“Hyea!” Oliviea kicked Ross into full gallop riding to the castle. The sun had just begun to set. The road they were on was very busy and it was a miracle that Oliviea wasn't running anyone over. Eventually they came to the very front entrance of Castle Town. The beautiful wooden buildings with blue roofs matched the architecture of the castle. Thankfully Oliviea slowed Ross down to a trot as they entered the town. Rain remembers running through the streets with her siblings when they would stay to visit their father. 

“Thank you so much General for bringing all this way. But I can find my way from here.” Rain knew the castle town pretty well so she figured she could get to the castle by herself. However Olivia ignored Rain's words and kept riding. “General? I appreciate the help but-”

“I heard you. Now shut up.” Oliviea wasn't telling Rain why she wouldn't let her go. But now Rain was getting worried. Was she in trouble? The two road in silence for the rest of their trek through town. Rain really wanted to stop to look at all the shops but because Oliviea was holding her captive she could not. They road into central square and that's when Oliviea kicked Ross again and bolted towards the castle. Rain held on to the general for dear life. She looked ahead and saw a giant iron door that was shut! Normally it was wide open but because the sun was falling low and the sky turned to orange and purple it was sealed shut. 

Besides the sounds of Ross’ galloping hooves, Rain also heard the shout coming from in front of them.

“Open the gate!”

“General Oliviea is here!” 

With that the iron gate slowly opened. But Oliviea did not stop. The door wasn't going to open in time! Rain shut her eyes bracing herself for the impact. But there was none. The guards had just barely managed to open the gate fast enough for them to slip through. They were now on castle grounds. Rain looked around but saw no rooms or anything of the kind. There was just stone walls, towers, and pavilions.

“Where is everything?” Rain asked Oliviea.

“Most of the castle is underground. It's perfect in case there was ever an attack.” They followed the road leading upward into a huge building in the middle of the path. This is where they finally stopped. There were many soldiers around and standing at attention as soon as they saw the General ride in. From atop her horse Oliviea called out “Soldiers of the Gate House! I have men who should be here within the castle, find them and have them report here immediately.” 

“Already here General.” Stepping out of the crowd were two soldiers. One was very large with a long mustache, a short mohawk, and only one arm. The other was a Sheikah man wearing dark shaded glasses and sideburns.

“Captain Buckaneer, Major Milles. It's good to see that you made it. Where is Lieutenant Havok?” Oliviea jumped off her horse and walked over to the two men.

“He stepped out for a smoke, General.” Buckaneer said, saluting his commanding officer. Oliviea rolled her eyes and sighed. She was very annoyed.

“Go get him! That eastern soldier doesn't have the backbone to be a Hebra soldier. I should transfer him back to Colonel Musttang. Rain, get off the horse!” Oliviea snapped at Rain who half fell off, half jumped off the horse. Once she was on the ground the general pulled Rain close and whispered in her ear.

“You've been a pain in my ass this entire trip. But if you ever need something from me, Fort Hebra will be there.” The general stepped away leaving Rain in shock at the general's kind offer. Perhaps she's not so horrible after all. “HEY YOU!” Oliviea pointed at a knight “Where is Colonel Sou!? This Sheikah girl needs to see him.”

“He's in the Grand Hall, General. In a meeting with the other Sheikah warriors.” Said the singled out knight who was clearly sweating from being called out. 

“I don't care where he is, take this girl to him immediately! Now you two better get going and get out of my site before I run my spear through you both!” Rain sighed at the general's words, she was still horrible. Then Oliviea stormed off to go scream at the lieutenant who was missing. The knight who was called out approached Rain.

“I’m Timmy. Nice to meet you. Shall we get going?” Rain nodded her head. Thus she followed the knight out of the gate house as the echoing shouts of General Oliviea fell behind them. The two followed the path that Rain and the general had rode on just a moment ago. “So what are you here for?” Said the knight Timmy.

“Oh I'm here to be a scientist.” Rain was shy and wasn't in the mood for conversation at this moment. So she kept to small talk.

“So you like plants and stuff?” Timmy pressed on.

“No. That is not the kind of science I will be researching. I'm a technical scientist and I research ancient technology.” Timmy turned around at her words.

