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The sun was barely peeking over the mountains, but Tulin was already wide awake. He got up early every day to train. He was a warrior—the Sage of Wind—and he had to be ready for anything to keep Hyrule safe.
The cold air ruffled Tulin’s feathers as he landed at the Flight Range. He looked out at the glowing blue targets. When he was little, he used to watch Link practice archery here. Tulin was good, but Link was amazing. He could shoot so fast, it was like he was slowing down time. Tulin had never managed to beat Link’s record, but it was always fun to try.
He spread his wings and jumped, letting the updraft hold him in the air. His eyes fixed on a distant target. In one fluid motion, he drew his bow and let an arrow fly. It shot across the range, slicing through the wind, and shattered the target.
Tulin swooped around the range, shooting arrow after arrow. After a while, he spotted someone waiting on the platform—a Hylian, with a bow on his back and feathers in his golden hair.
“Link?” Tulin called. “Is that you?”
The man didn’t answer, but that just made Tulin more sure. Link never really talked unless he had to.
Tulin landed on the platform. It was Link! He wrapped his wings around him in a tight hug.
“You haven’t visited in forever,” Tulin whined.
Link shrugged apologetically.
“I know it’s harder now that the shrine is gone.” Tulin sighed. “I just wish I got to see you more.”
“Me too,” said Link.
“Is Princess Zelda here?” Tulin asked. “She’s probably with my parents at the village, right?”
Link nodded.
“Well, I’m sure they won’t mind waiting for a few more minutes.” Tulin grinned. “Wanna have a little contest?”
Link smiled and pulled the bow from his back.
Several broken targets later, Tulin and Link headed back to the village. As they climbed the winding stairs, an awful smell drifted down to them.
Tulin covered his beak with a wing. “Ugh, what is that? It’s like a bunch of burned bokoblin guts!”
The higher they climbed, the worse the smell got. When they reached Tulin’s house, they found Princess Zelda stirring a cooking pot. Tulin’s parents watched her, their faces scrunched like they’d just come across a giant pile of Hinox dung.
“Link! Tulin! Just in time,” the princess said cheerfully. “I made hearty salmon meunière. I hear it’s a Rito favorite.”
It was like she didn’t even notice the stench. Did being a dragon for a million years make her nose stop working?
Tulin peered inside the cooking pot. The purple-y stuff inside it somehow looked charred and goopy at the same time. Whatever it was, it was not salmon meunière.
“I already ate,” he lied. “But my dad loves salmon meunière! He must be really excited to try it.”
Dad shot Tulin a glare. “It’s very kind for you to cook for us, princess. We are … honored.”
Princess Zelda ladled the purple slop onto plates and handed them out. “I couldn’t quite remember the recipe, but hopefully it turned out alright. I added some monster extract too. It’s a bit pungent, but it’s adds a fascinating flavor.”
Fascinating was one word for it. (Revolting was another.)
“Then, I thought, ‘If monster extract is so flavorful, monster parts must be even better!’ So I added some lynel guts,” Princess Zelda went on. “They’re very nutritious, I hear—and quite fresh! Link slayed the lynel on the way here.”
Mom and Dad’s eyes widened, and Tulin had to fake a cough to hide his laugh. Lynel guts? This ought to be good.
“Link already made us an enormous breakfast,” Zelda said, “so I’m afraid I can’t eat another bite! But please, enjoy.”
Dad was pretty brave. He was a warrior, after all. He didn’t even look scared when he had to fight a frost talus that he and Tulin stumbled across in the mountains. But right now, he looked very, very afraid of Princess Zelda’s salmon meunière.
“Well, go on, Dad,” Tulin said, grinning.
Dad cleared his throat. “Ah, shouldn’t we let our guest eat first? It would only be polite.”
Everyone turned to Link. Tulin cringed as he brought a spoonful to his mouth. Surely he wasn’t actually going to eat that stuff? Maybe he’d just pretend. Or “accidentally” knock his plate to the ground.
But no, Link ate it. All of it. Before Tulin had time to blink, the whole plate was empty.
“How was it?” Zelda asked, beaming.
Tulin waited for Link to throw up, or at least to turn green. But his face was calm, like always. He gave her a silent thumbs-up.
Tulin had always thought that Link was probably in love with Princess Zelda, but this had to be proof.
“Wonderful!” Zelda said. “I would be happy to make lunch as well, and even dinner—”
“Riju,” Link said.
