Legend of Zelda: Seven Seals

Chapter Two, Part One: The Princess's Mission

Sol gently shook Link awake. Princess Ria was already up and looking nervous. "Come on," Sol whispered. "We gotta go." Link slid out of bed already dressed, and followed the two Zoras out of the room. As they crept along Sol talked in a low voice. "Normally a trip like this would take a couple of days, but that's if we go on foot. If we take the river we should be down there in a couple of hours. We should be back here by dusk."

"But how are we going to get back up the river?" Link asked.

Sol stopped and looked at him. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it again; thinking. "Well crap," he muttered. "I didn't think of that. Psh, oh well. We'll figure that out when we get to it."

The three friends kept going, running silently down the stairs. They made it to the waterfall no problem, but as they were climbing up the ladder an angry voice stopped them. "And just where do you think you're going?"

Link gulped; it was Sol's older brother, the strict Akron.

"Keep climbing," Sol hissed from above Link, "maybe he'll go away."

But Akron didn't. He strode forward and grabbed Link's foot, nearly dislodging him from the ladder. "Hey, let go!" Link yelped. He shook his foot and kicked out with the other one, trying to get the Zora to let go. Akron wouldn't. he pulled hard on Link's foot, almost taking his boot off. "Let go!" Link yelled again.

"I'm not going to let you go off and do something stupid," Akron grunted as Link's foot connected with his nose.

"Why do you care?" Link asked. Sol was reaching down from above but his hand was just out of reach. "It's not like I'm one of you. You've never liked me anyways!"

Akron's grip loosed slightly, but not long enough for Link to pull his boot out. "That's not true," the Zora guard said quietly. "You're the king's son and that makes you one of us."

"But did you really think that I'm going to stay here for my whole life? I want to see the world, Akron. Let me go." Link looked up at Sol for help.

Jump, his friend mouthed. Link nodded and put his free boot back on the rung. Then, with all his might, he lunged at Sol's open hands with his arms outstretched. Sol's hands caught Link's wrists and held tight, hauling him up and out of Akron's grasp. Link whacked his hip on the edge of the stone but he tumbled over anyways.

"Stop!" Akron yelled as the three friends scrambled up. They could hear him on the ladder; climbing as fast as he could. Link, Sol, and Ria took off towards the thundering waterfall.

"Jump!" Sol yelled, "The boat's just below the falls!"

The two Zoras when through without hesitation but Link stopped and looked back. Akron was just coming off the ladder. "Don't Link," he said, panting slightly. "Don't be a fool. You'll get yourself killed!"

"I can take care of myself," said Link defiantly and he jumped through the cold water.

He landed on the small ledge just outside the Zora's Domain. "Link! Down here!" Sol and Ria were down below him, struggling to keep the boat in place. Link jumped without a thought, like any eleven year old would, and landed neatly in the empty space. The boat rocked violently, almost tipping them over, and Sol released the rope; allowing the river to carry them rapidly away.

Akron came through the waterfall just in time to see the small boat disappear around the bend. "Stop!" he yelled futilely. He cursed and rushed back into the Zora's Domain. He sprinted up the curling ramp to King Zora's room. He went up the stairs two at a time and stood there panting as he tried gasp out his message. "Your Majesty," he managed, "I… believe… we have… a problem. Link… my brother… and the Princess… just left… in a canoe. I don't know… where they're going but…" he trailed off and tried to regain his breath.

King Zora had gone pale. "Could they have over heard us?" he mused. "That would be the only explanation, right?" He looked at Akron sharply. "Is there any way we can catch up with them?"

"I don't know, my lord," Akron answered. "They were moving fast and they've got a good head start."

"Send a boat out anyways. If you can't get them to come back, at the very least accompany them and make sure they don't come to harm."

Akron bowed quickly. "Yes sir." He ran out of the room.

King Zora sighed; this was exactly what he'd been worried about. Link had always been a strong-willed boy, always wanting to go out and explore, to see the world. He was brave and smart but also daring, unafraid to take risks that might get him hurt or killed. King Zora could only pray that he wouldn't do anything stupid. "Be safe my boy," he whispered. "For all of our sakes."

The day was a cool one; perfect for the Zoras. The river's current carried them swiftly and all they had to do was make sure they didn't run into any rocks. Sol estimated that, at the rate they were going, they would reach Hyrule Field in a couple of hours. Link trailed his hand in the water, relishing the feeling of freedom.

"Play us a song," Princess Ria said suddenly; she stared at Link eagerly.

"What?" Link asked.

"Yeah," Sol agreed. "Do it."

Link pulled the ocarina out of his pocket and looked at it. It was a bit larger than his fist and made of a light weight, green/white wood. The holes were just smaller than his fingers. "I don't really know how to play," he admitted.

"So what?" Sol asked. "I don't know how to steer a canoe yet I'm still trying." As if to prove his point, they hit a rock and the boat spun in slow, lazy circles.

Link shrugged and brought the instrument to his lips. He blew into it experimentally. A gentle note drifted out. Link ran his fingers across the holes; playing quick scale to figure out the pitches. The notes were clear and in tune.

