The Legend of Zelda: TriSpirit, Episode 3: Tale of Two Princesses

Chapter 5
Stop That Yapping!

Two swordsmen square off in the arena. The large crowd of spectators in Hyrule Castle's stadium watch eagerly as the younger contender quickly gains the upperhand against his significantly older opponent. Within seconds of sparring, the more experienced swordsman is overpowered by his much younger foe.

The prodigious adolescent, garbed in red and with long locks of auburn hair flowing behind him, proves to be very skilled for someone so young. His years of training under his legend-worthy father have polished his swordsmanship beyond his years. He overthrows the older contender with ease.

"...And he is down!" the announcer declares. "Victory for the first round goes to Volker Pent! Shining with the brilliance of his famed father! Could we possibly have another legend in the making here?! It looks like we can afford to have great expectations for the son of the great Sir Agias Pent!"

A round of applause echoes throughout the stadium. Volker swings his hair in triumph and waves to the cheering crowd.

Most specifically; to the attractive maidens among the said crowd.

Princess Zelda is one such maiden. She claps politely, but is not really all that interested in the whole tournament.

Volker catches sight of her in her booth. He waves and gives her a wink, though she notices not. He also briefly considers blowing a kiss in her direction, but his mind is instantly changed when he remembers that her father is sitting right next to her.

Wait_ Who is that maiden in the other booth nearby?

Volker turns to see the royal Zora family spectating the event from their own booth. He is pleased to see that their princess was also able to witness his victory and assumes she must be impressed with his display of sheer manliness. Although he is not nearly as interested in gaining the affection of a Zora as he would be of the princess of Hyrule herself, he cannot resist the opportunity to make an impression on a pretty maiden -especially not one who is royalty- and so he makes sure to give her a conspicuous wink as well.

She must be so pleased to see such a masculine hunk in action today!

Princess Ruto, however, is not pleased in the least. "Aw, fishsticks! I was rooting for that buffoon to lose!" she grumbles under her breath. "And did he just wink at me?! The nerve of that hair-headed freak! Why, he may even be as bad as Xiphias back home!"

"Well, well! Was that ever an impressive display!" comments King Zora, not hearing his daughter's complaints over the cheers of the crowd. "I must say; that Hylian's swordsmanship is quite formidable for one so young! Why, he may even be as good as Xiphias back home! Wouldn't you say, Ruto?"

Ruto rolls her eyes. "Hmph. If I was allowed in this silly tournament, I'd whip that lowly Hylian before he could say_"

"BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK!"

Ruto jolts in alarm. She turns to see Mamamu Yan taking a seat just a few rows behind her with Richard in her arms. Being unfamiliar with Zoras, the annoying little dog barks relentlessly at the foreign creatures in front of him.

"Oh, great..." Ruto grumbles to herself. "I'm stuck between one annoying animal and another. This day just keeps getting worse..."

As the next pair of contenders step into the arena, Prince Zora VIII observes the strange mask donned by the referee.

It appears to be made of gold and its design resembles a set of teeth that cover only the wearer's mouth region. There are two lenses atop of the said 'teeth' for the wearer's eyes to peer through, although the eye-holes themselves are the only part of the mask to extend to the upper half of the wearer's face.

Curious, the young prince decides to ask his father about it; "So why does the referee wear that weird mask?"

"Ah. That, my son, is no mere mask," King Zora answers; "It is, in fact, a special charm that grants the wearer the ability to see someone's remaining life-force with his own eyes. It helps the referee to see if a competitor's energy is getting too low to safely continue so that he can be withdrawn from battle before his life becomes threatened."

"Life-force..." remarks the prince. "That's what my Healing Grace restores, right?"

