Zelda's heart was pounding a million beats per minute as they walked over the long bridge to the domain's entrance. Two Zora were guarding the entrance. Link looked way more comfortable than Her, quite frankly she was jealous. How had Link attained such a friendship with the Zoras? Zelda felt her heart explode as a dark Zora Guard had made eye contact with her.
"How's it goin' Rivan?" Link greeted with a quick wave. The dark Zora, Rivan, seemed to perk up at Link's greeting.
Rivan let out a short sigh, "Boring as usual, by the way, whose-"
"Zelda! … I'm Zelda," she stammered. Embarrassment consumed the princess, realizing how rude of her to interrupt. To her surprise, Rivan, and the Zora woman guarding the other side, Both seemed to light up when she said her name.
"Zelda!? Like, THE Zelda?!" The woman exclaimed, "Oh, where are my manners, I'm Dunma!" she lowered her head in respect for the princess.
Rivan seemed extremely excited. "Let me guess, this means you destroyed Calamity Ganon!?" he shouted. Link replied with a nod. The two guards excitedly gushed over Link and Zelda's success. Finally, Dunma calmed herself.
"Perhaps we should return to guard duty. I recommend you two go visit the King, i'm sure he'd be glad to see you both." Dunma said as she began pushing Rivan away from the two hylians. The both waved a farewell, so Link and Zelda continued forward.
Zelda began hearing chattering of nearby Zoras. She felt herself melt. What were they talking about? Zelda's fear began to take over, and she found herself walking closer to Link.
"LLLLIIIIINNNKKKKK!" Zelda practically jumped six feet in the air as a loud voice called out Link's name. A tall, red Zora scooped Link into his arms in a grand hug. He looked familiar.
"IS IT TRUE? DID YOU DESTROY CALAMITY GANON? YOU'RE AMAZING MY FRIEND! ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT! OH I'M SO GLAD TO HAVE A HERO SUCH AS YOURSELF AS MY FRIEND!" The Zora screamed. Link was giggling and asking to be put down. Eventually, the Zora caved in, and gently put Link back on his feet.
Link turned to the princess, "This is Princess Zelda, I'm sure you met her when you were little. Zelda, this is Sidon, you remember him, don't you?" he said. Memories slapped Zelda in the face as she remembered Mipha's tiny, adorable younger brother. However, he wasn't so tiny anymore.
"Really? My Sidon how you've grown since I last saw you!" Zelda quickly checked the back of his head to see that his tail no longer dragged on the floor, "And you grew into your tail as well! I'm pleased to reunite with you!"
Sidon's face was a peculiar shade of blue, "Hah! Sorry, I just made a fool of myself in front of you princess," Sidon looked away, embarrassed, "But yes! I'm pleased to be in your presence! I'm sure the feats you have accomplished are nothing short of extraordinary!" Sidon exclaimed. Zelda felt her face get red. She was shocked Sidon would think so highly of her, even though she failed his sister one hundred years ago.
Link looked towards the throne room. "Could we visit your father?" He asked. Sidon's expression sunk.
"No. There's a Zora Council meeting going on. Everyone will be mad if we interrupt." He sighed. Link had an annoyed expression as he looked back down from the throne room. Zelda cocked her head at the Prince.
"Zora Council?" Zelda asked. "I don't remember a Zora council…" She lost herself in thought.
"It's only been around for 70 or so years," Sidon noted. There was a small silence, "I-I am sure there is something else we can do to pass the time! I think the meeting will last maybe 30 more minutes give or take." Sidon abruptly beamed.
"We could sit by the shrine and catch up?" Link suggested. Sidon nodded, and trotted over to the lower area in the domain, where a activated shrine sat. Zelda admired Links ability to claim so many shrines. He often used them to warp quickly. They'd both use shrines to warp if only the sheikah slate could warp two people. However, this didn't bother Zelda at all, for she enjoyed viewing hyrule's scenery.
"So princess," Sidon said, interrupting Zelda's thoughts, "does anything seem extremely different to you from 100 years ago. You know, since you have your memories."