Zelda blinked. “Oh, dear. You’re right.” She turned to Tulin. “We’ve received word from that the Yiga clan has once again stolen a precious Gerudo heirloom—the Thunder Helm. Chief Riju has requested help from her fellow sages to retrieve it. Unfortunately, Sidon and Yunobu can’t join us, but we were hoping that you’d be able to assist, Tulin.”
A daring quest to fight a clan of merciless thieves? That was the perfect job for the Sage of Wind!
“Yes!” Tulin said. “When can we leave? I’m ready now!”
“Wait a minute,” Dad said sternly. “You’re not going anywhere before you do your chores.”
This had to be payback for the salmon meunière. Dad never appreciated Tulin’s pranks. (But it’s not like it was Tulin’s fault the princess of Hyrule was a terrible cook.)
“Dad!” he grumbled. “I’m the Sage of Wind. I have a mission to do! With the Hero of Hyrule!”
Dad folded his wings across his chest. “Well, the Sage of Wind has to do his chores before he leaves.”
Tulin groaned.
Finally, with Link’s help, Tulin’s chores were all done. Before they left, Tulin secretly asked Link to save the rest of Zelda’s purple gunk in his Purah Pad. Maybe he could get Riju to try it. That would be funny.
Tulin hugged Mom and Dad goodbye, and then they were off. Link and Zelda rode their horses, and Tulin flew along beside them. It was a long way to the Gerudo Desert, but he didn’t mind. He didn’t get to leave Hebra very often, so it all felt like a grand adventure. Zelda told them amazing stories about ancient Hyrule—especially the Rito sage, Raphica. When they stopped to rest, they ate delicious food made from ingredients Link had gathered nearby (luckily, he was the one to do this cooking on this trip). Whenever monsters blocked their path, Tulin would help Link clear them away, stunning them with perfect headshots from his Great Eagle Bow. Once, they wandered close to lynel territory. Tulin and Link wanted to take the monster on, but Zelda reminded them that they needed to save their weapons to fight the Yiga. Link was even quieter than usual for a while after that. If Tulin didn’t know any better, he’d think Link was pouting.
Finally, they reached Gerudo Canyon Pass. At the stable, Link and Zelda changed out of their travel clothes into outfits they’d got from the Gerudo. Link’s hair was gathered up in a ponytail on top of his head, which Tulin thought looked silly, but he tried very hard to keep a straight face.
“Drink this.” Link held out a glass bottle.
Tulin took it, examining the blue liquid. “What is it?”
“Chilly elixir,” Zelda said. “It will keep you cool while we travel through the desert.”
Tulin swallowed down the liquid and shivered. It felt like he’d just drunk straight from the freezing Hebra Falls.
They left the horses behind and started the long trek to Gerudo Town. Tulin was used to cold air and snowy mountains. But the air here was dry, making his feathers feel stiff and crackly, and the land was so flat, he could see straight to the horizon for miles and miles. Even with the chilly elixir, he could feel the heat of the sand drifting up to him as he glided along beside Link and Zelda, and the sun beat down on his back.
It was nearly dusk by the time they got to the town. A pair of tall Gerudo women greeted Princess Zelda, but they stopped Link and Tulin before they could follow her through the door.
“Vai only,” they said, pointing their spears in warning.
“They’re here to see Chief Riju,” Zelda explained. “This is Link, my knight, and Tulin, the Sage of Wind.”
“Ah.” The guards lowered their weapons. “The hero and the sage are welcome here, as special friends of the chief. But she cannot see you now. She’s tending to her sand seal, who has fallen ill.”
“Oh no!” Zelda frowned. “Is Patricia alright?”
“She is being carefully treated by the best sealkeeper in Gerudo Town.” One of the guards leaned forward, lowering her voice. “Between you and me, I think she just ate too many splash fruit. She’s become rather gluttonous for them. And she doesn’t even give good advice for them anymore. Last week, I gave her one to ask for information about my future husband, and she just told me that he was ‘kind of ugly, and seal-iously lame.’ What kind of prophecy is that?”
Zelda looked back at Link and Tulin. “I suppose we’ll have to stay here for the night and see if Patricia is well in the morning.”
“Or …” Tulin spread his wings. “We could go to the Yiga hideout right now, and kick all their banana-loving butts!”
“Do you think it would be wise to go without Riju?” Zelda asked. “We’re far outnumbered. We were counting on her lightning powers to take out the thieves.” She sighed. “And I’m afraid I’ll be of no use. Even with my Secret Stone, my powers are all but drained. It took all I had to heal the Master Sword for all that time.”
