CHAPTER 13

Aria could form no words-no thoughts-at what she was witnessing. She had no idea what Marlo had come to tell them of-only that it was not good news. Now, she could only stare with numb shock, wanting to look away, but finding herself completely unable. Not out of awe, rather the exact opposite. The sight was so horrid and sad that she could not avert her eyes no matter how much her subconscious screamed for her to.

The Zora siblings had all gathered around another Zora. Judging from his build and stature, this one was male, his silvery scales marred by faint stripes, his teeth larger and more fearsome-looking than Marlo or Grupa's, and his fins short and curved, giving him a streamlined appearance.

This had to be their other brother. Rifsha, as Grupa had called him.

He might have been quite the impressive Zora specimen, had it not been for his current condition. He lay on his back, eyes closed and breathing labored. He appeared to be on the brink of consciousness.

Then Aria saw Thya kneeling at his side and what she saw brought her hand over her mouth in horror. Upon his right side, just below his ribs, was a hideous wound-one that leaked green blood onto the sea-soaked sand and gravel. Thya was using the same healing magic she'd used on Aria to try and treat the wound, but his condition did not seem to improve. He stirred once in a while, yet did not regain consciousness. Even in his unresponsive state, it was evident that he was in great pain.

Aria looked around at the other Zoras to find that each one wore a look of dread. She could tell that, mentally, they were praying that Thya would be able to save him. Marlo was shaking his head, unable to comprehend just what was going on. Koifa had her hand on Grupa's shoulder, the stout Zora warrior fell to a knee, catching himself on a hand to steady himself. Even her father stood before the fallen Zora, sharing their look of solemn shock with a hint of pity.

What shocked her the most, however, was Beytho. Her unwavering, inexpressive mask had all but faded at the sight before her. She was kneeling opposite of Thya, desperately clutching Rifsha's hand. She glanced between his unresponsive face and Thya, who tirelessly attempted to focus and heal him as best she could. Between such glances, Aria could see Beytho's composure slipping away.

She could see it in both princesses' faces, and more of it when she looked back at their other siblings. All around her was urgency, panic, dread, and the shimmer of unshed tears.

Then it happened. One of the Zora siblings finally snapped.

"What are you doing?!" Beytho cried, her voice actually cracking as she wrenched her gaze away from him, "Help him, Thya! Do something!"

Thya kept her gaze on her work, but answered her sister all the same, her voice wracked with near-panic. "I'm trying, sister!" she said, her voice failing to conceal her fear and dread, "But he… He…"

"He what?!" Beytho said, daring Thya to answer, but almost wishing she would not.

"He's...lost so much blood." Thya said, eyes scrunching as she shook her head in disbelief, forcing herself to talk as though doing so could keep her focused, "The wound is huge… And we don't know how long he's been like this…" Maintaining the spell with one hand, Thya touched two fingers to a spot beneath his jaw. She bore down with the spell, teeth grit and eyes squinted through focus and effort.

Despite such effort, however, Rifsha remained torpid and his breathing did not ease. Finally, after a few tense minutes, Thya's expression fell. She looked up at her sister and, with eight words, may as well have struck her sibling right through the heart on the spot.

"There's nothing I can do. He will die."

Thya's words struck everyone around her like an arrow, for all were shaken to varying but visible degrees. Marlo could only look down at his fallen brother with a mix of shock and pity, trying to comprehend everything that was happening, both now and what was to come. Grupa fell forward, curling up and trying to choke back audible sobs as Koifa gently stroked his back, her face also betraying her grief. Even Link, a relative stranger to them, could not mask his shock. The prince whom he had met when he was just emerging from the creche pools now lay, dying, before him.

Once again, however, it was Beytho who had the strongest reaction to this news. Her pose went slightly slack and she began to visibly tremble, shaking her head in denial as cruel reality began to take root within her heart. What facade she wore before was long gone, as she soon demonstrated.

"No… No! He can't!" she cried, her voice choked by grief, "Do something! Try harder! We cannot lose him!"

"Beytho…" Thya cut her off, her voice quivering in both fear and fast-approaching despair, "I've done my best. It's not enough. The most I can do at this point is ease his pain."

