The Legend of Zelda: TriSpirit, Episode 5: Fish Out of Water
Chapter 4
The Scroll of Insight
"The Scroll of Insight!" exclaims Princess Ruto with excitement as she takes the scroll Link had retrieved from the Lynel into her hands. "This should answer our questions!"
The young Hylian knows not what this Zora talks about. Was not this scroll completely blank? Yet it appears whatever this artifact is somehow really does hold great use and importance after all, though he cannot fathom how or what.
She opens it eagerly. But her expression changes in an instant as she looks upon the torn fabric. "What th_ Hey! What idiot poked a hole in here?! This won't do!"
Link looks sheepishly to the side. He hopes he will not have to answer that one...
Prince Zora Jr manages to climb his way out of the moat once more. "What's this about a scroll answering our questions?" asks the little one, straightening wearily as he rises to his feet.
"It can't in this condition!" scoffs the princess before tossing it to her brother. "Here, Junior; do your thing and fix this up!"
The little prince stumbles to catch the scroll thrown to him unexpectedly. It bounces out of his hands a few times before he succeeds to catch it just before it falls into the moat he just climbed from.
...By falling in after it.
*Splash!*
"Aw, fishsticks..." the prince mutters as he floats back to the water's surface with the scroll in hand. "Ah, well. I got it." With the damaged artifact clutched between them, the little Zora's hands begin to glow. Much to Link's amazement, the torn fabric begins to slowly piece itself back together within the boy's radiant palms.
"So tell me, human," begins Princess Ruto to Link as they wait for her brother's mysterious powers to finish fixing the scroll; "You are merely a novice-level recruit, are you not? Then how is it that you would be the one to carry such an invaluable treasure of the royal family's?"
"Is it an 'invaluable treasure'..?" Link asks, still unsure just what this scroll is.
"Of course it is!" Ruto replies. "That's the Scroll of Insight! An enchanted artifact made by the ancient Sheikah back in times so long past that the means used to create it have been completely lost in time. That single scroll contains virtually all knowledge known to mankind and cannot be replaced!"
"Oh? It looked blank when I found it..."
"Well, of course it would have been blank if it was dormant. But when activated, its surface is designed to display whatever contained information the holder wills to see. -Of course, in that condition, its power won't connect properly to be of any use. But enough of that. Answer my question; why were you entrusted with the Scroll of Insight when you clearly don't know what it even is?!"
"Well, I was only retrieving it after a Lynel took it from the castle's library..."
Both Zoras gasp in surprise; "A Lynel?!"
Prince Zora Jr stares up in awe from within the moat. "Did it even have a library card?" asks the little one with eyes wide.
"And then what?!" inquires Princess Ruto with interest. "Did they have to call in the elite horsemen to get it back?!"
"They meant to..." Link answers truthfully. "Unfortunately, the stables were being raided and they had to focus on reclaiming the stolen animals... The only reason I was the one to chase it down was because I just happened to be lucky enough to get hold of a horse in time to go after the Lynel as it tried to get away..."
She gives him a look of disbelief. "Wait... You mean to say that you went after a Lynel yourself..?!"
"Only because no one else had access to a steed in time..." says Link modestly.
"...And since Lynel's never relent in their pursuit until their target is slain, am I to assume by the fact that you now stand here alive with the scroll in hand that you actually killed it..?"
Link shrugs with an increasingly sheepish grin. Hopefully that story did not sound too much like boasting...
The Zoras stare at him blankly.
Princess Ruto bursts out laughing. "Bwah ha ha ha! Oh, that's rich! A little guy like you taking on a Lynel?! As if I'm stupid enough to believe that! Of all the ridiculous stories about their 'heroism' that men have fabricated to try and impress me with, that one sure takes the calamari!"
"Wh-what?! No..!" says a flustered Link, his face red with embarrassment. "I really did fight a Lynel..! I'm not even interested in trying to impress anyone..!"
"That's what all men say once they've been called out on it..." says an unconvinced Ruto. "Now seriously; what really happened? And don't give me anymore of your macho lies. I've heard them all before from many men wanting to woo a princess...and I'm fed up with it!"
