Mipha's head remained buried toward her chest, tucked inside her legs as her arms pulled them close, cloistered as she was in the corner of the ever-darkening prison she'd been stuck into. It had only been a handful of hours, and yet, those same hours felt like days- days she'd been stripped from her company of friends. Daruk's hearty, boisterous laughter, which seemed to liven up even the most esoteric of spirits that blotted the world around them, had already started to fade from her immediate memory, needing to recall with more and more brain power than usual. Urbosa's strength, Zelda's wits- even Revali's pithy commentary began to be missed by the Zoran princess now that she was forced to exist without such loved amenities. Link, especially…

The previous few day's events had done little to allow her mind to think of much else, as well. It had consumed the Champions like a vortex in the water, one that even Mipha's mighty fins could not break free from. After all, that vortex knew her all to well, she had surmised; without even a single conversation, that vortex knew her as a single drop in a limitless abyss of the oceans.

Such a thought sent a shiver down her spine.

A clanking arose at the doorway, though Mipha was too downtrodden to lift her head. Unless they were to gain entry, she felt little need to offer much of anything in the way of attention, especially since it more than likely was simply a wayward guard, come to view the Princess of the Zoras with their own eyes.

The presence of another unnerved her, particularly as she felt their seedy eyes upon her, though her curiosity began to arise. Aside from that initial noise to signal their arrival, they hadn't made a sound; they must have simply been standing there. Slowly, Mipha raised her head, allowing her eyes to break from beneath the crest of her forehead just enough to catch the vision of that dark figure whose unmistakeably red scales shone ghastly against the silhouette of the murky blackness of the prison ward.

"Princess," came a thickeningly deep voice that seemed to reverberate the very walls surrounding the two of them.

Mipha didn't reply, but didn't allow her eyes to fall either. They remained firm in their stare, which seemed a source of bemusement for the man despite his stoicism. His crimson scales glowed as his body wavered in the single ray of light that came in past the doorway, catching Mipha's eyes for a brief moment before they returned to his own in defiance.

"Do you mean to threaten me?" his voice bellowed evenly, "Even as you're sitting there, caged?"

Mipha replied with a voice as still as lake water, "Come in here and we'll see how threatening I can become."

The burly Zoran man allowed but a measly grin to stretch from a single edge of his lips, "I told Pakor that your imprisonment was to keep them out as much as it was to keep you in. I'm afraid their tales of you have become rather…"

He cleared his throat, "Unbecoming, I'll put it that way. I dread the thought of one of them getting any ideas."

Mipha challenged, still with a deadpan voice, "So you just came here just to share with me this disturbing information?"

"No," the man shook his head dismissively, "I brought you a meal. We can't have you withering away in here, can we?"

Mipha's brow furrowed, "I can."

Such determined defiance forced the man to run a hand along his face in thought, "If you thought that information a second ago was worrisome- I do know ways to get you to eat. Do not mistake my kindness for weakness."

Scoffing, Mipha shook her head, "Sorry, I missed out on your kindness somewhere between your speech and my kidnapping."

"Only to keep you safe, Princess, I assure you," the man nodded, his voice still carrying no emotion, "I sat around those bonfires with my band for decades, all of them so loyal. We'd all scraped through the world to survive; but I know they'd need something to keep them going. So I regaled them with stories of Zora's Domain, the mighty mountains of Lanayru; how better everything would be when we finally returned home. After so long, however, even the strongest loyalties need be stoked."

The man's eyes narrowed, the ridge between his eyes bowing ever so slightly in a demonstration of how serious he was, "What my men have said about what they would do to you, the Princess of the Zora, once our return had occurred… You'd best accept my generosity, before I decide to allow them to decide how best to treat you."

He reached a hand through the grating of the cell door and dropped a Hylian carp to the ground with a WHAP, the creature still flopping around only weakly to signal its freshness, "I plan on creating a brighter future for our people. and I wouldn't have the slightest inhibition about having such a beauteously strong queen at my side. Perhaps, soon enough, you'll understand the advantages of taking to me more kindly."

