three of you passed through it without pause. Between your two mounts, you quickly pass through the forest into the fields surrounding Ordon village, eventually entering the village itself, the sounds of villagers going about their daily lives greeting you.
Ordon village, most known for its agriculture, was considered by many to be isolated from the world's problems despite its size. Close to the wilds, it had somehow avoided attacks by monsters for years, allowing it to grow to a respectable size. It was even large enough to have its own militia, though they were armed only with cheap metal helmets and spears, mostly spending their time as a local fire brigade or helping injured villagers. The village had its own blacksmith, fletcher, tailor, carpenter, mason, general store and other businesses which made it a central hub for other nearby communities. The river you had fished Sheik from ran through here, splitting the village in two, bound only by three stone bridges. The centerpiece of the village was the town hall, which also doubled as the inn and chapel. The village Alderman was often there, settling some issue or another.
As you directed Epona through the village whispers started to follow you. While Ganondorf drew some attention most of it was on you. You were well known in the village, having lived in the woods for years saving people from monsters or bad weather, bringing in fresh meat with almost every visit tended to enamor the village with you and you don't think anyone really disliked you, at least outside the few your age who wanted to appear tough and pick on the outsider but even then you'd hardly consider it awful treatment. Yet the whispers you heard caused you to bow your head, hunch over and try to look as small as possible.
"Is that Link?"
"Link's in town!"
"He's with a girl!"
"There's a girl with Link!"
"Hey, she looks pretty cute."
"Wow, look at the girl with Link."
"She's gorgeous!"
"Hey, don't they look close?"
"Is there something wrong with her face?"
"Those two look pretty close, you don't think our Link..."
"Look how she's holding onto him, they must be an item!"
"D'aw, they're embarrassed. Ah, to be a young couple again..."
"Link, you lucky dog!"
"Uh, I think she's just trying to not fall off..."
"I can't believe Link got a girl."
"Wow, didn't know he had it in him."
"Guys seriously, look at her face."
"Don't be rude!"
"What the..."
"Her jaw..."
"H-hey, that doesn't look right."
"Those eyes are... really red."
"Are you sure you aren't talking about her cheeks?"
The rest of the villager's comments were drowned out as you were certain Sheik had suddenly been replaced by a deflating Octorok who (judging by the elbows poking you in the back) had covered her face with her hands.
Ganondorf was doubled over in his saddle, looking like he was in a lot of pain as he desperately tried to hold in his laughter.
Reaching the town hall provided a welcome relief from the whispers, letting the three of you get off your horses and leave them. Sheik, however, had to be practically pried off Epona and looked as though she trying to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible.
"W-w-w-w-w-w-what are they
saying?!" Sheik asks you in a rather shrill voice from behind her hands.
"Ahaha, I think they're just confused. I'll clear it up!" You respond, hoping you actually could convince them that Sheik was just a friend, "Let's ask around for where this Beedle is. Ganondorf could you rent beds for us?"
"Two beds, got it."
....
"I'll handle the beds," You flatly state, stepping into the town hall. The town hall could be divided into several parts. The right side of the building contained the Alderman's office, where the records were kept. The left section was a pub and inn, with the back having the actual rooms. The main hall you had stepped into was a large open space, that could be filled with tables, chairs or cleared for dances when the village needed it. A large fireplace sat on the right side along with decorative shields, while on the left was a large notice board. Directly across from the main entrance was the village shrine, dedicated to the three golden goddesses and the Goddess Hylia. Din, Farore, and Nayru were depicted as floating above the goddess Hylia, the winged statue holding her arms outstretched, hands cupped to hold something. Nayru was to the left, hand outstretched as if giving something to Hylia, Farore was to the right and looking up to her sister while Din stood above them all, but she looked down at you with compassion.
