[open] A Journey to the Lost Village of Kakariko

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Mila laid there, laid there wide awake, pondering her thoughts like she always did before getting up for the day. Life wasn't what it had been fifteen years ago. Although poor, at least she was happy. Happy with farming, happy with her parents, happy for being who she was. The sunlight drifting through a small window in the cave wall reminded the young women of the sunny days outside her house in Kakariko. It was a cute house, hidden in between a number of other buildings. If you were to go behind her house, you would've found the cucco pen and a single cow stall, with young Mila taking care of the livestock. Farming had been her life, her family had been her life. Now, this is Mila's life. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.....

Rolling onto the edge of her cot, she slipped her boots onto her feet. The petite shaped boots were in rough shape from all the cave passages it had walked and the wasteland hunting grounds it had seen. Today, food was needed on the table. It was necessary and of utmost importance to go hunting. Mila walked sluggishly over to her gear, tying the quiver to her sash, strapping the water skin bottle around her chest, and slinging the long bow over her arm.

On the way up to the surface, other refugees nodded politely at her, only to get a small smile in return. After five minutes of weaving through the tunnels various passages, a glow became visible from the mouth of the cave. Pushing onward, Mila made her way outside. Light. Nostalgia. Freedom...

Admiring the beauty and liberty of the outside world, the woman subsequently pulled out a worn leather journal and began taking note of all the glorious things. The outside world is glorious. The warmth of the sun. The sound of the breeze whispering to you....It's like its own little melody.......All of nature sings....this exalted melody...Mila smiled at her own words, beginning to hum them to herself, adjusting it to a small song, while making her way towards her usual hunting grounds. Climbing up a fairly steep hill, she stopped to admire the view once more, before marching on towards the grounds about half a mile away.

It took four minutes of trekking across endless grassland and bantam mounds before Mila finally made it. The bush was scanty, but remained just large enough to hide behind. It seemed like the wind whispered wildly on this particular morning, forcing the grasslands to dance in an unending rhythm. All of these elements kept reminding her of the past life she used to live, before Ganon's reign...

The thought....the same thought Mila had thought since the day they had been separated. Father. Mother. If only we could reunite.....If only I could find you....Once I solve this enigmatic riddle, we can be a family forever, we could be a family once more. After which, these thoughts were recorded in the leather journal...

The poetic female had forgot about hunting. A poet. Maybe someday. Instead, the leather journal was closed and her decision final. She would go and see what remained of Kakariko. Stuffing the journal in her sash, Mila took one final look at the dreary refuge site she had made her home for fifteen years, before heading off in the direction of her long forgotten residence...

Today was yet another beautiful day! It usually wasn't very prevalent to see this many nice days in one week, but Kamaar would take the most he could get. The sky was blue, the sun was shining down emitting it's glorious rays, and a crisp, soothing wind traveled contentiously throughout the fields, the grass and its flora bowing down to its force. It was as if the heavens themselves have opened up and shone down on Hyrule.

Kamaar eventually redirected his attention back down to his gear. He was currently packing the meager supplies he possessed once more to continue on traveling at his own pace across the land. He didn't have a clue where he was going, but only knew that he was currently doing two things. One, he was searching for a lost friend of his that he has known since childhood, although not having the slightest idea where to start looking for him and, two, spreading hope across the land. Neither was going considerably well either. Kamaar paused briefly, getting lost in his never ending thoughts once more. You know... It's days like these that make everything so...so simple... To bad it's just a facade of reality... He let out a brief sigh before finally slinging the final bag of possessions over his shoulder.

“There. Ready to go.” He silently whispered to himself. He had an odd habit of talking to himself, even when with others it. Just another peculiarity about him. He didn't mind however, because it doesn't matter how others view him, it only mattered how he viewed himself.

Subsequently, Kamaar hoisted himself up and finally began his long trek across the southern fields. If he was correct, according to his own estimation and judgment, along with fours years of slinking around these parts, he should be heading in the direction of Kakariko village. Hopefully, just hopefully along with this beautiful day, a day without trouble will follow.

Kakariko Village was still clutched in the evil claws of dark lord Ganon. There wasn't much the residents could do except flee or watch in horror. It was a sad sight, to see the once tranquil hometown thrown into utter chaos. Buildings burned and people slaughtered. The screams...Children crying, yelling for their lost parents.

