Purify

Black and white blurred together, her vision faded, wind whistled past her ear as something not dark but not light overtook her vision, the were no colors, just an expanse of nothingness that existed on the thin line between light and dark.

She turned left and right, one side was too bright and nearly blinded her, the other was too dark, as though she were blind, "This is such a weird dream...weirder than that one where Malron was riding a giant cucco...ugh, no...that light hurts way too much to be part of a dream...I think."

"Darkness can never be fully removed, you must accept this. All who breath can commit some evil, even in the name of a righteous goal, being blind to the truth. You cannot and will not be able to erase your own darkness, it is a part of your soul, but control over your desire for justice is also important, lest you purge the world of the source of this evil, the flesh and blood that roam the land." As those words were spoken, the source of the voice emerged from the gray mist before Linkle, the figure before her radiated a golden light, more gentle and forgiving than the light on the side of the line.

The woman bathed in golden light continued to speak, pacing as she explained the Seeker's power, "The Seeker holds my power, what I can do, it can do, though on a...more...mortal friendly scale. Or so it should have been, until somehow you used the ability to repel darkness to manifest the evil in your heart and surprised all of us. Such raw potential you have found focus and evicted your dark side...at first I thought you had split your soul in two, but you had simply parted ways with it...ignoring it allowed it to grow stronger. Defeating a thing isn't the same as killing it, purifying simply subdues the taint, only you can control your own evil. The Seeker is a temple, and you, Linkle, can be it's governing spirit, and channel your power through the 'alter.'"

"Then I will purify myself, and anyone who's suffered the same fate." Linkle decided, laying her hand over her compass, "How do I purify it?"

"Touch the darkness, understand it—what you find will disturb you, but do not be deterred, breaking contact before you're done will hurt your spirit." Hylia held out her hands before the light and dark visions of Linkle clashed a golden ring appeared around both their forearms, keeping them from bringing harm to the other, "Balance yourself, experience light and dark in all their faults."

Linkle reached forward with one hand and the dark form looked up at her with red, wide eyes, shrinking back from her in fear, until her hand rested on it's forehead, "Tell me a little about yourself, why do the things you do? Why would a part of me do these things?"

"It's what we both want, isn't it? I was just about to save my sister from seeing the horrors Ganondorf will surely visit upon our people before you shot me!" The darkness hissed, Linkle's own voice distorted, "His attacks seem to be following a pattern of increasingly worse, unavoidable, and slow deaths. first Death Mountain—a few moments would be all it takes until everyone in Castle Town swiftly burns to death, those in our village would've seen it coming...if they fled, they would've suffered a worse death, thirsting to death or drinking the water and going mad, but at least Death Mountain would've launched blobs of lava as far as Kakariko, maybe sparing a few from an otherwise more unpleasant demise. We both feel it coming, an even worse, wider spreading death is growing."

"T-That...we can stop it! We have to at least try! We have to fight! For everyone who can't, who doesn't know...who shouldn't have to know. Death...right, you said you wanted death earlier, what did that mean?" Linkle curled her fingers around some of the darkness' bangs, pulling as the darkness withheld that information, though she soon let out a calming breath and focused on reaching deeper into the darkness' mind with her own, "Tell me!"

The darkness smiled at her and she felt a tightness in her chest. It felt like she was hearing the words in her head, louder and clearer the more disturbing the words that were spoken, "It was a lie, I just wanted you to corrupt yourself. I nearly encouraged you enough, too! You kept bringing out more and more of those vicious attacks! If only you had allowed those thoughts to stay, you would have recognized what we both know. Just like you knew you didn't want the Seeker to activate; I didn't want it to activate, I affected you. We share the same mind, even though we think differently, we influence each other. Heh, kinda ironic, you fed me trying to break me...I think that makes you worse than me, worse than Ganondorf, you're so...so evil, even when you don't try. No, especially then!"

"N-No, shut up! You're a voice in my head and all that I hate!" Linkle hissed, about to shove the darkness away when she remembered what Hylia said about breaking contact, "I wish you'd go away!"

"Wish granted!" Linkle turned to see the source of the eager declaration behind her, wielding a short sword that reminded her of Aryll's, "Time to mete out justice, just as we did with Arzo. Meteor!"

Linkle knew the light would shatter all three of them, and couldn't believe what she had to do, but saving herself meant she could stop Ganondorf, she had to believe she could avoid corruption.