Zelda thought for a moment. "Well, almost everything has changed. The wildlife. The people. The villages. Especially Hyrule Castle. I suppose that's obvious. But, most has changed in a good way. I don't remember everybody being this open minded. Everyone was a bit more stuck up back then." she pondered.
Sidon seemed to be staring at his fingers, "My father doesn't think Zoras have changed that much." Link looked up, confused.
"What does he mean by that?" Link asked.
"I'm not quite sure. He usually tells me things without explaining. Maybe he means our attitude?" Sidon was avoiding any sort of eye contact, and was busying himself with his fingernails.
"Well," Zelda began, making an attempt to add to the conversation, "I think you all are a lot nicer."
"Why did you two come here?" Sidon asked, quickly straightening his back.
"Oh. Well… we noticed Vah Ruta had seemed broken. So we were going to check how things were. Link also wanted to pay you all a visit."
"Oh! How kind of you my princess!" Sidon chimed, "I apologize that you have to wait for a more enjoyable visit. Believe me… I hate it when they have meetings." Sidon gave and annoyed glance into nowhere.
It was about 45 or so minutes they spent by the shrine. Sidon did most of the talking, well, more like complaining. He reminded Zelda a lot of herself 100 years ago. She felt they would get along just fine. Eventually, Link noticed Muzu, and various council members had left the throne room. Sidon's face lit up.
"It's about time! That stupid meeting lasted so long! What were they even talking about?" he grumbled. He quickly stood up, and motioned Zelda and Link to follow. Zelda's heart rate went from 10 to 1000. She wasn't to egotistical to admit to herself that she was terrified. It didn't matter how much of a gentle giant she remembered the King as, she felt that the moment he would look at her, He'd squish her with his pinky.
Sidon was babbling incessantly to Link about some dream he had. Link's expression was somewhere in between wanting to sleep, and paying attention. Zelda yearned to be as relaxed as her knight. The steps to the throne room felt 100 miles long. She kept her gaze at her feet. Each step felt like a year lost from her life. Every noise around her felt like knife grating on her eardrums. She could tell they were inching towards the top of the stairs. She held her breath, and prepared herself for confrontation.
"Father! Guess who i've brought!" Sidon blurted, having no second thoughts about how loud he was. Her thoughts interrupted, Zelda begrudgingly lifted her head, and waved at the King with a fake smile.
He looked much older then she remembered. Which is expected, since it had been 100 years. His face seemed stained with an emotion the princess couldn't quite identify. He identified Zelda after getting a good look at her.
"Oh my! Is that really you? What a wonderful surprise it is to see you!" He chimed.
"I knew they would put that calamity ganon in his place!" Sidon interrupted.
"Absolutely. Please tell me, princess, how have you been?" The king asked.
Zelda thought for a moment, "I've been, average I guess. This whole Ganon thing has been a lot." She uttered. For some reason, she was being slightly more honest. Despite Zelda's vagueness, the King saw right through her.
"I understand that. It must be difficult holding up the weight of Hyrule's fate for so long," He mused, "However, I'm sure we can recover from this disaster-"
Suddenly, a nasally toned voice broke in the conversation, "Excuse me but," A zora woman stood at the top of the steps. She had scales that gradiented from a medium blue to a dark blue. Her fins were a well balanced green and blue. She had a shorter, rounder build, and her tail seemed oversized. She lowered her head apologetically, and continued, "My apologies for interrupting my liege, but it seems the lynel from ploymus mountain has ventured uncomfortably close to the domain." Her voice was monotonous, and her regal vocabulary seemed forced. She slurred in between some of her words.
Dorephan's expression turned serious, "What is it doing?" he asked, straightening himself.
The lady cleared her throat, "Well, Bazz said there is something...Off about it. It has some kind of wound."
"We can investigate!" Zelda offered out of nowhere. She looked to Links direction, and he nodded in agreement.
Dorephan's face lit up a small bit, "How kind of you," He thanked. He pointed to the blue zora at the front of the room, "Malaya can lead you to-"
"Can I come too?" Sidon asked suddenly, with a hopeful look on his face.
