Ambiguously Polyamorous Tongue Demon Hunting For Dummies [Skyview Temple, Ruiairi and Ulivali]

Skyview Temple
Ink: Ulivali
Lad: Ruairi
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“Based on the number of fronds that have been hitting me in the arm, I guess we’re getting close.”

The breeze was warmer here, the temperate air and scattered trees soon to give way to thickly growing forest. Ulivali was starting to feel a bit itchy where all the leaves were hitting him before uselessly slapping the side of the wagon. The ox - Daffodil, if he remembered correctly - must be a champion beast to be persevering, but Ulivali expected that they would not push the poor thing too much further. The further they travelled, the more certain Ulivali became that they were fast approaching the right place. Something felt special about these woods - although frankly, that was true of many of Hyrule’s forests. But he had a gut feeling that they were near to where they needed to be.

“Alright, now that I know this forest is where I thought it would be, I can finish what I was saying earlier. There’s meant to be a grand temple in these woods - Skyview Temple, and it’s said to be sacred to the bird-people of the ancient sky. The thing is, I’m pretty sure it’s not actually talking about us. Rito, that is. I travelled to Castle Town and had someone help me in the library, and there’s record in Hyrule’s ancient history of an island in the sky. The record was written by a Goron and nobody seems to know if it’s true or not - on the one hand he talked about culture and bird people, on the other rivers of healing and towers of gold. I had to ask twice to make sure the librarian read that right, but yeah. The one thing that the librarian said she was pretty sure was true was that the Goron had journeyed through this forest and found the temple.”

He leaned back against the surface behind him, idly scratching at the wood below his feet gently with a talon. “Thank you again for coming with me. I figured only another Rito would really get it.”

They’d left quite early for their trip, and now the morning sunlight was warm on his feathers. “If the stories are true, this temple is a place of a ‘bird people’ that aren’t us, and that means that there’s some connection to flight and the sky in this place that I think we ought to know about. Especially if it’s as ancient as that Goron historian made it out to be. It might even be older than Rito written history, but I can’t be sure. The library only had copies of some Rito manuscripts, the majority are one of a kind and held in Chief Komali’s collection back on Dragon Roost Island. There’s no way for us to check.”

Ulivali reached for his canteen. He’d talked for a while, there. “Did you get all that, Ruairi?”

The wagon slowed and began bumping over more roots. They’d clearly left the road, and Ulivali was hoping they’d be able to get the wagon far enough into the woods to be able to safely leave it, and Daffodil, alone. It wouldn’t be long now before Daffodil could pull the wagon no further, and Ulivali and Ruairi would be crossing the last leg of the journey on foot. He didn’t think it was too far, the temple had seemed in a relatively easy to access location according to the librarian. She’d been concerned about the descriptions of areas that were high up, but between Ulivali’s precious roc’s feather and Ruairi’s stunning confidence in everything he did, Ulivali was sure they’d find a way into Skyview Temple.

What the wagon was now rolling over could not be called a road. The actual road had ended a while ago, and even that one had gotten rather bumpy by the end – and he was glad to be seated on a pillow now. Ruairi was forced to concentrate hard on where he was directing Daffodil – he was glad the ox was so sure-footed despite his size, but he wasn't sure how well the wheels and axles could handle the holes and roots that now made up the most of the surface of the ground. He listened to the various creaks and groans of the wagon carefully, gauging the situation before the worst happened. Being stranded in the middle of nowhere with a wagon that couldn't move was not how he wanted to spend the rest of the day…

The Rito had not expected to spend it like this, either, though. He hadn't expected to bump into Ulivali, nor for him to have some kind of a favor to ask of him – aside from just spending another evening getting absolutely plastered like the last time. But his Rito friend had clearly a lot on his mind. Not that Ruairi had even needed to hear all of it before just asking if Ulivali knew where the temple he wanted to go to was and just asked for his friend to hop along so they can get going. The rest of the way there was the perfect time to hear the actual story – not that hearing it really changed anything. It was a lot to take in. Something about the sky and bird people who were not their kind of bird people… Was that even possible? There was only one kind of bird people he had seen, at least. Were these relatives, ancestors? Just a story, nothing more, nothing less? It was pretty far fetched in places.

Ruairi had let out a thoughtful hmm at some point. He wasn't much help when it came to thinking about these things. Was there some sort of irony in the blind Rito being much better read than him? Aside from Ulivali's voice, the air was filled with the crunching of the wheels, the rustle of the wind in the leaves all around them, the sounds of birds singing… The woods definitely was a lush place, and the narrow path was starting to be overtaken by various branches of the nearby bushes and small trees. Could they continue all the way to their destination like this? The tall cliffs didn't make it easy to see very far, and no temple had made itself visible yet…

"Huh? Oh, yeah! It's no big deal, don't worry about it!" He replied once he realized Ulivali had asked him if he had gotten it all. He probably hadn't – maybe he hadn't even been purely focusing on it at some points when he had to make sure the wagon would stay in one piece, but there had been thanks at some point in there. The path had gotten even more difficult, and they had been forced to slow down even more.
"I didn't know you were so interested in these kinds of things… Ancient people and temples," Ruairi hummed. He just had to wonder if he would have come to try to find this temple on his own had he been the one to hear about it.

