Chapter 9

Zora, swim and Goron, roll.

Gerudo, strike and Deku, go.

Fight the foe and save the masses.

Mountain, desert, sea and grasses.

Tijo squinted and rolled away from the bright light in his eyes. His mind suddenly registered the fact that light=sun=day. With a gasp, the Zora sat bolt upright. Bright light! Is it that late?! Tijo twisted his body towards the source of the light. (He couldn't twist his neck since he couldn't really be considered to have a neck in every sense of the word.) Turns out that the light was not the sun, but a bucket of iridescent fish. Having been shocked awake, Tijo took a while to understand that the bucket was probably left by Mikau as an alarm so Tijo wouldn't be late for the first day of class. Tijo smiled. How thoughtful of Mikau, even if he left the dorm already without him.

Tijo hurridly prepared for school, which is a challenge due to his usually slow nature. With an armful of paperwork, he rushed past the kitchen towards the door. But he noticed a large salmon on the kitchen counter, so fresh that it's gills were still laboring. So Mikau left Tijo some breakfast. How thoughtful of Mikau! With a much lighter heart, and a salmon in his mouth, Tijo dived into the water and headed towards the university.

Japas and Mikau however, have already crossed the stretch of water that seperated the male dorms and the main building. The two of them were always early risers. Mikau would have liked to have Tijo come with them, but felt that an hour of extra sleep would benefit the Bottom-feeder more. Both Sleeks carried a lot of materials to class, not just their guitars. Mikau's stuff was contained in a large bubble which trailed behind him and is attached to a cord tied to his belt. Japas' materials are in a pack weaved of seaweed which was strapped to his belly. (Zoras don't wear packs on their backs since it gets in the way of their tails.)

The two of them were nearing the main buildings, when Japas suddenly stopped. "What's up, Japas?" Mikau asked. He swam slightly ahead, but Japas grabbed his cord and yanked him backwards. Mikau squacked a protest. "Ack! What the...Japas!" Japas hissed for him to be quiet. Mikau obliged and let his friend drag him along like a dog on a leash. Mikau wondered what Japas was up to. Japas finally released the cord once they were behind a pile of rocks, and put a finger to his lips to indicate silence. Mikau mouthed the words, "What?" Japas still didn't answer but looked over the rocks, one hand holding back his hair for better vision.

Mikau rose to look too. But before he could, Japas sank back down with both hands covering his mouth, hair falling over his face again. He looks a bit more purple than usual. "What?!" Mikau hissed quietly. Japas removed his hands and Mikau could see that he is actually laughing, but trying hard not to make any noise. "What the heck are you laughing about, you fish?"

Japas flicked his hand in the direction he was looking at. "Hylian Zoras. You've gotta see this." He managed to say between snickers.

"What are you talking about? Tijo is a Hylian Zora, for crying out loud."

"No no no." Japas brought his face close to Mikau's. "I mean Hylian, FEMALE Zoras!" He whispered meaningly. Mikau's eyes lit up with understanding and he scrambled to look over the rocks.

It's been a long time since the two Zoras regarded members of the opposite sex as objects of annoyance. Instead, their vision of females had evolved into creatures of beauty and fascination. In other words, the boys had grown into young men, with the same curiosity and ambitious tastes of young men. Due to the fact that the university is smack in the middle of the male and female dorms, casual visits to either one are inconvenient unless you happen to reside in one of them. As a result, Mikau and Japas haven't seen a lot of girls around the school, and those they've seen so far just happen to be Terminian or Labrynnian girls. Now if Mikau remembers correctly, Hylian Zoras live in fresh water, which means they have softer skin and they tend to remain...

"Goddesses..."

Mikau barely breathed. He sensed Japas rising beside him to get a better view, but he couldn't care less. The two of them just goggled at the stream of females swimming towards the school, completely unaware of the time.

"Hey, Mikau! Japas!"

The two of them broke out of their trance and guiltily faced the direction of the voice. "Tijo! What the..." Mikau shot upwards toward Tijo, grabbed him by the arm, and quickly pulled him behind the rocks before they can be seen. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"

"Yeah. About half an hour ago." Tijo replied.