Mila shook her head rather violently, trying to rid herself from the awful thoughts. “I was one of those children....”. Foot after foot, the young woman made her way through the hilly grasslands and North towards the village. It was around a twenty five mile trek, maybe longer. “Supposing I don't run into any trouble, I should be able to make it there before the end of the night...”

Thankfully, the weather was holding out. It was still warm and the sun shone brightly in the sky. The afternoon had become hot and sticky, forcing Mila to roll up her sleeves. Unscrewing the water skin bottle and bringing it to her lips, water began to trickle down her dry throat. Once satisfied, she screwed the cap back on and continued her trek.

It wasn't until she became aware of how close she was getting to her old residence that the anxiety began to kick in. Then the nausea...Mila felt her face flush as the stress took hold of her heart. “I haven't seen my home in fifteen years...What will I find? Are my parents dead? Are they slaves?....” The more these thoughts kept persisting, the more ill she became. After a few seconds breakfast made its way back up. She keeled over to a random patch of grass, heaving the rest of the contents that had previously been in her stomach. This wasn't going to be easy...

Kamaar scratched the back of his head briefly before continuing on with his long and never ending trek. He's been walking for at least a couple hours by now and still... no sign of any life. The only reason he noticed this was because the reigns of lonesomeness began to set in after days of no social interaction. Quickly, he swept a couple beads of sweat that began traversing down his face before, once more going into a brisk walk.

The mid-afternoon sun was slowly beginning to scorch him alive, the humidity thick in the air. Kamaar grabbed a hold of his water skin bottle and put it up expecting a refreshing stream of water to tend to his parched throat. His hopes were quickly dashed to pieces when he realized that he already had drank the last bit at least an hour ago. “Neh... Ol' well.... I'll just find a stream or something on the way...” His solo conversation was abruptly interrupted by the sound of.... of someone choking? No... Someone dieing? Nah...

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Someone probably ate something bad...”
He was just about to continue on walking when suddenly a jolt of pity hit him. If the person was indeed sick, maybe he could help them. The least he could do was contribute some good to this ailing world... Although he, currently, had no water to present to the person, he did know what ingredients were needed to brew a nice tea to help the upset stomach. Some old traveling trick he learned from a man a couple years ago when he was... well hurling from something not as good as it looked to eat when he first started out.

He quickly traversed and toughed his way through the many branches, twigs, and brush that blocked his way. Ignoring the stinging and slapping of many thorns, a figure finally became visible. It looked to be... a women... A Hylian women? What was someone like her doing all the way out here. All Kamaar knew was he wouldn't get answers standing here, but he certainly didn't want to pry. He made his way toward the women and gently set his hand on her back.

“Ma'am, are you... alright....” he gently said. Kamaar silently scolded himself for not giving the women any warning or sign of approaching.

Without any notice, a hand had been placed on her back. A split second later, Mila was crawling away, screaming for help. “Somebody! Anybody! I'm being attacked!” The woman's voice was very high strung and desperate. “As if stress wasn't bad enough...Now I have some perv attacking me...”

Mila was a....skittish girl, who didn't take much to startle. It never took a lot to cause her to scream at the top of her lungs. This was only natural, seeing all of the surprises that had been thrown her distance in the last decade and a half.

Soon, she had to stop again to allow herself time to breathe....and grant whatever was left in her stomach a one way trip out. The feeling of acid scorched her throat and nose, causing both eyes to water. There was an awful taste blemishing Mila's mouth.

After the quick stop, the young woman had no notion what so ever to get onto both feet and run. She continued crawling, desperate and afraid of the intruder. “Whoever it was.....I think I'm out of sight....” In reality, Mila had only crawled a few feet, still in view....

Without notice, what had to be the loudest shriek ever known to Hyrule was emitted from the woman. He immediately jumped what had to be at least 10 feet in the air. The woman has just entered some frenzied paranoia and going on about someone attacking her. Kamaar himself was beginning to have panic sink in.

“Who attacked you!? Where'd he go!?” he shouted, running around oblivious to the fact she was referring to him. Before long, the women almost looked as if she was about to cry, while crawling off a couple feet away in the distance. Kamaar finally stopped to a halt realizing she was probably referring to him.