In Hylia's hands was a small portrait, and you knew who it depicted. It was common after the regicide of Hyrule's royal family for those still loyal to put a portrait of Princess Zelda in the goddesses hands. The empire didn't like that, and cracked down on the practice but eventually stopped when it became too much effort for a trivial thing. In a village as far from the Empire's seat of power as this one the portrait wasn't even disguised and sat fully displayed. Some viewed the practice as a form of mourning, saying that the young Princess was in the goddesses embrace now, reunited with her mother and far from the pain and suffering she had suffered in life. Other's claimed it showed that the goddess had protected the girl, and that soon they will have to replace it with the young woman she had surely grown into.
You glance towards Sheik, comparing the portrait to the young woman hovering by the entrance of the town hall, nervously tapping her fingers. Obviously, the girl depicted in the portrait was around ten, dressed in the finest clothes you had ever... well, you'd seen similar clothes before when you were young. Looking at the face of the young girl however you noticed... inconsistencies. Her eyes were rounder, and as you look closer it looked like they had splattered make-up on her, giving it an almost doll-like look. The vivid red color of her irises was instead a normal Hylian hazel-colour.
The more you looked, the more inaccurate it seemed. It's almost like they had downplayed her unique facial features, making her fit more with the Hylian girls in the village.
Shaking your head, and wondering if they had just used a village girl as a reference with the original missing, you stop staring at your friend and head over to the inn section where Oliver, the innkeeper, was sitting in a chair smoking a pipe and reading a book. He looks up as you step in for a moment before looking back down at his book.
"Greetings Link, saw you come in with the lass an the big un. That'll be two beds for-"
"Three beds." You correct him, "for one night. We're leaving in the morning."
Oliver looks up, fixing an eye on you with a slight grin and you suspected you were going to hear that joke a lot, "Alright, consider it on the house."
You're actually a bit surprised at that. "On the house, why?"
"I'm guessing those burns on that lass peeking in are recent, right?" He says, which was followed by a quiet eep from the door and someone moving away quickly. "Keeps rubbin em and wincin, an she's wearin your shirt. Ya saved enough lads for me to know what happened, ain't lettin a hero have to scrounge around for rupees after saving a girl from monsters."
You rub the back of your head, you did have the habit of not having any cash on you when you went to the inn and then paying Oliver off afterward when you finally sold off skins and meat. You weren't going to correct him that they weren't burns, you didn't want to worry the village about housing someone who had a Yiga assassin after them.
Thanking Oliver you step back out into the main hall, looking around for where Sheik had run off too. You find her standing in front of the shrine, and you hurry over to her. You almost call out to get her to hurry up before you catch her expression. She was staring at the portrait of Princess Zelda, confusion plain on her face. She glanced over at one of the shields on the wall, examining her face in one of the polished metal parts of a shield. A hand brushed below her eye, trailing down to her ruined jaw.
"Sheik?" You say, causing her to jump, "You alright?"
Sheik waves her hands in front of her, "I'm fine! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Ah sorry, uh I got us a place to sleep. Do you want to look for Beedle now?"
Sheik nods, "Yes, we better hurry though. We've already wasted most of the day."
Looking back to the entrance, however, you notice someone was missing. "Hey, where's Ganondorf?"
"He said he was going to buy his own supplies."
Which meant you were going to have to ask around for Beedle. As you both leave the town hall you look around for someone to ask for directions, you knew most of the villagers so it wouldn't take long. Sheik though immediately makes a beeline for a small girl picking flowers.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for a merchant by the name of Beedle. You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?" Sheik asks the girl, a kind smile on her face.
The girl doesn't look up as she plucks a flower from the ground. "Huh? Are you the pretty lady who came with mister Link? Mister Beedle is-" The girl had turned to look at Sheik and her eyes had immediately bulged out when they fell on Sheik's face.
An ear-piercing scream of terror was soon followed by cries as the girl took off down the road, yelling for her mother. Sheik was still crouched down, her smile still frozen on her face.
"Sheik?" You ask, placing a hand on her shoulder, causing her to bolt upright.
"I'm fine!" Came the rather strained response.
Before you could say anything an older woman approached, an apologetic expression on her face.
"Apologies for that ma'am, I'll let her mother know how rude she was. If you're looking for Beedle he's over by the blacksmith with that big pack of his."
