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Fateful Meeting
Ruto fidgeted in her seat, tired of sitting still. She absent mindedly played with the sapphire pendant around her neck. Her, her father and their entourage had traveled across Hyrule field all the way from the watery Zora's Domain to Hyrule Castle. Upon their arrival they had been invited in immediately for tea and crackers. The conversation between her father and the human king had only been boring pleasantries so far. Now going onto half an hour the little girl's patience was basically all gone. The king noticed her fidgeting and gave her an amused smile.
"Looks like the Princess has all she could stand of our boring old people talk," he said, looking at Ruto's father. "I know that there is no way my son would have been able to sit here this long if he wasn't currently in bed with a cold. If you can let her go, then she has free reign of the castle gardens."
Ruto was out of her seat and through the door before her father even completed giving his assent.
"Take a right down the hall and take a left at the fork!" yelled the King, chuckling.
Ruto followed his instructions and emerged outside in the impressively beautiful castle gardens. The ground was wet due to rain the day before and the felt nice between her toes. She was slightly embarrassed about how she had acted, but her relief at being outside was greater. She walked over to a small pond and dived in, loving the feel of the water on her scales. The girl swam underneath the surface for a few minutes, enjoying the freedom of being submerged. Surfacing she got out and stood still while the water dripped off her and the warm noon sun dried her off.
I'll have to apologize to the king for being rude, though Ruto to herself.
Looking around she saw a small green figure moving through the garden. Curious, she followed after, making sure to stay hidden. Getting closer she saw a human boy dressed in green clothes and a funny green hat. He had a roughly carved wooden shield on his back, a red swirl painted messily on back. She took a step forward and felt something squish underneath. Looking down she saw a large earth worm writhing under her foot. She leapt backwards with a surprised scream.
"Ah!"
The boy turned to face her, a knife held in his hand like a sword. In his other hand she saw a small cloth bag. He looked at her with intense blue eyes. His face was flushed and he seemed to be a bit under the weather.
"Who are you?" questioned the boy, looking guilty at being seen. Ruto guessed he had been sneaking through the castle grounds without permission. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just exploring the garden," replied Ruto, not backing down from the boy's questions. "I have permission from the king. What are you doing here?"
"I was, uh," stuttered the boy. He obviously hadn't expected to get caught and hadn't thought of an excuse.
"I don't plan to tell anyone I saw you sneaking around," reassured Ruto. The boy relaxed at her assurance. "Why are you sneaking through the gardens dressed like that?"
The boy looked around for a moment and put away his knife in a sheath. He walked over to right in front of her.
"Can I trust you to keep a secret?" whispered the boy.
"Yeah!" replied Ruto excitedly, her curiosity peaked.
"I found something cool yesterday when I snuck out of the castle, and I'm going to bring him some food now."
"Bring him food?" asked Ruto confused. "What is it?"
"A baby dragon!"
"A baby dragon!?" gasped Ruto. She suddenly got suspicious though. "There's no way that is true!"
"Yes it is!" protested the boy angrily.
"I bet you can't prove it!"
"Yes I can! Come with me and I'll show you!"
"I'll call your bluff!" replied Ruto stubbornly.
The boy started to walk away, Ruto following along. They left the castle gardens through a small hole in the wall. Crawling on hands and knees through the mud Ruto started to think that leaving might be a bad idea. When she made it to the other side the boy was already standing, his clothes muddy. He had his hand outstretched, offering help. She was both touched and annoyed by this act. On one hand it was very thoughtful. On the other she didn't like to think that she couldn't do something on her own. She took the offered hand though. He WAS taking her to see a dragon and there was no reason to offend him for being courteous.
"Thank you," she said, standing up. She wiped the mud off of her scales, glad not to have to deal with clothes like the boy.
"You're welcome," replied the boy. "Come! We're almost there!"
They hurried excitedly down a small hill to the bottom and walked around the base. A fast moving river, full from the recent rain churned next to them. The side of the hill steepened until it became too steep to climb back up. The boy walked towards a small alcove cut into the hillside.
