Creator Girl

        She gave Lightning and Blue a thorough brushing, their pelts now gleaming in the sun. Hopefully that would be good enough of a grooming to last while she was gone. Now, she would need to store up some food. Whatever she did, she couldn't give Chessica any suspicions of her plan.

        Scaling a spindly palm tree, Thea shook loose a few palm fruits, the bark rough on her bare hands and feet. She leaped swiftly down and quickly hid the fruits in the long ferns around the back of the inn, before hunting a couple crabs down and killing them with a swift blow. She wrapped everything in a sheer white cloth--easy to grab while making her exit.

        As the day wore on, Thea grew more certain that she was going out there. Link still did not return, as much as she kept an eye on the glistening horizon, and Lightning was still munching calmly in the grass near Blue. Only someone out of their mind would leave such a reliable and beautiful steed behind. Link was still on Eventide, and something was keeping him there.

        That evening, Thea made sure to do her chores with the right amount of discontent, not wanting to look too psyched to complete her chores and move onto the next thing. She had to pretend there was no next thing.

        They ate dinner quietly together, yesterday's dispute still hanging in the air around them. Thea did feel guilty; she knew Chessica only wanted to protect her. Hyrule was dangerous and deadly, and Thea knew that. But there was something in her that just couldn't rest, couldn't accept being limited. She needed to train, to venture out of the village, find her purpose--and bring Link back.

        This force that drove her, it had started out as wanting to protect the village, but... it was morphing into something else. She wasn't sure exactly what it was now. The only thing clear was what she needed to do.

        Thea rinsed out her bowl and set it to dry, grabbing her bull's-hair tooth brush and giving her teeth a quick scrub before walking back into the inn. Night had fallen outside. It was cloudy, obscuring the stars from her view. Not the best weather for being on the water, but maybe it would clear out by midnight.

        She bid Chessica goodnight, a hollowness gnawing at her stomach despite having just eaten. Guilt. She felt guilty for not telling Chessica her plans, for going behind her back. She had never really done that. But Chessica had explicitly forbade her from going out there, so Thea couldn't tell her. Maybe Chessica would forgive her when she returned. She refused to think of it as if she returned.

        Tucking into the covers, Thea lay still. Now, it was the waiting game. She would wait for Chessica to start snoring. In the meantime, her mind was wrought with imagined scenarios of her arriving to the island and dying immediately, of her capsizing out in the middle of the ocean before she even got there, of perhaps finding Link, and not being able to save him. Her heart pounded in her chest.

        No. She would be okay. She would make herself okay, and be smart about it. No rushing out to fight whatever evil things were on that island like she had done the first night in her pajamas. This journey would require cleverness, which she believed she could manage. Her first goal would be to locate Link. Depending on where he was, she would save him, try to heal him, help him, whatever. Then, work to get him through or out of whatever trials he had intended on facing there.

        While her mind was consumed in these thoughts, time had passed quicker than she had realized. Chessica was snoring loudly, and a faint trace of moonlight filtering in from outside. Perfect, that was all she needed. 

        Thea tiptoed out of the inn, her bare feet soft on the wood. Lurelinians didn't wear shoes, so whatever she would face she would have to go without. It was good she was used to that, her feet calloused and tough from years on the warm sand. It was more comfortable, anyway.

        On her body she wore a short-sleeve leafy green top, the same hue that flashed in her eyes, and her loose, dark green pants. The outfit was a bit more restrictive than she normally liked, with her preferring exposed shoulders and a flowing skirt, but it would do. Thea hoped it would help her blend in with the foliage on the island. She used two brown strips of cloth to tie her gleaming golden hair into two low buns. Her long hair had been difficult to manage during her fight with the Lizalfo, so hopefully this would help.

        Thea snuck around the back of the inn, grabbing the white sack she had prepared earlier and then moving quickly down the beach. She tucked the Lizalfo daggers into the cloth she was using as a belt, slipping the quiver over her waist and the bow over her shoulder. She gave Blue and Lightning a short, quiet goodbye, before making for one of the whale-shaped fishing boats.

        She tossed her sack in and immediately began pushing the boat through the sand, trying not to grunt with the effort. Speed was key here. She could not be caught.

        Thea winced as the fishing boat splashed into the water, before grabbing onto the carved wooden tail-fin of the boat and hauling herself over the top in a swift motion. Taking up the oars, she dipped them silently into the midnight water below and began pushing herself and the boat towards the mouth of the bay. Thank Hylia she had been training her muscles.

        As Thea's boat floated out into the bay, she let out a breath of relief. She had done it. Well, not quite yet, she supposed. But so far, things were okay.

        The moon was a sharp crescent above, casting a pale light over the endless water. Thea could make out the shadow of her destination in the distance. Her brow furrowed with determination as she set her course for it, the oars slicing through the water and propelling her for the cursed island. She was too far in to turn back.

