Chapter Fifteen:
Loraefin was waiting outside in the hall casually browsing through paintings on the wall. Link opened the doors but she seemed not to notice, he walked up behind her and looked at the painting too.
"It's nice isn't it?" She said. "I like all of the reds they used in her dress. Do you know who she is?" Link continued to look.
"That's Princess Zelda," he put it simply.
"Oh, do you know her?"
"You could say that."
"She is very pretty."
Link started to walk back down the hall; he had no time to waste on paintings, even if they were of Zelda. Loraefin ran after him.
"Hey, what happened in there?" She asked.
"Did your grandmother ever tell you about the Zora's?" He said in a hurry.
"Once or twice, they're the fish people right? She used them sometimes in bedtime stories."
"You could put it that way I guess. Anyway there's something wrong with the water and they're dying from it," Link explained quickly. "Zora's River feeds into Lake Hylia and the towns water supply, in other words we could be next."
"And Lake Hylia is the source of Murieope's rivers as well!" Loraefin remembers from one of Link's short geography lessons, "what are we going to do?" Loraefin inquired very concerned, after all it wasn't every day she was faced with such problems.
"What else, go and try to help."
***
Link leaped through the opening in the waterfall to Zora's Domain with no hesitation whatsoever. Loraefin on the other hand just eyed the distance between her and the ledge and thought to herself, no way I'm jumping that, not on my life…
"Hey Fin come on!" Link shouted and waited for her to jump.
"I don't think I can jump that!" She argued.
"Sure you can! Just try."
"I'm going to fall."
"No you're not, just jump!"
"It's to far!" Loraefin said timidly. She may have been raised running about in the woods an on the hills around her home, but she was not foolish enough not to question her own physical limits.
"Come on," Link coaxed. "If you can't do this we're not going to get very far here, so help me out. Don't worry I'll be right here to catch you." With much hesitation Loraefin takes a deep breath, tenses up and then not so gracefully leaps over the gap. She scrambles to stand up.
"See, that wasn't so hard now was it?" He said.
"Easy for you to say, I don't think I'm cut out for a hero lifestyle yet," Loraefin stated in a comical way. "Let's just say I'm not looking forward to that again."
"Well sorry, but this is the way out too," he teased.
"Jat ti," Link heard her mumble under her breath. Link found that as their time together increased, her little Gerudo swearing spats were quite amusing.
Zora's Domain was quiet except for the constant sound of water rushing from here to there. There were no Zoras visible when the three entered, everything looked abandoned. They continued down the ledge and up the stairs to where King Zora himself stayed in the top chamber.
"This place is incredible," Loraefin commented, "it's beautiful."
"It was a lot prettier last time we came here," Navi said. "Look at all of the black globs on the water! I wonder what's happening…" They reach the top of the stairs. A congregation of doctors and scientists were gathered there, Link could see that King Zora was not in his usual spot at the top of the wall. The group from the castle had set up a lab in the large chamber, an assortment of bottles, test tubes, and other devices where assembled on the central floor. Someone notices them.
"You must be Link," the doctor said walking over to shake his hand. "It is good to have you here with us," he notices Loraefin. "And who may I ask is this?"
"This is Loraefin, and this is Navi, they've come to help," Link said simply.
"Well, a pleasure to meet both of you as well. Come, I'll show you what we've found so far," he starts to walk back to the group of men and women situated behind him. "It seems that the Zora's contracted the disease several years ago, we weren't quite sure of the cause until now…but it's only at this time that the symptoms are surfacing."
"So you know the cause?" Link asked very professionally.
"Well, it still is somewhat unclear…but we do think we know the cause. I know your not going to want to hear this but…" The doctor trailed off.
"What is it?" Navi persisted. The young doctor straightens himself out and clears his throat.
"It appears that this disease was caused by magic," the doctor said. "The affliction was placed inside the Zora some years ago, it lay dormant until the spell was activated…we think it was left by Ganondorf."
"Ganondorf?!" Both Link and Navi exclaimed in unison.
"Who?" Loraefin asked. The doctor looked at her very puzzled and turned back to Link.
"This disease is killing them, and we think this is only the beginning," the doctor spoke with such concern that Loraefin knew that this 'Ganondorf' character wasn't good at all. "We thought that it might only be the Zoras that would be affected, but as I think you know some of my colleagues have fallen ill from the same cause, were lucky it doesn't seem to have such a bad affect on Hylians."
"What are the symptoms?" Link asked.
"Burn like marks on the skin, temporary loss of vision and convulsive vomiting…so far," another doctor told him. "As we said this is only the beginning. Ganondorf must have left it as a 'time bomb', a last way to get revenge."
"Where is King Zora and the others?"
