ATE: Thanks to Nintendoborn for their review and for everyone else for reading this story. I decided to update this story a day early. I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Legend of Zelda or Nintendo. I only own my OC.
~*~Chapter 4~*~
Zora's Domain was nothing short of majestic.
The view Sophia had managed to glimpse the day Mipha and Sidon had taken her to get a bath hadn't done the place justice. The whitish stone constructing the city was actually something called luminous stone, a rock that glowed at night with a soft hue; it made Zora's Domain shine at night with the light reflecting off the water flowing through (and the small amount that covered some of the floors in puddles of ankle deep water) like glittering starlight. It was during the start of the tour that Sophia learned that she'd been staying in one of the guest bedrooms during her recovery.
The design of the palace was fascinating, to say the least. Most of the palace (from what she had seen so far) had open ceilings and windows. Directly outside the entrance was a balcony that overlooked the water covered courtyard where she could see adorable Zora children splashing around in the water, all while giggling and chasing each other, while there were two sets of stairs on both sides of the balcony leading down to the courtyard and city.
Even though she was afraid of swimming in deep water, she found herself falling in love with Zora's Domain.
Thanks to the help of Mipha, Sophia was able to recover and eventually walk again. During her rehabilitation Sidon was extremely supportive and would always seem to cheer her on when it felt like she was at her limit; she found him endearing because of this. Once she was able to walk without assistance, she was shown around Zora's Domain, all while wearing the bedsheet she'd been given as a toga (though slight modifications had to be made, such as fixing the hem so she wasn't at risk of tripping herself trying to walk).
As she was shown around, Sophia was able to see what the other Zora's looked like, surprised that the majority of them where similar to Mipha with the shark-like appearance (thought, unlike the Zora princess, they were a good three or four feet taller than her, leaving Sophia a few inches below her shoulders). It was amazing how their scales were different colors, some Zora's being red (like the Zora siblings), blue, green, or even a dark color. Along with the children there were elderly Zora, giving a clear example of what each stage of life looked like.
As fascinating as she was with the Zoras, she noticed them staring at her when they thought she wasn't looking (some of the looks from the more elderly age group being warier than anything).
"Why do they keep staring?" She asked Mipha, keeping her voice quiet so she wasn't overheard.
"It is because you're human." Mipha answered. Sophia gave her a look before the princess decided to elaborate. "The human race is believed by many to have gone extinct. The others stare because you are a rare sight to behold."
Sophia didn't know what to think about this, but she couldn't complain either. Was it really true that humans were extinct and that she was the first one the Zoras have seen in so long?
There wasn't much point worrying about it.
While showing her around Zora's Domain, Mipha had introduced Sophia to a female Zora by the name of Kodah (who seemed to be around the same age as the princess), and she found her to be friendly enough, as well as having a good sense of humor.
Another Zora she was introduced to went by the name of Seggin, who happened to be a sergeant for the Zora royal family knights. Watching him train the knights, she found him to be stern and overly strict for his age (or his appearance, which seemed to be in the prime of his life), but Mipha assured her that he was a softy on the inside (though she found this hard to believe). She found it interesting that he'd trained the princess in fighting with a trident, as well as treated Mipha like she were a daughter.
But then Mipha decided she wanted Sophia to meet her father and she started panicking despite all the reassurance the princess kept offering her.
Maybe she should listen to her.
There was no need to panic.
She was only meeting THE KING OF THE ZORA.
No pressure there!
As these thoughts ran through her head, Mipha led her back to the palace until they had come to the main hall in her mind. Up a flight of steps opposite to the palace entrance was a large structure shaped like a fish, the large entryway being the fish structure's gaping mouth. At first Sophia wondered why the entryway for it was so large…
…Only for her face to go pale as soon as she saw why.
'JESUS TITTY FUCKING CHRIST!!!'
Before her was a GINORMOUS Zora sitting on an equally large throne that towered over all in the throne room. Though his head was shark-like (as many of the Zora she'd seen today) in appearance, the rest of his body caused Sophia's mind to think of a whale, which was surprisingly fitting in a way. He was both regal and intimidating, but mostly intimidating due to his size.
Oh no! Everyone was staring!
Was she supposed to kneel? Bow? Curtsey?
'Just do something, already!' Her mind screamed at her.
Sophia quickly scrambled to kneel, but found herself almost tripping as a result. What she didn't expect to hear was the jovial laugh that resounded through the room.
"You are quite the fascination, young one." A deep powerful voice spoke. "I am King Dorephan. It is belated, but I welcome you to Zora's Domain."
Getting over the initial surprise she felt Sophia stood up, feeling a little more comfortable in the presence of Mipha's father (she had a feeling it'd take her awhile to get used to his size).
"Thanks." She replied, unsure of what to say. "I…guess I'm in your daughter's debt for saving me."
"Speaking of Mipha, I've been informed that you are from a world vastly different than ours. Is this true?"
"Yes, it's true. I don't know how it happened, but I don't think I want to repeat it."
"Well, let us hope that it doesn't come down to that. You are welcome to stay within my kingdom."
Hearing that gave Sophia some relief, seeing as she wouldn't know where to go if she was turned away. She was beginning to like King Dorephan, friendly personality. It seemed like her stay would be a nice change. Though it made her wonder one thing:
Would she ever get home?
ATE: Explaination Time!
(1) Zora's Domain: I know that in-game Zora's Domain is impression in and of itself, but I felt that it was kinda…small? I mean, I'm aware that you can only put so much in a game and I know that it had the essentials such as the Inn and Shop, but aside from those and the Throne Room? That was basically it. I felt that it needed to be expanded in this story from what it was in the game and this was the result.
(2) Humans Are Extinct: Like in The Feathery Salt Is Real, humans are extinct in this story. Refer to Chapter 1 of that story for more details.
(3) "JESUS TITTY FUCKING CHRIST!!!": This was an idea a friend of mine gave me to include in this chapter. According to them, this is a reference to Game Grumps' Let's Play of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.
Thanks for taking the time to read this chapter! Let me know what you all think and please feel free to leave a review! ;D