"But...I'm telling the truth..." says Link honestly.
"Oh, whatever... It's not like it matters, anyhow," scoffs the princess, still unconvinced of Link's tale. "Hey, Junior!" she says to her brother in the moat. "Is that scroll fixed yet?"
"Huh..? Oh!" says the prince, remembering now the scroll in his hand. "Um, yes! Here it is! It's...probably been done for awhile now, come to think of it..!"
He tosses it back to his sister on the land. Unlike her brother before, she catches it in her hands with ease. Not a trace of the previous damage can be seen upon the restored artifact. The patterns on the fabric begin to radiate as she holds the scroll between her hands. "That's better," she says upon looking it over. "Now let's see what it has to say about any nearby Zora... Huh? Oh no..!"
"What's wrong..?" Junior asks.
"The data's gone!" Ruto answers. "I can't view the map, and the entire compendium is empty! The power is connecting again, but there's no information to display! It's still as useless as it was punctured!"
"Well, uh...just don't blame this on me," says Zora Jr, struggling to pull himself back to the land. "My Healing Grace only works on physical damage; I can't do anything about...whatever you just said."
"Wait..!" says Ruto with a tone of hope. "The 'scan' function is still working! Let me try something!" She holds the scroll with the eye-like pattern on the backside pointed towards Link. A wave of luminescence surges suddenly from the 'pupil' as if in response to his presence and courses through the rest of the artifact instantaneously. "I did it!" exclaims the princess with delight. "Scanning the Hylian just reawakened the lost entry for 'Hylian' in the compendium! This is what we need to do to get the missing data back!"
"I have no idea what you're even talking about..." says Junior dryly, climbing to his feet once more.
Ruto turns excitedly to show him the scroll. "See?! I got it to_"
*Whap!*
Failing to pay attention to her surroundings, she accidentally bumps into her little brother upon turning to show him and knocks him right back into the moat again.
*Splash!*
He looks up to her from the water with an unamused countenance. "...Really?"
"Um... Whoops," she says sheepishly. She turns to face Link. "Uh, here! Have a look!" She is still eager to show someone her discovery, but too hasty to wait for her brother to climb back out of the moat again. This Hylian will have to do for now.
Link looks with wonder upon the scroll. What was once blank now bears an image of himself (albeit with a rather embarrassing countenance of confusion) displayed near a detailed illustration of a Hylian for comparison listed with information regarding Hylians. It reads the following;
"Hylian:
Easily distinguished from other humans by their pointed ears, Hylians have a higher capacity for magic than most other human races and are said to house the elemental power of light deep within their souls, although only a few learn to harness this power for themselves. Named after the goddess Hylia, they have remained the dominant race in Hyrule since the founding of the kingdom and are widely considered the closest mortals to the gods."
Ruto goes on to explain in brief; "Now that I've scanned you, the Hylian data has been restored to the Scroll of Insight's compendium! With this, it can now be used again to track the presence of Hylians by their aura and individually display the location of every one of them in the immediate area!" She demonstrates by showing Link a blank 'map' that displays several small dots; one directly in the center near a marker representing the location of the scroll itself. "That small dot near the center is you," she continues to explain. "The others cluttered in one place represent all the Hylians it can detect inside the castle. They're obviously still alive if it's detecting aura from them, but they seem to be frozen in time."
Link releases a quiet sigh of relief to hear this. There may be a chance yet that they can still be saved.
"Man! How I love this thing!" Ruto exclaims in excitement, holding the scroll to her heart in a moment of cherish. "Zelda and I used to play around with it all the time as children!" She points the scroll's 'eye' towards her brother. "Now then, just a quick scan of you, aaaaand... Got it! Zora data has been restored!"
Another lost entry in the compendium has been retrieved. It reads the following;
"Zora:
An aquatic race of humanoids, the Zora were originally a race of monsters but had evolved souls and adapted a civilized way of life. Easily the most diverse of civilized races to date, some tribes are recorded to age at a similar rate to a Sheikah whereas others have a life-expectancy spanning several centuries. Their powers and anatomy very by tribe but all share a primarily piscivorous diet and possess both lungs and gills which enables them to breath both air and water alike."