"In living chambers around Zora's Domain, nurses are attending them every minute. The King is in the room directly behind this one," the first doctor said pointing behind him. "The door is over there," Link looked and walked over to where the doctor had pointed, he felt the wall and pushed; it opened.
"Loraefin, stay here, find out all you can about this disease," he told her and entered the room, a nurse met him in the small passage leading to the apartment and he surprised her.
"Goodness! What are ye doin' lurkin' in the shadows like tha'? Come ou' of there! Ye nearly gave me a heart attack," she told him with much shock in her voice. "I'm guessin' ye be wantin' to see King Zora Lad? Eh then, follow the stairs to the top, ye can't miss em'," she continued on her way out with an armful of towels. Link followed the stairs up to the top chamber where a small congregation of nurses was assembled about a pool of clean water; King Zora situated inside of it. They ran back and forth getting clean towels and other things, apparently King Zora was not doing well. A gap opened between the pack of nurses and Link saw none other than Ruto kneeling by her father's side; she looked terribly worried.
Her eyes were red from lack of sleep and her body looked exhausted from the constant cares her father needed. She held his hand solemnly and stroke it in hopes to ease the pain a little. Ruto had grown into a lovely young Zora woman, much more mature and intelligent than that of the haughty young princess Link had known so long ago; becoming a Sage probably had a good influence on her he thought. Ruto started to hum an unfamiliar song to her father, quietly at first, but then becoming more prominent each moment. King Zora shifted uncomfortably and moaned under his breath, but when Ruto began to sing he seemed to calm and drift off to sleep.
"He's asleep," Ruto said softly with much relief. "Hopefully now he can get some rest; we can get some rest." She smiled to the nurses and stood up, just now noticing Link. The small smile spread into a wide grin across her face. "LINK!" She squealed but then quickly covered her mouth in hopes she didn't wake her father. She ran to him. "Link! I'm so happy to see you!" Ruto said embracing him and then, without hesitation, kissed him square on the lips. "It's been so long! How are you?!" Link was utterly surprised.
"Uh, um…Fine Ruto. How are you?" Was the only thing he could manage to say. Ruto untwined her arms from Link's neck and stepped a few paces back, putting a comfortable distance between the two.
"Not well Link, as you can see my father's condition is declining…We don't know what to do," her eyes began to turn red again with the thoughts of her dying father and she wiped the oncoming tears away with her hand. "Rauru let me leave the Sacred Realm to tend to him, we don't know how much longer it will be…" Ruto started to break down crying, in sobs she said, "It maybe to late for him…for all the Zora! Link I don't know what to do!"
Link took a few steps over to her and gave her a comforting embrace; he didn't want to see her cry like this.
"It's OK Ruto, don't cry," he said.
"How can I not!" She sobbed, "my people are dying and I'm powerless to stop it!" Ruto then stopped herself suddenly and wiped her tears away and tried to stop crying in front of Link so. "Look at me, letting my emotions take me like that…" She turned around and walked back to her father briefly to dampen his forehead with a cloth and then returned to Link. "Come, there are things we need to-"
Suddenly the ground begins to shake frightfully. The nurses run and scatter, trying to find shelter from the falling debris around them; Link grabs Ruto and pulls her out of the way of a falling stone. Ruto wrenches free and runs to her father stopping in front of him. Using her powers as a Sage, Ruto creates a protective bubble around the King, keeping him from any harm. Link grabs her again and drags her underneath the doorway where the others have assembled. The earthquake subsides only a few moments after it began and the ground becomes silent.
"What was that?" Ruto asked, very shaken. "An earthquake?" She looked to Link.
"It appears so," he said and walked out from under the doorway. Ruto ran to her father.
"It figures," she uttered, "my father is still asleep," she relinquishes the protective case around him. Pounding can he heard from down the hall, the doorway to the chamber has been blocked.
"Is everyone alright in there?" A voice came through. "The door is blocked, you'll have to clear it for us to get to you."
"We're fine," Link said helping up one of the nurses. "We'll have it cleared in a minute."
***
"When was the last time we had an earthquake around here?" One of the scientists asked. "Some nine odd years hasn't it?
"Yes," another joined in, "It was probably Death Mountain, but it wasn't scheduled to erupt for another year or so."
"So then what may have caused it?" A third and forth comes in. "It's not like Death Mountain to erupt with out warning."
While the scientists are arguing Link talks to Ruto.
"Link, I have a bad feeling about this," she told him. "Something is wrong at Death Mountain, I can sense it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Something is terribly wrong…You need to go check it out," Link was taken by surprise.
"But Ruto…"
"Don't worry about us, Link," she seemed to read his mind. "It's not doing any good that you're here, it will probably be better if you're there out trying to find some answers," her rank as a Sage was starting to become apparent. He looked at her and said:
"I'll find a cure, I promise."
