Live Your Own Story in Hyrule

Fred laughs again, “I suppose any berry on my plate is a bokoberry.”

Mipha has already taken her seat and is now ready to enjoy this wine before her. "This wine looks refreshing," she grinned while picking up her glass. It's given a few sniffs before she sips at it and nods approvingly. "My, that is good!"

The wine glass is kept in hand right now, given a gentle swish every now and again. "I fully intend to rest, per your orders," she lightly jokes with Kala. "Until then, the rest of the evening remains ours. Now, with regard to this wine..." she then turns her attention to Fred. "If berries are what you need, they can be acquired. Hyrule is rife with different berries."

Irina grins. “Agreed! I am so happy you are coming with us! It's going to be great. And you need to come to my hometown sometime. The food there is s—“ She hears Mipha now.

“Your highness! Please feel free to eat some more.” She serves Mipha more stew.

Fred raises his now half-empty glass and says, “I will have so much fun experimenting with all of the berries there. Here, we get such little light that they don't grow well. You have to venture far to find them. These are from a bush that only grows in the snow.”

“In the snow? Then you definitely have to come to my hometown. Or to Revali's!” She answers to Fred, but she serves Kala some stew. And then the Revalis. And then Link, in case he wants yet another round.

Fred ohs? Now he seems very intrigued. “Where are you two from? I would love to see all of it!”

Mipha already finds a bowl of stew before her without any request for it. "Thanky you! I've been looking forward to this stew. My anticipation has been very strong and now both of our labors are being rewarded."

She takes a sip of her wine, leaving her free hand to enjoy the stew.

Irina bows her head to Mipha, happy that she's enjoying Fred's stew. “I hope it helps you regain your energy. And that Bokowine is amazing, too.” She takes a small sip from her glass.

“Me? I am from a small, independent kingdom in the mountains, east of Hyrule. It's far, but also very beautiful and peaceful. I am planning on visiting soon, so you should come. The food is great and there are plenty of berries you can find in the mountains. I really miss it!”

Fred smiles and sits with Irina listening to her with his eyes glistening. You can probably tell he is very excited about the prospect of traveling.

“Beautiful snow and mountains, and great food. That sounds wonderful. Are there any other bokoblin there?”

Irina ohs and shakes her head. “No, I am afraid. You will be the first one to visit, too. But once they see you are friendly and can cook, they will adore you.” She grins. “And if they try your Bokowine, they won't ever let you leave.” With this, she takes a sip of hers and giggles.

Link chimes in to the conversation with Fred, “Once you taste the food there, you will not want to leave.” He grins and pats his belly.

Fred laughs at the idea. He ponders the idea out loud, “Well I suppose the first thing I will need to do there is setup a winery.”

"A winery sounds like a fine idea!" Mipha chimed in happily, maybe a bit too happily. The stew was mostly gone and the wine glass was empty. "Are you planning on setting up a winery in the mountains? That would be lovely, but I imagine will also be very cold. On second thought, I'm sure berries don't grow past a certain point."

She genuinely considers this conundrum. "I think. If I recall, there are few that can grow that high..." She hummed. "Whatever the case may be, I'm certain you will find a good spot for it," she spoke to Fred.

Fred ponders Mipha's sage advice on the matter. “So many things to consider.” He picks up his glass a wonders aloud.

“These berries are some of the only ones we have here. They grow in snowy areas and are immune even to freezing.” He swirls the bit of wine and says, “If you go to a warm place, you will not feel the heat as much… it's always nice to drink a bit when I am working in a hot kitchen.”

He shrugs, “Either way, it sounds like there is so much to explore in your world. I can't wait.”

Mipha gasps a bit. "Oh, please. Don't mind me, I'm just thinking a bit too much aloud and don't really know how to stop myself at this point," she waves sheepishly in a failed attempt to have her previous talking points ignored.

"What you find, I'm sure will be suitable. I live in a river, so the temperature changes often. It's colder up near the top and grows warmer as it runs throughout Hyrule. So, any temperature sounds reasonable to me. Well, maybe not all, there are some exceptions in there and none of them should come with the threat of being shocked."

The villagers were still on edge, but the longer they stayed like this, the easier it was for them to drop their guard. "Yes, so many more poes around! Can't tell you how many, just know it's more and every so often, they're inclined to come into the village. I fear more of them might start working their way down here."

The others who were further back added to this point. "We've nver seen this many before. Who's to say something isn't happening in the graveyard? With more of them up there, there's bound to be something bad going on!"

With every new mention of the word "poes," Kagetora's face grows a little paler. The rest of the words just fade in the air, although he tries his best to follow.

"P-Poes...?" He repeats quietly. Even more? Wandering into the village? From the graveyard?!