The man turned his head down the hallway as if to check on something before returning his attention toward Mipha, "Let's just hope I don't have to bring my Niq in here to convince you just how respectful I am."

With that, he bowed his head only in the most general of senses, as if honoring the title Mipha held rather than she as a being, before turning to leave, his Zoran feet paddling at the concrete floor below, a flash of cardinal-colored scales flashing as his dorsal fin blew behind him. Mipha's eyes remained fixed on the cell door until she was sure of his exit, the wooden door down the hallway slamming shut with a furious BANG, before Mipha allowed her brow to fall in sadness, dropping her head onto her knees defeatedly.

Link…

She thought of him. of his indomitable spirit that she so desperately wished she might be able to siphon from him through some netherous transmission, but it was merely a passing hope, much as all the others that passed by her mind as she sat in this dripping, murky cell. It had only been a week or two ago that the two of them had become something of lovers, though still in only the most uncertainly abstract of ways. Most of Mipha's life had been her learning about herself, about her body, her place in this world. Such a relief it was to find out that Link had much the same questions- perhaps the two of them could simply learn of these things together, among other things.

Now, these last two weeks had forced a world's worth of uncertainly upon Mipha's mind, just as she was beginning to gain some certainty of herself. Everything was making sense. and then he showed up…

Her eyes slowly peeked toward the carp, thinking of her hunger, but also about how determined she was to remain belligerent at the cost of her hunger. Even more so, that vague threat made by that man. that man that was suppose to be-

Slowly, weakly, she hid her face behind her knees once more. She would refuse to eat, for now. Her mind flashed those red scales, thinking how quickly she'd noticed them upon first meeting that man- it was near instantaneous. For his red scales were all the identification a member of Zoran royalty required.

That man. Her brother. Dolare, the Sundered Scale, Leader of the Niq.

"BLEEEECH!" came an engorged grumbling from Daruk as he hunched over a nearby stone, emptying his insides in a painful display of rejection while Link kept his attention on his feet so as to not ruin his boots while he patted his Brother's back.

"Sorry," the Hylian offered, "I guess I need to put a disclaimer on anything I cook: might not be suitable for everybody."

His projecting having ceased, Daruk simply rested there, panting heavily as he shook his head, "It smelled so good though; normally that's a decent sign."

Frowning, Link shrugged, "Well, maybe not. Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Daruk nodded before his enfeebled body worked its way upright, "That should be all of it."

Link nodded before guiding the massive Goron man back toward the campsite, "Alright then. Don't worry, just to make sure this doesn't happen again, I had the others sort out the ingredients- we'll start documenting them as dangerous whenever necessary. Trust me, it got Zelda's scholar-brain all excited."

A faint smile rested upon Daruk's face, "W-Well, so long as it makes her happy, I suppose."

"Don't give her that, please; it'll only encourage her," assured Link weakly, "She'll be throwing every plant, seed, or herb at you to figure out what all Gorons can't eat, and even then, not all Gorons are the same; she'll set up a buffet and a blind study up in Goron City to get all the results in. It's best we just end it right-"

"Daruk!" Zelda cried out in terror, rushing up toward the two and immediately embracing all that she could of the stone man with outstretched arms, "Are you okay?!"

The Goron nodded with a measly smile, "Y-Yes, of course. I'm Daruk the Unshaken, after all! Defender of-!"

He suddenly pushed Zelda away before wrapping his arms against his stomach, hunching over in quivering plain, "W-Well… I'll take the day off and be shook today, I suppose…"

Zelda frowned, "I hate to see you like this, but don't worry! We devised a makeshift lineup of everything Link put into that batch of soup, so we'll just-"

She noticed Link's sudden intense stare, "What?"

"Nothing," Link shrugged, "Just seemed as though you were blaming me there for a second."