Loraefin was waiting outside in the hall casually browsing through paintings on the wall. Link opened the doors but she seemed not to notice, he walked up behind her and looked at the painting too.
"It's nice isn't it?" She said. "I like all of the reds they used in her dress. Do you know who she is?" Link continued to look.
"That's Princess Zelda," he put it simply.
"Oh, do you know her?"
"You could say that."
"She is very pretty."
Link started to walk back down the hall; he had no time to waste on paintings, even if they were of Zelda. Loraefin ran after him.
"Hey, what happened in there?" She asked.
"Did your grandmother ever tell you about the Zora's?" He said in a hurry.
"Once or twice, they're the fish people right? She used them sometimes in bedtime stories."
"You could put it that way I guess. Anyway there's something wrong with the water and they're dying from it," Link explained quickly. "Zora's River feeds into Lake Hylia and the towns water supply, in other words we could be next."
"And Lake Hylia is the source of Murieope's rivers as well!" Loraefin remembers from one of Link's short geography lessons, "what are we going to do?" Loraefin inquired very concerned, after all it wasn't every day she was faced with such problems.
"What else, go and try to help."
***
Link leaped through the opening in the waterfall to Zora's Domain with no hesitation whatsoever. Loraefin on the other hand just eyed the distance between her and the ledge and thought to herself, no way I'm jumping that, not on my life…
"Hey Fin come on!" Link shouted and waited for her to jump.
"I don't think I can jump that!" She argued.
"Sure you can! Just try."
"I'm going to fall."
"No you're not, just jump!"
"It's to far!" Loraefin said timidly. She may have been raised running about in the woods an on the hills around her home, but she was not foolish enough not to question her own physical limits.
"Come on," Link coaxed. "If you can't do this we're not going to get very far here, so help me out. Don't worry I'll be right here to catch you." With much hesitation Loraefin takes a deep breath, tenses up and then not so gracefully leaps over the gap. She scrambles to stand up.
"See, that wasn't so hard now was it?" He said.
"Easy for you to say, I don't think I'm cut out for a hero lifestyle yet," Loraefin stated in a comical way. "Let's just say I'm not looking forward to that again."
"Well sorry, but this is the way out too," he teased.
"Jat ti," Link heard her mumble under her breath. Link found that as their time together increased, her little Gerudo swearing spats were quite amusing.
Zora's Domain was quiet except for the constant sound of water rushing from here to there. There were no Zoras visible when the three entered, everything looked abandoned. They continued down the ledge and up the stairs to where King Zora himself stayed in the top chamber.
"This place is incredible," Loraefin commented, "it's beautiful."
"It was a lot prettier last time we came here," Navi said. "Look at all of the black globs on the water! I wonder what's happening…" They reach the top of the stairs. A congregation of doctors and scientists were gathered there, Link could see that King Zora was not in his usual spot at the top of the wall. The group from the castle had set up a lab in the large chamber, an assortment of bottles, test tubes, and other devices where assembled on the central floor. Someone notices them.
"You must be Link," the doctor said walking over to shake his hand. "It is good to have you here with us," he notices Loraefin. "And who may I ask is this?"
"This is Loraefin, and this is Navi, they've come to help," Link said simply.
"Well, a pleasure to meet both of you as well. Come, I'll show you what we've found so far," he starts to walk back to the group of men and women situated behind him. "It seems that the Zora's contracted the disease several years ago, we weren't quite sure of the cause until now…but it's only at this time that the symptoms are surfacing."
"So you know the cause?" Link asked very professionally.
"Well, it still is somewhat unclear…but we do think we know the cause. I know your not going to want to hear this but…" The doctor trailed off.
"What is it?" Navi persisted. The young doctor straightens himself out and clears his throat.
"It appears that this disease was caused by magic," the doctor said. "The affliction was placed inside the Zora some years ago, it lay dormant until the spell was activated…we think it was left by Ganondorf."
"Ganondorf?!" Both Link and Navi exclaimed in unison.
"Who?" Loraefin asked. The doctor looked at her very puzzled and turned back to Link.
"This disease is killing them, and we think this is only the beginning," the doctor spoke with such concern that Loraefin knew that this 'Ganondorf' character wasn't good at all. "We thought that it might only be the Zoras that would be affected, but as I think you know some of my colleagues have fallen ill from the same cause, were lucky it doesn't seem to have such a bad affect on Hylians."
"What are the symptoms?" Link asked.
"Burn like marks on the skin, temporary loss of vision and convulsive vomiting…so far," another doctor told him. "As we said this is only the beginning. Ganondorf must have left it as a 'time bomb', a last way to get revenge."
"Where is King Zora and the others?"