He swallows, straightening his posture as he makes a determined effort to regain his composure. "I... see. Thank you for the information. We will certainly take that into consideration."

He glances toward Sheik, silently hoping he has found something useful among the bookshelves. Preferably something that doesn't involve visiting the graveyard.

Sheik has found nothing that doesn't involve going to the graveyard.

"We'll remain vigilant regarding the threat of the poes. It's our intention to find out what is causing their increased frequency and it is our duty to ensure that they don't impact you all any further." He, at the very least, turns to the villagers and bows to them. "You have my word."

With that, he resumed his search and found a couple books on poes. Pulling them from the shelf, he skimmed through one and then the other to determine they might be of use. "We have a starting point with these," he notes to Kagetora. "Let's take them and be on our way. We're to remain in Kakariko until nightfall."

This whole thing just went from defensive to just plain odd in the time they were all speaking, but one thing was clear. If they really intended to do something nefarious, they figured it would've happened by now. The two that were protecting the others stood down and went back to their other tasks, muttering amongst themselves about the Sheikah and the Royal Guard.

_"He got really pale at the mention of poes. Thought he was going to turn into one himself..."_

_"Gods, I hope not. We don't need another running around here!"_

Kagetora takes a few seconds to process the plan he has just heard before actually replying. Nightfall. In a village full of Poes. He swallows hard, trying not to let his growing apprehension show.

"Of course." He finally responds, straightening his posture and offering to carry the books.

He gives the villagers a respectful nod before following Sheik toward the exit, doing his best to maintain his usual calm demeanor. Whatever awaits them tonight, he has a duty to fulfill. Even if he'd much rather be somewhere else.

Sheik exits out of the home, expecting Kagetora to follow. He's already begun looking through the books again to see what could be done about the poe threat. The current book inforrms of the different kinds of poes an common places they can be found, but there is something that sticks out as peculiar about them. "It appears we're familiar with poes and big poes, but it appears there are more than we initially thought existed."

He flips through the pages, continuing to skim the contents of the book carefully. "Some can apparently be connected to curses. I think that might be worth looking into."

Kagetora follows Sheik out of the house, listening attentively as he explains his findings. His expression grows increasingly uneasy at the mention of even more varieties of Poes, but he manages to maintain his composure.

"More... varieties? As if there weren't enough..." He chuckles nervously, then breathes. "I see. The connection to curses does sound significant, considering what happened to the people exposed to the fog in Castle Town."

He glances toward the book in Sheik's hands. "Does it say anything about how such curses might be broken?"

"That is the question, isn't it?" Sheik questioned while they both walked about in the village. "So far, I only know of association with curses and even this divides into several topics. But, I believe this is a good starting point. I am hoping to share some good news with you later."

He deviates from the main path and begins taking a more scenic route through the village to enjoy. "Are you hungry?"

Kagetora follows Sheik along the quieter path, still considering what they have learned about the curses. The unexpected question catches him completely off guard.

"Hungry...?" He blinks, looking at Sheik in surprise. "Oh! No, thank you. I am all right."

He quickly regains his composure, then adds with a polite smile, "But if you are hungry, I would be happy to fetch something for you. Is there anything you would like?"
He continues walking beside the Sheikah, still a little puzzled by the unexpected concern for his own needs.

Sheik chuckled and raiesed a finger, "Any food I like, I can retrieve it." Going up hill, the path starts to overlook the villge. "There's a bakery here that I would like to visit." With the same finger raised before, he points ahead. "The path goes back down here and turns into the village. It won't be long until we visit the shop after that. The place has delicious bread and cheese. Also, I believe we can get a nice glass of milk there, too."

He didn't think it right to want to do all this ghost chasing without having eaten and drank something. These poe are likely going to be trouble, so best to prep for it.

Kagetora follows Sheik’s gesture toward the village below, listening as he describes the bakery. He hadn’t given much thought to eating, but the mention of fresh bread does sound rather appealing.

“That sounds lovely,” he replies with a small smile. “And perhaps a good opportunity to rest before continuing our investigation.”

He falls into step beside Sheik, quietly appreciating the unexpected break from their duties. Although the thought of what awaits them after nightfall hasn’t entirely left his mind.

The duo come along to the small bakery and enter inside. The approach made Sheik's stomach growl from the scent of the bread that wafted through the air on approach. Once within the walls, the selection was shown off at the counters and more cubbies in a wall on the back. The attendant greeted them both with a smile and a wave.

"Hello! Welcome and welcome! What can I do for you today?" The man asks with a slightly wavering voice. He was an older gent, but plenty chipper. The slight hunch he had in walking didn't seem to break his stride as she shuffled around.

"Thank you, I would like to have a basket, please. I'll take a selection of your choice," Sheik states to the owner.

The man smirks and wags a finger. "I know just the thing." He begins to move about behind the counter grabbing the selections of breads.

