Chapter 2
Can the Zoras come out to play?
The wind is soft and cool today.
We'll duck and swim among the waves
Or explore the endless coral caves.
Nearly six months has passed since Japas and Mikau's first performance on the shell podium. Since then, they have tried to give concerts every other week. After every show, they would swear that they would never go again, but the spotlight was too much of an addiction for these young boys to resist. After a while, one of them would always start craving the stage and drag the other out to accompany him. This biweekly event became quite popular locally. Zoras naturally love music; people would come out with picnic lunches and with their friends to hear the pair play for a while. Mikau and Japas were getting smiles and waves from people they don't know when they walk around, and the Zoras around their age would try to get to know them better. However, most of the youths simply don't have the love of music in their hearts that Mikau and Japas treasure so dearly. They simply like to listen to good music, but not play. Also, those that would have been friends with Mikau, couldn't quite get used to Japas' outward manner. And those that can't be friends with Japas, won't stay friends with Mikau for long.
The boys were in Mikau's room, their usual haunt. Japas was practicing on the fishbone guitar. He has a bad habit of moving in time with the beat. When he's not performing on stage, he would go all out, shaking his head, twisting his torso and moving his feet so that it looked like he's doing some obscure dance rather than playing an instrument. He's also using his voice to imitate instruments that they don't have, such as drums and saxophones. "Bee doo dum, bah bah bah dah, budum chhh!!"
"Argh, would you stop that?! I just want the guitar notes, not your Goddess forsaken ritual!" Mikau said in frustration. He was holding a reed pen, bent over a stack of paper, trying to script a new song.
"Oh, sorry." Japas bent his neck back and played a few notes on the borrowed guitar. He sighed, as if he was savoring the music like one would savor the taste of abalone. "Ahh, that's the stuff! Isn't it just perfect?"
Mikau didn't answer immediatly, he scribbled furiously on the paper. He added the last few strokes with extra vigor and casually tossed the pen on the table. Stretching, he turned to Japas. "This is so great! I mean, this piece would be perfect if only we have another instrument to play the descant. Man, it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it!"
"Y'know, the truth is that I actually feel the xylophone and the guitar don't jive together, know what I mean?" Japas said. He placed the fishbone instrument on a shelf. "The guitar's notes vibrate after they are immediately played, but the xylophone makes a quick trill that doesn't last nearly as long. Together, they just don't flow, you know."
"Hey, I have a thought..." Mikau started.
"I'll write you a card to commoderate the moment." Japas replied without skipping a beat.
Mikau snapped a purple urchin off the wall and threw it at his friend. Said friend caught the animal in his hand, and taking no notice of the spines, cracked it's shell with his bare hands. He bit at the urchin's pale insides while Mikau took a breath in exasperation.
"As I was SAYING," Mikau continued. "I think it's 'bout time you got a new instrument, don't you think? Something that'll blend with my guitar."
Japas nodded, tossing out the urchin remains. "Yeah, I don't like percussion instruments too much. We can't get large sized shells for the xylophone around here, and we made it when we were, what, eight? Nine?"
"So, what instrument do you want?"
"Dunno. Let's shop around."
Mikau grabbed a wallet of rupees, rupees that they made from their concerts, and headed out towards the Zora Hall shopping district. It's a place where stores lined both sides of the 'streets' which are not really streets at all. Instead, the center of the road would cave in like a ditch and collect water that Zoras could swim in since they swim faster than they walk. Sometimes, the underwaterways would have tunnels that lead into even more stores. Coral that jutted out of the rock every once in a while make convenient chairs and the occational crystal waterfall make the shopping district popular with locals and visitors alike.
Japas and Mikau were quite familiar with the shops around there; it's where they like to spend their new source of income. Mikau would often buy parts to soup up his home-made guitar, stubbornly refusing to buy a professionally made one. But he altered his instrument so well, that before long, the guitar sounded just as good as any that can be bought in a store. Japas, however, only bought enough to maintain the xylophone. After all, they made it when they were children. No matter how much they add to it, it's still more a toy than an instrument.
