Chapter Text
“Link, get down from there immediately! You’re scaring away the customers!”
The Champion stopped in his tracks and looked over the edge. Hylians were milling around, entirely undisturbed by the whole ordeal as they talked, cooked, ate, walked in and out of the stable or sorted through Beedle’s wares. Some spared him a glance, but nothing more as they instead went on with their day.
“No I’m not. See?” Link waved at Parcy, sitting at the cooking pot and fiddling with a Royal Guard’s Shield. She smiled and waved back at him, then looked down again.
Ember sighed. “And what about the animals?”
“The horses are looking the other way, the goats don't scare easily and the cuccos deserve it.”
“Link!!”
Link shrugged as if to say “Just telling the truth about those demon birds” and proceeded to continue tying octo balloons to the raft he was currently trying to get as high as possible. One of the balloons already there popped, as if adding urgency to his task and he pulled out another from his slate to replace the destroyed one.
Down below, Ember stood, hand shielding his eyes from the sun while staring at the floating raft with an exasperated half-smile. After a few moments, he walked over to Purah, who was standing beside the newly-dug well of the stable with a stack of papers in her hands. She observed the raft in the sky with a deeply focused expression, sometimes taking notes on one of the papers, and hardly noticed when Ember stepped next to her.
“Was this your idea?” he asked.
“Uh-huh,” Purah answered, obviously only listening to him with half an ear. “Linky mentioned trying this once so of course, I had to see it.”
Silence settled over them, minus the usual sounds of life at the stable. One of the cuccos nearby screamed at the top of its lungs for a reason unknown to Ember and he made a mental note to feed the birds after he was done assessing the situation. Gotter would fill in his post at the counter until then and besides, a little workout would do him some good.
“So,” Ember said, “mind telling what exactly it is you’re doing? It is my stable after all.”
Purah looked away from the raft flying above and studied him for a moment. Seeming to have come to a conclusion of whatever it was she had been internally debating, she huffed and went back to sorting through her papers.
“I suppose there’s no harm in telling you,” she said. “I’m actually working on a new sort of transportation device; one that would fly.” She’d said it so casually, like making groundbreaking objects that surpassed anyone’s imagination was an everyday thing – which, if Ember thought about it, it may have been for her.
Purah didn't stop the explanation there, though. “The idea is still very much in the speculation phase, but I thought my best lead would be to study octo balloons – you know, see how much weight they can carry, how high, how long until it pops, compare the results of tests with different materials, and then take all these facts to maximize its capacity in my own design.”
She fished out a sheet of paper from her stack and handed it to Ember. On it were rough sketches of what resembled an octo balloon without spikes attached to a basket. Surrounding these, every bit of free paper was scribbled to the brim with a handwriting so unintelligible, Ember could only make out the many question marks and exclamation points. He whistled in appreciation.
“Naturally, Linky had hordes of octo balloons on hand,” Purah continued, “so I asked him to help me in my tests. The height limit was on the list next, and I believed we should do it above a river in order to keep the damage to the objects getting flown up minimal in case it falls. Then one thing led to another and this stable ended up being the nearest ideal environment for this test.” She glanced at him. “Of course, the information I just told you is still highly confidential, so don't go spreading word to everyone about this.”
Ember gave a two-finger salute, to which Purah rolled her eyes. He gave her back the sketches but frowned as something came up in his mind.
“Say, this wouldn't put us stables out of business, would it?” he asked. “ ‘Cause I’m all for progress and all that, but I also love my job…”
Purah waved her hand dismissively. “I’m not counting on it. This device would mainly help in more easily mapping out monster camps and keeping track of their activity. Maybe a few people would prefer traveling with it in everyday life, although I think most will stick to their beloved horse companions.”
“Right,” Ember grinned. “I suppose you wouldn't like to say goodbye to Mr. Cupcake either anytime soon.”
Purah froze up. “Not one of my proudest moments,” she muttered while Ember just laughed.
“Why? I think a six-year-old naming her horse Mr. Cupcake is adorable,” he said. He swore he saw Purah blushing for a moment, but he couldn't be sure since she turned away.
“Anyhow,” she started, “you have nothing to be concerned about. I’m not going to sabotage your job.”
“That’s a relief, although I’m not sure that first part is true.” Ember nodded towards the raft. “When Link’s involved, I have every right to be concerned.”
“Hey!” came an indignant shout from above. The two conversing below completely ignored it.
“True, true,” Purah agreed. “I wouldn't trust anyone around my stable either if they described making a full raft fly using tiny balloons as, and I quote–” she glanced at one of the papers– “ ‘exploiting the wonkiness of Hyrule’s physics’.”
“Did you seriously write that down? And is ‘wonkiness' even a word?”
“Yes, I did, and as for the second question, I’m not sure either.” Purah shrugged. “But you know what they say: ‘vocabulary is a question of confidence’.”
“Then Link’s has the widest range of them all.”
A scowling face popped over the raft’s edge. “I can still hear you, you know!” Link yelled. “And Purah, Mr. Cupcake is a truly fascinating name!”
Purah mumbled something under her breath that sounded like “curse you and your shrine-enhanced hearing,” then switched to a shout and said “Linky, if you pass on that information to anyone, I will tell the Princess you continue making those monster selfies.”
Link's face twisted into one of horrified betrayal. “You wouldn't!” he gasped, putting a hand on his chest for more dramatics.
“Do you want to find out?”
The two engaged in a fierce staring contest which Ember couldn't watch seriously and had to stifle a laugh. Then, Link’s expression turned thoughtful, then like he just realized something, and finally outright panicked.
“Shit, shit, shit shit,” he cursed. “Purah, what time is it!?”
“I don't know, I’m not the one with the Slate.” She crossed her arms, papers rustling.
Above, Link fumbled with the Sheikah Slate. When he presumably saw the time, he paled.
“Sorry, Purah,” he said, starting to get up, “but our gloom-investigation with Zelda was scheduled for this afternoon, and I’m late as it is.” He tapped the Slate a few times and the raft turned yellow. Ember heard furious stomping from up above as the raft gradually turned orange, then red. Link leaned over the side in the corner opposite from Hyrule Castle and tapped the raft with a single finger from underneath.
Beside him, Purah sighed. “Alright, but drop off the Sheikah Slate at my house in front of the castle before you go in,” she called. “I want to make some more tests while you’re out on your little excursion.”
Link shouted down an “Okay!” and “Bye!” before the red glow around the raft increased its flickering and suddenly, it shot into the air towards the looming silhouette of the castle in the distance.
Ember watched his raft get smaller and smaller on the horizon. He turned to Purah.
“So… who will pay for my raft?”