I love Marrow's design š¤š¤š¤ Does Marrow like cooking or have it not been introduced/figured out the concept yet? What does it and Link think of each other? š
marrow has only seen the concept of cooking put into practice by observing the yiga from farawayāand because of that, it probably thinks cooking is exclusively used for bananas (smth he doesn't have access to in the depths unless he steals from the yiga themselves). he's familiar with the concept of cooking meat, though he always chars it when he tries. he doesn't cook very often. i'd say the most creative thing he's ever "done" with "food" is him taking a bite out of the giant mushroom trees VGEYAIV
marrow sees link long before link sees marrow. marrow is very good at going about unannounced in the darkness, and link is a bit of a fumbling silly hylian in the same setting, so marrow actually follows link around quite a lot before he's ever even aware it's there. marrow thinks this new creature shaped like the yiga is very interesting. they bring in new light sources that marrow loves and soaks in gladlyāthis guy has WAY more brightbloom seeds than the yiga ever do, and he sprinkles them around like he's trying to grow a garden
marrow cannot help but feel there is something disturbingly familiar about the guy. he just never quite gets it, even when link finally does.
link actually reads about marrow before he sees it, too. in the book entries the yiga leave about in their camps, link occasionally sees mentions of "The Echo," described as a creature with the face of the very guy they have a mission to kill. mysterious, skittish, sometimes hostile, mostly curious. link thinks maybe it's some creature conjured up by ganon's gloom, despite some of the conspiracy theories written in the yiga entries
the first time link sees marrow is when marrow willingly comes out into the open. link sees a hylian body with animal-like hindlegs and a tail, concerningly visible bones, and a face that, while partially covered by thicker gibdo skin, is instantly recognizable as his own. he keeps it together outwardly. inwardly, he's freaking the fuck out
it's... kind of disturbing, looking at marrow. imagine seeing a clone of yourself, but like,, Really Fucked Up. think of the general vibes of the famous bonding scene between hiccup and toothlessālink attempting to befriend this thing that's obviously not made of gloom but a living creature, and marrow having his general jumpy and untrusting nature constantly overshadowed by curiosity. when link moves too quickly at some point, marrow is scuttling into the shadows and not coming back out. link is left wondering
if this thing was just a creature with a random face that he didn't recognize, link wouldn't be nearly as bothered. he'd just think Wow That Was Crazy and go on with his day, since there's Other crazy shit in the depths to look at. but this thing had his face. that's . not something to ignore
link has no idea who to ask about this. he considers interrogating the yiga, but judging by their entries abt "the echo" they're just as clueless. he asks josha about it instead. josha bursts into ramblings about theories and starts flipping through books upon books of notes, asking questions link hadn't even considered and doesn't particularly want the answers to. josha suggests trying to find this creature again, to study him and learn. link shrugs; yeah aight
link catches onto the fact that marrow is attracted to light, so at some point he just tosses a bunch of brightbloom seeds on the ground and sits in the decaying moss, waiting. sure enough, marrow slinks out from the darkness and slowly but surely worms his way to link until they're a few feet apart, staring at each other
link asks marrow who they are, signing and speaking in case it doesn't understand one or the other. marrow tilts its head. okay. so it doesn't understand both
an obstacle to be sure, but it doesn't discourage him. he lets marrow lead the conversation insteadā"conversation" being marrow poking at the lanterns of link's miner's set and watching them wobble and dangle around. link sees his clawed fingers in the light. he decides to be very careful about making any sudden movements
over time, their meetings became more casual, and more frequent. there are stretches of time where link doesn't enter the depths bc he's busy on the surface looking for zelda, but when he does come down, marrow is seemingly always nearby, despite the depths being just as big as hyrule itself
link asks marrow at some point if he knows of a zelda, or where she might be. marrow tilts his head again, crunching the glowing petals of a brightbloom seed between his fingers. ok.
later into link's journey, he starts to realize that he often finds marrow Somewhere near the secret spring of revival; if marrow isn't following along behind him after a while of him being down there, he always finds him at that spring instead. this must be his home, given the decorated lightroot nearby that link hasn't had the heart to activate
link looks at his map one day, and sees that the secret spring of revival is directly below the shrine of resurrection. he thinks about that for a long, long time.