After an hour or so of shop scanning, the boys became more and more frustrated. Everything was either too expensive, or too big, or didn't have the right sound, or, in Japas' case, just not 'cool' enough. They dived into the underwaterway and sped towards a kiosk where they bought a snack. Mikau bought a batch of sweet-and-spicy seaweed while Japas had a whole live lobster to himself.
"You eat like a Like Like. You're gonna get fat." Mikau remarked.
Japas swallowed. "If you want some, all you have to do is ask." He answered sweetly.
"Can I?" Mikau asked hopefully. Japas rolled his eyes and held out the crustacean for his friend to sample. But while he did, Japas took the opportunity to steal a leaf of Mikau's seaweed and slurped it down like a strand of spagettii. The argument that inevitably ensued kept the boys occupied while they made their way out of the cave to get some fresh air.
"Hey, Mikau. Why don't I just make another instrument?" Japas asked. The two of them were sitting on some rocks outside the cave with a view of the endless ocean.
"But you don't know how." Mikau said, absently picking at some algae.
"You can help me!"
"I only know how to make guitars. We don't need another one."
"That's not fair! I also want a guitar. I like string instruments as much as you do."
"Hmm." Mikau looked thoughtful. "Hey, maybe a bass guitar would be a good mix with my fishbone guitar."
Japas jumped up. "That's perfect!" He yelled, startling his friend. "We can add alto and bass parts to all our songs!" His fingers twitched in anticipation.
"Sit down, you loon!" Mikau said, yanking Japas by his tail. "One problem. What will we make this guitar out of this time? We can't use Skullfish, 'cause they don't make a bass sound. I don't have the tools to work with wood..."
"Hey, I remember seeing a bass guitar made from the shell of an Empress Crab at one of the shops."
"Oh yeah." Mikau clicked his tongue. "Refresh my memory. There aren't any bones on a crab, so what do you pluck to make the music?"
"Strings. Strings of intestine, I think."
"Would you know what kind of intestine it is?"
"Um, it tasted like otter gut." Mikau gave him a strange look. "What?! I was hungry!"
"But wait," Mikau said. "Why don't we just buy the bass guitar from the shop?"
Japas shook his head. "It's one of those second-hand stores. The guitar's shell was cracking and some strings were missing. It must be old, 'cause I don't think there's been any crab guitars made for a long time."
After a short pause, Mikau stood up and waded into the water. "What are you waiting for, Japas?" He said. "Empress Crab are rare around here, and the tide's not gonna stay low forever!"
Japas laughed and slapped his friend on the back. The two of them dove into the crystalline waters and began their search for an Empress Crab. They didn't truly expect to find one so soon, but the Goddesses were with them today. Mikau came across one hiding in the sand, snapping at potential food items with its ridiculously long claw.
"Japas!" Mikau called in Xyrian, which is a language of high-pitched trills that the Zoras use when they're underwater. Airside, Xyrian resembles the agony of blades on chalkboards. "I found one!" Japas was almost half a mile away, but Xyrian carries very far in the water. Mikau could see the faint, faraway dot that was his friend getting larger as he approached.
"That's a good Empress." Japas remarked once he was close enough.
Mikau examined it critically from a safe distance. "It seems hungry, which is good. This means that it shed it's skin recently and it's shell is still soft and easy to work with. A good size...do you like the color?"
"Perfect. Absolutely perfect." Japas smiled broadly.
"Alright. Here's the plan. Since you don't have fin blades, I'll go down and distract it. Meanwhile, you charge in with your electric field as often as you can. Don't bite it, we don't want to damage the shell." And with that, the two of them went into action.
Mikau sank to the bottom of the ocean bed, near the crab. Sensing danger, it buried itself in the sand. Mikau crossed his arms, taking careful aim, and launched his blades at the spot in the sand where the Empress should be. It exploded out in a cloud of debris, which blinded Mikau for a moment. But in that moment, the Empress charged at the boy with both claws raised and opened in attack mode. Mikau was defenseless; his blades haven't returned to him yet and he can't use electricity until he reaches a certain swimming speed. Japas dove in close to Mikau and zapped the crab with an electric charge.