"I'm back!" called the boy. A small head peaked out from the alcove. Before Ruto could get a good look at it the thing was zipping out straight at the boy. She let out a sharp gasp as the boy was knocked onto his back. She was about to rush over to help him when she realized he wasn't screaming in agony; he was laughing.
"Haha! Ge-get off! Noo! Don't lick there! Haha!" laughed the boy. Ruto approached and saw a red creature roughly two feet long licking and nipping at the boy playfully. The dragon looked to be a combination of a bird and a lizard, its scaly body and head covered with the occasional feather. When the thing looked at her she saw it had a beak and large blue eyes. It opened its mouth and gave a cooing sound, revealing a row of sharp teeth.
"How cute!" she squealed, unable to contain her excitement. Here in front of her was a real dragon! They were rare and she only knew of them from stories, but she knew that this had to be one.
The dragon hopped off of the boy and he sat up, a smile on his face.
"You hungry boy?" asked the boy, picking up his bag and opening it. He took out several pieces of cooked meat and fed them one at a time to the dragon. Ruto watched amazed as the boy fearlessly fed the creature, pulling his hand away from the dangerous beak at the last second every time. The food ran out but by then the dragon seemed content. It huddled close to the boy, rubbing against him while purring.
"He's like a cat," commented Ruto.
"Come closer, he won't bite. Probably," said the boy, gesturing her forward. She moved slowly forward, her eyes on the dragon and her hands at the pendant around her neck. The dragon looked up at her, eyeing her cautiously.
"Hello little guy," said Ruto, trying to sound as friendly as possible.
The dragon continued to eye her suspiciously for a bit, but then went back to rubbing against the boy. She walked the final few steps and started to reach out her hand. The dragon actually arched its back slightly, and her hand made contact with it. She was surprised for a second but started to lightly pet the dragon's back. Ruto could feel the dragon purring through her hand. Its skin was surprisingly smooth and warm. She could feel a smile break out on her face.
"I think he likes you!" proclaimed the boy, a smile on his face.
"Have you given him a name?" she asked, still petting the dragon.
I was thinking Volvagia!" said the boy excitedly.
"Volvagia?" repeated Ruto. Isn't that the ancient evil dragon that used to eat Gorons?"
"Yeah," replied the boy. "I always loved the story of the Goron Hero slaying him with his mighty hammer!"
"Why would you name such a cute little guy after such a horrid thing?"
"Because this would be a chance to make the name have something good attached to it!" replied the boy with passion. He blushed slightly. "I also think it sounds really cool."
"Well what do you think?" Ruto asked the dragon. "Do you want to be called Volvagia?"
The dragon looked up at her and surprised her with what it did next.
"M-me vol-va-gi-a?" asked the dragon in slightly stilted Hylian.
Ruto and the boy in green just stared at the dragon in surprise.
"Wow!" exclaimed the boy. "I didn't know he could speak!"
"I'd never heard about dragons talking before," said Ruto in wonder. Something occurred to her. "Wait, what makes you think Volvagia is a boy?"
"Well there's no way he's a girl," replied the boy.
"And why not?" asked Ruto. She stopped petting Volvagia and put both her hands on her hips, looking down at the boy sternly.
"He's way too cool to be a girl!" said the boy. Volvagia hopped off of him and he stood up. Ruto found it funny to realize she was taller than the boy. Of course it was to be expected, the Zoras were a tall people, and the Hylians…not so much.
"Girls can be cool too!" asserted Ruto.
"No they can't! Girls don't fight and they get scared way too easily!"
"No we don't!"
"Then why were you screaming earlier in the garden?"
"I was just surprised, that's all!" replied Ruto, feeling her face heating up in embarrassment.
"You were so scared," said the boy with a smirk.
"Was not!"
"Was too! I bet you wouldn't even be willing to fight anyone."
"I could so take you!" replied Ruto angrily.
"Then why don't you try!" replied the boy.
"You have a sword and a shield! That's no fair!" replied Ruto, pointing at the boy's gear.