"Ah. Shoot," he pulled on the reins, the wagon rolling to a slow stop. He wasn't familiar with the area, and it definitely seemed like this particular path had now closed up on them, as the clearing ahead of them ended in a steep cliff wall.
"Looks like the end of the road here. No way we could try to ride up that. We could try to head back and see if we can find a better road," the Rito frowned – though it's not like they had a map, so they didn't have any guarantees that would be better,
"Or we just continue on foot. That's not a very big climb, especially with those fallen trunks…"

"Let me just handle Daffodil and get dressed! I'll be quick!"


The ox deserved some water and food after that journey – and a way to wait for the comfortably. That wouldn't happen if he was attached to a yoke, so Ruairi let him free and tied him to a tree so he could be in some shade, as the day was getting brighter and warmer. The branch wouldn't really keep him contained if Daffodil wanted to leave – but the ox didn't have the habit of wandering very far, lazy if given the chance. Perhaps the his longer fur that had many braids intertwined with color ribbons was a sign of that, as clearly there had been many moments when Daffodil had preferred to just lie down in one place and take it easy.

That was the quick and easy part. The difficult part was inside the wagon. Ruairi quickly inspected the insides – everything was still tied down and in place, despite the bumpy ride, luckily. But what would he choose to wear for his outing? It was an old temple, so he had to expect to get dirty – so nothing light in color or anything too difficult to wash. And who knew how tough the rest of the leg there would be? And maybe there would even be traps that still functioned? He needed something sturdy – and good boots. Something easy to walk in. Yes. While the Rito did not own any proper armor, as that would be must too bulky, he did have something made of thicker leather that could protect him from nicks and scrapes. But that was such a dull look! He really should be getting something with more decorative elements, if he wanted to wear all leather. What else, what else…

The pile of clothes on the floor was growing as Ruairi kept throwing them out of his closet. Ah, yes, tunics were a popular choice for adventurers! He'd be ready for all kinds of action, as he cinched his waist in with a belt and posed in front of the mirror. The red color of this tunic was not very vibrant and thus had been a rare pick as an outfit, but he was glad he finally found this one a use. It did have such nice buttons, so it was a waste. He looked just like the heroes of legends! Actually, wait, maybe that was green…?

"Tadaah! I'm finished! How do I look?" Ruairi finally emerged from his wagon after who knew how long – but he had tried to be quicker than normal, he promised. He even made a little theatrical twirl as he showed off how it looked from behind and how nicely the hem would move to Ulivali, holding onto his ending pose for as long as it took. …Or so he intended, but the silence was rather deafening as he stood there with his arms outstretched.
"Oh. Right," the Rito mumbled, dropping his pose,
"It looks very adventurous, I'll let you know. Now. Maybe we'll be able to get our bearings if we get on higher ground…"

Ulivali fidgeted with his ring as the wagon hit a particularly nasty bump.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I didn’t used to be the temple-seeking sort, but I had a few friends when I was younger who liked to explore the history of Rito people. There’s traces of Rito-like people on the mainland sometimes; our people took many years to connect with the peoples of the mainland, but we used to theorise that there must have been a few individuals who made it to the mainland in ancient history. Not many, mind you. And hey, maybe Kamat was full of shit and it’s just a conspiracy theory. But I uh, might be excited to be able to explore a place that’s maybe connected to our culture, or another culture with a connection to the sky like ours. It’s hard to find our culture without travelling to Dragon Roost.”

Ulivali hesitated. Maybe he had been projecting his love for his once-home and culture onto Ruairi. Was that fair, for a bird whose talons had never touched Dragon Roost soil, or known anything of their people? He pushed down the ugly thought surfacing, that perhaps he might be carelessly forcing Ruairi to take part in his slightly grief-tinged passion. He was broken from the thought by the wagon finally slowing and stopping. End of the road, huh?

“I don’t mind climbs, I’m a good climber and jumper. If you’re confident you’ll be able to climb whatever is ahead, I’m fine with continuing.”
He felt the wagon tilt slightly as Ruairi moved down, and leaned forward to retrieve his staff. He’d safely stored it at his feet, not quite enamoured with the idea of it falling off the side of the wagon unnoticed. The wagon rocked as Daffodil was released, and Ulivali leaned back and waited for Ruiairi to clothe himself.

He wasn’t sure whether this had been a long wait by Ruairi’s standards or not, yet; mentally tallying how long it had taken after their dreadful hangovers last time, he didn’t really have enough information to know what was normal. Well, it took a longer time than Ulivali would have, that’s for sure. He hesitated as Ruairi returned, the question hanging in the air. Um. He choked back a slight snort as the other Rito realised his error. “I’m sure it does, I bet you look dashing. What colour are you wearing?” Ulivali, for his part, adjusted his leather cuirass, the scales at his hip sliding against each other together gently as he stood. It had been a while since he’d had cause to wear his full armour, and he’d been pleased that the fit was as comfortable as he remembered. He couldn’t judge Ruairi too hard; he’d spent some time this morning carefully braiding his feathers with cord and charms. So sue him, he wanted to feel fancy for his adventure.

Steadying himself on the side of the wagon, Ulivali hopped down, soft grass against his talons. “Higher ground is a good idea.” He flipped his staff around, the tip resting against the ground. He tipped his head, letting the wind through the trees and rising cliffs sort of make sense to him. The rocks around them must have been higher than he thought, because the breeze was funnelling in a pretty linear way. The rustle of leaves overhead was a bit distracting, but since one direction was the wagon and the other the source of the breeze, he was relatively confident when he walked towards the wall Ruairi had indicated.