"Gyah! Don't do that so close to me!" Mikau yelled, raising his arms to catch the returning blades. Japas laughed and swam away to gain the needed velocity. The hardest part of the catch was over, with the crab out in the open. Now Mikau only had to extend his blades in defence and wait for the Empress to attack him. It couldn't reach Japas, so it pounded at Mikau's shield. And once it forgot about Japas, he would dive in to give the crab a jolt. The surrounding waters tingled with static as Japas put out more and more energy to produce electricity. He was beginning to tire, but the so was the crab. It's eyes clouded over and it's barrage on Mikau weakend as muscles lost their use. With one final zap, the crab exhaled a cloud of bubbles and fell limp to the ocean bottom. Japas also sank to the bottom. He put his hands on his knees and breathed heavily as if he just finished a long race. Mikau ran over to the crab and bit it below the eyes, making sure that it's dead but not damaging any of the precious shell.
"C'mon, let's go home. You need a rest." Mikau said, holding the crab by its claws and slinging it over his soulder.
"Hey hey hey!" Japas cried, rushing over to the other Zora. "Let me carry it! I did most of the work!"
"You're still weak, you'll just slow us down if you carry it." Mikau replied, but shrugged and handed over the prize.
Japas held the shell lovingly in both arms and swam towards Zora Cape. He did slow them down, unable to keep much altitude while swimming with dead weight. Mikau had to swim in front of him to shock any jellyfish and other hostilites. When they got to the cove, Japas painstakenly climbed up the rocks, still holding the crab and refusing any help from Mikau.
"What's up, man?" Mikau asked his best friend, questioning his strange behavior. "Why are you suddenly so possessive?"
Japas looked annoyed. "Hmph. This is gonna be my future instrument, and you treat it so roughly. It's not a sack of clams you can just toss around!" He said self-righteously. He looked down at the dead crab cradled in his arms and his expression melted into one of love and content.
Mikau rolled his eyes. "I only want to help you. I'm not gonna eat the crab or anything."
"Oh yes you are." Japas replied. Mikau blinked in confusion. Japas stopped to pick up some reed sticks which he held in his teeth. "Id ahs teh de ollow."
"Huh??" Mikau was now thoroughly confused. He took the sticks out of his friend's mouth. "What did you say?"
"I said: it has to be hollow! The crab has to be hollow before we make it into a guitar."
"And...what's your point?"
"Dah! Just follow me!" Japas headed for Mikau's room. Once there, he carefully deposited the crab on the floor and used a knife to cut a neat hole in the underbelly. Then using a reed stick, scooped out some of the pale meat and popped it into his mouth. "You want to help me hollow it out?" Japas asked his friend, handing him a reed stick.
Mikau hesitated for only a moment. "Sure!" The two of them dug into the crab flesh, careful to clean the shell and leave it intact. They had to make tiny holes at the joints of the claws in order to get at the meat hidden in there. The Empress was pretty big, so Mikau stored all the leftover meat they couldn't eat in shells and gave them to his mother.
Japas tapped on the hollow shell. It made a low unique sound that was quick and uneven, but that could be fixed once the strings were added. Japas beamed. He could barely keep still.
"This is CRAZY, Man!" He exclaimed. "I can't believe I'm gonna get my own guitar!"
"Chill. Geeze, I've never seen you so excited!" Mikau smiled. Japas' excitement was infectious. "I didn't know you wanted a guitar so much. I would have given you mine."