The king released an exasperated sigh, "Sidon, the last time I let you help with this kind of thing you were swallowed by an octorok." Sidon looked away and grimaced, crossing his arms.
The blue zora, who was apparently Malaya, rolled her eyes. "We'll be off then?" she questioned. Zelda and Link looked at each other, then zelda nodded. They made their way out of the domain.
"Excuse me Malaya," Zelda said. She waited for a response. Nothing. She felt awkward. "Umm… Malaya…" A moment passed. Nothing. They again passed Rivan and Dunma. They took notice of Zelda's distress with Malaya.
"Oh, She's deaf." Rivan stated. Zelda and Link stopped, Malaya kept walking. She noticed they stopped following, and snapped her body to look behind.
"Oh...um...sorry we- we didn't notice." Zelda felt embarrassed.
"Don't worry to much, she can sort of read your lips if you talk clearly." Rivan added. Malaya then cleared her throat in annoyance.
"Sorry, lets keep going." Zelda said slowly. Malaya took a moment, then went off. The walk to the lynel was awkward and quiet. Zelda wished Link would talk like he did yesterday, but he never wants to start a conversation, and never talks because he can.
Suddenly, loud roar made Zelda jump, and made Link snap his head in its direction.
Malaya stopped, "It's beyond these bushes. Go ahead. I'd join you, but I can't fight." she informed, pointing forward. Link ran ahead, and zelda quickly followed. They came to a clearing, and there the lynel was.
Various zora guards were pushing it away from themselves. Zelda knew immediately what was strange about the monster. Its face was covered with what seemed to be a tumor of malice. Not only that, the creature seemed terribly confused. Then, one of the guards spears grazed the mass of malice.
The guard yipped and dropped the spear as the tip appeared to be swallowed by the malice. Zelda and Link watched in awe as the malice ate away at the spear until it was nothing. The Zoras began to back away.
The spearless guard looked to another with panic, "What do we do Captain Bazz?" They asked a black zora. Bazz looked super stressed.
"Can we be of assistance!?" Zelda asked loudly. The zoras all seemed to cheer up suddenly.
"Master Link! And… are you… Zelda? Nevermind, yes! We need to slay this beast!" Bazz backed away from the lynels sudden flailing arms. It howled in pain, and put its hands over the malice tumor. The mass was bleeding heavily. The beast fell over and continued to shout in pain. The zora guards backed away at Bazz's command. However, Link and Zelda rushed towards the beast. Link drew his sword.
"Wait! Don't kill it yet." Zelda cautiously inched to the miserable beast. It noticed her gaze, and gave a half hearted territorial grunt. Zelda's thoughts ran wild, is this an omen of looming threat? What if this spread? What if it killed someone? Or her? Or...Link? The beast shouted. Zelda cringed as she noticed the tumor increase in size. Link inched up next to Zelda and pointed the master sword to the edge of the mass, allowing the tip of his sword to make contact with the mass.
Malice attempted to eat at the master sword, but it shriveled on contact, and fell to the ground. Link suddenly made a swift cut on the beast's tumor, cutting half of it off. The lynel screeched. The severed half of the tumor sat on the ground, and soaked into the surrounding grass. Link made another swift cut, and removed the mass, though taking some of the lynel's cheek. The beast flinched once more, then staggered to its feet. It felt for the mass, but noticed it was missing. It grunted weirdly, then quickly ran off. Zelda looked at Link in awe.
"Did you just help a Lynel?" Bazz asked, dumbfounded. Link looked ahead, still tense.
"I-I was going to finish it off. I didn't expect it to run like that…" Link's voice trailed off.
"It doesn't matter," Zelda insisted, "What's important is that it's not so close to the domain anymore. We should all head back." The guards all made their way back towards their home. Link followed briskly. Zelda stopped and stared anxiously where the severed malice sat. It ate away at the surrounding grass. The once healthy specimens began to rot and burn. The soil was turning into a dead purple toned black.