“Hey, that's pretty neat! Then you'll want to go to the Laboratory west of the castle. That's where all of Hyrule's smartest scientists do their experiments and what not. I wish you luck with that. Most people who go there that want to be apprentices never pass the test. But you look smart, so I hope you pass.” Timmy said, giving Rain a thumbs up. She smiled at that. But now a seed of doubt was planted in her heart about the test. Just then Rain heard the distant sound of some sort of instrument being played from further down the path. There was a tall stone wall that curved with the road and on top of that wall she saw someone up there playing what looked like a flute. Timmy rushed off with Rain quickly following behind. “Oi! Tris is that you?” Timmy shouted up at the person on the wall.

“Oh, hello Timmy! How are you?” Said the man who was also wearing the armor like all the other knights and soldiers. He had long blond wavy hair that went just past his shoulders and brown eyes. He held what Rain could now see was a wooden ocarina. 

“I'm doing good. Just taking this girl to see Colonel Sou.” Timmy said and Rain waved to the knight up on the wall. “Also fair warning, General Oliviea is here so be on your toes.”

“Yeah I saw her ride in with the girl.” The knight put the instrument in a small pouch and jumped off the wall. He hit the ground with a thud landing on his feet like a cat. He walked over to Timmy and gave him a fist bump. “Is she really as scary as everyone says she is?” Tristan asked his friend.

“I keep forgetting you've only been here two weeks. And yes! She literally threatened to skewer me!” Tristan tried to hold back a laugh at Timmy's words “Hey don't laugh at me! I'm positive she actually would have! Don't you need to be by the prince's side or something?” Timmy asked.

“I get the rest of the evening and tomorrow off. But Archer has invited me to go star watching tonight so I'm getting in some ocarina practice before then.” Tristan said before turning to Rain. “Hello, I'm Tristan. It’s nice to meet you.” He held out his hand for Rain to shake. He was much shorter than her.

“I'm Rain, nice to meet you too.” She smiled at him as she shook Tristan’s hand. 

“I like your hair. It's so pretty! So what brings you to the castle?” Tristan asked, letting go of her hand.

“Well I hope to be researching ancient technology. Such as the Guardians, Divine Beasts, and other such materials.” At that moment she saw Tristan's eyes widen and a huge smile appeared on his face.

“Oh my golden goddesses really!!! That's so fucking cool!” Tristan was practically jumping up and down. Timmy shook his head. 

“Tristan is absolutely obsessed with Hyrule’s history and about the Hero of legend. He’s read basically every book about it.” Rain eyes widened too.

“Have you read the books in the library about ancient technology?” Rain asked excitedly

“I haven't read every book and Rain I'm sorry but no. The technology stuff really isn't my thing. It hurts my brain. But if you want to know about the hero, I'm your man. So where are you guys off to again? Sorry I didn't really hear what you said earlier.” Tristan asked.

“I'm taking Ms. Rain to see Sou.” Timmy said.

“He’s my father.” Rain added. The two knights just stared at her in disbelief.

“Fire of Din! Who knew?!” Timmy said as he started in shock. After the moment of surprise was over he turned around and continued to walk down the path. Rain and Tristan followed, walked behind him to talk about history. They kept walking and talking until they got to a lower entrance and into the castle. 

“That's so cool that you want to be a scientist! And about the test, just remember don't overthink it! You'll be okay, just be brave. Once you get accepted as an apprentice we will have to hang out on our days off!” Tristan said. Smiling at Rain he patted her on the back. Rain listened to Tristan's words about being brave. Why did it sound so familiar? Rain took a longer look at Tristan who turned to mention something to Timmy. His brown eyes, blond hair, and optimistic personality seemed so familiar.

“Did you hear Commander Numor is coming to your knighting ceremony? I also heard it's not going to be your ordinary ceremony.” Timmy said to Tristan.

“Yeah I heard. He’s been like a father to me so I'm excited for him to be there. And I know a bit about the ceremony. The princes have taken it upon themselves to plan the damn thing.” Then it clicked in Rain’s mind why Tristan was so familiar. Hearing the name Numor confirmed it! Tristan was the boy who came to visit the village with the Commander when she was a little girl! Upon her realization she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. The two knights looked at her.

“Are you okay? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” Timmy pointed out.

“Tristan! It's me! Do you remember when you went to Kakariko as a little boy?” Rain said as a smile came upon her face. Tristan looked very confused.

“Yeah. Wait how the hell did you know th-” Tristan’s word escaped his mind. “Oh my goddesses!” Tears filled his eyes and he jumped into Rain’s arms. Timmy looked absolutely bewildered at the situation. But decided he’d ask Tristan about it later. “This has got to be destiny!” Tristan said as he let go of Rain.