Zelda's lips curled ambivalently, "I mean, you are the chef, aren't you?"

"First off, no, I'm just a dude who cooks," Link shook his head, "Second, I don't recall doing much cooking when everybody was throwing everything but the kitchen crank in the pot."

Aghast, Zelda threw a hand against her chest as her mouth drew wide open in shock, "Are you blaming this entire Company?!"

"Sharing the blame amongst the entire group. Wow, a few days in and I'm already getting good at this," Link mused with a muted, feigned smile, "Now, Daruk, we've got everything sat out, so just-"

As they approached the camp, they found Mipha and Urbosa both bent over a flat-topped rock with magnifying glasses, examining the bevy of ingredients that sat in neat, organized piles these, though both of their movements seemed devoid of purpose. Link's brow curled inquisitively as he turned toward Zelda.

Intuiting his question, Zelda explained, "They're just giving each ingredient a once over."

"What do they expect to find?" Link asked, his voice lined with droll expression.

Urbosa answered instead, dropping her arms as she spoke up, "We don't even know what we are doing. She just gave these to us and said to look out for anti-Goron agents at work."

"I would just like to know, if something here caused Daruk to fall ill, why it did so," Zelda shrugged, "Perhaps, then, we could neutralize it, or even reverse it to make it beneficial!"

Deciding to leave Zelda to her hypotheses, Link simply guided Daruk up to the stone, allowing the Goron a moment to look over the ingredient splayed out, "Okay Daruk, do any of these look like the culprit?"

Daruk's eyes glazed over, "…you're kidding, right?"

Raising her head with her magnifying glass still in front of her eye, Mipha turned toward Revali as the Rito sputtered alive with a voice weakened with disbelief, his arms crossed with a forearm raised to allow his face to fall into his hand, "This is the most preposterous thing I've ever had the displeasure of witnessing. You do all know this is one of those things that makes me believe this whole venture is nothing more than a means to play a prank on me, correct?!"

"Yeah, yeah," Urbosa muttered in reply as Daruk began scrutinizing the array of ingredients, "Just be thankful we aren't worse."

The Champions, fresh off the far-reaching approval of the King of Hyrule, resulting from the legitimacy offered this quest by the Master Sword, now set their sights on Zora's Domain, or rather, the Reservoir above the Domain, where the Divine Beast Vah Ruto rested. After only a handful of minutes of deliberation, it was decided to be the next simplest Beast to examine, particularly after a rather impassioned speech by Zelda on the merits of biological beings not being subjected to volcanic temperatures, nor the brusque behavior of, essentially, a mechanical sky god. These objectives would prove easier to put aside for later.

Now, this Company found themselves heading east from Hyrule Castle, choosing to take the pass along Crenel Peak that would lead them along the Lanayru Highlands to Inogo Bridge, the first milestone to meet any visitors wishing to make the treacherous journey up the river. It was the kind of place where many rumors had sprung up indeed, the lot of them Zelda was privy to, thanks to her time spent in libraries reading some not-so-accurate accounts from time to time. Already, Mipha had been forced to correct her when Zelda proclaimed her excitement to see the octorocks that "waddle around on land".

Not long after subjecting Daruk to the ingredient lineup, Zelda was content with simply keeping a list with which they could eliminate items one by one as they arose, though she was adamant about uncovering more once the Company's quest was over, and even then, her curiosity over the standard Goron diet had been piqued.

"So," she began as she helped Urbosa slowly furl the tent, "How does your stomach even work? I mean, you're rock, right? Why would you even need to eat?"

"Bwah ha!" Daruk laughed, "Because-! Well, I don't know, really. There's no digestion, but we have mouths and can taste. Perhaps the goddesses, in their benevolence, simply created us with the ability to enjoy whatever foods this land could offer?"

Zelda's lips curled with curiosity, "But where does it end up?"

"By the goddess, are we really inquiring about this topic?" Revali complained.