"Yes, and it is also the very essence of life in this world," King Zora explains. "The very first thing that any warrior must do before starting his training is to learn to utilize his life-force to protect himself from harm. When a warrior's life-force is strong, he can easily survive what would have normally been a fatal blow with only minor damage, but if it runs too low, it can no longer protect him, and the damage he takes from the next blow will be permanent...and likely fatal. Fortunately, you have been blessed with a very rare and invaluable power that allows you to replenish life-force and cure injury with your mere touch. That will most certainly prove useful beyond measure if you should ever have to lead our people in battle."

"It still doesn't work on myself though..." says Zora Jr. "I really don't think the battlefield is the place for me. I think I'd be more useful as a healer than a fighter. So instead of training to fight, can't I just focus on mastering my healing powers and stay off the battlefield? Let Ruto be the one that leads our people in battle if the Zoras ever have to go to war."

Ruto butts in; "I second that!"

"It is necessary even for a healer to learn some level of self-defense," reminds King Zora. "You would not want to be caught ill-prepared if an enemy would ever attempt to land an assault against you, now would you?"

The young prince sinks into his seat at the idea of someone attempting to assault him. Such a thought fills him with dread about the day he will have to grow up and face the future. "You're scaring me..."

King Zora is filled with mirth at his son's response and bursts out with a hearty laugh. "Well, I should hope that peace in Hyrule will endure throughout the entire lifetime of my children, and that no need for either of you to defend yourselves should ever arise. But just for the sake of caution; you should still always regard your training as a necessity so that you will never need to fear being unprepared for such an occasion. But let us not fret about what-ifs; let us sit back and enjoy the tournament. After all, the reason we Zoras are here at Hyrule Castle today is to celebrate not only Princess Zelda's birthday and coming-of-age ceremony, but also our amicable relations with our Hylian friends and remember that we are at peace. There is no need to worry about any threats of war today."

"(Humph! Some 'friends' those Hylians are!)" Ruto thinks begrudgingly to herself. "(We'll see how long this 'peace' with them lasts once we've_)"

"BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK!"

"Gah! That annoying little mutt!" exclaims the exasperated princess as she turns towards the little dog barking relentlessly behind her. "Who brings their dog to a sparring tournament anyhow?! Why is that even allowed?!"

She is not the only one to find it irritating; many of the other nearby spectators of the tournament are growing just as annoyed and have begun to move to find better seats.

"I don't suppose it is too late to change seats now, is it?" asks she. "If I have to listen to that infernal fleabag any longer I will personally glue its yapping mouth shut and seal it with cement! Just as I have always wanted to do to Rufa!"

Prince Zora Jr snorts with mirth as he tries to hold back his laughter at this remark. Rufa glares to Princess Ruto with an annoyed grunt but refrains from saying anything.

Then again, neither does King Zora say anything...

"Well?!" Ruto presses. "Can we get a different seat or not..?! Father..?"

Haring no response, she turns to face her father again...

And finds that he has already fallen fast asleep and is snoring contently to himself in his throne.

"*Zzzzzzzzzzzz...*"

"Oh, come on! Already?!" scoffs Ruto in disbelief. "You were just having a father-to-son talk with Junior fifteen seconds ago! How can anyone fall asleep that fast?! And in the middle of all this noise, on top of it!"

The barking continues;

"BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK!"

"Gah! I can't take it any longer!" Ruto complains. "Can't that stupid thing just shut up already?!"

Rufa speaks up with sarcasm; "Shall I have a word with the dog for you, Princess..?"

"Why not?" Ruto replies with sarcasm of her own; "You would probably be the best one for the job...since you and that mutt do seem to be on the same page to me."

Rufa frowns in annoyance but still holds his tongue in the presence of his sassy princess. A slight sigh of reluctance escapes his breath. "I suppose I could talk to one of the castle's officials and see if there is there is anything that can be done about this..."

"Yes, Rufa; go and make yourself useful for a change. Find out if they have any rules against loud and annoying animals in the stadium. -Of course, that may mean that you will have to go and wait outside as well..."