"How did you know we were hiding here? Did you see us?" Japas looked horrified.

"No, I was only able to find you because I recognized the paint pattern on Mikau's tail. It blends right into the rocks but I was able to distinguish it anyways. Don't worry, I don't think anyone else would have seen you guys." Tijo looked over his shoulder in the direction of the female dorms. He turned back to the two Sleeks, shaking his head. "You two are so immature!"

"Uh huh. And I'm sure you've never glanced at a female form." Japas nudged at Tijo playfully, wearing a lecherous grin. "Hyrule must be a pretty crazy place. I mean, you've got naked girls to the left and right. Oh yeah, Zora Domain: number one tourist attraction!"

"Nah. Everyone's used to it in Hyrule. Really, how long do you think you can stay interested in the nude body when you see it every day?"

Japas leered, but before he could answer, Mikau put a hand over his friend's mouth and turned to Tijo. "Buddy, you're asking the wrong person the wrong questions." He happened to look upwards, where the distorted light of the sun could be seen. "Holy...! It's almost 8:00! We're gonna be late!" Mikau zipped of in the direction of the gym, while Japas and Tijo headed off to the music room. Japas has Guitar lessons; Tijo had Drum.

Mikau became a little frustrated while he was trying to find the gym. Then again, it was his own fault for leaving that tour early a few days ago, otherwise he would have better understood the layout of the university. Then again, he wouldn't have been reunited with Japas if he had stayed in the tour. Then again, he would have met Japas in either his Music Composition/Theory class or in Singing class today. Then again, they wouldn't have the few precious free days to get to know each other. Then again, a few days wouldn't have mattered either way.

These thoughts raced through Mikau's mind while he raced towards the gym. Swimming upwards through the corridors, he burst through water onto dryer floors. The Zora ran through the doors that his class was supposed to be in and found himself in a room with a high ceiling. This was the room where the tour took place. In his mind's eye, Mikau still saw the crowd of students from the tour, and gruff Mr. Bayn chewing one of them out. Wait a sec, those people are real! Mikau had hoped that the giant of a Zora would be teaching only older grades, rather than scaring the living Hell out of the new students. No such luck. This also happens to be Mikau's first class of the day, year, and all of university. It's not that Mr. Bayn was horrible like some teachers Mikau could name, but just that he is so intimdating...and big!

Mr. Bayn finished with the unfortunate student and let him rejoin the crowd, which he gratefully did. Mikau froze and felt his heart stop as the teacher locked his disapproving gaze on the Zorian Hero.

"So we've got another clown who thinks it's funny to make an entrance." Mr. Bayn said with a frown. Mikau's lips trembled with half- formed words, none of which came out right. The gym coach suddenly laughed, loud and heartily, the sound of it echoing tenfold against the walls and making everyone else cringe. "Very funny! But it's only funny the first time. You won't catch me laughing if you're late again." He said the last part menacingly as he walked towards Mikau.

The Zorian Hero felt his arm blades growing twice, then three times their normal size in response to danger as the intimidating Zora drew nearer. The fins grew subconsciously from instinct, without their owner actually willing them to extend. Mr. Bayn took hold of Mikau's wrist, and the arm blades suddenly extended to full size; their knife-edge glinting in the sunlight that filtered through the windows. Mikau looked up nervously, and perhaps angrily, at the large Zora towering over him. But Mr. Bayn was smiling.

"So, it's the Zorian Hero! Ready for action, I see." He casually flung Mikau in the direction of the other students and removed a clipboard from his belt. "You must be Mikau Lorecrest, if I remember correctly. Stand in line, Lorecrest! The rest of you, too!"

The students obediently and quickly assembled into a line facing their coach, who withdrew a pencil from his ear. "Alright, now that all you kids are here, let's straighten out who all of you are. Ahem... Tyyanna Aleree! ...Rein Atu! ...Rego Cormes!" With each name yelled, the corresponding Zora would call out an affirmative and Mr. Bayn would make a mark on his clipboard.

