Trouble in Little Yetiville [Snowpeak] (Genzo with Devilsteel)

The wind chilled over the town, located in the north of Darunia. This quaint village was briskly cold but its residents would soon feel the heat. A fisherman cradled his child, his forehead hot. Outside his window were many others like him. A sudden and deadly illness had spread across town almost as if overnight. A nearby apothecary stressfully identified the illness, and with great effort sent out a call to the Quest Bureau.

--

Evelyn woke up with a quaking heat on her forehead. She had been sleeping in after her recent outing with the theatrical Rito, but this sudden alert from her bedside was not natural. She noticed a crisp spark of flame worming its way out of her own wrists. A fever if there ever was one.

"Alice! I gotta get out of here, keep the house from burning down!" she shouted to her fairy.

Evelyn made her way into town, her head spinning. Nobody was out on the street. She had not even noticed the entire town locking themselves away as she had lazed around in her cottage. Making her way to the local stables, she checked out the Quest Board.

--

Briggson had just answered an urgent house call. It had led him to the cozy city of Darunia. The locals could not figure out what common medicines would work. Briggson was stumped for once in his life. He was so used to herbal remedies doing the trick right away. None of his go-to herbs were working on this fever. He worked his way to the town's apothecary. This hunched over Hylian was resting his legs on his outdoor rocking chair. Briggson asked him what was going on.

"Nothin' more I can do about it." the apothecary noted "The cure has only been seen once in the mountains. I sent a summons to the quest board. Hikers like yerself stand a much better chance of bringing such a substance back here. But I'll do ya one better and describe it to you."

Briggson listened carefully. In all his expertise as a botanist he had never heard of such an herb before. It was apparently some sort of plant that leeched nutrients off of a very specific mineral in the mountains. The apothecary admitted he had left most of the information with the Quest Bureau. Briggson was almost certain his understanding of the plant would help in procuring it, though. He made his way into town to the stables.

--

"You, Goron! Do you see this?!" Evelyn yelped. She had been waiting all morning near the cork board.

"I suppose I do see this, little one." he laid his eyes on the Kokiri "I've never seen anyone burning up quite like this."

"Don't just stand there, mustache man! We have to go to the place in the quest listing!" Eve shouted.

"No, I've been up that mountain and we're going to need a full search party. Ropes, well-bodied fighters, the works. Oh, brotherrr." Briggson corrected. They were going to have to wait for a couple more people at the very least. It just depended on who would show up in time.

"Holy crumpets! A lynel!" Eve yipped.

"Don't be so harsh, little sis. Lynels don't come to these Hyrulean towns often, but I've met my fair share. Quite a misunderstood species, I think." Briggson explained, careful to educate the odd Kokiri. He had assumed it was your run-of-the-mill Kokiri which was often wiser than a Hylian child. . . this Kokiri was not so smart.

With this new group of travelers all geared up to head into the mountains, it seemed there was hope for this struggling village after all. It seemed they had all gotten the memo of what was going on, fortunately. There was a little bit of a commotion going on down the street, however.

Trying not to be late, Gyoma rode down the dirt road on his bullbo. He instantly looked like some kind of marauder or raider to the villagers, not without reason. The Lizalfos stopped his mount right before the stables. It was clear he wasn't there for trouble: Lizalfos typically attacked in groups.

"It's me! Gyoma! Nice to meet you all!" he shouted, parking his pet Bullion near the stable-hand.

Gyoma looked up-and-down at Corbin. He wasn't wearing any of the uniform components common among Manaku's servants. He didn't want to bring up that evil Lynel in this conversation anyway. Not capable of making himself more presentable with what he was wearing, he went in for a hand-shake with a number of the group members.

The snide Kokiri opened her rude mouth again. "Now I've seen everything!" she chuckled, blowing more of the small flames out on her arm.

Even Evelyn went in for a hand-shake though. She knew very clearly what she was getting herself into. There was an awkward silence as she looked up at Briggson. There was a number of things left to explain.

"Whatev'r this illness is in the village, it looks like I've caught it too!" Evelyn added. "We can't let an entire town's full of children down. It's just not right. Now unless anyone else wants to come running down the road to help us, we ought to get going."