"Light Breaker!" Linkle turned around so she could stand between the light and dark in her, free hand stretched out, blocking the tip of her light side's sword.

"Traitor! Your people, your king, yourself, you're going to hurt them like this! I know...you agree, the best way to stop your darkness is by dying, so don't fight this! There will be a next time, you might not survive next time, you'll be corrupted!" The light screeched as it fell to its feet and struggled to escape her hold, trying hard to pull the sword away, "What, you think you can save the world, or that we'll be missed? You wish! Malron probably thinks a wolfos ate us and just gave up, she's not gonna waste her time looking for someone who constantly disappears and needs her help!"

"I'm not dead yet! And...I'm hardly lost, I refuse to accept your path! You and the darkness are just...two sides of me, you hold my thoughts, they fuel your motives." Linkle realized that she was only facing down her doubts, something she had done easily in the past, and pulled the blade closer—she didn't want it to cut, no matter how bad the light in her did. She was surprised to feel no pain, to see the blade's radiance dim, "I was a fool before, trying to live up to an impossible ideal, but I won't play the fool anymore! I know now that no matter how I try, I have darkness...no one is without it!"

"Not with people like you in the world!" The Linkle shaped light roared, "But if I was in charge...I would make a wish on the Triforce, and everything would be perfect. You dream of it, don't you? A world without conflict, where everyone's safe, happy? It seems we're not the same anymore, you've 'outgrown' me, hmm? Tell me, what would you wish for...recognition, perhaps, praise? You're content to run errands instead of claiming your right to the Master Sword and taking the fight to Ganondorf!"

"We might not even be the Hero, legends say only one can wield it and I won't risk not being it when there are people in danger...besides, if one's a Hero, they should be heroic." Linkle felt like she was growing calmer, and wondered how panicked she was just before. The light seemed calmer now, too, as the blade shrunk down to a dagger, then a knife, soon fading until only the fist of her light side remained in her grasp, "I think I understand you both now, you're scared, I'm scared, and you're just looking for extreme ways out. From now on I won't be worried about being the Hero I think I should be, I'll just do my best to be the best Hero that I can be. I'll ask if I think someone can help me."

Her opposition stared at her and she could feel them calm, shrinking to the back of her mind as they faded and drifted towards her, vanishing as they passed back into her body. She understood both their motives on a level that haunted her, their ambitions, and dreams. Linkle wouldn't look away from them, because then she wouldn't be able to stay clear of them.

She found herself in front of the goddess again, the world no longer split between light and dark and gray, but solid gold, "So...what exactly just happened?"

"Your two sides, wrestling for control. Now that the darkness returned, the light rose up to smite it, you have to keep both of them from running rampant." Hylia's sighed as she stared up at the golden ceiling above them, "I wish I could do more, but it's hard to reach you as it is. Even the temples are hard to reach now that Ganondorf's present...a vile darkness hangs on him, but no man can control it...but that's exactly what troubles me. Go, return to your fight and when you are finished in Zora's Domain, find Ohirume in the Lost Woods, there's information that you need to be made aware of, and our conversation can no longer continue because of this...barrier that few know of."

Linkle gasped as she returned to Jaburu's Chamber, the cool flame dancing on her skin reminded her of the danger she had just been in, but after a quick look around she was relaxed to find that the situation was under control. Her hands were still firmly pressed into sandy brown scales while flames burned ice blue around her, on her.

The darkness she once had to force to stand at her side now willingly, calmly poured energy into Jaburu, vibrant red eyes dimming as it drained itself of power. She could feel her own light weakening as well, felt like she was drifting and realized she could hang onto the light without having to control it directly. She drifted back to her body, crossbows still spilling pure energy into the two to keep control over them—that measure was unnecessary now, if they could work together without trying to kill each other—she released the binds and approached, though soon stumbled towards the ground, when someone caught her.

Linkle hadn't expected the Sheikah to catch her, but then, she hadn't noticed anyone else besides her sister and Rutilah purging the darkness before her, "They make quite a team."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, they're both really strong...they didn't much a chance to show that, being so drained, but they are...really strong. I should've trusted the more, even when they were weak, instead I was panicked...felt like I had to do everything alone. It made the darkness stronger and want to hurt them, if I'd just been calm...then maybe she wouldn't have tried to kill them." Linkle let out a deep breath as she tried taking a step forward, though it was as Hylia said, her spirit was weakened by the purification process, "Can't move...just as well, they have this...you guys got this!"