"Fine then, I'll take it all off," said the boy. He deposited all of his gear in Volvagia's little alcove. The dragon curled up on top of the stuff and just watched them argue. The boy walked back over and faced her. "Ready?"
"Wait," said Ruto, remembering something. She reached around her neck and took off her sapphire pendant, the only piece of adornment or even clothing she wore. She coiled up the chain into a pile around the stone and put the whole thing down gently on a large rock sticking up out of the ground. "Now I'm ready."
They stood there awkwardly for a minute, neither quite as passionate about the subject as they had been a moment before. They had had time to cool down and they were trying to figure out how to enrage the other again. Unfortunately for Ruto, she was known for her temper and the boy seemed to be very good at getting under her skin.
"Giving up already?" smirked the boy. He gave a small cough, and Ruto wondered if he was sick. He was looking a bit under the weather. But apparently he was good at taunting even while sick. "This is why there are no girl heroes, they're all too frightened to do anything."
"There are too girl heroes!" replied Ruto.
"Like who?"
"There's Queen Zelda the first, founder of Hyrule," she replied.
"I heard that she went into the Lost Woods and never managed to return. What type of hero is that?" asked the boy.
"Then there's the Sheikah warrior Impa!"
"She hasn't been in any fight since she got pregnant! She's just a housewife now," argued the boy.
"There's Lulu the kind!" replied Ruto passionately.
"Wasn't she just some lousy singer?" asked the boy confused.
At that dismissal of the woman Ruto considered to be the greatest Zora, and person, ever of all time Ruto lost any composure she had left. With a yell she leapt at the boy. He yelped in surprise at her ferocity and was on his back trying to fight her off. As Princess of the Zora's Ruto had been given special self-defense lessons. The boy learned the hard way that this was one girl who knew how to throw a punch.
Ruto landed a few hits before the boy managed to gain his senses. He managed to get his legs underneath her, and launched her off of him. She landed a few feet away in the mud, the sludge coating her scales. She scrambled to her feet and saw the boy doing the same. The eyed each other for a second. Then they started to circle, trying to find openings.
He seems to have taken lessons also, thought Ruto. I wonder who he is. Maybe a noble's son who was visiting the castle for the talks? That would make sense I think. I'll show him what a girl can do. How dare he make fun of my mother!
Digging her feet into the ground she charged at the boy hoping to catch him off guard. He kicked at her, but she had her arms up protecting her face and crashed into him again. The two kids toppled to the ground once again. They kneed, punched, kicked, elbowed and just generally brawled, rolling around on the ground. This kept up for several minutes before they separated, both of them rolling onto their backs next to each other in the mud. They panted heavily, and it was the boy who broke the silence.
"I have to admit, you were right," he said, drawing Ruto's attention. She looked at him and saw him staring at her, a smile on his face. "You are good! None of the boys I've fought have ever been as good as you!"
"Thank you," replied Ruto, blushing slightly. "You were really tough also. Have you taken lessons or do you just like to fight?"
"My father forces me to take self-defense lessons in case someone tries to kidnap or assassinate me. But what I really want to be is a knight of justice when I grow up!"
"Assassinate? Kidnap? Are you the son of a noble?" she asked curiously.
The boy seemed to consider something for a moment, and then sat up. Ruto also sat up and faced him. He seemed to come to a decision and looked at her.
"I never introduced myself, did I?" he asked. She shook her head. He stuck out his hand, a smile on his face. "I'm Prince Link of Hyrule."
"You're the Prince!" gasped Ruto. She suddenly got really worried. "I just beat up the Prince!?"
"Hey! You didn't beat me up. It was a tie! Anyways, I introduced myself, who are you?"
"I'm Ruto, Princess of the Zoras," replied Ruto, grasping the boy's hand and shacking it. He looked at her in surprise.
"I just beat up a Princess!" he said, shocked.
"It was a tie!" asserted Ruto. "I hope our fathers don't get angry about this."