"And now we can search for the surviving Zora!" Ruto declares. She proceeds to scan the area. Her expression drops as she does. "No..."
"What's wrong now..?" Junior asks worriedly as he climbs out from the moat once again.
"None of them made it out!" she cries with panic. "They're all trapped inside that infernal barrier! We're the only ones outside!" Her hopes shattered, she tosses the scroll to the ground in exasperation. "I'm going to KILL that wretched wizard! she says as she swings her rod at the air to vent her rage.
...Nearly striking her brother with it. "Yipe!" The young prince quickly leans back to narrowly avoid being inadvertently beheaded...losing his balance and falling backwards into the moat again in the process.
*Splash!*
"Gah! Not again!" exclaims he.
Link looks intently at the princess upon hearing her swear vendetta against the wizard who did this. "So...you're really not with them..?" he mutters quietly.
She looks to him with a perplexed scowl. "What?"
"Uh. Th-that wizard..." Link says awkwardly. "You_ You're not working with him..?"
"Well, of course I'm not!" she says in a rather offended tone. "Why the halibut would you even suspect something as stupid as that in the first place?!"
"But_ Um... If I may ask; was that not you fighting against the Hylian soldiers defending the royal family in the castle moments ago..?"
"That wasn't my idea! Those stupid Hylians attacked me! I only fought back in self-defense! They even ignored the real enemies just to pick a fight with me in the middle of a raid! It is not my fault your kind is too full of themselves to recognize friend from foe!"
Now Link grows even more confused. He had seen for himself as this Zora princess turned against the Hylians and brutally slaughtered the royal family and the soldiers defending them...and yet she claims it to have only been in 'self-defense'? Impossible!
And yet...she sounds very sincere in her response... Either she was not conscious during that berserk moment and her recollection of the event has been left greatly twisted or she makes a very convincing liar.
"But then...what about attacking the royal family..?" asks he.
"Oh, you mean when I cut that fool King Roark's pants off during the tournament earlier?" scoffs she. "I do that to him all the time. I'd hardly call that 'attacking' him."
Link stares blankly for a moment. She did WHAT? "Um... No. I mean_ Uh... During the raid? All that...spewing fire...drinking their blood and turning them to stone..?"
Now it is Ruto who stares at him blankly. She blinks twice.
And then once more.
"...What are you, some kind of lunatic?" she says at last. "You're talking crazy!"
"You probably hit him too hard..." grunts Zora Jr as he pulls himself once again out of the moat. "It's you're own fault he's like this."
Ruto dignifies that not with a reply...instead opting to shove her brother back into the moat again without a word.
*Splash!*
"Ack! When's this gag going to stop, already?!" he shouts in frustration.
"So..." Link says awkwardly. "You honestly have no recollection of any of this..?"
"Don't be ridiculous, you stupid Hylian!" Ruto scoffs. "I'm not the kind of Zora that can breath fire! And who ever heard of any Zora practicing vampirism?! You're insane!"
"But...if_" a perplexed Link begins to say.
_Before the sound of a broken voice calling out interrupts the moment;
"Me hears it! It come from over there!"
Link and the Zoras turn in a jolt at the sound. More voices follow;
"There they are! Over here!"
"They has weaponses! Gets them!"
Monsters! They have been found!
"Looks like we have company..." says Ruto, sounding more annoyed than afraid.
Prince Zora Jr, climbing nearly out of the moat, raises his eyes to see the group of armed monsters approaching fast. He lets out an exasperated sigh.
And then willingly lets himself drop back into the moat again in defeat.
*Splash!*
Thanks for reading! This chapter ended up considerably longer than I intended, but_oh, well... Anyhow, now some light has finally been shed on that mysterious scroll Link recovered from the Lynel...and Ruto is confirmed to bear no recollection of her time in that corrupted state earlier. The plot thickens...
It has been awhile since I've last had to include one of these sections in the Author's Note, since the past several chapters have been packed with new content, but for those of you who have read the original edition of 'TriSpirit': the next chapter will be pretty close to the original version again. There will still be some differences, but I'll be sure to list them in this part of the Author's Notes to spare you the hassle of rereading if you don't want to.
