Kakariko Village is behind them, looking smaller from above. Ahead, the footpath winds its way into the forest. The moonlight is good today, but the trees get denser the farther in. There's movement in the undergrowth.

Link equips his bow.

Zelda swaps into her stealth suit and lets Link take the lead on this one. He's usually better at spotting danger than she is.

For all the mild spookiness, it does seem more... well, spooky than dangerous. There is still that something rustling in the bushes, but it sounds small. Link is keeping his footsteps light, sneaking—

Something tiny and luminous blue darts across the forest floor—

Oh, hey, free money!

The blupee yowls as the arrow punctures it, spraying rupees across the dirt. It runs off, vanishing into the undergrowth.

Aaand Link realizes they don't actually need money.

"Sorry," he says. "Reflex."

"That's all right." She collects the rupees and hands them to him. "It seems wise to have more sources of money than just me and my endless pockets, anyway."

Nod. "Might mean we're on the right track."

As they advance the forest gets denser, but the path continues. It's mostly quiet, save the sound of insects, birds, and the occasional rabbit.

"This goes through the forest," Link says, inspecting the map again. "If we follow it we just come out on the road."

"Well. Should we leave it, then?"

"We might need to go off-road."

He turns in a circle.

"We're at the center now. South is—a lake, with some built structures? Then north is more promising."

"North it is! I'll follow your lead; you have better instincts for this sort of thing than I do."

Then they can pick their way into the trees.

They are kind of making a big production of exploring a small forest a mile away from the village, aren't they.

After a few minutes of walking, Link checks their location on the map, and it is... not. Instead of a pin, the Sheikah Slate is displaying a wobbling circle half the size of the forest, seemingly undecided if they're halfway into the next mountain or a mile down the road they turned off from.

He shows it to Zelda.

"Alarming, yet promising!"

The trees begin to thin as they keep going. Eventually they see a glimmer of light through the foliage ahead.

They can follow it, but it seems to always be a few more trees away, gleaming through the leaves, tauntingly close but out of reach. Until, finally, with the suddenness of a wave crashing on rocks, the trees give way to a moonlit glade.

It's a small clearing, but it's loomed over by an odd, thorny bud the size a small house. The thing's sepals are a miserable green with purpled tips. The grass near it is yellow and withered.

There's no sight of what was sparkling at them earlier.

Zelda cautiously approaches the plant.

A low, crooning voice ekes from the folds of the bud.

"Child... sweet children... please... listen to my story..."

...oookay.

"Yes?"

"This sorry place was once a beautiful spring... but as time passed, fewer and fewer travelers arrived to offer me rupees. As a result, my power has abandoned me. I'm nearly powerless now, so I beg your help. I need your assistance to become whole again. If my power is returned to me, I may be able to help you out in some way... So please... I beg of you... help me regain the power I've lost..."

"...by giving you rupees?" she clarifies.

"Yes! Dear, clever, girl... all I need is five thousand rupees. Then I can be whole again!"

...Is this a scam?

Is it??

Okay. She's curious. It's not like this will run down a finite resource besides her time.

She starts pulling rupees out of her pocket. Her highest denomination is purple, so she only needs... a hundred of them? Yes? Yes. Easy.