A weak, wheezing cough caught everyone's attention. To Aria's surprise, the dying prince's eyelids weakly opened. He slightly inclined his head, his gaze finding Thya, and his mouth, dripping with blood, curved into a faint smile.

"Thya…" he rasped, "Sister…"

"Don't try to talk." Thya said, using her free hand to caress his forehead, eyes glimmering with sorrow.

"No…" he said with defiance, forcing himself to be strong to his last breath, "I… I fou… I found it."

Every Zora around him went wide-eyed as they looked to each other, back at him, then at each other again. "You found it?! Where is it? How'd you find it?" Grupa pressed urgently.

"I left… a trail." His speech was strained, for the Zora prince knew he had precious little time as his strength waned by the second. "Follow it… And you...will find it, too."

He coughed again, further staining himself with his own blood. Thya and Beytho stayed close, Beytho gently lifting his head off the ground. With great effort, he turned to see Beytho, his smile still present and still weak.

"Beytho...Sister...I'm s-s-sorry…" Painfully, he lifted an arm, resting his hand on the side of her face. Beytho could only watch, eyes unblinking, mouth agape, and breath shaky as she struggled to remain strong for him. "My...right...my birthright…" He mustered enough strength for one full sentence, each word taking a clear toll. "It's yours now."

His arm fell, hitting the soft, moist sand again. His breathing became more labored as his head fell to a neutral stance. When his eyes fell on Link, however, new life came to them-a spark that no other present person gave him.

"Link?" he asked, incredulously, "It...It's you…" Link nodded as he moved closer to Rifsha, the Hylian forcing an apologetic, grieving half-smile on his face. But Rifsha's smile actually widened and his eyes were full of life once again, if only for a brief moment. "You… You came back." he choked, his weak voice choked with what could only be joy and newly-restored hope, "I-I-I knew...you would…" His eyes then found Aria, then widened even more, "And you… You are… You must…"

With each passing word, his strength waned and his voice rasped harsher and fell quieter. Then with a fading sigh, his smile faded, his head lolled to the side, and his once shining eyes lost their spark as they gazed upon something past the mortal coil.

Prince Rifsha of the Zoras was no more.

To Aria, he was a stranger, but as she looked around at all who gathered, she pieced together the sheer magnitude of Rifsha's passing.

Link had lost a man that admired him.

The Zoras around her had lost their brother.

The King back at the domain had lost his son and, as per the son's dying words, his heir to the throne.

The Zoras as a whole had lost a crown prince-someone who was set to be their king.

For the first time ever, Aria had watched a person die. And she feared that it would not be the last.

As Beytho and Thya gingerly laid their brother back down on the sand, Thya extended her hand, gently pressed her fingertips down on her brother's brow, and shut his eyes. Around them, a silence had fallen once more, the sting only made worse by the knowledge that Rifsha was forever truly gone.

Grupa turned away, falling to his knees again as Koifa rushed to his side, one hand finding his shoulder and the other caressing his back soothingly. This time, he actually broke down. Tears streamed down his green cheeks as he tried and failed to choke down his sobs. His sister, even in her attempts to console him, could not mask her despair or hide her own tears.

Marlo's face fell even further in grief and seemed to lose most of its former color as well as the once-vibrant life within him. He returned to his full height, then strode off to the side, his eyes fixated on the ground. Struck dumb from the passing of his brother, he could only wander and try to process the gaping hole Rifsha's passing would leave in himself and everything around him. Tears glimmered in his eyes, but he was more successful in keeping them subdued. Not flawlessly, as Aria witnessed, for he brushed one stray one away as he strode further down the beach.

"You…"

Everyone's attention flew to the speaker. Beytho's gaze remained fixated on the face of her brother, her body and breath trembling in both sorrow and fury. Then she swiftly turned her gaze to Link, her expression twisted with fury as hot, angry tears streamed down her cheeks.

"You did this…" she said, rising to her feet and slowly, dangerously walking towards him.

"Sister, no!" Thya said, also rising, but failing to do so in time to stop her.

Beytho was already right in front of Link, so close that she had to incline her head to glare down at him. Even at his full height, Link barely came up to her chest, meaning he had to tilt his head to meet her gaze. Her eyes were alight with fire, despite the tears streaming from them, enough so that Aria almost rushed to get between them. The one thing that kept her from doing so, oddly enough, was her father's own expression. It was almost unchanged – as stern and focused as ever.

