After entering Veil Falls from North Hyrule Field, Link can cross a bridge to the north and find a giant stone door sitting next to a large waterfall. The door wants to fuse Kinstones, and takes the golden one Link was giving by the late King Gustaf. The Kinstone Fusion screen identified the door as the Source of the Flow, as Gustaf told Link to look for, and Ezlo explains that the waterfall is the source of Hyrule’s water. After passing through a series of caves, Link comes to another mountain to climb. As he climbs, there’s another Wind Crest, and now that Ezlo knows what they are he’s no longer shocked when they explode. Hiding behind the mountain’s top is a Biggoron, but there’s nothing to do with him right now. At the very top of the mountain, Link finds a giant tornado, which Ezlo sees as a dead end, but Link is not so easily deterred and jumps right in.
The tornado takes Link to the Cloud Tops, where Ezlo freaks out over the method of getting there. But, they’re there now, and continue their search for the Wind Element. There are two sisters, presumably of the Wind Tribe, there to greet Link after he arrives. They went to Hyrule for the Picori Festival, and when they came back to the clouds, there were too many monsters in their way to get home. One of the sisters mentions fusing Kinstones as her hope for getting back to her home. He can also fuse Kinstones with both sisters; one of them reveals a cave with a heart piece in Veil Falls.
There are five golden Kinstones hidden throughout the Cloud Tops region. Link needs to find them all, by jumping between levels in the clouds (tornados send him up, and he can drop down on his own), and using the Mole Mitts to dig through… hard-packed snow? Or something. There’s a couple enemies here: Cloud Piranhas that jump out of the clouds to bite, and Lakitus that sit in clouds and throw lightning (not spiny eggs). The places to fuse are also spread throughout the clouds; each one causes a pinwheel near the entrance to the area to start spinning. Once all five are spinning, the clouds around a certain area are dispelled by another big tornado. The sisters jump in to go home, and Link follows them up.
In front of the Sky Tribe’s home, there’s the final Wind Crest. The inside of the home looks familiar – Link visited these people earlier, via a portal that a Kinstone Fusion summoned near Link’s house. However, I would guess that if I went back and tried take that portal to skip the Cloud Tops, it wouldn’t work; there’s probably some flag that gets set when the sisters make their way home that needs to be. Gregal, the man who was haunted before Link’s exorcism, has fully recovered and remembers Link’s help, so he gives him the Light Arrows as a reward.
Siroc, the Sky Tribe’s elder tells Link they’ve been watching his progress, and know that he needs the Wind Element to break the curse on Zelda. She warns that their lore says that once the blade is infused with the four elements, the way to the Light Force will open, and Vaati may know this. While surface people are generally not allowed in the Palace of Winds, Link is special, and she grants him permission to go. As Link heads up to the roof, he receives a hint as to what the Palace’s treasure will be: a device that lets him fly. (I’d guess Roc’s Cape, but the other four treasures have been unique, so maybe not.) A tornado on top of the house sends Link to the Palace of Winds.
I’ll save the Palace of Winds for next time, and bring up something that’s been niggling at my mind for a while now: This is not Vaati’s rampage as described in the backstories of Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures, unless a lot of things start happening soon. In those stories, Vaati was known for kidnapping maidens, and he hasn’t kidnapped a single one yet, unless you count what happened to Zelda (which is a stretch). The Palace of Winds, known as Vaati’s stronghold in the Four Swords games, seems to be unconnected to him and it would be a surprise if he shows up there. Link has a sword that (once infused with the fourth element) can split him into four, but he has to actively do it and it only lasts for a short time. (I’ve been assuming it becomes the Four Sword, but it’s possible I’m wrong.) Ocarina of Time, with Ganon getting the Triforce and being sealed in the Golden Land/Sacred Realm/Dark World by seven sages, felt like it could be a very broad strokes interpretation of the Imprisoning War backstory from A Link to the Past, but this one feels wholly incompatible.
Next: The final element.