Mikau used this time to check out his fellow students. Predictably, there were no Bottom-feeders in this crowd of athletes. The class consists of mostly males, but the few females looked extremely capable of handling their own weight. One of them, who's either a Hylian Zora or a girl with no sense of modesty, was already attracting the attention of many of her fellow Zoras. She's not very big, but looked as lean as nails and probably just as tough. Glances in her direction were repaid with glares of pure venom.

"...Mikau Lorecrest!"

Mikau snapped to attention. "Here!"

"...Altress Mith!"

The female looked up and yelled, "Here!" So. Altress is her name.

There was another person that differed from the generic Zora. Instead of the normally pale-blue color, this guy has skin in shades of rock brown to stone grey. His eyes are small and narrow, and his nose is nothing but two small slits in the middle of his face. Now, if the normal Zora resembles a dolphin, Mikau looks like a shark, and Tijo is considered to be a bloated sting ray, then this Zora would be a moray eel. The tail at the back of his head doesn't flap up and down, but swishes side to side. It's also lacking in a fluke, like Mikau, but instead is slightly tapered and flattened at the end, like an eel's tail. He seemed somewhat vacant; he stared at the floor and gave no outward indication that he's aware of his surroundings.

"...Evan Wake!"

The Zora suddenly lifted his chin and puffled out his chest, seemingly full of confidence. "Here!" He said forcefully. Mr. Bayn nodded and yelled out the next name. Evan dropped his head and continued his contemplation of the floor. As Mikau watched the Zora, he thought Evan to be a pretty reclusive character, and probably has no friends in this class to talk to.

"Alright, you kids!" Mr. Bayn bellowed. "Welcome to the Phys Ed class! Now that I know you, you should know me. Call me Mr. Bayn. I rule this gym, and I have only two rules: you treat me and everyone else with respect, and you do your damnest best! You will obey these rules, and you will obey me during this class, or you will face..." His voice lowered considerably. "...the consequences." The easily intimidated, were. Then the coach's tone changed considerably into a gleeful one. He clapped his hands together once. "So, now that you all know me, you should all know each other! Go on, ask some questions, make some friends! I, on the other hand, still need to get some breakfast." And with that, the coach left the gym, leaving the students to their own devices.

Mikau finally had time to put his stuff away. While he walked towards the storage shelves, the bubble rolled along behind him rather than floating like it would in water. Making sure the bubble and his guitar were safe and out of the way, Mikau turned back towards the class. It seemed as if everyone was already immersed in idle conversation. That is, except Evan. His head is down and is arms are crossed. His body language appears to say, "I'm not interested. Leave me alone." So, like an idiot, Mikau walked up to him.

"Hey," Mikau said to Evan, smiling profusely.

"Hey," Evan replied without facing Mikau. A beat later, he did look up. Mikau noticed that he tends to raise his chin when he talks to people, almost as if he was looking down his non-existant nose at them. Evan attempted to say something, then thought otherwise and returned his gaze to the floor. Mikau frowned. Well that sure went well.

A bit of small chat with a few other Zoras revealed nothing of interest. Mikau would have liked to talk to Altress, but judging by the crowd of boys around her and the look on her face which revealed that she was ready to bite one of them at any time, made him think otherwise. The Zorian Hero found himself beside the eel-like Evan again, who still found the smooth rock floor facinating.

"So..." Mikau ventured. "Looking for rupees?"

"Actually, it would be much nicer if a crab or something crawled by around now. They're worth a lot more than rupees to a starving university student." He looked at Mikau again in that aristocratic manner, chin raised and this time with his arms at his hips as well. His eyes gleamed with interest when they settled on Mikau's hands. "You're a guitarist, aren't you?"

"How did you know?" Mikau was surprised. "You saw my guitar, didn't you."

"Not just that. Here, I'll show you. Give me your right hand." Mikau obliged and Evan pointed to the fingertips. "The callous on your hands give it away. See? All serious guitarists have them."

"Hey, you're right! I never noticed them before!" Mikau withdrew his hand partway, but then extended them again. "I'm Mikau Lorecrest." He introduced himself formally.

"Evan Wake." Evan took the hand and shook it. "So, what's a musician like you doing in this school of fish? I thought I was the only non-jock in this class."