"In living chambers around Zora's Domain, nurses are attending them every minute. The King is in the room directly behind this one," the first doctor said pointing behind him. "The door is over there," Link looked and walked over to where the doctor had pointed, he felt the wall and pushed; it opened.
"Loraefin, stay here, find out all you can about this disease," he told her and entered the room, a nurse met him in the small passage leading to the apartment and he surprised her.
"Goodness! What are ye doin' lurkin' in the shadows like tha'? Come ou' of there! Ye nearly gave me a heart attack," she told him with much shock in her voice. "I'm guessin' ye be wantin' to see King Zora Lad? Eh then, follow the stairs to the top, ye can't miss em'," she continued on her way out with an armful of towels. Link followed the stairs up to the top chamber where a small congregation of nurses was assembled about a pool of clean water; King Zora situated inside of it. They ran back and forth getting clean towels and other things, apparently King Zora was not doing well. A gap opened between the pack of nurses and Link saw none other than Ruto kneeling by her father's side; she looked terribly worried.
Her eyes were red from lack of sleep and her body looked exhausted from the constant cares her father needed. She held his hand solemnly and stroke it in hopes to ease the pain a little. Ruto had grown into a lovely young Zora woman, much more mature and intelligent than that of the haughty young princess Link had known so long ago; becoming a Sage probably had a good influence on her he thought. Ruto started to hum an unfamiliar song to her father, quietly at first, but then becoming more prominent each moment. King Zora shifted uncomfortably and moaned under his breath, but when Ruto began to sing he seemed to calm and drift off to sleep.
"He's asleep," Ruto said softly with much relief. "Hopefully now he can get some rest; we can get some rest." She smiled to the nurses and stood up, just now noticing Link. The small smile spread into a wide grin across her face. "LINK!" She squealed but then quickly covered her mouth in hopes she didn't wake her father. She ran to him. "Link! I'm so happy to see you!" Ruto said embracing him and then, without hesitation, kissed him square on the lips. "It's been so long! How are you?!" Link was utterly surprised.
"Uh, um…Fine Ruto. How are you?" Was the only thing he could manage to say. Ruto untwined her arms from Link's neck and stepped a few paces back, putting a comfortable distance between the two.
"Not well Link, as you can see my father's condition is declining…We don't know what to do," her eyes began to turn red again with the thoughts of her dying father and she wiped the oncoming tears away with her hand. "Rauru let me leave the Sacred Realm to tend to him, we don't know how much longer it will be…" Ruto started to break down crying, in sobs she said, "It maybe to late for him…for all the Zora! Link I don't know what to do!"
Link took a few steps over to her and gave her a comforting embrace; he didn't want to see her cry like this.
"It's OK Ruto, don't cry," he said.
"How can I not!" She sobbed, "my people are dying and I'm powerless to stop it!" Ruto then stopped herself suddenly and wiped her tears away and tried to stop crying in front of Link so. "Look at me, letting my emotions take me like that…" She turned around and walked back to her father briefly to dampen his forehead with a cloth and then returned to Link. "Come, there are things we need to-"
Suddenly the ground begins to shake frightfully. The nurses run and scatter, trying to find shelter from the falling debris around them; Link grabs Ruto and pulls her out of the way of a falling stone. Ruto wrenches free and runs to her father stopping in front of him. Using her powers as a Sage, Ruto creates a protective bubble around the King, keeping him from any harm. Link grabs her again and drags her underneath the doorway where the others have assembled. The earthquake subsides only a few moments after it began and the ground becomes silent.
"What was that?" Ruto asked, very shaken. "An earthquake?" She looked to Link.
"It appears so," he said and walked out from under the doorway. Ruto ran to her father.
"It figures," she uttered, "my father is still asleep," she relinquishes the protective case around him. Pounding can he heard from down the hall, the doorway to the chamber has been blocked.
"Is everyone alright in there?" A voice came through. "The door is blocked, you'll have to clear it for us to get to you."
"We're fine," Link said helping up one of the nurses. "We'll have it cleared in a minute."
***
"When was the last time we had an earthquake around here?" One of the scientists asked. "Some nine odd years hasn't it?
"Yes," another joined in, "It was probably Death Mountain, but it wasn't scheduled to erupt for another year or so."
"So then what may have caused it?" A third and forth comes in. "It's not like Death Mountain to erupt with out warning."
While the scientists are arguing Link talks to Ruto.
"Link, I have a bad feeling about this," she told him. "Something is wrong at Death Mountain, I can sense it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Something is terribly wrong…You need to go check it out," Link was taken by surprise.
"But Ruto…"
"Don't worry about us, Link," she seemed to read his mind. "It's not doing any good that you're here, it will probably be better if you're there out trying to find some answers," her rank as a Sage was starting to become apparent. He looked at her and said:
"I'll find a cure, I promise."