The Sheikah chuckled warmly at the heroine attempting to inspire her friends, as well as the compliment that had been misinterpreted as an observation, "I meant your light and dark sides, working together. Never in my life have I heard of this...never in my life have I witnessed the Seeker."

"I didn't know, either, until now." Linkle's mind swam as she recalled what had just occurred, she was almost worried she had forgotten something, "A goddess talked to me, Hylia...she said I could purify the dark...but it weakens my soul...I guess like an exercise, because it also makes my spirit stronger...I need a strong spirit, I want it!"

"Never forget who you are, your cause, and I'm sure one day you will have what you desire." The Sheikah advised, wary that such high ambitions could lead the young hero down a dark path, "Sudden bursts of power will only hurt you, endure and be strong."

Linkle grimaced as she considered the path ahead of her, it was already days since she'd left home, and she was emotionally and physically drained, "Yeah, one day...I guess I haven't been doing this long enough to start seeing results just yet..."

"There really is nothing to measure your strength by, but I believe coming this far is proof you're no pushover—Death Mountain's quelling was your doing, dispelling powerful curses like that is no easy task, and I sense so much more darkness here than there, I could feel it pouring off the Great Sea and onto the coast..."

Zelda thought back to that vision of Linkle's face darkening. For an instant while the hero wrestled with her demons just moments before, her outer appearance did reflect that inner struggle, light and dark dancing over her face like the shadow of leaves on the ground. Again, she had misinterpreted something, she was not needed here, but it was better than not being there when she was needed.

"Linkle, you're up, great!" Rutilah shouted, grinning over her shoulder, "I need you to act as the priestess for me, just lay the Zora's Sapphires over your heart, and channel the power of our blue flames through him, and through him, all of the Great Sea! By himself, Zora's domain is all he can hold onto, even that's a struggle after what his spirit's been through."

"I need some help getting there, I think..." Linkle held the Zora's Sapphire and lay it on her compass as she admitted the need for help, instead of stubbornly stumbling forward like she would have, before today. The Sheikah let Linkle lay an arm over a shoulder and they marched into the blue flame's embrace. The Sheikah lifted Linkle after they were near, and stood between the light and dark side of Linkle as the coolness that swept over them continued to grow stronger.

While Rutilah and Aryll pushed themselves to fight back the darkness, Jaburu roared as the dark emotions that seeped into him from the tainted water tried to cloud his mind. When Linkle laid a hand on the water god's side, she closed her eyes and began channeling the flame into a whirlwind around her, "Let me share this burden, Lord Jaburu, you don't need to fight alone. Purging Pyre!"

Linkle suddenly winced as Lord Jaburu shared the heavy burden he carried, the thankless responsibility, the wars that came and went left a sea steeped in misery and regret for him to deal with. Blood spilled carried the pain of the dying and found it's way to him, and now Linkle. She knew it was but a fraction of what he saw during the time of his existence, even now she knew know it wasn't even a quarter of what he dealt with; it was too much for a mortal, but it was enough to ease the pressure, for that reason alone, she knew it was worth it, "With me, Hero of the Zoras, raise your voice and drive back the pain."

Linkle acknowledged his words and took a deep breath, "Now, let's drive the pitch black sorrow back to where it came from, Glacial Inferno!"

As the blue fire burned away, the pool and its god were cleansed of the last shreds of darkness. Linkle took a deep breath as her light and dark side walked towards her, vanishing as they came into contact with her magical aura. She glanced over the Sheikah's shoulder at Rutilah and Aryll and let out a breathless laugh, "We did it! Zora's Domain should be cleared up in an hour, and the furthest part of the Great Sea won't be a day behind!"

Rutilah gave a hearty cheer at the news and held onto the Hylian captain beside her, giggling as all her anxiety melted. Aryll was caught off guard, but quickly returned the gesture, patting the princess' shoulder as she would Rustle or any of her crew. She was about to apologize, but the princess was neither delicate nor offended as she might have expect from a princess or Zora, but then, she wasn't like most Zoras. She smiled to herself, she should've known Rutilah wasn't one to be shaken so easily.

"That was intense." Aryll sighed, weary now that the fight was done, "So many things could've gone wrong today. I just wanna sleep now...or eat...or something, but definitely not just standing around!"