“You actually became a knight! Congratulations!” Rain said, knocking on the silver armor Tristan wore.

“And you're about to become a scientist! I’m so happy for you!” Rain and Tristan giggled and hugged each other a few more times before Timmy had enough.

“Congratulations, you two somehow know each other and have been reunited. But I ain't becoming a meat skewer for General Oliviea to have with her dinner. Let's get moving!” 

“Timmy’s right. It's so good to see you, Rain. We will have to catch up later. If you ever need to talk with me just send a letter to the castle and it will find its way to me. I have to go meet Archer. Bye.” With that Tristan and Rain hugged each other one more time before the young knight quickly ran down the hall, disappearing around a corner. Rain watched as he left in a hurry. She wanted to keep talking with Tristan but she had to keep focused on her goal. There will be other times to talk with him. Timmy started walking again in the same direction as Tristan went. 

“I don't understand what he sees in those princes. He spends enough time with them during the day.” Timmy said walking down the hall with Rain close behind.

“What do you mean?” Rain asked Timmy.

“Tristan is Prince Archer’s appointed knight. But yesterday he was assigned to the other two as well. So when he’s not with one he’s usually with the other. But sometimes when Tristan gets off work they always ask him to stay a little longer. Especially Archer. Why don't they ever let him get time off? Thank god he has his day off tomorrow.” Rain became glad that she wasn't a soldier or a knight. Having to deal with mean generals and long hours. Sounded like a lot of hard and painful labor. 

She followed Timmy down a long hallway with a red carpet until they entered a square room with a doorway on each wall. Rain looked to her right where she saw some stairs going up. 

“That's the observatory. But we're going this way to the Grand Hall. In my opinion it is the most marvelous room in the entire castle, besides the Sanctum.” Timmy and Rain took a left down a big staircase. But she started walking more slowly. She hadn't seen nor talked to her father since the winter holidays. And it was now early summer. Plus Timmy said he was busy in a meeting with his soldiers. She hoped he wouldn't be mad at her interruption.

Once they came to the bottom of the stairs the room opened up into a gigantic hall. Rain stopped to stare in awe. It had big pillars to hold up the tall ceiling, a red carpet that stretched all the way to the far back, and the Hyrulian flags hanging all around the room. Rain couldn't believe her eyes, for she had never been in such a large room before. Timmy waved his hand in front over her trying to get her attention. He pointed out a large group of people at the end of the hall.

“Those are the Sheikah soldiers. Your father is over there. As we approach, remain quiet until he notices us.” Timmy gently nudged Rain forward making her lead the way. Rain turned to face Timmy, she didn't want to go first! Rain was an introvert who did her best to stay out of the way and social situations. But now she had to walk into a large group of people. Timmy gently nudged her again.

“He's your father. Not mine.” And with that they both started walking forward. As they approached, Rain saw all the warriors were wearing the traditional Sheikah stealth armor. Each garment was carefully made using Sheikah crafting techniques to suppress the noisy rustling of clothes and or heavy armor. It fit tight to the skin and its fabric was a dark violet with the dark red eye talisman woven onto the chest. The outfit also consisted of a matching cloth mask hiding the warrior's mouth and nose, a white woven scarf, and dark leather shoulder and shin guards.

Rain was barely able to make out what the meeting was about. The voices echoed off the stone and things got a little muffled together. But once she got closer they became clearer and clearer. But the conversation wasn't of much interest to her. Just mostly assigning patrols throughout the castle, sending others on missions and what not. They were on the very edge of the group and some Sheikah warriors turned around to see who had approached. Rain felt a relief as she recognized many faces. After all, most of them where from Kakariko village. She would smile at them and say quiet hellos and the warriors would do the same.

“Hello Rain.”

“What are you doing here?”

“It's good to see you.”

They then started to move out of the way for Rain to approach the front. She looked back at Timmy before she entered the crowd but saw he was already walking away. After all, he still had a job to do. Upon Rain being welcomed by familiar people she felt much more relaxed. She walked into the crowd and as she moved forward more people recognized her and gave a soft hello or a gentle nod of greeting. Finally she was up at the very front. She looked ahead and saw her father, Colonel Sou, addressing the crowd and giving orders. He scanned the crowd and his words stopped as his eyes fell on his daughter.