"Wow, Link," Ria breathed in admiration. "You're a natural."

Link looked down modestly. "It just feels right, you know."

They continued moving swiftly as Link fiddled around on the ocarina. And soon the three friends could see the bank of Hyrule Field. Link stood up eagerly, staring in awe at the vast expanse. He could see the vague outline of what looked like a horse drawn cart. He dropped back down onto his seat a grabbed a paddle. "Come on! Let's go!"

His friends readily grabbed their own paddles and soon they were moving even faster. As soon as the canoe hit land, Link was up and out. He stood on the soft grass and breathed the fresh air that was so different from the damp air of the Zora's Domain. Behind him Ria and Sol were pulling out cloaks and dipping them in the water to protect their sensitive bodies from the sun.

"Look out!" someone yelled suddenly. Link turned just in time to leap out of the way of a wildly bucking horse. He hit the ground hard and flipped over. He stood up as quickly as he could.

A young red-haired girl was chasing after a beautiful chestnut mare. The mare was a young horse, but Link didn't know what those were called. A broken rope hung from the horse's halter, one end frayed. Link ran after the horse, not wanting her to get away or get hurt. The lead rope flashed past his nose and he managed to grab onto it, but the horse jerked her head away, nearly yanking his arm out of its socket. The horse pulled him off his feet and began dragging him like a rag-doll. Link managed to pull his legs in front of him and his heels dug into the soft ground, leaving long brown furrows in the green. His efforts to stop her were for naught.

"Epona, stop!" yelled the red-haired girl. She chased after them, singing a couplebars of a soothing melody. The horse, Epona, ignored her.

Suddenly an absolutely insane idea came to Link. It would either work or get him seriously injured, maybe even killed. He went for it anyways.

Link jumped into the air and began pulling himself forward with the rope. When he was close enough, he pulled his legs in and wrapped them around the horse's midsection. Epona, sensing a foreign presence on her back, began to buck wildly. Link held on for dear life. "Stop!" he yelled. Epona paid him no heed.

Gathering himself, Link wrapped his arms around her neck and leaned in close to her ear. "Hey," he whispered as soothingly as he could, "it's okay. No one's gonna hurt you. I promise. Just calm down, 'k? Calm down."

The horse bucked him off in response. He flew through the air and landed, his shoulder leaving dents in the earth before he flipped over and skidded to a stop. Link groaned and spat out a lump of dirt. Princess Ria rushed over helped him sit up. "Oh my gosh!" she gasped. "Are you okay? That was so brave of you! I hope you're not hurt!"

He waved her concerns away. "I'm fine Princess, really. I just got the wind knocked out of me is all."

Concerned friend turned to scolding mother. "Why did you do that you idiot? You could've gotten seriously hurt! You had me really worried! Don't ever do something like that again!"

"I'm fine, Ria," Linnk snapped. Ria recoiled, obviously hurt. Link pushed himself to his feet and gave her a smile. "I knew what I was doing. You don't have to worry about me."

"Epona!" the red-haired girl yelled again before Ria could say anything else. Link looked around with a start. The horse was getting further and further away and the girl couldn't keep up. Link suddenly remembered the song that she'd been trying to sing; it obviously had some kind of significance. He hadn't heard it for long but for some reason it had stuck in his mind. Pulling out his ocarina, he began to play.

The notes washed their way through the air and the horse froze, visibly relaxing. She turned and trotted back to Link. She stared at him with calm, intelligent eyes that asked, Well, what do you want?

The red-haired girl ran up, panting, the bottom of her white dress stained green. "Thanks," she took the horse's lead and began stroking her long nose. "Where'd you hear that song?"

"I heard you singing it," Link answered.

"And you picked it up just like that?"

He shrugged.

The girl regarded him. "It's called Epona's Song. It's the only thing that can calm her."

"Well I'm glad it worked," Link said. "Else she would've gotten away."

The girl nodded.

"THAT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!" an ecstatic voice shrieked from behind them as Sol barged into the conversation. "YOU ARE THE COOLEST PERSON IN THE WORLD, LINK!"

Link stuck one finger in his ear and shook it. "Jeez, no need to be so loud, Sol."

"Sorry, sorry," the Zora muttered with an eye roll. Then he caught sight of who Link was talking too. Interest sparked in his expression. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Indigo," the girl said with a giggle. "And you are…?"

"Sol," the Zora boy said proudly, "and this is my friend Link."

"Hi," Link said. He looked around for the Princess; when he saw her he beckoned her over. "And this is Princess Ria. We're heading to the castle together."

"Princess?" Indigo asked curiously.

"Princess Ria of the Zoras," Ria said disdainfully; she did not care for this new girl. "Heir to the throne and keeper of the Zora's Sapphire."

"Wow," Indigo said, "That's really cool." She looked back at Link. "Hey, did you say that you were heading to the castle?"

Link nodded.

She grinned. "Us too! We can give you a lift if you want, seeing as how you did us a big favor."

