*Plonk* Another batch of hay is tossed into a pen housing a herd of goats outside Tabantha Bridge Stables. Their snow white fur glows under the rays of light beaming from the rising sun. Their keeper, Banji, loves her goats, and finds them the most adorable thing in Hyrule Kingdom. Her daughter loves them too, following Banji around and ensuring Mr. Goat is fed, though Banji does not linger amongst her favorite creatures as she has more chores on her list to complete. She must catalog the stock and cargo, ensuring everything is in order. And after all that counting, the horses needed tending to, from the ones that call Tabantha home to those who are just visiting. Those that are staying while their owners venture across the lands looking for legends and fighting monsters. And when the sun sets and the moon rises, Banji sets her children to bed and prepares for another day, the same as the last.
Sometimes, on those days when the rain doesn’t stop, adventurers come into the stable and ask Banji questions. She loves being asked questions. Her aunt told her so many stories of all the creatures and lands around Hyrule. If they ask about the lands into the East, she tells them about the constant thunderstorms haunting Ludfo’s Bog. She warns that the Goddess Hylia is telling them to stay away but that doesn’t stop some adventurers. The South has more exciting stories to tell. The Tamio River and the Satori Mountians have a legendary Lord and a god that watches over the stables, or so she was told. Perhaps the adventurer seeks the long walk to Rito Village in the West, though a creepy bird has appeared recently and won’t go away. But maybe an adventurer asks about the North. Banji doesn’t have a legend about the North but she’s heard of a man who loves to race and must be bored out there on his own.
All these stories and legends are just out of Banji’s reach as she lives her days in the stable with the same chores, the same routine day after day. Not that she’s complaining. She loves her children and watching their happy smiles every day. There are days where she remembers her Aunt’s stories and wonders if these legends and stories are actually true. Her Aunt told her she should travel the world while she was young, but in a world full of monsters and raging storms, how was she supposed to see the world?
One day, those storms over Ludfo’s Bog vanish, clearly a sign from Hylia, and maybe that sign is for Banji to take the horses and venture into one of these lands her Aunt has always told her about.