“Miss, I'm only here to help you! I heard you in distress so came to come to your aide!” His voice had a deep but gentle tone to it as he began rushing over trying to help her off the ground. Kamaar reasoned he probably caused her even more distress then aide. Suddenly, today wasn't looking to be all that good as he assumed....

Today was turning out to be just awful. A simple journey had turned into a stressful fiasco. “Oh my gosh! Help! I'm being abducted, not just attacked, but ABDUCTED!” Her heart started pounding even faster as the man/bird freak grabbed Mila's arm and began pulling her up.

Dropping dead like a weight, a face plant in the dirt followed. Thoughts filled her head as she began to contemplate her life. “Was this it? Is she going to die here? No! Not without a fight.” Petite, but strong, Mila began to beat her fists on the man's legs, disregarding everything he had said about trying to help. “I'm not going out without a fight!”

Continuously beating the strangers leg only caused more exhaustion for Mila. Soon, she crumpled to her knees. Darkness made it's way on the edges of the woman's vision. “Oh......no...I'm in trouble...” It hadn't been a measly five seconds before Mila collapsed in an unconscious heap on the grasslands.

“OW, Hey! OW!” He shrieked.

He could feel the women beating full force on his legs with her fists, but right as he was about to use diplomacy to calm her down, she passed out, automatically canceling out that option. He stood their momentarily quickly looking from side to side and slapped his hand against his face out of frustration, not towards her, but towards himself for being so stupid to come up behind her like that.

The mid afternoon sun had already began to be masked by the new formation of clouds traveling across the blue sky, providing some temporary relief from the sun. Kamaar let out a long sigh before finally formulating a plan and finalizing a decision. He bent down, gently wrapping his arms under hers, slowly dragging her a couple feet towards a tree where the shade could mask them from the day's heat. After several minutes of heaving, pulling and breaks in between, Kamaar hoisted her up gently against the trunk of the tree. It would've been a lot easier if it weren't for her being a few inches taller then him and how heavy she was. He wouldn't tell her that but instead just blame it on the amount of gear and layers of clothes she was wearing. He briefly stared at the women and brushed a few strands of hair out of her face before walking off to find some ingredients to brew some tea.

After traversing, again, through many brushes and thickets, he began digging at the roots, searching for any signs of the roots that he always used to brew tea when his stomach was upset. It also helped headaches, tooth aches and pain in general depending on how severe.

Five minutes. Five minutes of pure darkness. Pressing her fingers against her temples as she regained consciousness, Mila braced herself for the sight of a gang or maybe ganon's minions. “On the count of three I will open my eyes and survey the damage....One” A shallow breath followed. “Two..” Swallowing her fear, Mila prepared for the worst. “Three....”

Everything looked fine. No wounds, bruises, impending doom. In fact, she had even been moved in the shade, out of the sun. Bird man was gone as well. “Maybe, just maybe, I won't die...” Although safe, Mila still felt venerable and anxious. Expect the unexpected had been her motto and way of life for fifteen years.

The tree provided comfort from the increasing temperature in the merciless southern grasslands. Relaxing her muscles, Mila sighed a sigh of relief at the temporary absence of enemies. “Life had so many surprises....I'm surprised I'm not dead yet.....”

“Hmm. They should be around here...somewhere...”

Kamaar kept scavenging around the roots and wouldn't let up until he found something to use for his tea. The least he could do was apologize and give the woman a soothing tea. In fact, she'd probably have to drink at least ten cups to EVER relax from her... episode she suffered from. A thought finally came to Kamaar. “What if she's gone when I come back... Well, if she's gone, she's gone. I can just make tea for myself.” he reasoned.

After at least ten minutes of searching, Kamaar had finally hit the jackpot. He reached down giving a couple good tugs to a group of roots and ripping them out from their resting place. Subsequently, the goods were then stuffed into a leather bag to be transported for use. He quickly maneuvered back to his feet, silently walking through the brush and thickets in which he came, picking up sticks and branches on the way to use as firewood. He couldn't brew tea without a fire. When the sight of the tree came into view, Kamaar was shocked to find the girl still sitting their. She looked like she finally grasped a handle on reality and woke up but had a feeling his reception wouldn't be well received.