        Her muscles burned with the effort as the moon made its way through the sky and the mainland grew ever smaller behind her. Thea could still see the lamplight of Lurelin if she squinted. Her home. But she turned away, the hulking mass of Eventide's hills growing ever bigger.

        Perhaps it had been a shorter journey than she'd thought, or perhaps she'd been so caught up in her thoughts that she had mindlessly closed the distance between her and the island, but Thea was now coming up on the beach. She was in its shallow waters, no longer paddling as the waves drew her closer to shore.

        Thea rummaged in her sack and gobbled down some crab she had roasted earlier. She cracked open a couple palm fruits, drinking their soothing water and eating the soft, sweet flesh. Her boat slid into the sand of the beach. She was here.

        As she looked down the beach a ways, there was the orange light of a fire, some figures huddled around it. She squinted, but they were too far to make out. Hm, she had never heard of humans living here.

        Thea finished her food, grabbing the anchor and tossing the heavy rock onto the beach, tied with a rope to the bow of the boat.

        She grabbed her sack of things, still holding a couple palm fruits and a crab, and leapt onto the sand. She jolted when a raspy, ancient voice echoed around her.

To you who has traveled to this island...

        She looked around desperately but saw no one, the unnerving voice sounding as if they were standing right next to her.

I present you with a challenge. In your travels, you've relied on the equipment you've found along the way.

Here, you must cast this equipment aside and face this trial with only your wits and whatever you can scavenge.

        Thea barely had time to register the words before she yelped, suddenly feeling the cool night air on her skin. She looked down. Her clothes, her bag--everything she had with her had been taken. All she was left with was the white tube-style top she wore under all of her clothes, and her white, Lurelinian boxer-style shorts. Her arm still had its bandage, too. What was happening. She felt like she was going to vomit.

Offer up the orbs to the three altars on this island. Only then will I acknowledge your skill and return your items.

        The voice faded away, and Thea was left standing with absolutely nothing in her possession. Her daggers. Her bow. Gone. Thea's stomach hollowed with dread. All her preparation, had disappeared into thin air.

        The moon was still above, drifting westward, unchanged. Taunting her.

        Okay, she had nothing. But, the voice had said something about scavenging. There must be something of use on this island, then.

        Wait! She dashed back to her boat, thankfully still rocking in the shallow waves, and peered inside. Her oars. She quickly grabbed one and slung it over her shoulder in the way that the fishermen in Lurelin liked to do, using the leather cord normally tied around the handle.

        Okay, now she had something. Thea looked around, scanning. Link was here, somewhere. She'd have to find him. But first, she needed to check out whoever was burning that fire down the beach. She wouldn't imagine in was Link, but perhaps it was someone who could help her.

        Her feet were quiet in the sand as Thea padded towards the fire, thin palm trees like the ones in her village shooting up nearby. Palm fruits hung ripe from their leafy undersides. She would be back for those.

        As it drew closer, the figures became clearer, and Thea's eyes widened with horror as she began backing quickly away. Bokoblins. They were dancing devilishly around the fire, waving their sharp claws in the air and caterwauling. Thankfully, she noted their camp was empty save for a few crates that had washed up on shore, meaning Link wasn't with them. He must be deeper in the island.

        Thea headed silently the other way, towards a large outcrop of rock that rose high above the trees more like a large hill. It lay just past her boat. Maybe she could get a good view of the rest of the island up there. 

        There was a convenient path that sloped upwards around the hill, leading her to the top. She of course walked quietly, not sure what to expect at the summit.

        She crept quietly up, and peered over to observe the flat top of the outcrop. There was nothing. Just some crates, like there had been down on the beach by the monsters, and the remnants of a fire. And, she realized with disgust as the smell hit her, piles of bones and half-eaten meat skewn about. This was not Link's camp.

        But, it was empty. there were no monsters. In fact, she spotted the shattered horn of a Bokoblin laying on the ground as she walked over slowly. This... this must have been his doing. She nudged the cone-shaped horn tentatively, and it rolled harmlessly away. Ugh... The smell was truely foul. Monsters were disgusting.

        But, he had been here. And, there looked to be some weird platform made of the same technology the shrine was made of, Sheikah technology. It was a raised circular platform, amber constellations dotting the sides. On the top, there was a small spherical divot, which looked like something belonged there. Was this... Was this the altar the strange voice had told her about? If so, that would mean this was something Link would be trying to solve, too. She frowned. It didn't look solved.

        But no matter. She was on his trail, and on her way to finding him.

        Thea walked to the edge of the outcrop that looked out over the island, the other side facing open sea. Her outcrop wasn't as high as the huge hill that rose up out of the back of the island, the one that she could see all the way from Lurelin, but it was high enough to get a good lay of the land. Most of the island was low, tropical forest. Link was likely in there, and if not, he would be up on the giant hill. But something told her to check the forest, first--especially since the hill was so steep in places that it looked like an endeavor to climb.