“Hey, for what it’s worth, I’m usually not too bad with dangerous areas but maybe let me know if I’m about to walk into something that I didn’t hear or pick up with my staff. I haven’t tripped off a cliff since I was a kid but with my luck I take precautions.” He huffed a short laugh. “I’ll let you know if I need help with something, though. Normally I’m all good. You coming?”

Turning to the cliff, Ulivali ran the hooked end of his staff up it until he found the edge. Bracing himself with his staff, he kicked off the ground and pulled himself up, rolling into a seated position at the top before standing again. He checked with his hand that he wasn’t just on a shorter ledge before calling out to Ruairi.
“Let me know if you get stuck, I can try and pull you up with my staff.”

He took a deep breath of the fresh forest air. The area felt wide open, the many trees not crowding up here at all. He promptly sneezed. Something up here was giving off pollen or spores or something, he thought with a degree of irritation. Hopefully there weren’t too many of them, because that would be infuriating. Either way, he felt a quiet thrill. Two Rito on their way to maybe discover more about their people. The first time since he’d left the commune that he’d been able to adventure with another Rito! He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face.

Ruairi just practically beamed as Ulivali accepted his description of his clothes and added that he surely looked dashing. The overly theatrical bow he gave was equally as useless of a gesture to someone who couldn't see, but he was happy to take in the praise. One could practically hear the smile plastered on his face from his voice.
"Well, I went for this red tunic this time around. It's pretty dull by my standards, but I never really get the chance to wear it otherwise, so I'm trying to make it work – the golden buttons are a nice accent! But I don't know, maybe I went too red and brown with this all. Leather and stuff. It would have been nice to add more pops of color, but maybe scarves would just get in the way. Then again, red is probably better so I don't get lost in all this… Green. I just hope it doesn't just read as brown," Ruairi spoke, and speak he certainly did, about nothing that was truly important. He probably could have kept going for who knew how long – and perhaps Ulivali would learn to not discuss clothes in situations where they did not have the time for it.

Right. Higher ground. He nodded and turned to look at the cliffs. Luckily they weren't high, sheer walls that would require a mountain climber to climb, and there seemed to be plenty of ledges to use. He jogged over to Ulivali and approached the cliffs with a spring in his step. Ruairi used to be a pretty good climber… But it definitely had been a while since he had really practiced that. There was a lot less in the way of acrobatics in his shows these days, but it would be fine! Probably. He already hopped onto an old, overgrown tree trunk that had fallen over, before he started looking for the next step to take.
"Like lava?" The Rito asked, when Ulivali brought up that he usually was pretty good about staying safe, but how he would appreciate the heads up if he had clearly missed something. Lava would be dangerous indeed. Did it make a sound? He had never been near lava. It was probably very, very hot, though.

Ruairi reached for the ledge above him, trying to pull himself up. Seemed like his arms couldn't do that very easily anymore, however, his legs kicking as he was forced to dig his feet into the rocks to give himself another push. There was some huffing and puffing as he finally made it up – and the other Rito definitely seemed to be doing better with this whole climbing thing. Looked like he was going to have to start practicing again, before he lost it…
"Yyyeh doing good!" Ruairi groaned at Ulivali, who also was willing to offer help if the other Rito needed it. But he could do this. Just one more jump so he could get up there…

He finally managed to pull himself up, taking in a deep breath and letting out a sigh of relief. Ruairi took a moment before he stood up, taking in the sights. A sea of green spread around them, but the forest was not as dense as he had feared. No, it was indeed lush and a vibrant green, but that also came from the grasses and bushes, not just tall trees. Plenty of sunlight made it in, bathing the little dirt paths in warm light. Even the more shaded areas let in beams of light that dappled the grassy ground. It looked and sounded very peaceful… And the only obstacle he could see was the multitudes of cliffs snaking through the area. There probably was more climbing in their future.

Ulivali sneezed. That snapped him out of it, too.
"No lava," he declared, that clearly meant they were safe,
"But those are some huuuge mushrooms! I wonder if they're edible…"

Red tunic, huh? Ulivali was privately convinced that anything ‘dull by Ruairi’s standards’ was likely still rather lavish, from what he understood. The chatter about golden buttons and scarves cemented it. Scarves! In the middle of a warm forest! Leather was a good move, though. If Ulivali had learned anything it was that Hyrule’s immeasurable quantity of abandoned religious or cultural structures made perfect homes for monsters that remained outside the lower wilds. A bit of tougher material would likely prove beneficial.

Ulivali blinked. “Um. I uh, I can’t say I’ve gone near lava before. Yeah. Maybe warn me if there’s lava. It’d light my staff on fire, and that would suck.” Ulivali had a rather clear mental concept of him tapping his way along and torching his staff in the process. Unpleasant. “I hope we won’t find any lava here, this doesn’t seem the climate for it.” He leaned forward as he heard Ruairi scrabbling at the wall, stepping back to clear the ledge for his companion.

He took a moment to tap his staff around where he stood. The area hadn’t seemed particularly mountainous on their way here, but there was another rocky wall right beside him. The forest must have a sharper topography than he’d expected, which would make it… interesting to navigate. Ruairi reaching the top was a relief, although Ulivali felt a touch guilty at making the other Rito climb like that. Maybe he wasn’t as used to navigating vertically as Ulivali was. It probably didn’t help that Ulivali’s confidence was braced with magic, either. Ruairi had more than proven his creativity, but Ulivali would have to learn how his friend fared in more physical feats.