Just then, a pinkish Miniblin appeared out of the stables picking his teeth. He had just finished a cheap steak, apparently having found pity from the locals. Pooky had done his due diligence, and slipped the generous griller a Rupoor. It wasn't even noon yet and he had already ripped someone off.

"Pooky! Y-you're just coming with us hoping I'll croak on the way!" Eve shouted at the Miniblin.

"Pooky doesn't discriminate." he boasted. "Deh-neh, Pooky's gonna collect on that medicine. If there's demand, Pooky has to make a supply." he explained slyly.

"Little brother, there's barely enough of this suspected herb to help this entire township. I don't think you're gonna find luck selling it." Briggson described carefully. He was pouting at the little imp, faithlessly.

Eve sighed through her teeth. No matter what she said, they'd probably let the Miniblin come with them. She hated the thought, but was self-confident she could take the little dastard in a fight.

"No rudeness intended." Briggson stifled an explanation. "I'm Briggson, this is Evelyn."

"Pooky the Herald, at your service." the short creature squeaked.

As they approached the counter for their own mounts, the Kokiri became curious.

"How do you know my name?" she asked the Goron cautiously.

"I don't know how you managed to do it, but everyone around here knows who you are. Oh brother, don't get me started." he trailed off, lost in thought.

Evelyn thought about what she had accomplished after moving to Darunia. Sure, she had saved the residents outside the Temple of Courage, but she wasn't certain that had made local news. Thinking on it, she connected her habit of being at the taverns to her own behavior. She had never considered herself that loud or obnoxious before. It turned out, the locals had been talking about an unwanted Kokiri mingling among the adults. Who had, with minimal fanfare, saved a nearby island. Since the townies' only exposure to the kid was during the nightly entertainment, only one of those two things stuck.

"Yeah, I guess the rito got the credit for that one." she mused to herself.

While Eve was looking away, Briggson was fitting Pooky onto the back of a horse. She shuddered for a moment, and then steely-rocky hands boosted her into the air. Before she could open her mouth she was on the horse with Pooky. Gyoma soon had his own steed as well. The Kokiri wondered if they were to turn these in somewhere north, not thinking they could get a pack of horses up a steep mountain.

"Don't worry gentlemen." Gyoma hissed at the workers. "All these horses in the hands of animal-lovers like us, you'll get each back in one piece no matter the danger."

The stablehands gave him dirty looks. It was rare a creature whose name started with "lizal" was ever up to any good around here. Even the 'blin and lynel were less suspicious. Gyoma pouted, then had a bright idea.

"What's wrong? Did you see me coming out of the ocean?" he mocked the hylians.

Briggson sighed, looking at his group one last time before getting the horses into a canter. He was so used to climbing and hiking, but he didn't think he'd ever get used to the back of a horse. His upper body was so unbalanced, he needed a firm grip on the horse at all times. Evelyn looked like she was doing fine, until Briggson looked over again and saw the reins firmly in Pooky's arms. He only hoped the group was better at hiking steep trails than they were at riding.

"Pooky! Double time! We gotta catch up with those four professionals." the Goron exclaimed. They reached a reasonable speed and caught up at the house that was mentioned. They made it just in time to see the giant horse being fitted for Sandal.

"I got these three caught up. We're ready to depart for that mountain as soon as you are." Briggson offered, still looking uncomfortable on horseback.

"Ah, I'm not much of a fighter." Briggson admitted. "I'm a little bit of a plant expert and I love to climb sheer cliffs. I can grow a Boko Baba in seconds for defense, and in a pinch I can just hit things with my fists."

It sounded kind of impressive, and it was a little bit of a surprise someone who spent so much time outside would describe themselves as 'not much of a fighter.' At a glance, his massive stature, stone-like skin, and giant arms suggested he wouldn't be a pushover in a fight.

"I'm Gyoma! Spent my life training with other Lizalfos in the woods. I didn't get along with most of them, so I left. But I can handle a sharp weapon, my real talent is riding animals. I learned a musical tune called Sharp's Song that gives me a major edge in combat. Just don't be nearby when I play it." the Lizalfos described his talents in minor detail.

