The next three days were well spent in the company of Link. He gave me a wonderful tour of the town one of the days. The day afterwards we took some of his old cold resistant clothing and tailored it to fit me for our trip into the mountains, and yesterday we spent the day prepping our bags with food, clothes, water and some hunting supplies for the trip.

Link said it would take about a week if he went at a slow pace and maybe 4 days if we kept a good pace which was mostly up to the horses and how good our hunting capability is. Today we spent the morning getting all of our bags and equipment onto the horses and hefty breakfast before we embark.

"Are you looking forward to today?" Link asks and I nod before taking my last bite of my breakfast.

"I'm really excited." I say getting up to wash my plate. In just a few minutes we'd be leaving to Rito Village. I'm beyond excited to venture so far, especially since I'll be acompanied by someone who actually knows what they're doing.

After Link finishes up his breakfast and washes his plate we go outside to start the trip. We hop onto out horses and start on our way out of the village. I pat Evas neck as we exit rhe village. "You're gonna do great on this trip." I tell her.

"You're both going to do great." Link says as he pulls out his map. "I think the best way to go about this would be to head to the Riverside Stable first." He points to a spot on the map. 'Then we follow this trail through Hyrule field until we reach the Outskirt Stable. After that we can just camp out for a day or two here. Hunt something and gather up more supplies before the next stretch to the next stable. Then after that the final stretch is to Rito village." He looks back at me. "Sound good?"

"Yeah." I nod. "I'm just realizing how far we're travelling."

"It is a lot, but it's gonna be fun." He smiles.

"So today we're going to get to the riverside stable?"

"Yeah, I think we can make it there tonight." He pats Eva. "The most important thing is to listen to your horse. If they're tired, we stop." I nod.

"Of course." I say. I couldn't imagine pushing Eva beyond her limit. I can't imagine what I'd do without her.

We travel all down the mountain taking a few stops to let the horses drink water. We were moving faster than we thought which was nice since it meant more time to rest at the stable. We made it past Fort Hateno and I again enjoyed the view. There was something about the structure that just felt so powerful. "It's pretty intense." Link says. I look up as we pass beneath the structure.

"I can't imagine what those knights went through."

"I agree.. I heard stories while training to be a knight. Those men deserve all the respect in the world." I nod in agreement.

"To have lost their lives fighting here. I can't imagine how scared they were."

"I never thought of them being scared." Link says. "But you're right. Even with training and knowing the risks, facing such a horror can only be described as terrifying." I nod now feeling a terrible sadness. All the people who risked their lives against the calamity, all their sacrifices so that we could live normal lives. Living in Akkala I never thought much about it but being out here and seeing the final resting place of so many gives me such a great appreciation for those who came before me. "But enough of that. We're on a good, happy journey." Link smiles. I nod in agreement. Today is the start of an amazing journey.

The day goes on and we chat along the trail. He tells me about his time in Rito village and what I'd like to do once we're there. I really hadn't thought about it. All I've heard of is the view from the village. Looking down at the mountain and how beautiful it is. He recommends hiking around on foot, and camping out on the mountains which sounds fun but I can't imagine how cold it would be.

"What do you usually do in Rito Village when you visit?" I ask Link. "Aside from camp in the snow."

"Shield surf, visit the hot springs, fight monsters. I usually go up by myself so I'm trying to think of things to do with other people."

"Everything but the monster fighting sounds like fun."

"What do you want to do?" I think for a bit. All I really thought of doing was just going to the village and sight seeing forgetting there was an enormous mountain range around.

"The hot springs sound nice."

"They are. The ones on death mountain are great too but there's nothing like hot springs on a cold mountain. Nothing beats that." I have never been to any hot spring even though my home wasn't far from death mountain. I'm excited to have this new experience. The reward of relaxing in the warmth of the springs after hiking through a snowy mountain. Now that's all I can think about.

The hours pass as the day goes on. We pass by the Dueling Peaks and continue onward to the Riverside stable. It was nice taking this route since I had cut through Kakariko Village on my way here. It was intense cutting through the two peaks, the sheer size of them was overwhelming. I had never seen something so utterly gigantic in my life, much less been this close to it. My mind was in utter wonder of how vast this world is and how little I have seen of it.

We reached the stable as the sun was setting which gave us plenty of time to rest and prepare some dinner for ourselves. There was surprisingly no one else aside from us at the stable, last time I was here there was at least 6 other people.

The horses were hitched and we were both sitting around the campfire, Link was preparing our food and I looked off behind him as the sun set. "How you feeling?" Link asks.

"I feel good. A little tired but excited."

"Tomorrow should be fairly easy too. It's the days afterwards that won't." He passes me a bowl of food. It's some meat slices, vegetables and some rice. I thank him and start eating.

"I'm excited for that too." I tell him. "This last week has been the best week of my life. It's like I got a second chance at life. I can't explain it, I'm free of everything." Link smiles and I feel my cheeks getting warm.

"Im happy you feel that way. I imagine it's a great feeling." I nod.

"It really is." I continue eating my food.

We both finish our food fairly fast before we head into the stable to get our rest after today's stretch. I lay down on the bed and stare up at the ceiling thinking of what's to come on this journey. The exploring I've done so far has already been so fulfilling, I can't imagine how I'll feel when we finally reach Rito Village. I turn to my side and face the wall. I can't wait for tomorrow.