“Come on!” Tulin said. “Link and I are warriors. We can handle those guys on our own. Besides, we may not even have to fight.”
Zelda tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
“Link, don’t you have Yiga armor?”
Link nodded.
“And I can fly,” Tulin reminded them. “We can sneak in, grab the Helm, and leave before they even notice it’s gone.”
“But how will you take the Helm without being caught?” Zelda asked.
Tulin grinned. “We have a secret weapon.”
Outside the hideout, Tulin and Link crouched in the shadows, watching the entrance. Night had turned the desert air frigid, but Tulin didn’t need an elixir this time—his feathers kept him nice and warm.
Tulin double-checked that his bag was securely tied to his back.
“You ready?” he asked Link.
Link nodded. It was weird to see him in a Yiga mask. That big, staring eye sort of gave Tulin the creeps.
“Okay,” Tulin said. “See ya there.”
He watched as Link approached the door and was let inside. Then he took to the air.
It didn’t take long to find an opening where he could quietly slip in. Once inside, he glided along the ceiling, above the heads of the patrolling Yiga. When he reached the main room, he spotted the Thunder Helm gleaming on a pedestal on top of a tower in the center. A big Yiga soldier stood watch over it.
He perched out of sight and peered down. Link was standing in the corner on the other side—Tulin could tell it was him by the tuft of golden hair sticking out of his Yiga mask.
The mask turned up toward him. Tulin gave him a thumbs-up, and Link nodded, just slightly.
Furtively, Link’s thumb swiped across the Purah Pad at his hip. A bunch of ripe mighty bananas appeared in his hands. Link peeled one, tipping his mask up slightly so he could take a bite.
Right away, the other Yiga noticed.
“Hey, where did you get those?”
“I want one!”
“Don’t hog them all!”
Soon, every Yiga on the floor had was crowded around Link, fighting for one of the bunch.
“Idiots,” the big solider muttered. “They would leave their post for a banana? A delicious … ripe … mighty … banana …”
From above, Tulin dropped a bunch of bananas at the solider’s feet.
“Ooh!” he exclaimed. He bent down and grabbed the bunch, not even questioning why fruit would randomly fall from the sky. Dumb Yiga.
With the lookout safely distracted, the coast was all clear for Tulin. Silently, he landed on the floor several meters behind the clamoring Yiga. It was time to deploy his secret weapon.
Carefully, he removed it from his bag. It stunk even through the layers of Korok leaves carefully wrapped around it. But once he removed them, the full power of Zelda’s salmon meunière was unleashed.
Some of the Yiga stopped fighting, sniffing curiously at the air.
“Do you smell that?”
“Blegh! What is it?”
“What did you do to these beautiful bananas? Are they rotten?!”
Tulin hovered behind the plate. Then, with a mighty flap of his wings, he blew a gust of putrid air right at the crowd of Yiga, sending the plate along with it.
Immediately, they doubled over, gagging. The smell was even stronger now than it was this morning, trapped in this room instead of thinning out in the open air.
“I can’t breathe!” one of the Yiga shouted. He started to take his mask off. “Wait, no, that’s even worse!”
“It’s poisoned! The air is poisoned!” another one howled.
“It must be a curse sent from Master Kohga! Because we failed him!”
“No! It must be the doing of that wretched Link!”
Tulin pushed off the ground again to sail around the tower.
“Hey, what’s going on down there?” the big solider called. In answer, one of the Yiga lifted their mask and threw up in the corner.
Tulin positioned himself behind the soldier, who was leaning over the edge to look down. With another giant gust of wind, the Yiga toppled off the tower to the floor.
Tulin grinned. They didn’t called him the Sage of Wind for nothing!
He glanced down at the group of Yiga, all struck down by the power of Princess Zelda’s cooking. The plate of purple glop lay abandoned on the floor. Link gave him a thumbs-up, and at last, Tulin tucked the Thunder Helm safely in his bag.
When they got back to Gerudo Town, Zelda and Riju were waiting for them.
“My Helm! Thank you so much,” Riju said. “How did you manage to get it?”
Tulin shrugged. “It was all thanks to Princess Zelda. We couldn’t have done it without her secret weapon.”
Zelda looked surprised. “Me? What weapon?”
“You should cook for the Yiga more often.” Tulin grinned. “They really liked your salmon meunière.”