“Welcome to the top,” he said, a slightly cheeky expression on his face. “How’s the view?”
The confirmation that there was, in fact, no lava, was reassuring. The mushrooms, however, were clearly the culprit for his abrupt hayfever.
“When you say huge, how huge? Also, maybe don’t eat them. I ate mushrooms I found once and I was…indisposed for several days. Never trusted a mushroom since.”

He hesitated, unsure of his surroundings. Usually in enclosed areas he could sort of get his bearings and map out the walls or air movements, but in somewhere so wide open as this, all the wind currents were really telling him was that it was windy.

“If you’re willing, would you mind taking the lead? According to the librarian the temple was due northeast of the passage into the woods.” He turned towards the source of the ongoing breeze - for now, he was pretty sure that was at least somewhat northward. “I have a compass, actually, here-”
Digging in his pouch, Ulivali retrieved the device, lifting it up and moving. It chimed quietly once he was facing north. “Alright, so that way is north. But… how cliff-y is this place?”

Moving forward mostly saw him hitting a tree with his staff, but he held the compass steady as he turned to where Ruairi had been.

"Like, huge. I think bigger than me in every direction," Ruairi clarified – indeed, perhaps when one spoke of very large mushrooms, the first thought wouldn't be that they were the size of a fully grown Rito, much less even bigger. These mushrooms were certainly the biggest Ruairi had ever seen! That was why the idea of them being edible was so intriguing. A whole group could be fed with just one of them, how cost efficient would that be! Of course Ulivali was there to remind him to not do any dangerous taste testing, though.
"Oh, yeah. Gangan always warned about mushrooms. Sounds like you were lucky, apparently some can kill you in an instant, so you never should eat one you can't recognize!"

The Rito let out a small chuckle with a small shake of his head. It was hard to say if it was because he didn't quite believe how poisonous a mushroom could be, if he had found Ulivali's experience amusing in hindsight, or if he just otherwise was in good spirits. No mushroom stew for them now, it seemed. Not that they had come here to forage for ingredients, anyway.
Hm? Oh, sure!" Ruairi grinned as he was given the important task of being an expedition leader. Perhaps he had been fully prepared to let the blind bird lead in an unfamiliar territory all this time.
"Northeast, northeast," he hummed as he repeated what he had been told, his eyes scanning their surroundings – and stealing a quick glance at Ulivali's compass,
"There's a huge tree in that direction! Maybe that's where we are going?"

A tree could be a temple. Or maybe a tree had grown over it! A tree that size had to be ancient, like the temple… Or perhaps it had nothing to do with it. But at least it made for a good landmark!
"This place is basically surrounded by cliffs, but there's a large clearing up ahead. Looks like a dirt path up ahead, too, if it goes where we are going," Ruairi squinted his eyes as he peered off into the distance, trying to get as much height as he could by straightening himself as tall as possible,
"But it looks… Peaceful! No monsters, not too crowded by trees. Looks like a pretty pleasant stroll. We're just going to have to get down – come, it's not too steep to just keep walking. Just not – yeah don't walk off the side or you'll fall," the Rito coaxed, trying to explain what he was seeing to the best of his ability while making sure he wasn't leading Ulivali off the cliff. He started to walk backwards at first, watching the other Rito, before he turned around on the small incline.

Ulivali couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “That’s a ridiculously big mushroom. I almost wish I knew how to tell if they’re edible or not, you’d be set for a week’s journey with one.” He’d never particularly considered his bout of illness lucky, but Ruairi rather hammered the point home. “Ouch, I’m glad I didn’t run into any of those mushrooms. Uh…some things are perhaps not in my wheelhouse, and I’m going to put ‘identifying poisonous mushrooms’ on that list.”

He listened attentively to Ruairi’s description of the area. A huge tree, huh? That sounded telling. “If that’s not where we’re headed, it’s at least surely near it. Giant trees are old, right? At worst it’s younger than the temple, but maybe it’s as old as or even older!”
Feeling settled by Ruairi’s descriptions, Ulivali took a few steps forward, the gentle breeze and quiet birdsong matching the peaceful description perfectly.
“Thank goodness, I wasn’t sure if this would be rough or not, but it looks like there’s no thick population of monsters here. Maybe a couple of young gohma or skulltulas if we’re unlucky, but to be fair I guess we’re kind of trespassing in good spider habitat, so that might be on us.”

Following Ruairi’s voice, Ulivali followed, the soil soft like clay as he walked. Sure enough his staff picked up a drop to the side, so he made sure to steer clear of it as he made his way down the hill. The clearing felt open and broad, and he took a moment to enjoy the feeling of tranquility it brought with it. No clamour of people, no nerves about collisions or social faux pas or worrying about monsters. Just a moment of clean, clear calmness.

“Navigating towards that tree sounds like a good idea to me. My compass should help with that.” He fiddled with the back of the device for a moment and then adjusted a dial around the outside; the compass then let out a quieter chime when he pointed it northeast. “There, I think that’s an accurate bearing. If it’s pretty cleanly northeast from here it shouldn’t be too difficult to find our way back out later, either.”

Ulivali set off along the path, avoiding the edges as they moved forward throughout the clearing. He thought he could hear the sounds of some small creature or another chittering in the undergrowth, but it didn’t seem that they were in any way a threat, so he moved on past them, soon drawing closer to another cliff rise. He put his hand on the wall and then reached above his head. “This one is a little taller, do you think we’ll be able to make it up?”