With a vexed scowl on his face, Rufa reluctantly complies and heads out through the crowds to find an official. He grumbles under his breath on his way.

Prince Zora Jr, although partially amused at the exchange of banter, cannot help but feel that his sister was considerably more rude to Rufa than necessary. "That was kinda funny what you said to Rufa, but...don't you think it might have been a little too harsh..?"

Ruto cares not. "What? That I called him an animal? Nah. The comparison is not much of an exaggeration when you consider just how much alike he is to that annoying fleabag back there; they are both loud, obnoxious, ugly, and each a living pain in_"

*Chomp!*

"AAAAAAAAHHHYYYEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Princess Ruto springs to her feet in a jolt. The dog whose incessant barking has been annoying her has been allowed by his owner to wander freely and now clings viciously to the fin on the Zora princess's left hip with his teeth!

She flaps her fin frantically to shake off the attacking canine while screaming in paranoia at an earsplitting volume (which her father manages to sleep right through); "GET IT OFF OF ME! GET THIS HAIRY INCARNATION OF LIVING TORMENT OFF OF ME!"

The more her fin flaps, the tighter Richard grips his teeth into it as he now holds on for dear life.

Ruto can take it no longer. She thrusts the butt end of her rod to knock the dog in the face.

*Whack!*

Richard at last loses his grip and drops to the floor. Yelping in terror, he runs back into the arms of Mamamu Yan for protection.

"Yipe! *whimper whimper*"

Mamamu Yan quickly takes Richard into her arms and cradles him protectively. "Richard! Oh, my poor sweet baby! What did that vicious creature do to you?!" She looks to Princess Ruto with a scowl furious enough to slay a thousand dragons if looks could kill. "You! How dare you treat my darling Richard like that, you heartless beast! What do you have to say for yourself?!"

"What do you mean what do I have to say for myself?!" Ruto protests. "You should keep a better watch on your dog and keep it from attacking anyone! That thing just bit me! There is no way you couldn't have seen that! Just look at the mark in my fin!"

The remark only offends Mamamu Yan all the more. "'That thing'?! Of all the nerve! Can't you see what a precious creature my little Richard is?! I will not tolerate you speaking so lowly of him as if he were just any other dog!"

"I don't care what you think!" Ruto hisses. "That 'precious creature' of yours is an absolute nuisance! It was bad enough that you brought that noisy fleabag in here and forced everyone around you to have to put up with that infernal barking while you did nothing to keep him quiet, but now your 'precious creature' just deliberately attacked me while I was seated in my own booth! And you have the nerve to sit there and defend that mutt?! You should be taking responsibility!"

"Humph! How rude!" Mamamu Yan scoffs. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you're the one causing him to act this way?! You can't blame him for feeling uncomfortable about having to share space with a race of monsters!"

Ruto is deeply irked by this remark.

Her violet eyes burn with the rage of a dragon awoken abruptly from its slumber. She gnashes her teeth like an agitated shark. Her fins begin to flap wildly with the fury of a raging hurricane. She is like a volcano about to erupt.

Zora Jr takes this cue to hide silently behind his seat before his sister's temper is blown. He does not want to be caught in the wake of her wrath once it is unleashed.

An enraged hiss escapes Ruto's breath as her eyes lock fiercely onto the obnoxious Hylian before her;

"What. Did. You. Just. Call me..?!"

Thanks for reading! So have you ever wondered how things would go if the condescending Mamamu Yan and truculent Princess Ruto were ever to meet? Well, now we're about to find out...and it can't end well! o_0'

Anyway, do you recognize that item the referee wears? It's the "Hero's Charm" from The Wind Waker. Also, Prince Zora Jr is mentioned to have the same healing power as Mipha from Breath of the Wild does, which is something not in the original version of this story. I couldn't call it "Mipha's Grace", of course, since she hasn't existed yet at this point of the timeline, so I just dubbed it "Healing Grace" instead.