"Do you see him?!" Beytho snarled, "He's dead because of you! If you'd returned sooner-! If you'd reached him-! If you'd stopped hiding just to raise-!" For a time, she could not complete her sentences properly out of pure rage. She wanted something or someone to blame.

"Calm yourself, princess." Link resisted the urge to shout back at her, but his voice was hard and sharp as jagged rock. Not enough to sway the princess, though.

"Calm myself?!" she retorted, "My brother is dead, yet you shed no tears for him or for us! While he was risking his life TRYING to fix something, you were off goddesses-know-where, coddling your child and-"

"STOP IT!"

That had been it. Before anyone could stop her, Aria stormed over and forced her way between them, glowering up at the Zora princess. Beytho could only raise her brows with some modicum of amusement, but her anger would not fade so quickly.

"If you want to blame something, then blame whatever is behind all of this! The malice! The corruption! The monsters! The things your brother was trying to fight against!"

Beytho did not waver, only continuing to meet Aria's fury with her own, each daring the other to back down. Just as Thya tentatively reached out to Beytho, Link averted his gaze, turning to stride towards the still-sobbing Grupa.

"Enough." he said, causing the Zora prince to look up at him, "On your feet. We have work to do." He spoke in an odd fashion. He showed strength and command, but was neither aggressive nor coddling.

Taking him under the arm, Link was able to coerce Grupa onto his feet. The stains of tears had yet to leave the Zora prince's eyes, but he did not fall back down or resist Link's efforts. Link then turned aside, calling out to the other brother.

"Marlo!" he called, catching his attention, "Prepare to set off!"

"Your callousness knows no bounds, does it?!" Beytho asked, "My brother's death really is nothing to you, and now you'll have my brothers and sisters forget about him as well!"

"We have not forgotten him, sister." Beytho whirled. Thya had spoken up, her voice soft, yet unwavering. "If what Rifsha said is true, he has found something that could help Hyrule. He left us a trail. We have to follow it before the seas wash it away."

"But it's because of-!"

"Beytho!" Thya interrupted, sharply and firmly. On seeing her sister stop in puzzlement and shock, she continued with a softer tone that still held surprising strength. "Rifsha did this because he cared about our people-about us, his family. He has given us a chance to start setting things right again. You will sully his actions just to find someone to be angry with?"

Beytho struggled to respond, looking between Thya, Link, and Aria as tears continued to stream from her eyes. Her mouth opened and closed in an attempt to form words, to start a new argument to justify her emotions…

She could find none. All of a sudden, shame started to burn from within her heart and eat at her conscience. Heaving a breath and forcing back another wave of tears, she finally spoke.

"Help me hide him first." she said, her voice trembling, as though each word pained her to speak, "Somewhere safe. Out of reach. Until we can bury him properly."

Thya's eyes flashed her sympathy and, without use of words, spoke of her gratitude. There and then, they all set to work.

Gently and gingerly, they lifted him by his arms, legs, and midsection, careful to keep him level and further undamaged. Link had found a shallow cavity in the rock wall, right next to a large boulder. It would serve well enough.

They gently leaned him on the stone wall of the cavern, making it appears as though he were merely resting from a long day's travel. Grupa, in a move that surprised Aria, put his palms on the boulder and actually managed to push it far enough that it concealed the cave mouth.

When the deed was finished, all everyone could do for a time was stare, wordlessly, at the makeshift tomb. It was only temporary, but it had an air of finality to it that only a grave could possess.

"Beytho," Thya's words snapped everyone out of the trance, and they turned to see her clasping her sister's wrists and giving her a pleading look. "Go back to the domain and find father. Tell him what happened and have him take Rifsha home. We can have a proper funeral when we return."

Soundlessly, Beytho processed her sister's words, then nodded. "Go." she said, "And come back safe." Her eyes fell on Link and Aria as she added, "All of you."

The two separated and Beytho hurried off towards the cave Link and Aria traveled down earlier. Thya looked after her for a second, then gathered them all at the water's edge.

Rifsha had been given rest until he could receive a burial worthy of a prince. Aria knew not where he was now, but she knew they could not afford to waste any more time.

It was time to act.