"Well, if Father is as grateful as he ought to be, he can express it by making you welcome as he would a brother, you didn't just save us, but all the Zoras who will follow after. I'll make it a point to write about this, immortalize this day's events in stone and keep it here, in the heart of this holy place." Rutilah took a deep breath as she stepped away Aryll and patted her shoulder, "I'd be honored if you...I-I have something important to do here, now that we aren't teetering on the brink of calamity...so, I was hoping you two would...if you're not busy. I don't want to impose, and it's personal, so if I'm...out of line..."

"Mom." It wasn't a question, Aryll remembered there was the Spirit Tree that Rutilah had yet to replace, it was important for maintaining a balance in the temple, storing darkness that the Zoras produced so Lord Jaburu didn't have additional burdens to carry, and she knew who had planted the one currently standing, it's significance to the princess, "I'll stay, and if I can help at all, tell me."

"Same here." Linkle confirmed, glancing up at the Sheikah, "I think I can stand now, thanks."

Upon hearing that her friends were joining her, Rutilah let out a relieved sigh as she started walking towards Lord Jaburu. She produced the sapling she'd been carrying around and presented it to the guardian god. As Lord Jaburu began blessing the tree sapling, pouring a decent amount of his own magic to help it survive in it's new home, his lips curled out to reveal a drenched Rustle.

"Hey, what were you doing in there?!" Aryll shouted, approaching quickly to help him out, "You go overboard and then go through the temple just to hang out in Lord Jaburu's mouth?!"

"I didn't expect this either!" Rustle assured, raising a hand defensively, "I got an audience with the king and he said I could go as long as I check up on the princess, but somehow we missed each other."

"I may have already fled to the mainland in search of the Hero." Rutilah suggested as Lord Jaburu continued sharing some of his energy with the sapling. She regarded the old sailor curiously after explaining her whereabouts, "How did you get in here anyways; that door was sealed!"

"Underwater path on the outside of the temple, no one could help me reach the cliff of the temple's island so I used a secret path to get in. It's usually sealed, but we go way back, so he knew it was me and made a current strong enough to overcome the seal." Rustle explained, nodding towards the pool, "There was enough Lord Jaburu at the helm to reel me in without trying to crush me."

"You are full of surprises, Rustle." Aryll stated, relieved but still exasperated, "Next time you jump over, tell me you're just visiting a friend...you worried me when you bolted like that."

"Sorry, Captain, won't happen again!" Rustle promised, giving the younger sailor a salute.

"At ease. We're escorting Rutilah back into the temple," Aryll informed, leaving out why in case the princess didn't want anyone else to know, "you can stay, but you don't have to if you don't want to."

"It's been a while since we've spoken, I wanna catch up with Jaburu." Rustle grinned, arms folded.

The Sheikah hummed and turned to Rustle, "I have matters I would speak of with you, Rustle, about what we discussed several years ago. Linkle, can I leave you with the princess and captain? I will return after the amount of time Princess Rutilah dictates has passed."

"Actually, I'd like to try walking there on my own." Linkle decided, turning to the sailor and Zora, "It's okay if you two get ahead of me, I promise to rest if I have to, and the Sheikah won't have to come back until the meeting's over. Um, how should I refer to you?" Her question was for the Sheikah.

"Shira. I may be gone upon your return, I don't know where I'll go next, but our paths will cross again."

Linkle followed her sister and their new friend back to the room with the Spirit Tree, watched as Rutilah lay her hand upon the tree, "I'm back, Mother...ready to complete my journey here."

The spirit of her mother appeared again, just before the tree so it looked as though Rutilah's hand was on her shoulder, "Break the branches from the tree and cross them, let them remain in contact with the trunk, then ignite them with Purging Pyre. Once the sapphire flames have died, burn whatever remains with a normal flame, and bury the sapling blessed by the guardian god Jaburu in it's ashes."

"Can we help her with this?" Aryll inquired; the phantom nodded once, "Do you mind, Rutilah?"

"I was hoping I could ask you two for help with this...I'm not sure I could do this alone...I'm glad you two came when you did," Rutilah sighed, glancing between the two, "even if there had been no monsters. Assuming I didn't cry here for days, this isn't easy for me…and you're my friends, so..."

"If you want, me and Aryll can probably handle the branches, you can spend time with your mom."

"Rutilah, if it's not too much trouble...I know you may be busy, but a regret I've always harbored..." The phantom Zora glanced down at the floor as she spoke, darting briefly up at her daughter, "I never got to see you grow up, never...really got to meet you. I understand if you're short on time-"

"I'd make time if I had to." Rutilah assured as she attempted to lay a hand on her mother's shoulder, though her hand passed through and her fingers touched the trunk of the tree instead. The feeling of her aura—and her hand, more than that—passing through the specter made her shudder, the regret and long wait her mother experienced was palpable and it hurt so much, Rutilah forgot what she had just said, what she had wanted to say.

