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Eventide sandstone: a curious formation, about 10 meters thick. Features Liesegang rings in the upper segments and rip-up deposits in the lower beds. Mostly subrounded, well-sorted particles, cemented with calcite (fizzes vigorously when exposed to acid) and containing glauconite. No evidence of cross-bedding. Despite my best efforts, this unit does not appear to be fossiliferous. Mostly gray with some green flecks, ranges to tan. – From Ikki Springborn's field notes, dated 8.11.9895. I'm not quite sure how this was relevant, but I was pointed to this entry; beyond the meeting with an otherwise non-notable Zora and Rito (who I can't find any mentions of outside of Ikki's field notes), I don't see anything particularly important here. Eventide Island, being entirely uninhabited and the war being land-focused, did not play any significant role in the war either. Unless it was specifically given to me to waste some of my time, perhaps that is the biggest mystery of all.
It was a warm day. Warm was understating it; this far south, in the depths of summer, the heat was oppressive. Why Ikki had allowed herself to be sent to Eventide Island at this time of year was beyond her, but she did find it comforting. The island was entirely uninhabited and the local fishermen from Hateno and Lurelin Villages only rarely came out this far. There would likely be a few ocean Zora somewhere out there, but they did not come this close to the coast often. In all likelihood, Ikki would be entirely alone here. She had gotten into field work to get away from people, and even if having a companion wasn't the worst, she still enjoyed when it was just her and the rocks. Oh, there was supposedly a sleeping Hinox here, but she had seen no evidence of its existence. Besides, she had heard that from the same rumors that everything one brought would disappear, and yet she found that her pack, everything inside, and her rock hammer were without a doubt still here.
Ikki examined the sandstone wall before her, taking note of the clast shapes with her hand lens. Most of it was reasonably pure quartz with a calcite cement (calcite, not dolomite, she had checked with acid already), but a few flecks of green indicated the presence of glauconite. It was a fascinating mineral, formed from the remnants of organic matter. Even if the formation contained no fossils to the best of her knowledge, Ikki smiled at the knowledge that it still preserved a sign of ancient life. She hastily scribbled some details about it down into her notebook before returning it to her pack and taking out the map she was working on. Due to their uninhabited status, the southeastern islands had not been properly studied, and so Ikki had been tasked with creating geologic maps of them.
As Ikki worked, she thought back to Rito Village. She and Loraine had gotten along well, frequently having dinner together turning into spending time together turning into something of a real relationship. Loraine could be a bit featherbrained at times, yes, but Ikki found it endearing more than anything. She had also been very accepting of Ikki's need to travel frequently for work; even still, she always had something ready for her whenever she returned. Just before she had left, Loraine had given her a new rock hammer. Ikki had been a bit too afraid to use it on this trip, wanting to keep it just as Loraine had made it. When she had seen a particularly interesting granite with some aluminosilicate xenocrysts on the way here, however, that had been enough to change her mind about it. It now sat securely on her hip, waiting for her next opportunity to use it. She would not use it on this sandstone, however, if only for risk of getting sand everywhere.
Her train of thought was interrupted by a splashing from behind her, followed by the click-click-click of talons on stone. Ikki turned around to find herself faced with a very young Rito with blue and orange feathers and a familiar Zora.
"Sona, is that you?" Ikki asked. "What brings you all the way out here?"
"They want meteorological measurements, supposedly there's a tropical storm brewing all the way to the southeast that might be headed Hyrule's way," Sona said. "Have I introduced you to my new apprentice?"
"I don't believe you have," Ikki replied.
"This is Kathli Summerborn," Sona said, ruffling Kathli's head feathers a bit. "He's young but eager. We have him fly up to take measurements high in the sky."
"Don't tell me you're about to do what I think you are..." Ikki trailed off. "He's a fledgling!"
Sona chuckled and shook her head. "No, we'd never send him out into the storm, would we Kathli?"
"Definitely not!" Kathli exclaimed before running up to Ikki and embracing her legs in a hug. Ikki's feathers roused in shock before returning to a more normal position.
"How do you plan on figuring out where that storm's going?" Ikki asked.
"Pressure readings!" Kathli exclaimed. "Wind wants to flow from areas of high pressure to low pressure!"
That certainly made enough sense to Ikki. "You plan on taking some here on Eventide, then?"
"Furthest southeast point we can get good readings on land, isn't it?" Sona asked. "It's a natural choice."
"It certainly is," Ikki replied.
"Say, what brings you out here?" Sona pressed.
"The rocks out here aren't well-described," Ikki began. "Nothing out here is, nobody really comes out here. Hyrule Geological Service wants everything mapped, however, and so I was sent out here. We obviously weren't sending any of our Gorons, and our one Zora was too busy working on a project up in southern Akkala. From what I've heard, though, Dragonlord Maril Algoreb isn't a big fan of her."
"Do tell why," Sona stated. "Now you've made it interesting."
"Their personalities just didn't mesh well," Ikki said, "or that's what I've heard from her, anyway."
"What about the rocks?" Kathli asked. "What's this green stuff?"
"That," Ikki began, "is glauconite. It's a very interesting mineral in the mica group. Say... do you know where this glauconite came from?"
"No, where did it come from?" Sona asked.
"It's fossilized worm poop from millions of years ago," Ikki explained. "That's what I've heard at least."
Kathli burst out laughing that that, and Ikki and Sona smiled. It was nice that they had met again.