"No you wouldn't have." But Japas sighed and for a moment, all his happyness seemed to melt away. But it came right back a second later. No words needed to be passed between the two for Mikau to know the reason for the sudden melancholy. He knows what Japas' home life is like. It's not as if he's abused or undernurished. But ever since his family was violently ripped apart, his father seemed to be unaware that his son existed. Japas doesn't have a room to himself or many personal belongings. If he comes home too late sometimes, he would find the door to his house locked and would have to sleep outside or at Mikau's house. Any attempt to talk to his father would be would usually be met with the most primitive responses such as "Yeah." or "Hmph." And if Japas ever yelled or tried something violent, his father would just drag him out of the house and lock the door. It's no wonder a guitar of his very own would seem like a luxury to Japas.
In any case, during the next few weeks, any spare time the two young Zora had would be spent on improving the bass guitar. It took much longer for Mikau to figure out how to modify the Empress into an instrument than his Skullfish. That's partly because a crab guitar has so many pieces which makes it very difficult to complete, and partly because the only reference he has to work from is the old guitar from the second-hand store. And it doesn't help that Mikau and Japas had their respective lessons to go to every day. Careless vacation days were long since over. But little by little, the bass guitar neared completion. And one day, Mikau announced it concert ready.
"Goddesses, I love this!" Japas cried, stroking the taunt strings. Which, by the way, were made of Octorok entrails rather than otter. The guitar was actually a bit big for him, but Japas could still grow so that the instrument would fit comfortably in his arms. During the fifteen days it took to make it, Japas would rarely let the Empress out of his sights, strapping it to his back and taking it home when the day ended. Still, his love for the instrument didn't diminish a bit during this time.
Japas fingered the melody for an old teaching song that nearly every soul in the world learned when they were children. Mikau caught the beat and played descant.
"Let's do it."
Goddess of Power, her name is Din Created the world which we live in. Goddess of Wisdom, Farore's her name Created law so we're treated the same. Goddess of Courage, Nayru the Blue Created life including me and you.
Mikau played the ending sequence, but Japas wouldn't take the hint and kept playing. Mikau tried to follow whatever obscure melody his friend was making up, but eventually gave up. He waited for Japas to stop playing. He waited, read a book, ate some candy, left the room to answer the call of nature, came back, and Japas was still playing. Mikau chuckled; he wanted to see how long Japas could last. And hours later, when the tuning was becoming sour, Japas stopped.
"Oh, sear the shell and spear the shark!" said Japas in a round oath as he realized that the guitar's sound is sour. "The tuning's off! Mikau!" He cried, his fins and tail flapping in alarm.
"Chill. Your fins are gonna fly right off. What do you expect? Strings can only be plucked a number of times before they get loose." Mikau examined the guitar strings and his eyes grew wide. "Holy Mother of Pearl! There's blood on the strings! Japas, you've been playing so much that your fingers are bleeding!"
"Huh?" Japas stared blankly at his hands, which were indeed oozing blood from the fingertips. "Aaah!" He cried, almost as if by looking at the injury, pain was registered.
"Goddess, you are such an idiot!" Mikau put the bass guitar down and led his friend to the salt water bath to wash off the blood. Japas winced. The salt water stung like fire but helps heal wounds faster. Then Mikau wrapped the fingers in seaweed and dipped them in red potion to help them heal.
So, Japas couldn't play his new guitar for a few days now. He still carried it with him everywhere, but all he could manage on it now were single broken notes instead of the complex tunes he used to dish out. That hurt him more than his injured hand.
But when Japas' hand healed, he and Mikau returned to the spotlight, and their awaiting fans. Like how water and wind produce waves, the two guitars produce music; music laced with joy, sadness, wonder and beauty, depending on which song they played. And with each song completed, the audience would voice their approval. Mikau smiled at Japas. Their love of music seemed to be made for each other. And because of that, nothing can ever drive them apart.
End of Chapter 2
Thank you again, all my adoring fans, for reading this far. In this story, I'm attempting to explain some of the more detailed parts of the Zora world that none of the Zelda games really go into. Like their social habits, why they look so different than each other, what they eat, and how they interact with other races. I'm hoping that I can update frequently, but life tends to get in the way. Remember, the amount I write is directly proportional to the amount and quality of reviews recieved.