The Lizalfos, seemingly the best at riding with good reason, stifled his horse a smidge to get a good look at the other two. He was about to open his mouth and say 'what about you two?' except it looked like the Kokiri was practically falling asleep. He shook his head and sighed. The scrappy young Lizalfos was also hoping everyone remembered his name. He really hoped to make it big one day.

"Pooky is a fighter! Deh-neh." he alighted.

Eve shocked herself awake at these words. "You don't fight, Pooky! You just hover around that creepy gerudo all day and talk about how you want to murder everyone!" she protested.

"Pooky is gentleman! You'll see. My 'fighting technique' is all about class. Gadgets, strategy, charisma. Pooky has it all." Pooky bragged.

"You're such a suave fighter, huh?" Eve taunted. "Last time I saw you, you were running that two-bit emporium stall in Castle Town. What kind of shopkeeper joins a group of warriors?"

"You misunderstand Pooky. Runs the shops out of habit, but I haves a lot of workers paid off to run the shops! On Pooky's payroll they are!" he yammered, quickly explaining how he got so much work done. "What about you, wench! Pooky's mistress thinks you're hot shit! What do you even do?"

"That's because I'm a battle fanatic! The gerudo just thought I could do her work for her. I sling daggers and hammers, I break stuff and I make my enemies wish they were never born! I'm even more of a jack-of-all-trades than you are Pooky. I improvise my battles, I can use a controllable doll and summon pumpkins and deku nuts. Even if I wasn't needed on this mission I have plenty of unbreakable Cheval Rope we can use." the untrustworthy Kokiri defended herself. It seemed like the group had a little bit of everything.

Briggson wasted no time giving his assessment.

"A fellow botanist, right. It looks like we're dealing with a plant that feeds on a very specific mineral. Knowing that, it's no big surprise nobody has heard of this thing. I was surprised the apothecary had been clued in on this. Probably some rare northern hearsay I just haven't caught yet. I spend a lot more time in the wilderness than hearing rumors in town, after all." the Goron gave his honest opinion. In terms of plants that helped extremely specific illnesses he was probably not so much to blame for not knowing.

Gyoma considered what Hanno was asking, thought a bit, and then responded. "If he runs into any trouble, an old trick in horsemanship is to block the horse's eyesight with a small attachment I have. However, I think he'll be riding his horse a little bit more steady than our resident goron over here." He explained, keeping focus on what was going on. "The horse itself will be straightening its pace out on its own naturally. The way Briggson is tightly holding his doesn't allow for so much steering."

Quickly, the subject of Casara's question became apparent. "Nope. Pooky, don't answer that. I'll explain." Evelyn intercepted. "This little guy sells things but otherwise I don't think he gets along with normal people. He's self-centered, obsessed with some sort of goal which I can only assume has something to do with Ganon. He spent like an entire twenty minutes once drooling over how I was in trouble." Eve complained.

"Pooky is being framed!" the Miniblin denied. "Pooky's sales and business are Pooky's own business. Besides, Pooky isn't sure Ganon wants his help. . . more rupees for Pooky!" he alighted. The jovial Miniblin didn't seem like a threat in this state of mind, though it could all be an act. Whatever the case, these two arguing together on a horse were giving away their backgrounds and context incredibly quickly, which was probably a big relief to those listening.

Acknowledging each other, learning new things and other contemplations lingered as they traveled. The party caught onto a main road centered between the Lost Woods and Woodfall. The thick of the trees guarded the group as they made their way down the trail, thoughtfully widened for public travel. A road like this would have been long overgrown in Southern Hyrule. The sun was setting as they kept pace, simple to keep track of in the gaps between the trees. Before long a Hylian Guard trotted down coming from the other direction. He held up a lantern to the party's faces, inspecting them on his way by. The Lizalfos, Goron, and Miniblin stayed silent, knowing the odd mix of their party members could falsely alert the guard. The Kokiri was stiff as a board, she didn't want a guard to recognize her. Having worked for them for a short period, it was more than a little awkward at times to have to chat with them.