Curiously, Zelda wondered, "But isn't it interesting?!"

"No," Revali flatly denied, "I would be more intrigued by the trappings of a stag beetle than anything to do with his…functions."

Rather miffed by Revali's insistence, Daruk merely answered, "I mean, nothing really happens. I suppose everything just decomposes inside of us, or leaves us in some other way. Gorons aren't exactly the easiest beings to cut open and examine, you know."

"That's what makes you interesting, though!" Zelda exclaimed happily, "I've come across anatomy books for all the other major races of Hyrule- I mean, I've practically seen everybody here naked and inside-out while delving through the literature. Everybody except Gorons, that is."

Pondering quietly to herself, Zelda tapped her foot against the ground, leaving Link to chide aloud, "She's thinking of how to find a Goron to cut open, isn't she?"

Daruk's eyes widened with a gasp as Zelda refuted, "I am not! …anymore."

"Ha ha, ever the little scholar," Urbosa chuckled easily as she readied the rucksack that contained the tent, strapping it to her own backpack, "Look, we've already got one quest- and a sizeable one at that. One mystery at a time, please."

Zelda nodded, "I suppose you're right. Well, Mipha, Urbosa was sort of our point-guy last time, so I suppose you're up?"

"O-Oh!" Mipha replied nervously, eying Link in order to gain some courage, "I- I mean, once we reach the river, sure."

Smiling, Zelda nodded, "Awesome! We'll be counting on you."

Such a weight that was, Mipha thought. Still, such a feeling slowly began to be negating in the number of stolen glances Mipha took toward Link as the Company finished packing up their camp. Whenever she had a chance, she did her best to find him in her sight, having grown to yearn for that warmth within her chest whenever his eyes replied with a glance of his own. Ever since they'd kissed, affirmed their mutual desire to be closer to one another, it was all the Zora woman could think about now that this Hylian's warm body was little more than a few words away from being against her own. Oftentimes, it wasn't even words that separated them; on the way to the Crenel pass, Mipha would simply allow her gait to press closer to Link's, her scales catching the faintest bit of warmth exerted from Link's skin, until they were well behind the others (due in no small part to these distracted struts) when Link would eventually wrap an arm around Mipha's shoulders and pull her into a half-hug. These moments would very nearly cause Mipha to collapse between the warmth balled up in her stomach and the nerves.

The question of how secret their dealings needed to be didn't come up, probably due to how silly it was to even consider revealing such a thing. Even if she were no longer required to marry in the same way now afforded to her brother, Mipha was nevertheless royalty, and therefore expected to marry along similar lines. It was taboo enough for the Zora to ever consider forfeiting intraspecies relationships in favor of courting foreigners, but for a Princess? Such things might amount to heresy, Mipha already understood, as did Link. After all, to sacrifice the Zoran bloodline for somebody non-Zora was tantamount to genocide.

Of course, these were things to be left within the enclosed mountains of Lanayru, but even among the Company, the two were rather apprehensive of revealing much for fear of teasing, or worse, fear of the word getting out, particularly with the lot of them now advancing toward Zora's Domain. Simply to remain at ease, they decided to keep quiet, though it became progressively difficult during the course of all their stolen glances, and intensely so during the night when the temperature dropped and Mipha's very biology compelled her to hunt for warmth.

The most superior source of such things, to her, obviously being the man not two or three sleeping packs away.

And as the Company pressed on, this was the state of things between these two star-crossed lovers. Even as Zelda's request for her to lead seemed indomitable, Mipha now knew she wasn't alone to carry these weights of the world upon her shoulders. All she had to do was look toward Link, and he would be sure to nod in reply, if not outright smile for her, and she would feel as though she could conquer even those octorocks that waddled on land. Even as the Company pressed on, she couldn't help but mosey around camp for a brief moment, praying that Link was doing the same. They shared a quick kiss when nobody was looking.

And so it was.