He wondered if he could use the magic of his Roc’s feather while holding another person, if the cliffs became a bit too tall. Maybe they could jump the cliffs together. Although when he lifted his staff to see what was beyond his reach… “This sounds like a log or something at the top! We could push it down, like a step to use. Even if we don’t need it to get up there, it’ll help us get back down later.”

Ruairi made some affirming noises as he nodded. He knew he was getting somewhere with the huge tree! Surely there was some kind of a connection with it and the temple. He was practically skipping along now, humming softly as he moved. It was a really nice day. Not too hot, with the pleasant little breeze, and not too chilly with the nice warmth of the sun. The birds chirped in the trees and the leaves rustled in the wind, but other than that, there weren't that many noises compared to the usual. Usually Ruairi would be in some sort of a settlement with the noises of people and animals… Or on the road, where the wooden wheels would be rattling over the paths and his wagon creaked. It was the rare camping trip out in the wilds that was like this, but his wagon wouldn't have made it to this forest, not with all these cliffs. Hopefully there wouldn't be any annoying spiders, like the other Rito mused.

And then he would have never seen the huge mushrooms! Ulivali could probably hear the Rito's meandering path ahead of him as he took in the sights and tried to get a closer look at the big mushrooms. Yep, definitely bigger than him. Though he had been intended to be the leader, once they lost their height advantage, the giant tree was lost behind the rest of the foliage of the woods. It was a good thing Ulivali had the compass – and that the cliffs didn't allow them to get too off the course, funneling them in just about the right direction.

Until the cliffs rose in front of them, of course. Ruairi frowned, looking about in case there was an easier path somewhere. This one didn't look as easily climbable as the previous one, with less convenient ledges to grab and use. He walked closer, his hand brushing against the rock. The ledge was so high up there, that one had to be pretty strong to pull themselves up. If he already struggled when the ledge wasn't high above his head, this was probably impossible…
"Maybe if you were good at climbing mountains," the Rito pondered. He knew some people could climb even walls like this with ease, which didn't seem to have anything sticking out to grab on the way to the top. But the log Ulivali mentioned… Ruairi took a few steps back and craned his neck.

"Oh! Maybe," he hadn't thought about pushing something down to make the climbing easier! Of course in this case it meant they had to get up there first to be able to push the log down, which normally would have defeated the purpose… But this Rito had a trick up his sleeve.
"My hookshot can easily latch onto that," the nodded to himself, agreeing with his master plan he planned all by himself. Making it up would be easy after all! Ruairi rolled his shoulder before extending his arm, taking a more prepared stance.
"Don't walk in front of me now!"

The chain shot out of the hookshot with great force once the mechanism was triggered, rattling and clinking as it extended outwards. The hook sunk easily into the soft wood, and just like that, Ruairi was pulled along as the chain tightened and retracted. It had taken him no time at all to land on top of the mossy log – so of course he wasn't going to waste time in dillydallying and slid off the wood so he could push it down for Ulivali to use. Though it was an old log that had been there for ages and by now was mostly hollow, it was still very thick and extremely heavy! Much too heavy for the Rito, as he grunted and groaned, his boots slipping on the grass.
"Iiiit's, nh, pretty well stuckhh!"

Ulivali stepped back before the clanking and rattling of the hookshot heralded Ruairi’s ascent up the cliff. “Hey, I didn’t know you had a hookshot! You’re full of surprises!” The Rito backed up to avoid any potential log-based crushing before stopping. Ah, he probably should have anticipated that the log would be heavy. Maybe with the two of them they could push it down, but from the sounds of it he wouldn’t have been able to get it down by himself either.

“That’s alright, I’ve got this, just stand back a little.” Focusing on the feather pendant around his neck, Ulivali jumped upward, reaching more than twice his height as he cleared the ledge and landed. It was a somewhat clumsy landing, unsure of what he was landing on, but he quickly straightened up. “Between my jumping and your hookshot, we should have pretty good mobility through the woods. We can push the log down later I think, it’ll be a helpful mark of where we went now that it’s got a big hookshot mark in it.”

The path wound forwards, Ulivali’s staff bumping over grass and soil. Finally he came to a ledge - downward. Very much downward. He lifted his staff and reached it ahead of him, looking for any ground. Instead, he found a vine, leafy and sturdy. He hooked it towards him, pulling on it to check if it was able to bear his weight. It was time for Ulivali and Ruairi’s hollow bones to come in handy.

“This seems like a pretty sharp drop here,” he said, picking up a handful of pebbles from the edge. One took quite a while to clatter at the bottom; one thrown forward hit the continuation of their little forest path, maybe four to six feet across the gap. “There might be something for your hookshot to grab onto over there, but I think this vine might be my way across.”

Gripping onto the vine with one hand and his staff in the other, he leaned forward and pushed off the edge, letting the motion carry him across the gap. At the top of his swing he patted out with his staff to check the ground; satisfied, he let himself swing backward before jumping forward and landing safely on the other side. There. He tilted his head to listen, feeling the area around him with his staff. The ground seemed to drop off again after a few feet, but there was no vine ahead of him here. Instead there was… what was that?

Ulivali crouched to feel at the edge of the grassy ledge. “There’s rope tethered to the ground here, it’s really taut. Is… is this a tightrope?”
He looked for more pebbles, finding one that he could toss forward. This gap was a bit longer than the last, and Ulivali was stumped. He’d never tried tightrope walking in his life, and given one of his feet was missing a talon he thought perhaps a steep drop in a remote forest wasn’t the place to start learning.
“This one might be your territory, mister circus boy.” He straightened up and hung back from the ledge, hesitant.