"Zelda?" Link called. Zelda snapped out of her observation, she gave Link a look of worry.
"Should...should we bring some to show them what we found?" Zelda asked. Link bent over where some of the malice lay, and picked it up with the wider side of his sword. He balanced the malice sample on the side of the sword carefully.
"We'll show them this." He said.
Zelda watched Link anxiously as he carefully balanced the sample of malice. it was exceedingly difficult, as they were once again being escorted up the stairs to the zora throne room, this time by Malaya. They walked up very slowly to avoid possible disasters related to dropping the malice. A consistent murmur became louder as they inched up one stair at a time. Link looked up in reaction to many talking voices, then he let out an exasperated sigh.
"Zelda, I think the Zora Council is in there," He looked back down at his sword in annoyance, "Prepare for grouchy old gremlins, and some feisty younguns we don't know...Except Malaya."
Zelda was confused, "I thought the council was all elders." Link gave her a half terrified half amused look.
"Zelda if it was still all elders we'd both be dead by now," Link said between chuckles, " Sidon told me that Dorephan appointed more younger members so the council was less one sided, in other words, it was so Sidon could state an opinion without getting murdered in cold blood."
Zelda chuckled a bit as they inched up another stair. Step by step they made there way into the throne room, greeting Zelda with four familiar faces.
The face she noticed immediately was Muzu. She remembered that he'd been the one to educate Mipha, and according to Sidon, He seemed to be in charge of the council. She then noticed Seggin, who had taught Mipha how to use her trident. She then took notice of Jiahto and Trello. Two she remembered as soldiers 100 years ago. Three other Zoras were there as well. All young. One of them was a woman with light grey scales, and some darker gray stripes. Another was a man with orange scales, and a skinnier build compared to Sidon. Third was a woman who Zelda sort of recognized. Link had made finger guns at her previously. She had a tall skinny build and had bright red scales.
Zelda's thoughts were interrupted by Muzu's exasperated growls. He gave Link the most contemptuous look.
"Do not tell me you spent roughly ten minutes trudging up the stairs because you were balancing a rock on your sword?" Muzu growled. Link gave him a scornful look. Zelda jumped in before anyone drew out their swords.
"Now, hold on! Its malice. From the lynel's face. Link, bring it closer." Zelda urged. Link reluctantly inched closer to the old zora. Muzu reeled back in disgust.
"What am I looking at?" he said.
"Malice." Link said cleverly. Everyone in the room seemed to move back. Link continued, "It was on the lynel's face like a tumor." Dorephan flinched.
"Is that contagious?" He said, looking back and fourth from the malice to Sidon. Zelda observed the sample carefully. She then let out a defeated sigh.
"It most likely is. We wished to inform you of it, and we will remove it from the domain as soon as-" Zelda was interrupted by a thundering roar. The throne room shook as the sound moved. The source of the roar was none other than Vah Ruta.
Everyone in the room looked in the great beast's direction. It still looked broken, but it seemed to be trying to start itself up again. Link looked at Zelda, she then took a deep breath.
"Another reason we came. We believe Vah Ruta is malfunctioning. Quick question, how many times has is roared lately?" she asked.
"Too many! It hurts my ears!" Sidon said suddenly, "At least twenty times last week." He gave quick annoyed glances at the divine beast.
"Me and Link wish for permission to investigate the beast." Zelda said with fake confidence.
"If it makes it shut up!" Sidon said, immediately followed by a stern look from Dorephan.
"Im gonna take that as a yes?" Zelda asked. The king gave her a quick nod. She nodded at Link. and they set their minds for travel.
"Actually wait," Dorephan said, "Sidon, to make up for the fact that I wouldn't let you beat up a lynel, you could join them if you'd like to." Sidon was doing his best to conceal his excitement.
"I- I mean sure. I guess." Sidon had already started to follow Zelda and Link after his passive aggressive response.
The newly formed trio went their way to the massive beast. The wheels on the sides were stiff in their rotations, and it's blue lights were dim and flickering. Whatever it was that was troubling the beast, it probably wasn't just power supply.