He stepped out from behind the brush and decided to just start making a fire. Taking this approach might be better. That way if she wishes to talk she can approach him, if she wishes to run? Well, that's an option to. At least she'll know he's not trying to do anything pervy and stupid. He slowly looked over in her direction and gave a slight nod as he continued pulling contents out of his bag.

Bird man stepped into view again, with herbs and wood in hand. It looked like he was building a fire. Mila tilted her head slightly, watching his every move. You never know what someone could do, might as well be cautious. “He doesn't look like he's hear to harm me. Maybe he is really trying to help me...Ju-just don't let your guard down Mila...”

Squirming awkwardly, the skittish woman decided she would stay put, only temporarily. Then she would part ways and make advances toward Kakariko Village, on a personal quest. “Hopefully I won't run into any of......ganon's followers..”

Nervous, Mila continually began running her hands through the dirt encircling the tree, adjusting her body into a more comfortable sitting position. The dirt was soft and cold, perfect on a blazing afternoon. Sticking her hands in the dirt always brought her thoughts back to Kakariko, the hours spent caring and promoting animals back to health or just playing with them.

There was no other choice. Mila had to go back and find clues about her parents whereabouts. Otherwise, uncertainty would cloud her mind forever. “Truth....I have to find truth...”

The woman's eyes bored into Kamaar like a moblin's. “At least she isn't attacking me...That's a good start...” He continued with setting up his small fire pit and laying down sticks accordingly. Kamaar took a quick glance over his shoulder back at her only to see her still staring deeply at him. Has she never seen a Rito? Or is she really that antsy?

Why is she way out here? Who is she? The questions he pondered before were still present and lingering through his mind. After having the perfect setup for a fire, he began to use rocks and strike them against each other till he could get some sparks to fly. You have to be really hard and have good striking position to really get anywhere. He remembered when trying to make his first fire, it took him five hours... FIVE hours to actually get anywhere. But now he knew when to strike and where to strike. The clouds began to roll in a bit more, extinguishing yet some more of the sticky heat they both had experienced before. A stronger breeze was also apparent by the roar of the grasslands swaying back and forth. Ten minutes have passed and he now was already using a small bowl he had craved out a few days earlier with his freetime. He began smashing and churning the roots before going for his water skin bottle to add some water, until... he remembered he was still out.

Subsequently he quickly looked over his shoulder at the women.
“Do you, have any water?” he motioned with his hand as if imitating the pouring of water.

Was the man talking to her? He must be, no one else was around.“Uh...water? Um, I g-guess I could spare some, if you really need it..” Grabbing the bottle, Mila's hand shook violently. Even after sitting down for ten minutes hadn't done an inch to relax her, fear still reeked havoc on the skittish figure.

Social encounters were rare for the young woman. Sure, there were other refugees in the Western Caves, but it was never easy for her to make friends. Friends required constant talking and....trust. Both of which Mila lacked. So, it was easier just to remain solo and rely on no one.

Mila flung the bottle at the man, barely covering half of the distance she intended it to. “Anxiety really does take its toll...” she thought with a sigh. The bottle twirled through the air in an arc, landing about five feet away from him.

Forget about heading to Kakariko for the time being. Now water was needed, especially in searing heat like this. Both of them would be out soon and it didn't take long to get dehydrated in these fields. Looking up at the sky, the sun was slowly disappearing, evening would be coming soon. “Darn it, I should be there by now, not here with some.....some guy...who might I add, dresses like a bird...”

The women shook rather violently as she flung the water bottle only a couple feet. He stared at the water bottle that met at the halfway point between them. Walking up to the water skin bottle, he gave a gentle smile out of appreciation and began to once again work on the tea. It should only take a minute or two now. With the fire burning and evening setting in, he finally began stirring and brewing the tea over the fire. When a few minutes have passed he filled her water skin bottle with the substance, adding a few spices in it to give it a more favorable taste. Hopefully, she'll like it IF this woman drinks it.