        As her gaze drifted downward towards what lay below her outcrop, Thea was once again met with horrors beyond her imagination. A hideous, beastly thing lay sleeping, practically larger than the huts back at Lurelin. It looked like if someone had inflated a Bokoblin as much as they could, and made it ten times uglier. Which was saying a lot. It had a singular, closed eye, coarse hair growing in places, and ugly warts all over it. The only thing it wore was a tattered loincloth that barely covered anything.

        She paused. There was something glowing around its neck. She squinted. It was a small, stone orb, enscribed with glowing amber patterns. Thea looked back over to the Sheikah platform on her outcrop, and then back to the orb. That must be what goes there.

        Thea also took note that the ghastly creature was... injured. It was difficult to make out in the darkness before dawn, but there were lines across the monster's arms and legs, gashes, which were now half closed over. It was snoring peacefully, though. As much as a monster could be peaceful. Thea looked back at the empty camp on her outcrop, and then down at the monster. Link... It must have been Link who made those injuries. But if their state of repair told her anything, it was that it had been a while ago.

        She gulped down her fear. Maybe he was somewhere in the surrounding forest, hopefully alive. Thea couldn't imagine what kind of terrible injuries such a monster as this could create. It was amazing to think he even landed that many blows to its inky blue skin.

        Thea started back down the path she had come, careful to be quiet. She would have to maneuver around the ginormous beast, and then be wary of any monsters lurking in the dense tropical undergrowth.

        To her dismay, Thea's silence was broken by her own screech as two nightmarish creatures erupted from the ground. They were the size and shape of Bokoblins, but had no flesh, none at all--they were just skeletons, with glowing red eyes in their eye sockets. They even had that same cone horn that Bokoblins had.

        She leaped back in surprised, grabbing the oar from her back and swinging it wildly. One of them had a bow, and was aiming to shoot. She missed its shot by inches, barely ducking out of the way, before slamming her oar into its companion. The boko-skeleton (she had no idea what these were called, or if they even had a name) shattered into pieces, its skull rolling towards her. Those eyes still glowed, so she brought her oar down with another crack into its skull, which shattered too. Thea leaped away as another arrow flew towards her, before charging at the other creature. It was standing near the edge of the outcrop, only aiming its bow for her. It didn't seem to have any intention to use its claws against her, thankfully.

        Thea swung as she ran towards it, yelling out in anger. Her oar flew, striking the skeleton with a sickening crunch. It broke into pieces, like the other one, but the head was not so fortunate as the last, falling down the side of the outcrop and into the jet waters below. Thea peered over the edge of the rock, the glowing eyes nowhere to be seen in the lapping waves.

        Looking at her arm, she realized with a jolt her bandage had come off during the fight. Thea turned her arm over, searching for the injury, the scar, but there was nothing. Thea frowned, feeling the soft skin with her other hand. No bumps, either. What? Her injury couldn't have healed in less than a day... She didn't have time for this right now. No matter what the explanation was, her arm was healed. She'd deal with that oddity later.

        Thea glanced back over at the broken remnants of the skeleton, spotting the bow it had been using and a couple of arrows strewn about. She rushed over, snatching up the bow and gathering the arrows. She tied the arrows to the oar with the leather cord, her quiver unfortunately gone, and slung the bow over her shoulder. It was a crude thing, and Thea could feel its fragility, but it was better than nothing. It was literally a curved stick with some cord tightly strung to each end. It would have to do.

        Thea continued on her way down the hill, her nerves shaken and her hands trembling slightly. She reached the bottom, her bare feet soft on the rocks and pebbles beneath her as she inched her way to the forest.

        Darkness and ferns lay between the trees ahead. Thea took one glance to her left, seeing the beach and the deep waters of the ocean just beginning to lighten with the dawn sky. She gave a glance to her right, the monster still sound asleep. Those were indeed gashes along its large, meaty legs.

        Thea turned back towards the forest. Link must be in there somewhere, likely wounded if he'd had to stop fighting the monster midway. She would find him, and help him. She had made it this far alone, anyway.

        Her brow furrowed, gathering up her courage, before plunging into the dark depths of the forest.

so as i go over the first part of my first draft of my first story, i've been trying to be gentle with myself. it can be refreshing to have scenes where not everything is vividly depicted, and it's the simple process of events interrupted by the occasional thought.

the scenes that require that kind of writing will normally make it come out naturally. i don't want to artificially inject my story with all kinds of filler words--because if they aren't natural, they won't sound natural. so i read over, and add as i see fit.

plus, every author has their style. i have my tone, you have yours, and that's part of what makes reading books an interesting experience as a whole.