Can the Zoras come out to play?
The wind is soft and cool today.
We'll duck and swim among the waves
Or explore the endless coral caves.
Nearly six months has passed since Japas and Mikau's first performance on the shell podium. Since then, they have tried to give concerts every other week. After every show, they would swear that they would never go again, but the spotlight was too much of an addiction for these young boys to resist. After a while, one of them would always start craving the stage and drag the other out to accompany him. This biweekly event became quite popular locally. Zoras naturally love music; people would come out with picnic lunches and with their friends to hear the pair play for a while. Mikau and Japas were getting smiles and waves from people they don't know when they walk around, and the Zoras around their age would try to get to know them better. However, most of the youths simply don't have the love of music in their hearts that Mikau and Japas treasure so dearly. They simply like to listen to good music, but not play. Also, those that would have been friends with Mikau, couldn't quite get used to Japas' outward manner. And those that can't be friends with Japas, won't stay friends with Mikau for long.
The boys were in Mikau's room, their usual haunt. Japas was practicing on the fishbone guitar. He has a bad habit of moving in time with the beat. When he's not performing on stage, he would go all out, shaking his head, twisting his torso and moving his feet so that it looked like he's doing some obscure dance rather than playing an instrument. He's also using his voice to imitate instruments that they don't have, such as drums and saxophones. "Bee doo dum, bah bah bah dah, budum chhh!!"
"Argh, would you stop that?! I just want the guitar notes, not your Goddess forsaken ritual!" Mikau said in frustration. He was holding a reed pen, bent over a stack of paper, trying to script a new song.
"Oh, sorry." Japas bent his neck back and played a few notes on the borrowed guitar. He sighed, as if he was savoring the music like one would savor the taste of abalone. "Ahh, that's the stuff! Isn't it just perfect?"
Mikau didn't answer immediatly, he scribbled furiously on the paper. He added the last few strokes with extra vigor and casually tossed the pen on the table. Stretching, he turned to Japas. "This is so great! I mean, this piece would be perfect if only we have another instrument to play the descant. Man, it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it!"
"Y'know, the truth is that I actually feel the xylophone and the guitar don't jive together, know what I mean?" Japas said. He placed the fishbone instrument on a shelf. "The guitar's notes vibrate after they are immediately played, but the xylophone makes a quick trill that doesn't last nearly as long. Together, they just don't flow, you know."
"Hey, I have a thought..." Mikau started.
"I'll write you a card to commoderate the moment." Japas replied without skipping a beat.
Mikau snapped a purple urchin off the wall and threw it at his friend. Said friend caught the animal in his hand, and taking no notice of the spines, cracked it's shell with his bare hands. He bit at the urchin's pale insides while Mikau took a breath in exasperation.
"As I was SAYING," Mikau continued. "I think it's 'bout time you got a new instrument, don't you think? Something that'll blend with my guitar."
Japas nodded, tossing out the urchin remains. "Yeah, I don't like percussion instruments too much. We can't get large sized shells for the xylophone around here, and we made it when we were, what, eight? Nine?"
"So, what instrument do you want?"
"Dunno. Let's shop around."
Mikau grabbed a wallet of rupees, rupees that they made from their concerts, and headed out towards the Zora Hall shopping district. It's a place where stores lined both sides of the 'streets' which are not really streets at all. Instead, the center of the road would cave in like a ditch and collect water that Zoras could swim in since they swim faster than they walk. Sometimes, the underwaterways would have tunnels that lead into even more stores. Coral that jutted out of the rock every once in a while make convenient chairs and the occational crystal waterfall make the shopping district popular with locals and visitors alike.
Japas and Mikau were quite familiar with the shops around there; it's where they like to spend their new source of income. Mikau would often buy parts to soup up his home-made guitar, stubbornly refusing to buy a professionally made one. But he altered his instrument so well, that before long, the guitar sounded just as good as any that can be bought in a store. Japas, however, only bought enough to maintain the xylophone. After all, they made it when they were children. No matter how much they add to it, it's still more a toy than an instrument.
