Beth pulls up shortly after the first screen transition, and Malo not long after, but Talo kept going. Link continues to give chase, jumping over a fence. He eventually stumbles across a guy who gives him a Lantern to help him navigate the caves ahead – he sells lantern oil and figures giving away lanterns is a good way to grow his customer base. As this implies, the Lantern doesn’t run indefinitely; it needs oil to stay lit. I’ll hold off judgment on this mechanic until I have a better idea how easy or hard it is to keep the lantern full enough to use, but bottle space is already a premium, especially in the early game, so I’m not charitably inclined.
At the entrance to a nearby cave, Link finds Talo’s play sword after defeating a Deku Baba. The cave has more Deku Babas and a few Keese to give the player a chance to fight some easy enemies, and then Link emerges in Faron Woods. There, Bokoblins join the ranks of the enemies he fights. To the northeast, there’s a cave with a chest with a key, and two torches that when both are lit reveal a treasure chest containing the first heart piece. Unlike every other game so far, it takes five heart pieces instead of four to fill a heart container. Then to the northwest, two Bokoblins guard a gate that leads on to the next area.
The next area has more Bokoblins and a talking bird named Trill that sells Lantern Oil and Red Potion. The shop seems to run on the honor system, with Link tossing rupees in a box after filling his Lantern and/or Bottle. (If he doesn’t pay the full amount, Trill calls him a cheapskate.) As Link approaches the far end of the area, he sees Talo and the monkey locked up in a small cage guarded by two Bokoblins. After defeating the Bokoblins, he breaks the cage, freeing both prisoners. As Link and Talo return to the village, Talo says that the monkey tried to protect him from the Bokoblins, and asks Link not to tell his dad what happened. As Talo wanders off home, Rusl comes to Link, saying that Colin told him about Talo and apologizing that Link was put in the position of having to rescue him. Rusl says that the woods have become strange lately. Then he tells Link everything’s clear for him to make the trip to Hyrule, and maybe if he’s lucky, he’ll get to meet Zelda.
The next day, Link’s sitting in the grass at Ordon Ranch when Fado says they should close up early so Link can get going on his trip to Hyrule. This starts another round of the goat herding minigame; this time there’s twenty goats and it’s timed, but the only effect the timer has is Fado comments that Link beats his usual time if he can do it in under three minutes (which isn’t hard). Link returns to the village, and Ilia tends to Epona while Link talks to her father, the mayor, about the trip to Hyrule. The gift Link’s supposed to present was specifically requested by the royal family, and of course it’s best to not be late with it. Before Link can set off, Ilia notices an injury on Epona’s leg and blows up at Link. Her father tries to calm her down, but she turns on him too. She leads Epona off to the spring while Link and the mayor share an exasperated look.
The mayor tells Link he’ll need Epona to reach Hyrule on time, so Link follows Ilia to talk her into giving it back. As he approaches his house, Colin’s there saying Talo and Malo are blocking the path to the spring. They’re particularly annoyed at Colin for telling Rusl who told their father who yelled at them for going into the woods. When they ask to borrow Link’s sword, Link agrees and they run off to play with it, clearing the way for Colin and Link to go to the spring. Colin thanks Link and asks him to teach him to ride sometime, then runs off to the spring, and Link follows.
When Link gets to the spring, Ilia’s closed a gate in front of it, and she’s not in a forgiving mood. Colin points out the tunnel he used to get in and offers to try to calm Ilia down while Link sneaks in. By time Link makes it in, Ilia’s starting to calm down, and when Epona reacts to Link’s presence, Ilia agrees to let them go together. She asks Link to make sure to come home safe, and Link nods his acknowledgement.
Heavy hoofbeats outside the spring attract everyone’s attention, and a giant boar ridden by a couple Bulblins crashes the gate. Ilia’s shot by an arrow, Link gets clubbed over the head and knocked out [1], Colin gets scooped up, and Epona spooked and presumably darted off. The Bulblins carry off Ilia and Colin while their leader – or King, I should say; I recognize this guy from Hyrule Warriors – arrives, surveys the scene, and blows a horn, causing a spot of darkness to appear in the sky. After they’re gone, Link recovers to find everyone else gone, and runs off looking for them. He stops short in front of the giant wall from the demo reel, but something reaches through from the other side, grabs him, and pulls him through.
Next: Mouth is alive with juices like wine…
[1] He had the earlier scene where Beth, Talo, and Malo woke him up, and then gets knocked out at the start of the true adventure. I’m counting it.
