Familiar Face

Outskirt Stables was located near the outer edge of the city. With Triana's face, we had no issues renting the fastest horses.

Triana said it would take 2 days to reach Digdogg Village from here, if I teleported to the Keh Namut shrine I could've gotten there in a few hours. I could've teleported right in front of them but I didn't want to reveal the Sheikah Slate. I didn't trust them and if I returned they might try and steal it. To everyone else, the Sheikah Slate looked like an accessory. Not a powerful tool.

Hope was not lost yet, I still have a plan.

We rode swiftly.

We rode for hours, by nightfall we made camp. In their haste to help me, they didn't bring the necessary camping supplies. Thankfully the stable gave us equipment such as tents and sleeping bags. Making a fire we chatted for a bit, well they did at least. I did the stray nod here and there. I got to know them a little better.

"So Link, how long have you been an adventurer?" (Shronia)

Despite her shy appearance, Shronia was the talkative type.

"2 days" (Link)

"2 days! How are you so strong? I've never seen anyone attack my father and win" (Triana)

I shrugged my shoulders, they continued to pester me.

"Link where did you come from" (Yenir)

"The south" (Link)

"Do you like traveling? I love to travel" (Shronia)

"I guess I do" (Link)

I'm going to do a lot of it if I want to defeat Ganon.

"Link, do you have any goals in the future? (Triana)

"Defeat Calamity Ganon" (Link)

They all looked at me in bewilderment as if I was a lost cause.

"I suppose we all have our own goals. As for me, I want to show my father that I am an independent person with ideals. I want to be the greatest knight Outskirt City has ever seen, but my father thinks I should settle down and marry" (Triana)

Triana's dreams are noble.

"I want to become rich, rich enough to buy myself a mansion" (Yenir)

It would seem that Yenir was in it for the money.

"I just want to travel the world and see all the wonders" (Shronia)

They each are different in their own ways.

Before calling it a night we decided what order the night shifts were. This was my chance, when my shift came around I could teleport away. By the time they wake up, it'll just look like I abandoned them. Perfect, nothing can go wrong.

I just had to jinx it.

Yenir made 4 poles of ice varying in length, I got the shortest pole. That put me in the last shift.

With that done we went to sleep.

I tried my best to rest up but I barely slept a wink that whole night. By the time Triana nudged me awake, I could see the outline of the sun against the nearby mountains.

As I waited for her to fall asleep I pulled out the Sheikah Slate, but just as I was about to press the teleport button the horses were startled.

Looking around I saw the outline of wolves. Why?! Why did they show up now when I was about to teleport away.

The horses woke the others up, we prepared for battle.

Me, Triana, and Shronia took the front, Yenir covered our rear. There were 5 or 6 wolves, one of us could've taken them all out. Nothing to fear.

Charing in, the leader took the first bite. Triana swung her blade and an electric beam came out just like the master sword. Killing the leader the others soon ran away.

Their adrenaline were pumping so they didn't want to go to sleep. With no other choice, we rode.

It was late afternoon by the time we got to Digdogg village, we were ahead of schedule. The village was deserted. Advancing down the bridge we saw unturned carriages, that supplier wasn't the only one who came down this path.

We heard a ruffling noise, to our left was an injured man. We got off and went to help the man, he had a broken leg and a scratch on his forehead. Pulling out an elixir Triana helped him drink it.

We asked what happened. The man and his caravan were going to the Kara Kara Bazaar for hydromelons and volt fruits. On the way there they saw the villagers from Digdogg village heading towards Outskirt City. They were too greedy to turn back. They saw the hinox sleeping near the entrance of the bridge, so they thought they were safe and tried to pass around it. They tried to make as little noise as possible, then as they got to the bridge one of the members sneezed. They woke the hinox. They feared for their lives, he was the only survivor.

"When did you come here" (Link)

"About 4 days ago" (Survivor)

Hopefully the supplier was smarter and turned back. Making it a little further we could see it sleeping, the hinox was a black variant. No wonder there were hardly any survivors. There weren't any broken wagons or carriages. Good, they must've turned tail and went back.

The hinox was ugly, no ugly was too kind. It was grotesque, it was warty and had yellow jagged nails. The body was like that of a bokoblin but blown up a hundred times in proportion. Its most distinguishing feature was its one eye. It wore a necklace of weapons it stole from travelers.

The 3 got ready for battle, I stopped them. I told Shronia to sneak up on the hinox. I told her to wait on its hand until it scratched its belly.

Once on top of its belly she aimed at its throat, she didn't kill it but she did do considerable damage.

I haven't thought about it since now, can they see health bars?

"Triana how much health is left?" (Link)

"I would say it has about 4/5th of its health left. Why do you ask?" (Shronia)

"I was just testing you" (Link)

So they could see the health bars.

The hinox tried to crush Shronia, she jumped out of the way. Yenir made an icy spear and shot its eye, stunning it Triana and I ran towards it and used this opening to attack.

We managed to chip away at it until it recovered from the icicle, it had about 1/2 of its health left. Yenir tried to shoot it in the eye again but the hinox learned. Covering its eye with its hand it managed to mitigate the damage. For a big and clumsy creature, it surprisingly can learn.

Thankfully that can help us, I told Yenir to keep shooting at it. The hinox might be able to block the icicles but it gave up most of its vision. We attacked without having any fear of its attacks hitting us. A few times it grazed our clothing but besides that we were fine.

With the hinox killed we advanced along the rode making sure that no one else came through. Just in front of us I saw a familiar wagon. Rushing towards it I saw a familiar face, it was Jroid. A piece of wood was stuck in him. The blood hasn't dried up, it must've been recent. I tried to measure his pulse, thank goodness, it was still beating, faintly.

Triana had a sad look on her face.

"He isn't going to make it" (Triana)

"Try a hearty elixir" (Link)

"His wounds are too serious, only a fairy could save him now" (Triana)

A fairy, wait a minute I have a fairy. Could I trust them, I looked at Jroid and disregarded trust. Pulling out the Sheikah Slate I grabbed the fairy, I placed it on top of Jroid's wound, the fairy twirled around. The wood piece began to float out as the wound rapidly closed.

"Jroid, Jroid, wake up" (Link)

"Ugh, Link is that you? What are you doing here?" (Jroid)

"You're going to be fine" (Link)

Triana gave him a hearty elixir, in a flash he was full of life energy.

Jroid was lucky. I asked if he was the supplier sent by some elderly man. Jroid said he was, he heard about the hinox from the villagers but decided to test his luck. He says that merchants always gamble, even with their lives.

There were no other carriages further up.

We headed back to the village and camped on the outskirts.

"Link what was that thing you used earlier" (Shronia)

I guess I can't deny it now.

"Its called a Sheikah Slate, is it a very useful item" (Link)

"Sheikah Slate? Link are you by chance the legendary hero Link, the Hyrule Champion?" (Shronia)

Everyone got quiet and looked at me.

"I am Link, the legendary Hyrule Champion" (Link)

Everyone thought I was joking except for Shronia.

The next few days we made it back to Outskirt City.

Once we got back to the city Shronia took me to the side, she said she needed to explain something to me.

"I am from the Sheikah Tribe" (Shronia)