Chapter Text
Link’s foot dug into a notch in the sandstone. He took a small breath, gripped the cliff wall, and jumped. His hand hit soft sand, and he pulled himself to the top of the plateau. For a minute, he stayed on his knees to catch his breath. The desert sun beat down on his back and baked into the sand, filling his breath with that particular smell of hot, dry earth.
Before he could get up, someone ran over to him. He could tell by the golden boots that it was a Gerudo guard. “Ah, Link!” she said. “We sent a request for your aid to Lookout Landing. Good thing we didn’t have to wait long.”
“Wait, what’s going on? What happened?”
She pulled him to his feet. “A statue has been vandalized.”
A statue of Link holding the Thunder Helm rests nearby Gerudo Town. A plaque on the statue’s base tells the story of how Link bravely fought and killed the evil Master Kohga to steal the helm back from him and return it to its rightful owners.
Well, it used to.
Someone, maybe multiple people, had taken a brush and red paint to it. The helmet was completely painted over, Link’s face had a big X over it, and a new symbol was patterned across the whole thing. It looked like a Yiga eye, but closed and with teardrop shapes instead of lashes. Just in front of the plaque, something laid in the sand.
A gerudo scimitar with a black bokoblin horn fused to it.
The guards nervously eyed each other. One of them was trying to stop civilians from seeing the weapon, another was trying to soothe the ones who had already noticed it. “The situation is alright. We have everything under control. Disperse, now.”
While the guards were trying to get the crowd under control, Capitan Teake noticed Link. “Ah, swordsman! Good to see you. You’ve arrived just in the nick of time.” She gestured to the statue. “As you can see… we have a bit of a situation on our hands.” Link’s attention drifted to the weapon in the sand. Teake was silent for a second. “And that… That’s bad news. We’re really not sure what to do. We could use your help.”
“You think the Yiga might attack Gerudo Town?” Link asked, still fixed on the weapon.
“It’s certainly a possibility,” she said. “We’re still thinking of what to do now, since we have very little information.”
Before she was finished speaking, Link started walking over to the statue. He had noticed some glistening from the red paint. Pushing past the crowd and the guards, he got to the plaque and ran his finger across one of the streaks. It came back red.
Realizing that the paint was still fresh, Teake and the guards circled up and discussed a plan of action. “Link, we think it’s best for you to head to Gerudo town. We can supply you with gear and information we’ve gathered on the Yiga. And, if you’re able to, you should investigate around to see if the perpetrator is hidden there. The fresh paint means they couldn’t have gone far.”
Gerudo Town was… certainly in a state. Guards surrounded the walls on all sides, only letting Link in with explicit permission from both Capitan Teake and Lady Riju. Despite their efforts to keep the civilians away from the situation, the whole town was abuzz with worry.
When Link got to the barracks, most of the guards were tearing apart straw dummies with their spears. The ones that weren’t had their weapons in white knuckle grips as they spoke in low voices. They seemed to lighten up a little when they noticed Link. “Swordsman, you’re here!” Link noticed one of them look down a little. “Thank Hylia…” she murmured.
“We have some gear for you,” A new guard said, walking up to him with a set of folded clothes in her hands. “This is a Yiga footsoldier uniform that we confiscated from a prisoner. It seems to be around your size. I believe you could make use of it for infiltrations.”
Examining the uniform, Link caught some noticeable differences. The spikes on the hand and foot wraps had gold bases, and gold tipped tassels hung from the hood and gloves. The mask had two little horns on it, similar to how Master Kohga’s mask did. Overall, the whole uniform seemed more extravagant.
“NO, NO, NO!” A guard suddenly yelled. “THE WEAPONS! THEY’RE GONE!”
The previously on edge guards were now in a full blown frenzy, trying to figure out what happened and what to do. How long had they been gone for? Did the Yiga steal them? What are we supposed to give to the hero now?
Eventually, one of them did find a weapon. But she hesitated once she picked it up. The other guards ran up to her to see what was wrong, and they subsequently fell silent too. It took a minute for the guard to clench her fist and present the blue lizalfos reaper to Link. “As much as it feels wrong to give you this one… it’s all we have. Use it well.”
After getting his gear, Link noticed a guard looking nervous and thought to talk to her, mostly to get information, but also just to try and ease them. “What’s up with the clan now? Anything I need to know?”
The guard was startled, but happy to help Link. “Well, as you could guess, the clan’s had a deadly grudge ever since you killed Kohga. Word is that he fell on top of that giant metal ball, and one of the spikes drove through his heart and killed him.”
Link winced a little at that. He knew that it wasn’t his fault, and even if it was, Kohga most definitely deserved it, but he still wished deep down that he could’ve done something. He barely even noticed the guard continuing. “They used to just wander around attacking whoever, but since the Upheaval they’ve gotten a lot more organized. Their crimes are more planned out, and a lot more… cruel. Our guess is that they have a new leader. That guess mainly comes from a scientist who claims to have seen said leader. He should be in Hateno Village for the next few days if you’re interested in that..” She looked away for a minute. “If you’re going to investigate the town to find the vandal, I might recommend you ask Hareela about the clan, but I’d feel terrible for making her think about that incident again. She might be willing to tell you, though.”
After gathering everything he could get, Link decided there were 3 ways to go about this: Infiltrate the Karusa hideout with his Yiga disguise, Investigate the town to find the vandal and interrogate them, or head to Hateno Village to ask the scientist about the new clan leader.
The question was, what to do first?
If Link investigates Gerudo town, turn to chapter 2
If Link goes to the Yiga hideout, turn to chapter 3
If Link goes to Hateno Village, turn to chapter 4