He flung the water skin bottle back at her, the item landing a few centimeters from her feet. He slowly sat down and took a deep breathe for a moment before slinging his leather pouch from his back. If anything, this woman had to like music right? Maybe that would calm her down. He opened up the bag gently and carefully lifted a small harp out, setting it on his lap. Before long he was already playing many different songs and tunes, gently strumming its strings in harmony with the rhythm. The heat of the day has now immensely died down and the cool evening air was finally beginning to settle in. Hopefully, just hopefully this day would end on a better note then how it started.

The bottle almost landed right on her a few minutes after throwing it towards the man. “What did you put in it? Poison? Or maybe sleeping drugs like alchemists use?” Tempting. Oh, so tempting to drink. After puking and a few hours without a sip of water, she was parched. At the moment, Mila honestly didn't care one bit what happened to her.

Unscrewing the cap, the herb remedy immediately slipped down her throat. It wasn't half bad either, tasting of a fruity sort. “Was it tea perhaps?” It seemed to calm the stomach in a gentle way, forcing her anxiety to come at a halt, which was quite an accomplishment for someone with the fear of a child.

Music. Sounds. Mila hadn't heard or seen any instrument since the day Ganon had ambushed her home. It brought a rush of nostalgia to the heart, causing it to beat a tad faster. Her father had played the ocarina many times for both her and her mother. The ocarina was said to bring hope to the peoples of Hyrule, reminding them of the hero of time. The one who put Ganon back in his seal, locking him up in a prison. It was nice, hearing the music again. Music was a beautiful thing, especially if you found the right person to play it...

The women... She seemed to be calming down quite a bit. Kamaar knew that music was just the thing that would bring a bit of peace to the women. Music has brought peace to many, and most likely can bring peace and serenity to all. The hero of time played music, Gorons played music, Zora's even played music. It was something that time itself will never be able to erase, and something so dear to history, that even music itself can define many parts of it. Without it, the world would not spin round... Or at least in his world. Music and hope was his life. Just seeing the women have a spark, even if it was just for one moment was enough to last him a lifetime.

Kamaar was pleased by the woman's reaction and continued to keep playing for yet, another few minutes before finally deciding that maybe now’s a good time to ask a question. For the last couple of hours, she was just known as “The Woman” to him. But hopefully this wouldn't be much longer. He gently rested the harp against the ground before pivoting around to face her even though she was still a good couple of feet away. He glanced briefly before clearing his throat and speaking.

“I never caught your name.” He silently stated under his breath as he meticulously brushed specs of dirt off his trousers.
“Between being called a perv, being accused of attacking and kidnapping you and being allegedly denounced for trying the poison you, we didn't get off at a very pleasant and cordial introduction...” He stated softly as he now started to adjust his obi sash.

Silence hung in the air for the next five minutes. The music kept playing and Mila was drowning herself with memories of her past as she did much of the time. Memories kept people close to the heart, giving you a warm feeling or a cold and dark feeling.

Preferring the latter, the woman contemplated on her family dinners. The dinners were never anything special in a material aspect. But in a social and family aspect, it would be considered rich, very rich. The small unit would share news from the day and develop closer bonds. Her favorite part was when her father would pull out one of his instruments and start playing a random tune, sometimes her mother would sing along with her sweet, caring voice...Even Mila couldn't resist joining along.

Soon after the music stopped and the bird turned towards the tree she had been leaning upon and requesting of her name. “This man is full of questions isn't he?”. Although apprehensive, the young woman relented. “He was right....I had treated him quite poorly....Even when he hadn't done a thing to deserve it...I guess....it wouldn't be that bad to share my name with him....I mean, if he was going to kill me....the bird would have done it already...right?”. Looking at the man, she lightly smiled, a nervous giggle followed. “Uh, it's Mila....Mila Kha'tri. Like the word cat and tree...Ha ha...”. Those words were the only things she could say without bursting out in a high-strung laughing frenzy. “Oh gosh.....I really must sound like an twit....” Mila assumed.

He gawked briefly for second, a little dumbfound by... Mila's somewhat feeble attempt at a joke. He attempted to let out a brief laugh but instead it came out more like a dieing moblin. He quickly went back to fixing and brushing off his outfit a bit more. It would of seemed impossible a moment ago for the conversation to get any worse because there was none. But, somehow, he just made this conversation go from desperate... to awkward in less then five seconds. He continued randomly staring at a bug traversing its way across his foot before finally breaking the silence once more.

