You've got the wrong Link

You've got the wrong Link!

Chapter 8 Even if you cannot hear my voice…

The sun was shining, the sea was cooperating, and everything was perfect. The day would have been perfect if her and Link weren't sitting in the boat, not talking. Earlier on during the trip they had had a fight. Something pointless probably, but it had still happened. Ruto wanted to scream and yell and fight with him, but Link was stubbornly doing his little martyr thing. He would wait for her to cool down and then talk to her so that he wouldn't say anything hurtful.

Conversationally, not meant to provoke at all, Link had asked Ruto what she thought her dream had meant. Ruto replied that somehow, more Zoras had found their way here through time like she had, even her children. She chose Link as her husband and they became king and queen of the Zora people on Outset Island. As good and well as this all was, Link wasn't fond of the idea of this home becoming the new Zoran kingdom. Couldn't they find a different place to live?

Pulling up in front of island (actually mountain peak) that housed the upper entrance to the earth temple, Link stepped out of the boat, offering Ruto a hand. She accepted it in silence. Though he knew that there would be no monsters in the temple now that Ganondorf had been defeated, it still put him on edge to walk through the temple's dank hallways. It took a while but after gently gliding down towards the chambers where one of Ganon's minions had lurked to prevent power from being returned to the master sword, Ruto and he came upon Medli.

Looking thoroughly surprised, Medli leapt up from her place in the center of the room and rushed Link like a bull. Throwing her arms around his neck she squealed excitedly. "What are you doing here Link?"

A terse cough resounded from Ruto, who politely waited for this bird creature to get her hands off of Link. "We're here to talk to your predecessor. The Earth Sage that came before you."

"Who's this?"

"This is Princess Ruto; she was the original water sage from when The Hero of Time was alive."

"It is an honor, sage." Medli stepped away from Link and bowed in Ruto's direction.

"We're here because I had a dream the other night that there were Zora's here, in this world, on Outset. Besides me." Ruto's voice became breathless at the thought of such a thing.

Link rested a calming hand on Ruto's shoulder and said, "Medli, when you were first awakened as the new Earth Sage, Laruto spoke to me, and to you. I was wondering if somehow, we could speak to her again, now, to ask her about Ruto's dream."

"I don't know Link. Perhaps if you conducted me as I played Earth God's Requiem…"

"Alright." Link pulled the gleaming white baton from within his tunic and stood ready.

He wasn't sure what would happen when he contacted Laruto, and he hoped it wouldn't involve him losing Ruto. Link wasn't sure why it would mean such a thing. He shook his head. It wasn't the time to be thinking those things.

It was cold in the bottom of the temple. How had he not noticed it before now? Link shivered, held the baton up high, and then he began conducting. Eyes closed, feeling the rhythm. Six beats. Quick, concise beats. It was almost as if some outside source was acting through his arm to conduct Medli. The music drifting from her harp was so soothing. The minutes drifted by as the song continued, neither party ceasing in playing or conducting. Then, without any indication as to when or how, there was a second harp playing along with Medli. Link finished on the sixth and final beat, and opened his eyes.

Standing before them in all her sagely glory, was Laruto. The beautiful Earth Sage he had met so many years ago. She fixated her regal gaze on Ruto, and in a brief moment she appeared shocked, if not sad. Laruto moved forward, ghosting across the floor until she was floating directly in front of Ruto.

"Who are you?"

"I am Princess Ruto of Zora's Domain, Water Sage, fiancée of The Hero of Time…"

"…and my mother." Laruto finished.

If the silence had not been heavy when they entered the chambers, it suddenly was then. Link stared in wide-eyed astonishment from Ruto to Laruto. His Zora Princess smiled as tears streamed down her face.

"You survived? I was so worried about you and your siblings…when I showed up here…who took care of you?" Ruto reached out for her daughter, and in a moment of overwhelming sadness, her hands went through her. After all, Laruto was dead, she was here as a ghost, a previous sage, nothing more.

"We all did. Our father, your fiancée, he took care of us. Father was named King of the Zora's when you couldn't be found. He raised us dutifully, as any truly proud parent would. Then, when he passed on, I became the water sage. Over time, the Zora's eventually became extinct. The ways of temples faded. But I remained sealed away in the sacred realm, only to be reborn as the Earth Sage. I have lived here ever since then. Until Ganondorf once again returned, and killed me." When Laruto finished, she waited for her mother to explain why she was here.

"My darling daughter, I am so proud of you. I wish I had been there for you." Ruto paused, wondering how to phrase what she wanted to say, "I had a dream, a vision, last night. It involved a whole Domain's worth of Zoras, here, in and above the seas. On Outset island, with Link and I" here she waved to the Link standing next to her, "were the King and Queen of them. The Zorans lived on in this time."

Laruto listened intently to her mother's words, and then, without explanation she held her hands out in front of both Link and Ruto. A bright, harsh blue light stuck out towards them, consumed them, and carried the away from the temple. Link couldn't see or hear, all he was conscious of was the wind whipping at his face, and of Ruto's hand in his. Or, at least, he hoped it was Ruto. At the moment he couldn't be sure.

Then, his face was pressed into harsh flag stone. Link looked around and saw Ruto laying a few feet away from him, out cold. But what caught his attention and continually held it, was the gigantic whale behind him.

"Um, hello?" Then, the whale snorted in his face, and Link feinted.

Never before had he smelled something nearly as terrible as that whale's breath.

TBC…