After a pause—the ghost seemed aware of what had happened as well, though if she remained silent out of shame or to give Rutilah a moment to regain her senses, she couldn't tell, "A-Anyways, I've always wanted to talk with you as well, I wondered what kind of person you were. Father never said much, he didn't like to think about it, sometimes it seemed as though he was waiting for you..."

While the former queen and her daughter spoke—giving the sisters plenty of room to work on taking the tree down—Linkle offered one of her clawshots to her sister, crooked her ring finger when Aryll accepted it, beginning her instructions, "There's little mechanisms in there, doing this will shoot and letting go will make the chain shrink. It's like flying, so make sure you're ready to land when you take off. Bending your pinky gives you slack and pressing in with your middle finger draws it in slowly."

"I've landed faster in worse situations—flying around from one fighting top to the next with nothing between me and the water and decks but my magic gale!" Aryll crowed as she aimed for the branches as soon as she slipped her fingers through the padded metal coils of the device. She hadn't expected the chain to pull her back in so quickly, as Linkle said, she felt as if she had been flying. After pausing a moment to make certain of her footing, she set to work enchanting her blade with wind to thrust it into the joint of a branch and the tree to send it falling, "Well...that was certainly fast..."

"Isn't it?!" Linkle crowed as she turned to her younger sibling, up in the tree now that she had given Aryll some time to grow accustomed to handling the clawshots and find her footing. With Drake's Bane she pressed into the joints of branches, soon tapping the head of it into the crook until a crack heralded the split of the branch, "Princess Zelda gave me those...that was the last time I saw her."

"Ganondorf was trying to exterminate the Royal Family, then? If he'd succeeded, and then all this...Hyrule would descend into chaos or follow him. None of the generals and nobility get along, there's always some scandal or another an officer at port wants to gossip about." Aryll was relieved that Ganondorf had so far been thwarted, but how could they end his scheming when he was at least ten times more powerful than the darkness that was in the temple?

Linkle stilled as her mind wandered over the havoc Ganondorf wreaked in Castle Town, "Impa fell, too." She sighed, reliving those few moments over again in her head, "If only I'd been faster..."

"Linkle, she wouldn't have wanted you to feel guilty for what happened...you did your best and sometimes...things don't work out. I know it's hard to consider, but accepting that fact now could help you later…no one can really know the outcome of a battle but we fight anyways." Aryll seemed to look pass her older sister rather than at her, as hard lessons returned to mind. She was afraid Linkle wasn't ready for this kind of life and she dearly hoped that everything would work out better in the future, "If you can, though, it's a good idea to run away…"

"I never want to have to run…it was hard enough once." Linkle sighed, thinking about it for a few moments, "But if it lets me fight again, I guess I'd have to."

"Ganondorf's not a fair fight, if you don't have the Master Sword, one of the pieces of the Triforce, or develop powers that can rival his. If you're the Hero, then claiming the Master Sword should be easy, and if no other curse exists in Hyrule, you should make the Master Sword your next goal." Aryll advised, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "Though you may have trouble getting into the Temple of Light with Ganondorf occupying Castle Town."

"So far it seems destiny's led me to where I need to be, we even met up so we could purify this place together, I'm not too worried about the how or where." Linkle shuddered lightly as she wondered how much further she'd go before this ended, "I'm scared I'll mess up somehow."

"Even I have to retreat sometimes, as much as it bugs me to do that." Aryll leapt down from the tree and onto a breeze she made. She turned and grinned at her older sister, "I'll catch you!"

"Haha, I hope so…now's not a good time for me to slip up and break my neck." The green cloaked heroine chuckled, falling into her sister's spell, watching the ground slowly rise up to meet her.

"Thank you both for helping me!" Rutilah called out as she ran to meet them, her mom close behind.

"You seem to be feeling better now." Aryll observed, reaching up to lay a hand on the Zora's shoulders, "I'm glad you got to spend this time together."

"Me too…I think I…I might survive letting go." Rutilah rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, managing to only deviate her gaze from Aryll's by a little, "I want to thank you both for doing this for me, I know it's tedious work…"

"It's fine, we're gonna see this through to the end, right, Linkle?" Aryll smirked, taking that question on the end as her sister nodded halfway through her sentence, "What should we do next?"

