Quest 07 (Open + Closed)

[newmemorywhodis]

i. Making new, wolfy friends [Open]
In the wild areas near Elysium, Link’s been exploring. It’s a common activity for him. There’s mushrooms and flowers to pick, game to hunt, monsters to fight…

…Then one day, while he’s up in a tree collecting some bird’s eggs, he spots a wolf. A big wolf. A really, really big wolf. It’s as big as a horse.

And once he makes that mental connection, Link immediately thinks, I could ride that.

Which naturally means Link now has to find out if he can. He pulls out a Sneaky Elixir, and swiftly swallows it - demeaning the sounds of his movements. Silently uses his paraglider to move from tree to tree, getting closer. And then carefully drops down behind the massive, monstrous wolf.

He crouches down. Creeps forward. Slowly, slowly. Until he’s right behind the beast, so close he could reach out and touch its fur.

And then he leaps up onto its back, and grabs on.

The wolf yelps and snarls - but Link’s got a good position, and he doesn’t let it twist back and bite him. He just directs the beast to run, and keeps a good hold.

What do you know, he can ride it!


ii. A retrieval of memories [locked to Shu]
Shu had spoken to the Admiral. They’d tracked down the Imperial Commander who’d been given Link’s Purah Pad.

And then they’d sneaked onto the Commander’s warship and completely trashed his quarters.

Well, Link had trashed his quarters. Shu was a bit too dignified for such wanton destruction, but Link wasn’t. And he didn’t regret it either, since in the process, he’d found the Pad!

Now, their getaway was nearly complete. Here in a small alleyway in Elysium, they were far from the scene of the crime. The Crimson Portal wasn’t far off.

But Link had to pause. He hadn’t had a chance yet, but - he had to see. Were all of his pictures still on the Purah Pad? Were they safe?

He pulls out the Pad, and turns it on. And turns to the photo gallery.


iii. Link has a slide show and he’s gonna make you watch it [semi-closed]
Later, Link thinks of all the new people he’d met. People who’d helped him grow plants from home, or who’d shown interest in things from his home. Shu wasn't the only one who he knew would like to see his pictures.

Before, he hadn't had any way of sharing these images of his home. But…now he could.

So Link tracks those people down. Says, “Hi,” when he finds them. And then shoves the Purah Pad - with a picture from Hyrule that would interest them on the screen - right in their face.

[[ooc: this prompt is for Nephenee, Ilphyll, Donnie, Maomao and Atom - but could be open to others if there's a reason for Link to decide to share]]


iv. Wildcard!
[[if you'd like something not on her, contact me!]]

Comments

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods, and opens up the Creatures tab - revealing an array of animals, their pictures arranged in a grid of thumbnails.

It starts off with horses, before moving to creatures. Most of them are the normal, usual animals one might expect to see - although there's a few odd entries. Like that skeleton horse, for one. And a glowing, owl-faced rabbit like creature. And a very odd looking large luminous frog...

Link looks at Ilphyl, head tilted to one side. Which ones does he want to look at?

[spacetogrow]

Ilphyl is willing to be systematic. Given what they know about Link, it makes sense that the horses are the first thing in the book, but they point to the sand seal. 'That's in a desert, not a beach, right?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods. "The Gerudo Desert" he says, before tapping on the Compendium entry. Translating once more, he says:

"Sand seal. These seals use their large flippers to move through the sand as if swimming. They were once wild animals but have since been domesticated by the Gerudo. They rely on their excellent hearing to find their way while submerged in the sand. Their large, distinct tusks look pretty ferocious, but their favorite food is actually fruit."

It's almost certainly more than Ilphyl's ever heard Link say in one go before.

[spacetogrow]

"What are they domesticated for? Companionship or do they carry things? Or do people eat them in the desert?"

Look, reading aloud is different than talking. Link doesn't need to figure out how to put thoughts into words. The words are just there.

[newmemorywhodis]

"Sand seal riding," Link says, before taking a few moments to tap away at the Purah Pad. It takes a minute, but when he shows the screen to Ilphyl again he's shifted back to the main image gallery.

This time, the image shows the desert at sunset, a sand seal swimming through the sand as Link is pulled along behind by a rope.

[spacetogrow]

"That looks like fun." Look, if Ilphyl could learn a wild shape form from pictures alone, they would want this one.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods his head rapidly. It is! And Link totally understands why Ilphyl would want to be one. If Link could transform, he would too.

"The Gerudo have races," he says.

[spacetogrow]

"The Gerudo are desert people?" Ilphyl isn't sure if it's the name for the people who live in that location, or who are a different sort of people. (Ilphyl isn't sure if Link's people are equivalent to elves or something else, but they figure if it's important to Link, it will come up. Link doesn't seem to mind answering questions, but he's not a talker.)

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods. Yes, the Gerudo were a people.

In fact, he taps at the Purah Pad's screen a few times, until he's found a few images in his gallery - there's a picture of Isha outside her shop, another of several Gerudo in the town square at night, and a portrait of Riju.

[spacetogrow]

Ilphyl notices that based on the clothing, the Gerudo apparently have the opposite reaction to Ilphyl does about the sun. Ilphyl can't imagine wandering around in those clothing styles except at night.

(Also, why are they are so good-looking? Is this what humans see when they look at elves?)

"What other animals do they have?" They figure Link might find it easier to just read from the Compendium.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link thinks about it a moment, and then brings up the entry for a small canine.

"Wasteland coyote," he reads. "This contentious beast is native to the Gerudo region. It makes its home in the desert, so it doesn't have a problem with hot, arid climates. They do hunt other beasts and small animals but more often turn their sights on people. They're a threat to anyone travelling through the desert."

Then he taps at the screen again, before bringing up a very different creature.

"Sand Sparrow," he says. "This desert-dwelling breed of sparrow has adapted to withstand the heat in the arid climate of the Gerudo region. Sometimes they can be spotted half-buried in the sand, holding perfectly still as a means of evading predators."

[spacetogrow]

"Thank you!" Ilphyl said. "Did you spend much time in the desert when you were back where you're from?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods, before tapping at the Pad to bring up another section entirely. Now, rather than a gallery of images or the Compendium, it shows a map of a world Ilphyl will have never seen before.

The map is detailed with topography markings, roads, place names written in an unfamiliar language, and a great many small glowing blue icons. Link points towards the lower left corner, where a wide flat space looks to be bounded by mountains. A place with only one lonely road in or out.

"Gerudo Desert," he says.

[spacetogrow]

"You really have been a lot of places. I wonder if the people here could let you track things you see here, so you could show people when you go home."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link pauses.

Huh. Could his Purah Pad be modified to do something like that?

"...Don't know," he admits. He might know how to use the Pad, but he didn't really know how it worked.

[spacetogrow]

"I guess you could ask the people in the Vault. If you wanted."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link hums softly. Maybe he will do that.

Zelda will want to see a map. He's already planning to take lots of pictures for her, maybe bring back a few of the local plants and insects. But if he could also show her the lay of the land, let her see how the sky islands of this world are different from the ones back home...

[spacetogrow]

"Let me know if you need help getting stuff together for it," Ilphyl said. "Or just want company to go look for things."