"Thaatuuhhh never really came up!" Came a voice from above as Ruairi kept trying to push the log, not making any progress with it. Bragging about his cool hookshot hadn't really been on the top of his mind at any point, but it indeed was among one of the more convenient tools in places like these. He eventually slid down the log in exhaustion after putting his all into trying to move, a long sigh escaping him. Didn't look like he was going to be able to push this one down like this… But as he tried to figure out something to move the log, Ulivali spoke up. Ruairi popped his head up from behind the log to look at him. Though neither of the birds had birds to fly, that didn't stop Ulivali from jumping up impossibly high, easily clearing the required height to be able to land on the ledge!

"And you say I am full of surprises!" The Rito retorted – between crazy jumping ability and a hookshot, he felt like one was definitely more surprising than the other. The ledges wouldn't stand a chance to them now! …Well, as long as there always was some way for them both to reach it, at least. It was a good thing to know – and now they didn't have to try to deal with pushing the heavy log! Maybe once they had to return, if they took the same path – it would serve as a marker with the large hole the hookshot had punched into it, indeed.

There clearly had been less movement on this part of the woods. Most animals wouldn't be able to make it up there, especially the larger ones – and very few people would try to get there as well, Ruairi assumed. The grass felt more overgrown and there didn't seem to be a defined path of any kind, but luckily it hadn't been overgrown with thick bushes or something. Of course, now that they were once again higher up, it only was natural that there would be more potential drops they'd have to watch out for, and that became a case sooner rather than later. Ruairi peered over the edge – that would be a pretty unfortunate fall, but perhaps it would be better to stick to the high ground and try to make it over to the other ledge up ahead? A large tree was shading them, and Ulivali had already found one of the many vines that hung from its branches.

And Ruairi couldn't help but be amused as the other Rito gave one of them a good tug to see how sturdy it was. Not too many would have wanted to use a vine to swing across a gap like this – and he was all for that idea.
"You kidding me? No way I would miss out on this!" He grinned as Ulivali suggested seeing if he could use the hookshot. Not this time! He watched gingerly as Ulivali swung across, and reached for the vine as it came back. He took a few steps back so he could have a good running start and get some speed, letting out an excited squeak as the vine picked up speed and he used it to leap across. Who knew this peaceful looking forest would actually have so much excitement in it?

"That was great! You don't get to swing on actual vines every day!" He laughed as he followed Ulivali – and almost bumped into his back once he came to another sudden stop. Good thing he didn't, as it seemed like there was yet another drop. But this time, instead of a vine, there was something else that could be used to get across… And clearly, it was a way someone had gotten across. Ruairi frowned.
"You're… Right," the Rito spoke, walking over and squatting to look at it. It was indeed a tightrope. An actual rope, not something that only resembled one and could have somehow naturally gotten there.
"It's a rope. Someone's tied it down here, to… To get to the other side, I would assume," he continued as he straightened his legs.

Who? Why? When? Had someone else taken this same path recently and found this to be the best way across? Something about that made him feel uneasy, for some reason… But Ulivali's words managed to snap him out of it.
"Ha! I'll let you know that I am much more than a circus boy," his voice was boastful as he struck out his chest. He had done tightropes, yes. He could probably still manage. …Without his boots, just in case. But he did grow more serious after a moment of posing.
"…But you would still have to get across," Ruairi frowned. Some people would be able to walk across blindfolded, but those were the pros. Ulivali probably was not in the habit of training how to walk across tightropes. His feet were so large too. Would those actually help, or be a hindrance? …The missing toes probably didn't help. He didn't see anything on the other side that would make this any easier.
"The drop isn't too bad, but… Do you think it would be better for you to get down and try to climb up again, or…?"

Ruairi’s good humour was infectious, and Ulivali couldn’t help but grin. “That was definitely more fun than I thought it was going to be. If it wouldn’t be a huge waste of time-” and if he wasn’t a bit nervous about the vine snapping on him “-I’d go back and do it again!”

Ulivali’s face fell when Ruairi spoke the word ‘someone’. Oh. This wasn’t like the vines or logs, this was evidence that there was something else alive in the area. Apparently a something with good balance.
“That’s a bit unnerving, now that I think about it.”
In what scenario was a tightrope anyone’s choice to cross a gap like this? How had they even gotten to the other side to anchor it there? Did that mean there were multiple somethings working together to bridge the gap? He ran through the scenarios in his head, but the mystery wasn’t resolving itself. “The rope didn’t feel particularly worn or old. It’s either very well crafted, or it hasn’t been here for too long.”

He listened attentively to Ruairi’s assessment of the situation. “If you think the drop to the bottom would be safe, I can probably jump back up on the other side. I fall slower than I rise, so the long way around should work. But I don’t think I could jump holding you, it takes a lot of focus. Your skill set is definitely coming in handy here.”
Ulivali stood at the edge, considering it. “Only one way to find out if I can get over there, I suppose. If I get stuck we can maybe use the rope to pull me up, but I think I’ll be fine if the drop is as you say.”

Trustingly, he neatly stepped off the ledge, dropping as though peacefully meandering down to alight at the bottom. The undergrowth here was quite thick, soft fronds and scratchy stalks against his skin as he moved forward carefully. With his luck, there’d be a Rope hidden among the grass. Was this Rope habitat? Hopefully not. The thick bed of pioneer weeds and shrubs were still short, shorter than he would have expected for the bottom of a pit in the middle of the forest. He held out his hand, trying to find any warmth that would indicate sunlight. While he didn’t miss the headaches, it was at times like these that he did feel a twinge of annoyance that the lights and shadow he’d been able to see when he was younger had faded out over the years. It might have been helpful in these woods.