"I'll do the next part," Rutilah decided, approaching the young tree as she used water to clear the branches from area the tree would fall into, "I've rested enough."

As the princess formed icy fins and made them dance around her waist, tendrils of water wrapped around the tree to guide it when it fell. The priestess of water stepped up along plates of ice she formed atop thin spires of water, letting one after another fall as she walked, graceful as if they were stairs, composed as if they didn't fall behind her, confident as if she wasn't hurting inside, the blades of ice swaying violently around her, powerful enough to cut the tree in half.

"I have a daughter who's thought of me all this time, I saw the Hero and a brave, just Hylian captain before I passed on…only once the curse broke down did I see how blessed I was." The phantom let out a longing sigh as she stared at the ceiling, "I won't ask what could have been anymore, I'm satisfied with what I have, I'll hold onto it as I greet eternity…as much as I hate to leave this world behind."

"I get the feeling she's hiding something, but I guess we can't help with everything, can we?" Aryll sighed, watching Rutilah walk around the tree. The princess had just made a full circle around the tree, and the tendrils pulled it down to the ground, afterwards she slid down on a slope of ice and halved the tree again, used water to roll one half of the trunk on either side of the tree.

After slitting the length of the trunks, Rutilah beckoned the sisters over, and together the made a circle out of the branches and splits of tree trunks. Together, Rutilah and Aryll spread blue fire all over the young tree. The Hylians couldn't figure out what to say or do as they witnessed and partook in an ancient and sacred Zoran ritual; they followed the princess's lead and sat before the cool, blue pyre.

They would have sat beside each other if not for the forlorn look in the Zora's eyes, so sat on the extremities, Rutilah and her mother sat beside them, the young Zora between her mother and the Hylian captain. The princess took deep breaths as she watched the smokeless fire rage, tears welling up and spilling from her eyes.

"As I am reluctant to leave," The phantom explained, gazing upon her daughter, "it will take a while until the fire burns out and the tree is purified until only a bit of ash remains. The age of Queen Rylu is at it's end. You don't have to watch this, Rutilah."

"Mm…here I thought I could handle it…" Rutilah closed her eyes and fell wearily against Aryll's side.

"I'm sorry…that I died." Rylu sighed, standing slowly, approaching the flame before her before turning to the trio, "I want you to know I love you, Rutilah, I hate what happened, but…if it means your safe now, then I'm satisfied with this outcome, it's the best I could imagine in this life, so until we meet in the next, don't forget…anything. Hold every pure thing in your reach, love it with abandon, even if it's fleeting. I would have suffered more if I hadn't help you those few and brief times before. Tell your father to forgive himself for me, I sense the hate above us, drifting from the throne room…mostly it's directed at himself. I don't want him to be angry and bitter anymore, I've suffered long enough, drowning on my own spite." She smiled as she slowly stepped backwards, glancing between the sisters, "And you…I know I don't even have to ask, I see it in your eyes and the way you treat her…but I need this, please, look out for my daughter."

"Of course!" Linkle chirped, nodding her head towards Aryll, "We won't let Rutilah suffer alone, she's in good hands…well, arms."

"Then that's all I can ask for." Rylu raised her arms as she stepped back, a white light radiating from her heart as she stepped back, darkness framing her transparent, blue skin, "I think I'm happy enough to leave this world alone…I've caused Lord Jaburu enough problems, so I should go, before I find something to despair over…as you do when you're a ghost. I must let the blue fire burn off this darkness, it will help me fade. Don't be too shocked if the fire flares out…just close your eyes."

The blue flames suddenly burst through the whole room, they could sense it before the fire flared up and they felt when it had passed as well. When they opened their eyes, only a few pale ashes remained. They knew then that she was gone. Rutilah approached the remains of the fire, and covered the roots of her sapling in the ashes of her mother's. The somber moment seemed as if it could last forever, and it seemed to the Zora it'd take that long before she was ready to leave.

A/Ns: Shira's the name I went with because it sounded nice…also, I wanted to use Tetra—which is a numerical root meaning four—but I didn't want to use it because it was a character name, because "Zelda" is a role in WW, Tetra is her actual name. Fo(u)rtunately, a character in OoT is named Shiro, the fourth carpenter you rescue, Shi meaning four, ro meaning son. I changed ro to ra, which means "et al" or "and others", used when there's a list of people and you don't wanna name them all, so there's some trivia for ya.