After an hour or so of shop scanning, the boys became more and more frustrated. Everything was either too expensive, or too big, or didn't have the right sound, or, in Japas' case, just not 'cool' enough. They dived into the underwaterway and sped towards a kiosk where they bought a snack. Mikau bought a batch of sweet-and-spicy seaweed while Japas had a whole live lobster to himself.
"You eat like a Like Like. You're gonna get fat." Mikau remarked.
Japas swallowed. "If you want some, all you have to do is ask." He answered sweetly.
"Can I?" Mikau asked hopefully. Japas rolled his eyes and held out the crustacean for his friend to sample. But while he did, Japas took the opportunity to steal a leaf of Mikau's seaweed and slurped it down like a strand of spagettii. The argument that inevitably ensued kept the boys occupied while they made their way out of the cave to get some fresh air.
"Hey, Mikau. Why don't I just make another instrument?" Japas asked. The two of them were sitting on some rocks outside the cave with a view of the endless ocean.
"But you don't know how." Mikau said, absently picking at some algae.
"You can help me!"
"I only know how to make guitars. We don't need another one."
"That's not fair! I also want a guitar. I like string instruments as much as you do."
"Hmm." Mikau looked thoughtful. "Hey, maybe a bass guitar would be a good mix with my fishbone guitar."
Japas jumped up. "That's perfect!" He yelled, startling his friend. "We can add alto and bass parts to all our songs!" His fingers twitched in anticipation.
"Sit down, you loon!" Mikau said, yanking Japas by his tail. "One problem. What will we make this guitar out of this time? We can't use Skullfish, 'cause they don't make a bass sound. I don't have the tools to work with wood..."
"Hey, I remember seeing a bass guitar made from the shell of an Empress Crab at one of the shops."
"Oh yeah." Mikau clicked his tongue. "Refresh my memory. There aren't any bones on a crab, so what do you pluck to make the music?"
"Strings. Strings of intestine, I think."
"Would you know what kind of intestine it is?"
"Um, it tasted like otter gut." Mikau gave him a strange look. "What?! I was hungry!"
"But wait," Mikau said. "Why don't we just buy the bass guitar from the shop?"
Japas shook his head. "It's one of those second-hand stores. The guitar's shell was cracking and some strings were missing. It must be old, 'cause I don't think there's been any crab guitars made for a long time."
After a short pause, Mikau stood up and waded into the water. "What are you waiting for, Japas?" He said. "Empress Crab are rare around here, and the tide's not gonna stay low forever!"
Japas laughed and slapped his friend on the back. The two of them dove into the crystalline waters and began their search for an Empress Crab. They didn't truly expect to find one so soon, but the Goddesses were with them today. Mikau came across one hiding in the sand, snapping at potential food items with its ridiculously long claw.
"Japas!" Mikau called in Xyrian, which is a language of high-pitched trills that the Zoras use when they're underwater. Airside, Xyrian resembles the agony of blades on chalkboards. "I found one!" Japas was almost half a mile away, but Xyrian carries very far in the water. Mikau could see the faint, faraway dot that was his friend getting larger as he approached.
"That's a good Empress." Japas remarked once he was close enough.
Mikau examined it critically from a safe distance. "It seems hungry, which is good. This means that it shed it's skin recently and it's shell is still soft and easy to work with. A good size...do you like the color?"
"Perfect. Absolutely perfect." Japas smiled broadly.
"Alright. Here's the plan. Since you don't have fin blades, I'll go down and distract it. Meanwhile, you charge in with your electric field as often as you can. Don't bite it, we don't want to damage the shell." And with that, the two of them went into action.
Mikau sank to the bottom of the ocean bed, near the crab. Sensing danger, it buried itself in the sand. Mikau crossed his arms, taking careful aim, and launched his blades at the spot in the sand where the Empress should be. It exploded out in a cloud of debris, which blinded Mikau for a moment. But in that moment, the Empress charged at the boy with both claws raised and opened in attack mode. Mikau was defenseless; his blades haven't returned to him yet and he can't use electricity until he reaches a certain swimming speed. Japas dove in close to Mikau and zapped the crab with an electric charge.