"That'd be great," Link said gratefully. The castle was still a good ways away and their boat had disappeared and Link really didn't fancy walking all that way.

"Great! Hop in."

"We're from Lon Lon Ranch," Indigo explained after they were situated. "We're heading to the castle to sell our milk. Well, my dad is. I just get to come along for the ride."

"I heard my title," the man in the front said. "What'happening?"

"Nothing, Papa," Indigo sighed. "He's a bit of a scatterbrain sometimes. Honestly, I wonder how he gets through the day."

Link smiled absently as he leaned his head over the edge of the cart and stared up at the blue sky. Off to one side, dark clouds were beginning to seep in; as if it was going to rain. "Why's Epona coming?" he asked. "You're not going to sell her, are you?"

"Of course not!" Indigo cried indignantly. "We would never! She just needed some fresh air and open space; she was beginning to get ansty cooped up at the ranch."

The horse in question came up and butted Link's head with her own, making him smile. I like you, her clear blue eyes said. We should play more often.

He rubbed her nose and thought back, Yeah, we should

"Why are you guys going to the castle?" Indigo asked, breaking into Link's thoughts.

"We have to–" Sol began proudly but Link quickly cut him off. He didn't think it would be a good idea to tell these people the reason for their trip. They had only just met them and they knew nothing about these farm folk.

"We're going to see the sights," Link said, shooting Sol a dark look. "We don't get out much, so we'd thought we'd do some exploring."

Indigo looked confused as to why Link had cut the Zora off but she didn't comment on it. Instead she looked at Princess Ria. "Shouldn't you have an escort or something? She is a Princess, after all." Her tone sounded like she didn't exactly believe Ria was a princess. Ria met her gaze haughtily, saying nothing.

"We, uh, left them behind," Link said. He looked back the way they'd come and saw, to his surprise, two canoes filled with Zora warriors. At their head was Akron and he didn't look happy. "See, there they ," are." He waved cheekily and Akron shouted something at him but the wind blew his words away. "Sorry, I didn't catch that," Link shouted. He cupped one had around his ear. "Could you speak up please?" Akron yelled something else, and Ria and Sol covered their giggles behind their hands.

"Don't you want to wait for them?" Indigo asked in confusion

"No!" Ria, Sol, and Link yelped in unison.

Indigo cocked an eyebrow. "Oooookay?"

Link looked back again. The Zoras were running swiftly across the flat plain, slowly eating up the ground between them and the cart. Link grew worried; he knew that Zora guards were trained to keep up a fast pace for miles. He leaned over and murmured in Sol's ear, "They may catch up to us before we get there."

Sol nodded soundlessly and whispered back, "I know. But what can we do?"

"Hey," Link said to Indigo. He kept one eye on the approaching warriors. "Do you think we can go a little faster?"

"Why?" the girl asked.

"Let's just say that we don't want them to catch up with us."

"Why?" she asked again.

"Because they'll be really mad at us if they do," Ria snapped. "And we really don't want to wander around under their ever watchful eye all day. Jeez, you ask a lot of questions about stuff that isn't any of your business. Back off, would you?"

"Princess," Link murmured quietly, trying to calm her down. She gave him a look but didn't say anything else. Link looked back at Indigo. "Please? Could we just go faster?"

"Sure," Indigo shrugged and turned to talk to her father.

Epona bumped her head into Link again. I could take you, she seemed to be saying.

Yeah, but I don't want to leave my friends, Link thought back, even though he knew she couldn't hear him.

Strangely, Epona appeared to shrug and look away.

Oooookay… Link thought, did I just imagine that or did it really just happen? No one answered his question so he assumed he was going crazy. Which really wasn't such a bad thing; being crazy could be fun.

Indigo turned around as the cart sped up. "Papa says that's fine. He wants to get there quick anyways."

"Great," Link said, and settled down to wait.

An hour later the Zoras were still in sight behind them but they weren't gaining anymore. Hyrule Castle loomed up ahead of them and soon they were passing beneath its gates and into the unknown. Link didn't know what was going to happen, but he did know that he couldn't wait.

To be continued…

Enia: Whew. Tired. That's probably one of the longest chapters I've written. It was very fun to write. It doesn't need much of a wrap up, but is that a little tension I sense between Ria and Indigo? Could it possibly have something to do with a certain blonde-haired boy? No one knows but I… and Samik. But he won't tell because he know's I'll kill him if he does.

Samik: No you won't.

Enia: Wanna bet?

Samik: No.

Enia: Exactly.

So, I hope you had as much fun reading this chapter as I had writing it. So, until next time, please read and review (seriously. No one has left me any and I would really like go get at least ten for this story. Is that too much to ask?) This is Enia Silverson, signing off.

Samik: Hey! What about me?

Enia: Shut up! You just totally wrecked the awesomeness of that!

Samik: Oh come on…

Enia: Fine! This is Enia Silverson and Samik Brekin signing off.

Samik: Why am I last?

Enia: I give up. Samik, c'mere so I can kill you.

Samik: What?