"I won't tell them if you don't," replied Link with a wink. Ruto gave him a smile.
"I'm not sure we'll be able to hide this."
"We can sneak back to my room, I have some bandages and medicine I swiped in case of situations like this."
They both stood up, wiping the mud off. Ruto had more success than Link due to her lack of clothes. Turning she saw that sometime during their fight Volvagia had moved from his spot on Link's stuff to the rock with her pendant. He had the sapphire piece in his claw and was eyeing it.
"Hey!" she yelled in surprise. "Put that down!"
The little dragon looked at her, but didn't acknowledge her command. She moved forward to grab in from him but he leapt off of the rock. He went over her head and flew up into a tree right at the edge of the river. Now perched in a tree branch he continued to eye the pendant.
"Hey! Give that back!" she yelled. The dragon didn't even acknowledge her. Tears started to come to her eyes due to frustration. "That's my mother's! Give it back now!"
"I'll get it," said Link calmly, putting a hand on her shoulder. He looked up at the tree and called out.
"Here Volvagia, come on down," he called. The dragon looked at him but didn't comply.
Link gave a sigh and walked over to the tree, starting to climb it. Ruto watched as he went up, branch after branch. He was definitely a good climber and after a few minutes made it up to the branch Volvagia was perched. He carefully moved out onto the branch, calling out calmly to the dragon.
"Here Volagia, come here," he said, moving towards the dragon. The dragon looked at him but didn't make a move towards him."
"Be careful!" replied Ruto. She really wanted her pendant back, but she was also worried Link would fall and hurt himself. Below him flowed the river, still full of rain water.
"Don't worry Princess, I've got this!" yelled Link, flashing her a confident smile.
He continued inching out onto the branch. Ruto saw Volvagia prepare to leap away, taking his prize with him, but Link was faster and made a grab at the dragon.
"Gotcha!" yelled link, snagging the golden chain of the pendant. He was stronger than the dragon and yanked the pendant out of his claws as he flew off of the branch.
"Yay!" yelled Ruto triumphantly. The next second though she heard a cracking sound. Link expression changed to one of surprise as the branch he was on gave out underneath him. Rutp watched in horror as the boy plummeted down into the river, submerging completely. She rushed towards the river, yelling. "Link!"
She didn't seem him anywhere near the surface. Without thinking she dived into the raging river. Even as skilled of swimmers as Zoras were, the river was still moving extremely fast for someone as young and small as her. She was pushed under the waters and swept away. Breathing through her gills like she had been taught to do underwater, she opened her eyes and looked around. She saw a green object flailing around under the water. Kicking off she swam swiftly towards Link.
His eyes were closed and he looked to be holding his breath, but Ruto doubted he could keep it up. She grabbed him around the chest and using only her legs swam towards the side of the river. The river was filled and closer to the banks, but was also moving too quickly for her to get them both out. She saw bubbles come out of Link's mouth as he released his final breath.
"Noo!" yelled Ruto as the boy stopped flailing in her grasp. Without conscious thought blue energy started to swirl around her. The water underneath her started to cool and froze. The new ice lifted up suddenly and carried the two children to the surface. Ruto didn't even bother to switch to air breathing before leaping off of the ice float onto the river bank. She gasped for air for a moment before starting to breathe normally. She saw the ice disappear downstream.
"We made it!" yelled Ruto, excitedly. "Link! We made it!"
She looked at the Prince and was horrified to see that he wasn't moving. She frantically rushed over to the boy's side and tried to remember her lessons of resuscitating a land breather. It was common first aid practice taught to all Zora children due to the common occurrence of needing to help a drowning Hylian.
She took a deep calming breath and preceded to give the boy mouth to mouth. After a few tries the boy started to gag. Water and bile sprayed into her face but she didn't care. Link sat up, taking deep, gasping breaths.
"I-I'm alive?" asked the boy, surprised.
"Link!" yelled Ruto, tackling him. They crashed down into the mud, Ruto on top of the boy and looking down at him. Tears started to build up and she buried her face into his chest, crying. "I was so worried! You fell in and you weren't breathing!"