“Raindrop?!” He shouted in shock. Quickly gathering his thoughts and clearing his throat he spoke to his soldiers. “Alright you are dismissed. If I didn't give you or your patrol an assignment tonight, meet me at the northern pavilion just after breakfast tomorrow. Have a good night and don't stay out too late or else the ghostly poes will get you.” The colonel made spooky noises and waved his hands in the air. With that the crowd gave out a small chuckle before they all started disbanding and walking out of the hall. Sou turned to his daughter looking extremely overjoyed at seeing her.

“Hi dad. Um, it's been a while.” Rain had know idea what to say to him. She remembered they used to have a lot of fun family time before he left to join the Hyrulian army. Sou held out his arms as if to give Rain a hug. Rain smiled and hugged him back.

“I’ve missed you so much raindrop! You'll have to tell me everything and what you're doing here.” Sou was still embracing his daughter and didn't have any intention of letting her go.

“Dad, you can let go of me now.” Rain made a nervous laugh and Sou released her.

“Sorry, sorry. I'm just so happy that you're here! It was such a wonderful surprise. Why didn't you notify me of your arrival?” Sou was basically bouncing off the walls and Rain could barely keep up with his questions. Rain explained to her father that she was here to become a scientist to study ancient technology. And that her and her mother had been talking to the elders to find out more information. And the best way for Rain to find out more was to become an apprentice and a scientist herself.

“I didn't know if I would actually see you. However my original travel plan was interrupted when I was attacked by Bokoblins and General Oliviea saved me. From there she took me here and had me escorted to come find you.” Rain explained to her father and expressed that she didn't know what to do now that she was actually here. 

“Hmm. I don't know much about that topic. But tomorrow I can have someone escort you to the laboratory. Most of the scientists live at the lab because the distance between it and castle town is far too long to make daily trips back and forth. But for tonight and whenever you want you are always welcome to stay at my home in the town. I’ll give you a key once we get there. Let's go there now. I have nothing left to do here so let's go home and I’ll make dinner.” With that being said the two walked out of the Grand hall and started walking through the castle. Sou and Rain kept up very nice and generic conversations as they walked. Eventually they made it out of the underground castle. She saw it was twilight outside and lanterns and torches were just being lit to illuminate the castle grounds and in the town. It looked very pretty and peaceful. Looking out onto the night scenery, Rain felt a bit homesick. Then the thought hit her. If she was accepted to become a scientist she didn't know when she'd be able to go back home.

“It's nothing compared to the mountain nights at Kakariko is it?” Sou said to his daughter “At first that was all I could think about too.” He put his hand on his daughter's shoulder. That made her feel a little better knowing that she still had family close to her even though home was far away. They made their way through the giant iron doors at the front gate. Rain saw that there was still a small patrol guarding it. Sou said goodnight to the knights stationed there as they cracked open the giant gate to let them out. They crossed the stone bridge into the castle town. There were still a few people roaming about but not as many as earlier. Rain knew the way to her fathers house. She knew the streets sorta well too. Eventually they made their way to the familiar house where Sou lived and Rain and her family would visit. 

Sou started to cook dinner while Rain went up into a little loft where she and her siblings would share a giant bed. She put down her travel bag and sat on the edge of the bed in silence. She pulled out her journal and Ms. Nina’s husband, Shusuke’s, and laid them open on the bed. She desperately wanted to know more about ancient technology. And when her father was making dinner she started reading Shusuke’s journal. It was packed full of drawings about what the guardians might have looked like and other such things and hypotheses about how it all worked. There were theories about where all the guardians and most importantly, The Divine Beasts were being hidden. The Divine Beasts were much like the Guardians but they were gigantic mechanical creations that were piloted by a single person and used as a finishing blow to the calamity. Here is one of the passages she read.

“Day 6 in the Akkala Wild Lands. As I excavate a large patch of land over in Akkala wilds I have discovered many signs that there once was ancient magic here. Especially on Tumlea Heights and Bloodleaf lake. I am keeping the eye I found safe in the lighthouse. I have also found many small scraps of metal like shards not belonging to any known metal. It is smooth to the touch and almost like stone. Eventually I'd like to dive into the depths of Skull Lake to see what might be lurking at its depth. And that labyrinth. That gives me the chills. There is something there, I can feel it.” Rain read on and on until she was called down to dinner. And after dinner it was time to blow out the candles and go to sleep. She crawled under the blankets on her bed and stayed up late reading with a single candle on her nightstand to illuminate the journal as she read deep into the night.