It did seem like it was dark down here. These plants must have been starved for light, and he reached to his side to find a thin and reedy shoot extending hopefully upwards. It cracked between his probing fingers. Oops, he thought guiltily. The plant hadn’t done anything to him. He couldn’t help but wonder what had carved these pits into the terrain. The path they were following above seemed to be the most logical route to their destination, but the fact that it had already been twice truncated by such notable drops was making their life harder. He hoped they didn’t have far to go.

His staff was less helpful in the dense growth, catching on a few roots and clusters of leaves, but the Rito found the other side soon enough, taking a moment to consider his jump. He’d have to make sure he didn’t hit the rope on the way up, but Ulivali was pretty sure he’d walked straight across and if the rope was at the angle he thought it was, he felt he’d be safe. Focusing again, he kicked off from the ground. He overdid the height somewhat, not knowing how high he needed to go, but a touch of his feather-fall magic and he made it safely, if slowly, to the other side.

“You managing alright? I feel we must be close now.”

Ruairi glanced behind them, at the vine that was still slightly swinging after they had used it. It indeed would have been a lot of fun to swing a few more times, wouldn't it? Maybe they should have. Ulivali was the one who had brought it up, after all – but also seemed to not think this was a good time for it. Ruairi wasn't entirely sure, as he mulled about it. Maybe they should have taken it for another swing! But now they had the tightrope to worry about. Oh well, maybe they could find some time to do it later.
"Mh, I'm not the expert on ropes… But it looks sturdy enough," was all he could comment on the state of the rope. It didn't look old. Had someone truly been here just recently, or was the rope itself something that wouldn't be worn with time and use? How strange indeed…

By now the Rito was convinced he could get across, but even Ulivali was starting to think that perhaps he should climb down first. Ruairi was frowning slightly as he considered the safest path one could take, but the other Rito mentioned something about… Falling slower? The confused look he gave Ulivali went unnoticed, as did the slight look of panic as the blind bird decided to just walk next to the edge and take a step off it like nothing was wrong. Ruairi had just managed to let out some kind of surprised noise before witnessing that yes, Ulivali was indeed falling slow. Huh. And he didn't even have wings to do that with.

Ruairi watched him walk in the brush and grass for a while, before turning his attention to the tightrope. Well. It seemed like it would work out after all, somehow! With the sounds of branches snapping below him, he pulled his feet out of his boots and allowed his toes to get familiar with the rope. Perhaps it was cheating, the way a Rito's long toes could grab the rope for extra support if needed, compared to a Hylian. Not that Ruairi would ever admit it – and one still needed a great deal of balance to be able to pull it off without falling. Now that his hands were carrying his boots, he didn't have the luxury of falling and being able to grab the rope before he fell.

It had been a while since he last had to do these kinds of acts. But maybe it was one of those skills that never really left you? Ruairi spent a while getting familiar with the feeling of the rope swinging gently under his weight, not moving too far off the ledge so he could jump back if he was going to lose his balance. He used his arms to steady himself – and maybe it was a good idea Ulivali couldn't see, as the sways and jerks might have looked rather worrying to someone else. But right now Ruairi couldn't give the other Rito any attention, either, as he had to keep his eyes ahead of him.

He took his first proper step, and then another, and another. Slowly but surely, he was making his way across, his heart fluttering from the thrill of it. If there were any close calls, he certainly didn't consider them as such. Compared to the more overgrown path below, he much preferred this. It was faster, too! …Then again, the one taking the lower path quite literally couldn't just see where he was going, so perhaps without that issue, Ulivali would have made it over faster. Ruairi had barely managed to step onto some solid ground before the other Rito already jumped up – rather high at that, before he managed to land. Maybe that earlier ability of his meant that it wasn't too bad to miss jumps…

"The only thing I am missing is an audience!" He replied – closer than Ulivali probably had expected. How close were they? The walls prevented Ruairi from seeing, so after he pulled his boots back on, he urged Ulivali to come along for a better vantage point. What looked like thick roots grew over parts of the cliffs, shielding them from the sun above. Once the narrow path they were taking opened up again, Ruairi could see the giant tree.
"The tree! But it's… Behind us now," he frowned. Now that they were closer, it didn't look very… Temple-like. And the compass didn't point towards it anymore, either. Maybe it wasn't what they were heading towards, after all? Ruairi did manage to make a discovery once he took another look at Ulivali, however.
"Oh. There's a… Spiky thing on your back," he spoke. It didn't look like a monster – maybe it was some kind of a burr from a plant? It seemed like the spikes couldn't penetrate Ulivali's thick armor, but had managed to just about hang on.

Ulivali hadn’t quite registered the presence beside him before Ruairi spoke, turning his head rather quickly in surprise. Obligingly, he applauded.
“I may not have seen the performance, but getting across here proves you did well! Well done.”
He followed behind Ruairi closely, the sound of his voice guiding him along. The ground was sloping upwards as he walked.

“Behind us? Did I misread the compass? I had wanted it to guide us to the temple, but… huh. I guess maybe the tree was… just a tree?” It sounded silly when he said it aloud, but he internally huffed at the scepticism. He’d heard plenty about magic trees in his years living on the mainland, even stories about that talking ancient tree that reared immortal children. He was allowed to think an unusually large tree might have had special significance! Strange that they’d need to keep going, though.