Kagetora follows Sheik into the bakery, taking a moment to appreciate the pleasant aroma of freshly baked bread. He offers the elderly shopkeeper a polite nod and a smile as they enter.

“This is a lovely place,” he remarks quietly, looking over the selection of breads on display. “I can see why you wished to visit.”

He watches the shopkeeper begin gathering the bread, then turns his attention back to Sheik. “Would you like me to arrange for something to drink as well?” He remains curious to see what the shopkeeper is choosing for the Sheikah.

"If drink is what you're looking for, we have a small, but very good selection of wine and beer. If you're loooking for something that won't dry you out, then we also have juices and milk. Oh and if you're in the mood for a little something sweet to go with the bread being selected, we've also got jellies, jams, preserves. If it has to deal with prepping fruit, I'm sure we've got it." A young lady pops into the shop area from upstairs. She bore a resembalnce to the shop keeper with healthy locks of brown hair knotted into a single, well manicured braid.

"Hyrule is filled with treasures like these. When I have the chance, I like to pay them a visit." Sheik speaks to Kagetora while continuing to mind the older man behind the counter carefully selecting bread. Whatever it was, he was keen in his decisions. "It would seem we have our answer for drink," he chuckles and focuses in on the younger attendant.

"Since we are currently on duty, some juice would be nice," Sheik offered to her. "I would like something that would pair nicely with the bread currently being picked out."

The lady looked at what her Pa was picking out and she smiled, "Oh, I know just the thing," she repeats in a similar cadence to the old man. The semblance is definitely present with these two. She hurries back to the kitchen and off into a cellar. She returns soon enough with a nice, glass bottle. "This should pair really well with what you're getting."

The older man, peers at the bottle of juice for a few moments and gives it the nod of approval. She's been picking up on the trade well.

"She got worn out over the years, but my mother always had the patience to mend it. Haha, you can still hear the rattle inside." Salvatore holds the toy close to Kanali’s ear so he can hear the faint tinkling sound, muffled by layer upon layer of fabric.

Kanali's beak smiles broadly when he hears the rattle. “It is an honor to meet you, Oppi. You must be very brave to have been on so many adventures. I am glad we were able to share this one.”

"And what a great adventure!"
Salvatore smiles as he packs everything into his bag. "And do you have a story to tell?"

Kanali scratches the back of his neck with his wing. He sits down next to Salvatore and shows his messenger bag. “To be honest, until recently, I hadn't ventured far from the Hebra valley in Hyrule. My uncle got me a job as a mail carrier and now I feel like I am exploring everywhere, including this fascinating place.” He looks around and up at the tree tops. “I never knew I would be a traveler but I quite enjoy seeing mew places and meeting interesting people.”

Salvatore smiles at Kanali. "Wow, you must have traveled a lot and seen wonderful places. I've never been to the Hebra Valley. What's it like?"

Kanali pulls out a map from his bag and opens it. He shows it to Salvatore and points to mountains. “It's very beautiful, but it can be difficult to get around. There are many hidden secrets all around.”

Salvatore looks at the map with interest and fascination, observing the places Kanali is pointing out. "Wow, I've never been this far from Hateno Village."

Then Salvatore looks around. "Before today ha ha" he laughs, resting a hand behind his neck.

Kanali chuckles at the last comment. “This is definitely not a part that is on my map. I have no clue where I am… but speaking of which, shouldn't we be getting back now? I think I can remember more or less how I got here.”

I arrive in the castle town square with no idea where I am.

Kanali is sitting with Salvatore and they are discussing their return to Hyrule. He looks up at the stranger, nervous at first, but then calm when he realizes he isn't one of the Gorman brothers that they had run into earlier. He waves with his wing to the stranger, "Hello there."

Exhausted, Salvatore was dozing off when he snapped back to alertness upon hearing Kanali’s ringing voice: "Huh? Eh?" He turned toward Eugene, fearing it might be one of the Gorman brothers and jumping to his feet, but he quickly calmed down and sat back down.

Kanali eyes the stranger uneasily. He stands up and says to Salvatore, “Perhaps we should go now before we get into further trouble.” He offers his wing to his companion. “To Hyrule?”

"You're absolutely right,"
Says Salvatore, getting back up.
"We've rested enough, and the Gorman Brothers might still be looking for us."
Before setting off, he looks at Clock Town and adjusts the bag on his back.

Kanali leads Salvatore down a path into the forest. It's dark now but he seems to know where he is going. After a while he points to some thick shrubs that grow on the side of the road.

“It's through here. Stay close.” He steps inside some prickly branches and then finds a stone wall. He feels around and finds a small crack. “Just squeeze through here and you will see. It's the strangest thing.”

He disappears into the crack into a dark cave.