"Gyah! Don't do that so close to me!" Mikau yelled, raising his arms to catch the returning blades. Japas laughed and swam away to gain the needed velocity. The hardest part of the catch was over, with the crab out in the open. Now Mikau only had to extend his blades in defence and wait for the Empress to attack him. It couldn't reach Japas, so it pounded at Mikau's shield. And once it forgot about Japas, he would dive in to give the crab a jolt. The surrounding waters tingled with static as Japas put out more and more energy to produce electricity. He was beginning to tire, but the so was the crab. It's eyes clouded over and it's barrage on Mikau weakend as muscles lost their use. With one final zap, the crab exhaled a cloud of bubbles and fell limp to the ocean bottom. Japas also sank to the bottom. He put his hands on his knees and breathed heavily as if he just finished a long race. Mikau ran over to the crab and bit it below the eyes, making sure that it's dead but not damaging any of the precious shell.
"C'mon, let's go home. You need a rest." Mikau said, holding the crab by its claws and slinging it over his soulder.
"Hey hey hey!" Japas cried, rushing over to the other Zora. "Let me carry it! I did most of the work!"
"You're still weak, you'll just slow us down if you carry it." Mikau replied, but shrugged and handed over the prize.
Japas held the shell lovingly in both arms and swam towards Zora Cape. He did slow them down, unable to keep much altitude while swimming with dead weight. Mikau had to swim in front of him to shock any jellyfish and other hostilites. When they got to the cove, Japas painstakenly climbed up the rocks, still holding the crab and refusing any help from Mikau.
"What's up, man?" Mikau asked his best friend, questioning his strange behavior. "Why are you suddenly so possessive?"
Japas looked annoyed. "Hmph. This is gonna be my future instrument, and you treat it so roughly. It's not a sack of clams you can just toss around!" He said self-righteously. He looked down at the dead crab cradled in his arms and his expression melted into one of love and content.
Mikau rolled his eyes. "I only want to help you. I'm not gonna eat the crab or anything."
"Oh yes you are." Japas replied. Mikau blinked in confusion. Japas stopped to pick up some reed sticks which he held in his teeth. "Id ahs teh de ollow."
"Huh??" Mikau was now thoroughly confused. He took the sticks out of his friend's mouth. "What did you say?"
"I said: it has to be hollow! The crab has to be hollow before we make it into a guitar."
"And...what's your point?"
"Dah! Just follow me!" Japas headed for Mikau's room. Once there, he carefully deposited the crab on the floor and used a knife to cut a neat hole in the underbelly. Then using a reed stick, scooped out some of the pale meat and popped it into his mouth. "You want to help me hollow it out?" Japas asked his friend, handing him a reed stick.
Mikau hesitated for only a moment. "Sure!" The two of them dug into the crab flesh, careful to clean the shell and leave it intact. They had to make tiny holes at the joints of the claws in order to get at the meat hidden in there. The Empress was pretty big, so Mikau stored all the leftover meat they couldn't eat in shells and gave them to his mother.
Japas tapped on the hollow shell. It made a low unique sound that was quick and uneven, but that could be fixed once the strings were added. Japas beamed. He could barely keep still.
"This is CRAZY, Man!" He exclaimed. "I can't believe I'm gonna get my own guitar!"
"Chill. Geeze, I've never seen you so excited!" Mikau smiled. Japas' excitement was infectious. "I didn't know you wanted a guitar so much. I would have given you mine."