Ruairi flagging the ‘spiky thing’ made Ulivali stop, reaching behind him. It was in a frustrating spot to reach, but he winced as he touched it and, predictably, poked himself in the finger quite hard. “Huh. Is it some kind of seed pod? Or a really big burr? It seems to be…pulsing a bit?”
Finding a non-spiky part of the pod to poke, the strange thing seemed to be somewhat warm. He did not have enough time to theorise why it might have been warm before the answer was abruptly apparent, the burr popping with alarming force. Ulivali was knocked forward several steps, stumbling to regain his balance.

“What the-” He cut off a sharper curse, snapping his beak shut around it as he dug his talons into the dirt and shook his now rather sore hand. “So it explodes. Amazing. I love that for us.” He brushed his hand along his back again, finding only a few stray spikes that he plucked from his armour. “Lesson learned, I guess we should avoid the thicker growth. I’m not sure if that was a plant defence mechanism or just a particularly violent method of seed dispersal, but I don’t think we want those on fabric or bare feathers. Ouch.”

He lifted his compass again, turning it from side to side. It happily chimed again, forward past the tree. “I guess we keep going. Can you let me know if there’s any more of those burrs in the way? I can probably smack them aside with my staff without them catching on it, but I need to know where they are first.”

He walked forwards, eager to reach their destination, the tree slowly falling away behind them. “The problem here is, my compass can’t pick up things that are too far away from it. So when I wanted to find the temple, I thought we were targeting the tree specifically. But I guess it was just taking us north. I’m not so good at guessing distances in new places, I have to count the steps out first. This thing definitely has a hard limit on the distance it can detect, but I must have estimated wrong. If we can find a higher point, though, without the cliffs in the way, maybe you’ll be able to spot the temple.”

Ulivali stopped and turned to the cliff beside them. Running his hand up it, he considered. Maybe they could climb this part of the cliff, using the roots as handholds. Would that get them high enough above the surrounding area to see across the clearings? He had a gut feeling that they were close to the temple.
“Maybe we climb up here, I’m sure we aren’t far away.”

Of course Ruairi just brightened up with applause and gave a little bow. Perhaps he had found his audience after all – even if Ulivali hadn't been watching, and never could. It seemed to be good enough for him now, someone who just enjoyed basking in the attention and praise of others. They did have something more important to consider now, however: the tree and the temple, and whether or not they were connected in any shape or form. The tree was in the wrong direction now, so either they had to return, or trust the process.
"Hmm… I suppose ancient trees can grow gigantic," he pondered. Maybe a tree could just be a tree, even if it was massive. If there was an ancient temple in the forest, surely there were some ancient trees around, as well. What a dilemma to ponder. The Rito surely would have thought about it for a bit longer, if he hadn't been so distracting by the strange spiky object on Ulivali's back.

Ruairi took a few steps closer, tilting his head as he looked at it. It just looked… Sharp. That was confirmed when the other Rito poked his finger on it and winced. A seed pod, or a burr. Was there a difference? Honestly, Ruairi wasn't that good at plants. This just was some kind of spiky plant-ball, pulsing or not.
"Well, let's just get it–" was as far as he could get before the thing just exploded. The Rito let out a yelp and jumped back, and even Ulivali was pushed by the force of that! He was just glad neither of them had a face full of spikes!
"Wh-Why would it explode!" Ruairi exclaimed, voicing out his thoughts out loud. He was not very happy with this method of defense, or spreading seeds, or whatever it might have been. The plan to stay out of the underbrush was happily accepted, if they were filled with those.

All they could do was keep going. The Rito just nodded, his steps sounding slightly more careful now. Luckily it didn't seem like those burrs had gotten all the way up to where they were, but now that they no longer were approaching the tree, it was hard to say where they were going – and if they were even going towards anything of interest. Ruairi just listened to Ulivali, deep in thought. It was hard to find a new vantage point here, where they were surrounded by cliffs… But that clearly was what the other Rito felt was necessary, his hand running down the smooth walls until they felt the roots of the trees above. Ruairi ended up glancing up as well.

Could the roots be used to climb? Well, definitely better than the wall itself, for sure! Even he started to reach for the roots, pulling on them to see just how sturdy they were, as the last thing they wanted was for something to snap as they were climbing!
"Well… I think it's possible," Ruairi mused,
"There seem to be a lot of trees up there, so I can probably even use my hookshot to get on the branches of one of them, if we need even more height!" He continued – and already seemed to be making a few test climbs that eventually turned into his voice just getting further away as he kept going. The thick roots definitely were easier to climb to him than just trying to pull himself up with strength alone, for sure!

Maybe it was to be expected that the deeper they got into the woods, the more trees they would find. Unlike the earlier cliffs that felt like they would show everything, these ones just felt… Like more forest, with thick trees masking what was behind them. Ruairi frowned as he looked around, shaded by the leaves. Even when he tried to look down, the trees there blocked the view with their leaves from above. How frustrating! Maybe he was going to have to climb a tree after all…
"Ah?" He let out a sound of surprise as there was a glint of something in the distance. Though the leaves were hiding everything up ahead rather well, the small gaps allowed sunlight to sneak through. And that sunlight, when it hit something so light in color, reflected back.
"I… I think there's a path? Like, actual stones that make up paths. Or… At least the remains of paths. I haven't seen white stone like that anywhere else here…"