Deeper and deeper, the heroes treaded through the spring.

As they swam along, several Zora passed them by, each giving them an accusational glare. Saria couldn't help but feel chilled by the glassy black eyes of the humanoids. They seemed to peer into her soul, and dig out her darkest secrets. Link too was disturbed by the looks he was receiving from the many Zora. Did any of them know what he had done? If things got hairy, there was no way him or Saria could outswim them, it would be an all out brawl. While he could possibly battle and survive an army of Zora armed with only spears, he feared that Saria could not, she still hardly knew her way around a blade. Sure, she could battle off wild creatures when it was a life or death matter, but could she defeat a trained soldier? For that matter, could she even bring herself to take the life of a being with a soul? If it came down to a fight for their lives, she might not make it out. As best he could, Link attempted to wrench the thought from his head. It wouldn't come to that. He had hidden the Zora well. Nobody would find him, not before they had found the harp and gotten themselves off the mountain, anyway.

"Link, are you okay? You seem a bit off."

Was it so obvious that his thoughts were eating away at him? He didn't need Saria worrying too, if she knew, she would just make things worse.

"I'm fine..."

The boy's response only further clued Saria that something was wrong. That he had responded at all was evidence he was not fine. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of what to say. She knew if she pushed him for answers, she would not get them. Instead, she remained silent, and continued swimming. With them, the two children carried a silence heavier than even the body of water around them.

"We're getting closer to the bottom, I haven't seen any Zora in a while."

As Mari flitted alongside the children, she looked as though she were still flying in the air, despite being well submerged. The deeper everyone got, the darker and murkier the water became. Soon, Mari was the primary light source, and the kids could scarcely see their surroundings.

"Boy, it sure got dark real quick. Keep a close look out. There's no telling what's lurking down here."

Though essentially blind, Link and Saria continued swimming into the depths of the springs. All around them, the world was completely silent, not a sound could be heard, save for the faint twinkle of Mari's glow. Soon, however, a very strange noise penetrated the silence. It was some sort of clacking sound, almost like two rocks smacking against each other. Everyone attempted to identify the origin of the sound, but to no avail. One thing was for certain though, it was getting closer. It echoed through the water and seemed to bounce around them. *Clack! Clack! Clack!* Just when it sounded like it was right on top of them, a peculiar creature shot from the darkness, its jaws snapping wildly. About the length of Link's leg, a ravenous fish that appeared to be made of bone flashed its red eyes at the two children. With lightning fast reflexes, Link reached for his sword, but the questionably living creature beat his speed, and latched onto his arm. As the monster's teeth dug into his skin and thrashed, the boy cried out in pain and flailed wildly. Frantically, Saria reached for her own blade and prepared to take a swing. Before she whacked, however, she hesitated. If she wasn't careful, she could chop Link's arm off! With a clean and calculated slice, she severed the bone fish's body from its head, and it ceased its movement. With his free hand, Link pried the lifeless skull of the creature from his arm, and blood flowed out into the water.

"Yikes, that thing got you pretty good, are you okay?"

"What even was that thing? I presume the fish the Zora Baron spoke of?"

Link felt over his arm and winced. The wound was pretty bad, but he had survived worse, hadn't he? After surveying his lesion once more, the boy continued onward, leaving Saria to protest.

"Hey, wait! You can't just leave yourself like that, we've gotta patch you up!"

Link ignored his friend's words, and continued swimming. Staying still to treat the wound would just leave both of them vulnerable to attack. They needed to keep moving.

"It's not healthy you know, leaving wounds open like this. You could get an infection or something."

"Yeah, listen to Mari! I'm not moving till you bandage yourself up!"

Saria put her foot down on the hard sediment of the spring floor. There wasn't time for this, they had a harp to find, and no doubt, a monster to defeat. Continuing swimming, Link realized his friend was firm on her position when she didn't pursue him. He looked back to her and gestured with one hand to follow. With her arms crossed and her feet planted, Saria turned her head to the side and closed her eyes. But what could he do? He didn't bring any bandages down with him. Before he could form a decent counter argument, he heard a familiar grunting sound, one that instantly put knots in his stomach. Behind Saria, the rubbery form of a like like emerged from the veil of black. Unable to shout a warning in time, the creature slurped up Saria.

"Gyaaah!"

After churning her in its mouth for a moment, the like like spat the girl out, without her Zora tunic! As soon as Saria realized she couldn't breathe, she started treading water as quickly as she could in an attempt to reach the surface. The higher she swam, the less she could feel her senses, her vision was starting to blur. Still several meters underwater, her arms went limp, and she began to sink. Link rushed into action without any hesitation. With her now over his shoulder, he bridged the distance between him and air with a renewed vigor. Swimming with strides like a dolphin, he breached the surface and made for the border of the spring. Laying Saria on dry land, Link looked his friend over. She still wasn't breathing. Mari rushed up from the pool with a splash and flew over to Link.

"Don't just stand there, do something!"

With both his hands, Link began administering chest compressions to Saria.