"No you wouldn't have." But Japas sighed and for a moment, all his happyness seemed to melt away. But it came right back a second later. No words needed to be passed between the two for Mikau to know the reason for the sudden melancholy. He knows what Japas' home life is like. It's not as if he's abused or undernurished. But ever since his family was violently ripped apart, his father seemed to be unaware that his son existed. Japas doesn't have a room to himself or many personal belongings. If he comes home too late sometimes, he would find the door to his house locked and would have to sleep outside or at Mikau's house. Any attempt to talk to his father would be would usually be met with the most primitive responses such as "Yeah." or "Hmph." And if Japas ever yelled or tried something violent, his father would just drag him out of the house and lock the door. It's no wonder a guitar of his very own would seem like a luxury to Japas.
In any case, during the next few weeks, any spare time the two young Zora had would be spent on improving the bass guitar. It took much longer for Mikau to figure out how to modify the Empress into an instrument than his Skullfish. That's partly because a crab guitar has so many pieces which makes it very difficult to complete, and partly because the only reference he has to work from is the old guitar from the second-hand store. And it doesn't help that Mikau and Japas had their respective lessons to go to every day. Careless vacation days were long since over. But little by little, the bass guitar neared completion. And one day, Mikau announced it concert ready.
"Goddesses, I love this!" Japas cried, stroking the taunt strings. Which, by the way, were made of Octorok entrails rather than otter. The guitar was actually a bit big for him, but Japas could still grow so that the instrument would fit comfortably in his arms. During the fifteen days it took to make it, Japas would rarely let the Empress out of his sights, strapping it to his back and taking it home when the day ended. Still, his love for the instrument didn't diminish a bit during this time.
Japas fingered the melody for an old teaching song that nearly every soul in the world learned when they were children. Mikau caught the beat and played descant.
"Let's do it."
Goddess of Power, her name is Din Created the world which we live in. Goddess of Wisdom, Farore's her name Created law so we're treated the same. Goddess of Courage, Nayru the Blue Created life including me and you.
Mikau played the ending sequence, but Japas wouldn't take the hint and kept playing. Mikau tried to follow whatever obscure melody his friend was making up, but eventually gave up. He waited for Japas to stop playing. He waited, read a book, ate some candy, left the room to answer the call of nature, came back, and Japas was still playing. Mikau chuckled; he wanted to see how long Japas could last. And hours later, when the tuning was becoming sour, Japas stopped.
"Oh, sear the shell and spear the shark!" said Japas in a round oath as he realized that the guitar's sound is sour. "The tuning's off! Mikau!" He cried, his fins and tail flapping in alarm.
"Chill. Your fins are gonna fly right off. What do you expect? Strings can only be plucked a number of times before they get loose." Mikau examined the guitar strings and his eyes grew wide. "Holy Mother of Pearl! There's blood on the strings! Japas, you've been playing so much that your fingers are bleeding!"
"Huh?" Japas stared blankly at his hands, which were indeed oozing blood from the fingertips. "Aaah!" He cried, almost as if by looking at the injury, pain was registered.
"Goddess, you are such an idiot!" Mikau put the bass guitar down and led his friend to the salt water bath to wash off the blood. Japas winced. The salt water stung like fire but helps heal wounds faster. Then Mikau wrapped the fingers in seaweed and dipped them in red potion to help them heal.
So, Japas couldn't play his new guitar for a few days now. He still carried it with him everywhere, but all he could manage on it now were single broken notes instead of the complex tunes he used to dish out. That hurt him more than his injured hand.
But when Japas' hand healed, he and Mikau returned to the spotlight, and their awaiting fans. Like how water and wind produce waves, the two guitars produce music; music laced with joy, sadness, wonder and beauty, depending on which song they played. And with each song completed, the audience would voice their approval. Mikau smiled at Japas. Their love of music seemed to be made for each other. And because of that, nothing can ever drive them apart.
End of Chapter 2
Thank you again, all my adoring fans, for reading this far. In this story, I'm attempting to explain some of the more detailed parts of the Zora world that none of the Zelda games really go into. Like their social habits, why they look so different than each other, what they eat, and how they interact with other races. I'm hoping that I can update frequently, but life tends to get in the way. Remember, the amount I write is directly proportional to the amount and quality of reviews recieved.