The armored soldier clinked off into the distance on his horse, almost without a word. Maybe it was because Sandal himself looked like a soldier leading the mismatched group off to some unknown battle. Sure, they probably could have buttered the guy up by explaining their noble mission. But the guard had places to be, and probably couldn't waste his time searching a group who didn't look like real bandits or anything.

"That was more than a little tense." Briggson announced. "But the sun's going down and we'll need to make camp at the edge of the woods before we continue tomorrow. Seems like an awful waste to get to Snowhead on no rest."

The astute Goron also looked at the odd Kokiri. The state of her fever didn't look like it was getting better. He was also somewhat concerned about the little sparks that sometimes lit up the trail coming off of her arms. At this point he was just glad they had so many eyes on her in case anything happened. He was at least satisfied with the amount the entire group had packed, as they probably were prepared to make camp.

"One more thing, and I hope this is clear. We're going to need to put heavier clothing on when we get to the mountains." he sternly warned. "Oh, good thinking. Pooky already has his scarf on."

"Whoa!" Briggson shouted. "Thanks Hanno, you didn't need to supply everything for us like that. That said, I'm a Goron so I only have trail rocks to eat. That stew is tempting though, I may try some out." Briggson referred to his specific nutrition restrictions.

As they were making camp, the Goron started unpacking several things from his massive backpack. Likewise, Gyoma took out a variety of items from the horses' saddle bags. Briggson matched up all of the blankets with a number of bedrolls. He wasn't sure about the number, thinking that maybe the Lynel would sleep more like a horse does. He also quickly unrolled a traveler's canopy and hastily fastened it to the ground with stakes. It was likely a camp of their size would dissuade solo attackers, so Briggson felt good about making it somewhat visible.

In addition to the existing food, Gyoma skewered up a trio of fresh fish he was carrying. They would grill nicely against the roaring fire. The Lizalfos, as an animal handler, was used to packing everything he could possibly need. He was also not typically welcome in towns, so he had everything he needed to live on his own. In fact, if there were a river nearby he would have gone back to fishing. He rummaged around in his own saddlebag and exposed a set of warm clothes that specifically fit himself. He looked daring in his black jacket, so it was alarming to see him put on a wool sweater.

In regards to the other two, Evelyn was laid out on one of the bedrolls. She looked uncomfortably sick still, and Pooky had taken initiative to prod her with a branch. He had all of the humanly instincts to help her in sickness, but none of the personal feelings of responsibility. So he sat there, poking her. Briggson was bringing a hefty travel tin of stew over to the Kokiri, when Pooky's branch suddenly caught fire.

"What is that?! What's going on?" the Goron's voice boomed.

Two small fires had sprouted on each of Evelyn's arms. It was curious as things were, but her arms also didn't seem to be sustaining injury from the ongoing flames. Granted, Pooky was hurriedly shaking his branch around and smacking the girl with a blanket to try to put them out. Snapping out of her feverish trance, she got up from her place.

"What's going on here?" she asked in a deadpan tone. She shook her arms around but the flames followed.

"It's some kind of magic or curse!" Pooky shouted.

"It could be anything -- there's still a lot of flames." Briggson interrupted. "If I have to deal with this I can, goron skin doesn't burn easily."

"Calm down." Eve interjected. "This has something to do with that magic I received." she didn't want to mention who she got the condition from- it would just complicate things.

"Magic? Have you ever tried to control it? There's a common practice of Flame Control in many goron communities and especially militia." the Goron suggested, his wild surprised eyes affixed on the flames.

"Control it? Maybe the lynel knows how." she suggested, already mentally trying to think of a way to turn it off.

Though the flames were started by magic, the water seemed to do the trick in taking away the fuel source for the flames.

"Thank you Hanno. I think my sudden sickness stoked some magic within me. I'm going to listen to Casara and try to get some control over this, it should be possible if the flames are igniting by my magic already." she elaborated. She had a sudden seriousness she didn't seem to have when they had met.

Now that she wasn't literally on fire, she could go to bed like everyone else. Pooky was still off running around with a flaming branch. He only decided to put the fire out when he was ready to start eating the flame roasted fish. Gyoma had finished his food, and a common concern crossed his mind. They weren't in an awful lot of danger but all of them being asleep would leave them vulnerable. He thought it reasonable to keep some sort of watch.