"I could say the same about myself." Mikau laughed and posed. "I'm just here to hone my incredibly muscular Zorian Hero body."

Evan smiled, which wasn't much more than a tightening of the lips, but it was clear that he was amused. "I'm here to get rid of this." He patted his slightly rotund stomach. "I spent too much time just sitting at the piano. When I was younger, some people would mistake me for a Bottom- feeder!"

Mikau found that difficult to imagine. The eel-Zora seemed bulky rather than fat, and only his belly looked misplaced. "You don't look so bad now. Wait a sec, you're a pianist?" Evan nodded. "So what courses are you taking? And in which blocks? We might be in another class together." Exchanging schedule times, Mikau discovered that he'll be seeing Evan again today, during Singing in last block.

When Mr. Bayn re-entered the gym, all conversation immediatly halted. His presence filled the entire echoy room. "Enough chat, kids! Now I want to see what you can do! Follow me, and be quick about it!" The coach led the students to an outdoor underwater track which was lined with coral and kelp to help define it's perimeter. Unlike fields on land, fields underwater need bounderies extending in three dimentions, or else swimmers would stray off the paths.

"Now then, four times around the track! Understood? Then go!"

The waters became a chaos of bubbles and currents as young Zoras kicked their tails, fins and legs into sudden action. Mikau watched as some of them raced ahead of the school while others powered into a pace they can keep for the whole four laps without tiring. Some of them even swam with deliberate slowness, keeping close behind Altress. She is not very fast, but her atonomy allowed her to turn with unnatural agility and grace. She doesn't have a tail, not uncommon for females, but has five pairs of fins running down her body. They relax and contract, making Altress' swimming a pattern of halts and sudden bursts of speed.

Mikau knew he could probably lap everyone easily, but stayed behind to keep Evan company. It turned out to be a lot more difficult than he first thought. Turns out that eel-like Evan snaked from side-to-side to keep moving, while Mikau swims by flopping up and down. They could only trade scraps of conversation when their swimming patterns converged.

"So....where are...you from,...Evan?" Mikau asked when he was near enough to be heard.

"Term...ina. Zora...Hall." Evan replied.

"What?...That's where...I come from!...What se....section did you...live in?"

"The...Sunset...sector."

"Really!" Mikau was impressed. The Sunset sector was usually where the more wealthy and esteemed of the Zoras live. "I'm from...Sunrise sector." Zora Hall is divided into five sections, including the center shopping and tourism district, the northern Head zone, southern Tail zone, western Sunset sector, and eastern Sunrise sector.

The swim around the track passed by much faster with someone to talk to, even though Evan was losing his breath by the end of the third lap. At the end of the swim, Evan let himself sink to the bottom of the track, limp and out of strength. Mikau's Zorian Hero stamina kept him from being tired, and he stretched himself after that vigorous workout.

"So! Still energetic, aren't you, Lorecrest?" Mr. Bayn laughed, slapping Mikau on the back. The water absorbed most of the shock this time, so Mikau didn't fall over. "Well in that case, you can be one of the team captains for Jeeball! You. And...you! Yes, you! Dermeter! You'll be the other captain!"

Oh, sear the shell! Mikau swore silently. Jeeball was one of his most hated games, dispite the fact that he's very good at it. Jeeball is a game much like soccer but underwater, of course. And not only can you move the ball, you can also move the goal. Coordination within a team is extremely important in this game, so that one part of the team controls the goal bowl, one controls the ball, and one deters the opposing team's bowl. Or'qua Dermeter, the female chosen to play against Mikau, took her place opposite of him. She grinned competitively at the Zorian Hero. Mikau smirked in return.

"Lorecrest! Choose someone to be on your team!"

"Alright...Um, Evan!" Mikau felt slightly guilty for not choosing someone with more athletic ability. He didn't want Mr. Bayn to think he is only choosing his friends. But at the same time, he knew if both he and Or'qua picked off the strongest of the class, Evan would be one of the last people chosen.

Or'qua examined Mikau's choice critically, then chose a teammate for herself. She picked a big Zora; not Bottom-feeder big and certainly not nearly as big as Mr. Bayn, but someone that won't be pushed around.