"There, there," said Link, surprisingly calm. He wrapped his arm around her and held her for a moment. "I'm fine. You saved me, didn't you?"
"Ye-yes," stuttered Ruto, trying to stop crying. "I-I saw you fall in, and jumped after you."
"Thanks Ruto," said Link. She looked and saw him smiling at her. "Here, I have this for you."
Lifting up his hand, Link unclenched his fist and Ruto saw her pendant gleaming in the sun. Words couldn't describe how happy she was, so instead she smothered the boy in yet another hug, causing his to grunt a little at the pressure.
"Oof," he said. She let go and got off of him. He sat up and looked at her, a smile still on his face. Ruto Stood up, and hands on her hips, glared at him sternly.
"Don't you ever put your life in danger like that again!" she berated him, more tears coming out of her eyes. "I was so worried and I don't know what I would have done if you had died!"
"I'm sorry, he said. "But this is your mother's right? It's important to you."
"Not as important as your life!"
"Sorry," he replied again.
"Don't apologize!" she snapped. She felt the tiredness from the spell starting to affect her, but she pushed it away. "It's not your fault! You were doing it for me!"
He crying was interrupted by link sneezing. Looking again she saw that he was shivering, snot coming out of his nose. She realized that Hylians weren't meant to be cold or wet. The boy had also had a cold before, and this probably hadn't helped.
"We need to get you back to the castle," she said.
Ruto grabbed the pendant from Link and put it around her neck. Link tried to stand but seemed to have trouble, so Ruto helped to steady him. Together they followed the river bank. It was only now that they were walking it that Ruto realized just how far they had been swept. Link was shivering violently next to her and she pulled him closer, trying to warm him up as they walked. After what seemed like forever they saw Link's stuff stowed in its alcove.
"We're getting close!" exclaimed Ruto, trying to encourage Link.
They shuffled quickly over to the alcove. As they scrambled to try to grab his things, she heard a cooing noise. Looking down Ruto saw Volvagia, looking back up at them.
"What do you want?" asked Ruto angrily. "Haven't you caused enough trouble?"
The little dragon looked at them with what looked like concern. Next to her Link started to shiver even more uncontrollably, and started to cough. Volvagia started to rub against the boy's leg, purring. Suddenly the little dragon started to glow red. Heat started to radiate from his body and the air started to crackle. Volvagia looked up at them, and before Ruto could do anything, had taken a deep breath and breathed out a jet of fire at the pair.
"Aaaaaahhhh!" yelled Ruto in surprise as the fire engulfed her. She expected to feel a horrible burning sensation but instead started to feel energy returning to her body. Opening her eyes she saw Link next to her, also looking around in wonder. Color had returned to his face and the shivering had stopped. He looked at her, his eyes wide with surprise. The cuts and bruises on both of them also healed, removing and traces of their earlier fight, except for Link's torn and dirty clothes.
"Whoa," he said
The fire stopped and Ruto saw Volvagia looking at them, his tail wagging. It was only then that Ruto realized she had been holding Link's hand tightly the whole time. They both left go, their faces red in embarrassment. Link crouched down and rubbed Volvagia's head.
"Wow, I didn't know you could do that," said Link in wonder. "Thank you."
"Li-ink," said Volvagia, looking at the boy.
"Thank you also," said Ruto, crouching down to also pet the dragon. "Sorry for yelling at you before."
"Ru-to," replied Volvagia. He moved and started to rub against her leg.
"We should probably head back soon," said Ruto. "I hope our fathers haven't realized we're gone yet."
"Oh man, if that old man finds out what happened today he'll probably kill me," replied Link, horrified. He grabbed up his stuff, and saying their goodbyes headed back up the hill to the castle. They tried to figure out a suitable cover story to tell their father's in case they had realized they were gone. In between they kept on complimenting the other on their bravery or how tough and impressive they were. It never even occurred to the kids that they had once again grabbed each other's hands and walked the whole way to the castle together.