“Mila's a... pretty name...” he silently announced blandly, trying to strike up conversation. He quickly glanced away slapping his forehead out of frustration.
“Great... Now I'm officially on my way to making myself sound... not only pervy but stupid at the same time...” he whispered under his breath.
Might as well cut to the chase... There is NO way things can get more awkward then this.

“My name is Kamaar. Kamaar Johar.” He stated as he turned to face her again.
“You know... like... well... it has internal rhyming?”
He was supposed to entertain people as a bard and yet... he still was VERY abhorrant when it came to jokes... He also proved himself wrong... The conversation can get worse and is by every single word that comes out of his mouth. He'd just blame it on his lack of social interaction for the last couple of days...

It was impossible. Nothing could stop it. Mila tried in vain to stifle the feeling that was about to exit her lungs. Nope, wasn't happening, not today. An impulsive laugh burst out through the southern plains. The noise sounded like a loud hiccup. Mila turned beat red as she realized her nerves got the better of her. “Ha! My name's pretty? Is it? I wouldn't know. Pretty? Ha!” Nothing but nonsense bubbled forth. “It's not pretty, it's just normal. Why would you call it that?” After a five minute rant of nothingness, Mila fell silent, watching Kamaar cautiously once more.

The sky had grown dark and the weather finally cooled off. You could hear the whisper of the plain as a slight breeze combed the grass. It was a welcome change compared to the unforgivable heat. What Mila would give for a nice, cool, drink of water.

“Mission one. Get water.” This would be her focus as of this moment. It would give her a chance to slip away for a few minutes and take a breather, as this conversation seemed to be taking a turn for the worse. Although Mila was pretty sure the man was harmless, it was better safe then sorry.

Water was a absolute necessity if she was ever to make the trip to Kakariko Village the next day. Tomorrow seemed so far away, but it was just around the corner. Hoisting herself up from the spot that she had been sitting on for the last hour or more, Mila brushed her lap off of any debris that had collected itself on the cloth while she had been resting. Specks of dirt fluttered to the ground, much to the woman's satisfaction. Mila walked across the very small clearing she was in and was met with a wall of grass. The grass was tall, around shoulder height. Maneuvering through it would be rather difficult. Time to find a small pond, as this currently small problem could become a big one.

The frigid wind began to blow across the plains of Southern Hyrule. Kamaar just continued on with completing some minor tasks, trying to ignore the sudden laughing frenzy and her rambling on about something with her name and it being pretty. She had to be one of the must interesting Hylian Women he ever met. He ran into quite a few, but most were quite unwelcoming and accused him of different intentions. All had a persona of being quite opposed to men. He couldn’t blame them though… Some men in these parts… Well, let’s just say their intentions weren’t the greatest. Kamaar began to unfold his blanket and lay it close near the fire, spreading it out nicely leaving no wrinkle to grace its surface. His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of someone trampling through bushes. He shot a glance over his shoulder to see the women leaving.

Am I really that bad? He sighed briefly before finally getting up to walk after her. It was growing dark, and with the coming night comes new found dangers. He could never live with himself if he let such an innocent girl get hurt. She was different. She appeared shy, nervous, and completely pure and full of innocence. Someone like her was usually rare to come across and seeing her get hurt would be the end of him.

Walking at a brisk pace he could see a slight silhouette in the distance begin to form as he began to make up distance between the both of them.

“Miss Kha’tri?” He wasn’t quite sure if it was proper to call her by her first name quite yet and being a bard, formality was second nature to him.

“Kha’tri?” His voice was soft and gentle yet firm as he continued to trail after her.

“I’m quite sorry if I put you in any socially awkward situation! I myself have not had any interactions with others for quite sometime… I’ve been alone for who knows how long and wouldn’t blame you if I scared you off. I’m a native from Dragon Roost! Hence my appearance! I’m sure rito are hard to come across in these parts! I’m actually searching for an old friend and some family.”

Kamaar continued to ramble on and on as he sped up after her. He sounded quite foolish and frankly desperate. Although he didn’t want to admit it, he didn’t want to be alone for who knows how long again.