For his second choice, Mikau couldn't resist choosing Altress. She was already extremely exasperated from all the attention she was getting from all the boys, and being chosen because of her lack of clothes further provoked her wrath. Mikau smiled, trying to make her feel better, but that was a mistake. Altress drew her lips back in a thin line which could have been mistaken for a smile, but when no one ohter than Mikau was looking, parted those lips to reveal her Zorian canines. She stood beside Evans, away from the Zorian Hero.

Before long, both teams were established and left to organize themselves while Mr. Bayn fetched the equipment. Or'qua's team was clearly more capable of winning this game, due to a number of poor choices Mikau made. Her team milled about on one side of the field, bored and unfocused, but already confident that they'll crush the opposition. Mikau's team was equally unmotivated, but not quite so optimistic.

"Hey Mikau," Evan tapped him on the shoulder. "Shouldn't we organize our players? I mean, if the other team has the advantage physically, we could at least outsmart them or something."

"Hey, great idea!" Mikau took a breath and called out in Xyrian to his teammates. They gathered around their team leader in anticipation. "Alright," Mikau addressed the crowd. "So you all know how to play Jeeball? Have you all played it before?" A number of affirmatives were called out. "What stratigies do you think we could use? Uh-huh, uh-huh. Yeah, but the other team will simply overpower us if we try that. How 'bout you? Yeah? Okay, but not everyone here plays Jeeball professionally!"

Knowing little about Jeeball stratigies, Mikau tried to ask his team for imput, which turned out to be a bad idea. Their ideas were not the most organized, and no one had any idea how to put them into practice. The crowd lost their interest and began to disperse. Mikau scratched his ear, thinking that his leadership skills were definately not as polished as he thought they were. If only this was a concert, then he could keep them attentive!

"EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!!" A voice pierced the waters and the Zoras on Mikau's team turned towards it. Mikau looked up in surprise. It was Evan. He had his hands to his hips, chin and chest raised, addressing those on his team. His tail flapped behind him like a flag, keeping him a level above the ocean floor and everyone else.

"Now I know that you think you can't win with the other team as strong as they are, right?" Evan's Xyrian voice was extremely loud and commanding. "Well, we can't out-muscle them, but if we work together, then we can out-smart them! You, you and you..." He pointed at a few larger Zoras. "You will secure our goal. Yes, all of you. I expect to rely on skill and speed rather than strength. If they don't get any goals in, they can't win. If they can't win, we don't loose. Now, the five of you..." He motioned to the Zoras with large fins. "You will check those who have control of the ball. Distract them and get the ball in any way you can." Large fins get in the way of sight and have more surface area for the ball to bounce off of.

"Hey! Who died and made you boss?" One Zora remarked.

Evan lowered himself to the ground and stood near that Zora, who was somewhat taller than him. But the eel-Zora had an air of confidence and authority around himself which seemed to make him grow before their very eyes. "Would you like to lead us in my stead?" Evan asked politely. "You can if you want to."

The Zora flicked his tail in annoyance, but everyone else was watching him. "Nah. I just don't want to guard the goal the whole time."

"Oh." Evan considered this for a second. "Well, I think we can play best if you tended the goal. Still...you won't do as well doing something you don't like. Okay. What position would you rather be in? The rest of us can work around it." That other Zora looked interested and named the position he would rather be in. Evan nodded. "Is there anyone else that have a specific role in mind?" A few others came forward and told Evan their preferances. With speed and efficency, Evan organized the entire team into positions of maximum effectiveness that they were all satisfied with.

Evan's leadership skills were amazing. And apparently, everyone else on the team thought so too. People would come up to talk to him now. They were able to return the cocky smirks of those from the other side. Watching the transformation of his own team under Evan's leadership actually made Mikau a little dejected. He was supposed to be the team leader!

End of Chapter 9

A lot of characters were introduced in this chapter, but what the hey, life's like that. I keep introducing characters because I feel that it would be more realistic. After all, there's an infinite number of people that we interact with in real life.

Sigh, Evan is truly a difficult character to build. Those who've played Majora's Mask know that he's supposed to be a 'nervous leader' type, but how do I portray that? Well, this is my best shot at it.