"Shall we sleep in shifts? There are many of us and keeping one person on watch at a time will not cut too much into our rest." the teenage monster insisted.

Briggson circled camp, making sure everything was ideal for them to rest. Evelyn was already back in her bedroll, completely covered up. Briggson checked the horses one last time, and it seemed they were all ready to turn in. In regards to what Gyoma had said, it didn't seem likely Eve in her sickness or Pooky with his unpredictability would be taking part in the watch.

"Mr. Sandal." Gyoma spoke up, having made his way toward the Moblin. "I will take next watch. Get yourself comfy."

The sick Kokiri continued to be treated by the charitable Zora. Her breathing was becoming irregular as she had made efforts to control the emergence of flames. She had made the connection between her condition and inability to contain the magical fire. If she could keep this going for the rest of the night, tomorrow would be the ideal time to experiment with activating and deactivating the fire. After some rigorous hours of struggle, the girl stabilized into a deep sleep.

Gyoma made many wide circles and centered himself back at camp. Not wanting to recruit Pooky to the task, although the Miniblin was already sound asleep, he turned his attention to Briggson. The Goron was half-asleep, knowing he would need energy for his turn of watch, he kept his eyes somewhat open and focused on the roaring fire. Gyoma tagged him out, and the large fellow went to the edge of camp to look down the roadway.

Briggson saw the tiny flicker of a Hylian Guard trotting in the distance. Castle Town was about two days travel from here. . . Briggson gathered the soldier was stopping for lodge at the enormous Lon Lon Ranch famous for its location at the center of the fields. Briggson was aware of Casara's decision to look down the road. He didn't want to wake him after a long stint of watching, but likewise the sun would be coming up soon. With daylight imminent, Briggson set his sights on the Miniblin.

"Up and at-'em, little brother." Briggson shook the Miniblin awake. "Take watch for us, will you?"

"Pooky may as well, he's awake now." the imp groaned crankily. "Pooky will kill any attackers he will!"

"Now now, before I go to sleep, promise you won't do anything dangerous. This isn't some moblin's game of kill-or-be-killed. If something comes just wake everyone up first!" the Goron reprimanded.

Eventually the naturalist Goron got to sleep in his bedroll. He kept having to peek at the Miniblin to make sure he was serious about his job.

When Gyoma woke up, he immediately went to corral the horses together. His gentle hands and soft words worked wonders on getting the horses in position. Soon, the rest of the camp would start waking up.

"One thing before we get going." Briggson got everyone's attention. "We're taking a small detour to Rolling Ridge. A trek this long will require ample rest, food, and lodging. I know lots of people there and we're sure not to find trouble."

Gyoma understood right away. He knew by the maps and his own experience that a shortcut didn't really exist there anyway. As Briggson helped the others pack up the physical camp, Gyoma went around sizing up the riders for their horses. Pooky seemed to be nodding back off to sleep after having taken last watch. Gyoma was sure to just pair Pooky and Eve on a horse again. The odd Kokiri seemed to be doing better in terms of her illness, perhaps good enough to rein the horse herself.

Without many more words, the camp had been cleaned up and the rest of the party was getting saddled up. Gyoma had just got done feeding the horses for the trip. It was imperative the horses were well for the trip. He additionally checked them all for sickness or signs of fatigue. The horses seemed to be in good health, so he gave the go ahead to everyone.

The clear field was somewhat more calming to travel than the dense woods had been. In Northern Hyrule, there were still monsters now and then, but in less dire numbers than the Southern region. Within the first hour of travel they spotted a flying Peahat taking seed in the distance. Eve was hoping a dragon would fly by, but her daydreaming would end as their trip truly began.

"On, off, on, off. . ." the weird Kokiri started an odd chant, not loudly but somewhat bothersome anyway. It appeared she was trying to control something, most likely those flames.

The sky cleared up quite nicely. Pooky's limp snout was sound asleep against Evelyn's back. Briggson, concerned, looked back now and then, but nothing seemed off. His attention turned to the other group, who he was sure were having no trouble riding.