"T-thank you!" Sheik says, and immediately grabs your hand and starts dragging you in the direction the woman had pointed.
"Such ghastly wounds, poor thing..." You hear the woman mutter.
++++
Finding Beedle was remarkably easy, all you needed to do was look for the man with massive beetle shaped backpack. How he carried that thing around you had no idea. The man himself seemed fairly average, save for his rather prominent and red nose.
You wave to him to get him to stop, causing the man to pull down a table from the roof above him. "Hello there!" He calls to you in a rather cheerful voice.
He then squints at your faces. "Sorry, I don't think I've ever made either of your acquaintances."
"I'm Link."
"And I'm Sheik, it is a pleasure to meet you Mister Beedle."
The man waves a hand, "Oh shucks, just call me... actually Beedle works fine. Now, what can I do for you two?"
You pull out the diamond, "I was wondering if you could do anything with this."
Beedle gives you an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, I'm not a Jeweler. You'll have to head to castle town if you want a ring made. But I wish you two the best."
Sheik looks like she had just swallowed her tongue, as she had gone from a deep crimson blush to a vaguely purple look as she suddenly shrieks, "W-W-WHY WOULD YOU ASSUME THAT?!"
Beedle puts a hand to his mouth, "Oh! Oh no, I am so sorry! I sincerely apologize for making that kind of assumption! I just heard talk from the villagers and- Please forgive me!!"
You sigh, this was starting to get old. You have to wonder if Ganondorf had a hand in this. "Just... will you buy this?"
"Oh, of course! I'll give you 5000 Rupees for it!"
You hand over the diamond as Beedle hands over ten gold rupees in a small purse he had thrown in as an apology. The Purse it seemed had an enchantment that Rupees couldn't be stolen or fall out by mundane means, and it'll automatically break down Rupees for you! What a bargain!
Sheik was staring at it with an expression of pure shock, however. "Wow, you're just... giving that to us?"
Beedle gives her a sad smile. "I recognize what gave you those wounds, and I can tell by your kind eyes you did nothing to deserve those Yiga jerks targeting ya. You did a good deed in saving her Link, it's only natural you be rewarded for it! Besides, I get the feeling the Goddesses will have us meet again, and at Beedle's we always treat our regulars!"
Sheik smiles, her eyes filled with tears of gratitude. "Thank you mister Beedle, both for your gift and your kind words. I too hope the goddesses will have us meet again."
Beedle rubs the back of his neck, "Aw shucks, you're making me feel like I just got praised by the Princess herself!"
Sheik laughs, "Ahahahaha, what a funny joke Beedle I'm going to go over to the tailor thankyoubyesolongahahahaha-" She say all in one breath, grabbing two gold Rupees and promptly legging it.
Beedle raised an eyebrow. "Oooooooookay? So anyways Link was it? You're free to browse my stock, such as it is. Is there anything you wished to buy? Oh, and if you find any rare beetles come find me, I'll reward you!"
Hmmm, given all the stuff you likely had to purchase you reckon you'll only have 1000 Rupees to spend. While 3000 Rupees seemed a bit much to set aside you wanted to be safe than sorry. Though you'll need to remember not to spend all of it in one place, who knows how much you'll need in the future.
WILLOW TREE BARK
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-This bark taken from the Hylian Willow Tree contains a unique compound that soothes aches and cramps. Chew or make into a Tea to release its effect!
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1 x 2 Rupees
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ELIXIR BOTTLE
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-These bottles are used to store elixirs for later consumption, their corks are tied to the bottle so you never have to worry about losing them, and their sturdy construction makes them perfect for rough traveling.
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1 x 50 Rupees
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RESTLESS CRICKET
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-A very energetic cricket. Cook it with monster parts to create a stamina-recovery elixir.
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1 x 2 Rupees
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CHUCHU JELLY
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-A gelatinous substance that came from a Chuchu. It's only useful for elixirs in this state, but applying a bit of elemental stimulation will change its form.
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1 x 15 Rupees
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What do you buy?
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