Chapter 18
Soul weeping
Heart bleeding
Memories sublime.
Life greying
Sight fading
Voice stilled for all time.
Death grips my heart; have I lived my life in vain?
Heal my soul, bring me peace, Goddess, I pray!
When will I see the light of a new morning?
Have I forsaken the lives I hold dear?
Hear me my loved ones, please don't mourn my passing
On the horizon a new day draws near.
-Song of Healing
It was day 3 of university, lunch hour, in the cafeteria.
With a smile and a slap of tails, Mikau let Japas go with his new friends without looking twice. He was determined not to let Rotan and his gang bother him in the least. Instead, he tried to follow the heated debate that Evan and Tijo were engaged in. Goddesses, those two really love their arguements! Their discussion was something about the phase of the moon in relation to the rise of the tide. But as much as he tried, Mikau could not talk fast or intelligently enough to keep up with the Bottom-feeder and eel- Zora's constant spew of words. Mikau drank some distilled ice water through a straw and leaned back, wondering what he could do right now.
Mikau's current overview of the day: Evan was getting along very well with Mr. Bayn now, even though he's not the most athletic Zora in the class. Mr. Bayn has accepted him as a private pupil, and the eel-Zora has replaced Mikau as the class's potential star student. During Music Comp/Theory class, Prof. Iciirri gave the class a song-writing assignment. Mikau and Japas had hoped that they could revise one of their old songs to use, but the criteria was too specific. Still, it was no problem for the two maturing musicians. Japas was delighted to write a new song, and he considered criteria limits as an interesting challenge to tackle. Later in the day, King Zora was coming to visit the school. Mikau has never seen a Zora king before, and wondered how a Bottom-feeder could generate so much awe and respect amonst Zoras.
Mikau leaned back on his chair's back legs as those thoughts drifted around his head. He turned his head to the side and smiled when he noticed Lulu sitting at a distant table. How come he never noticed her here before? She was laughing with one of her girl friends. Mikau sipped his straw contently, but suddenly choked on the water when he noticed who Lulu was talking to. In fact, Mikau lost his balance and the chair tipped, resulting in his tail colliding painfully with the floor.
Evan and Tijo stopped talking long enough to help Mikau get back into his chair, then resumed their interrupted debate. Mikau spilled his cup of water all over himself, but it didn't worry him too much. Hey, he needed some hydration after all. What concerned him more was in Lulu's direction. The two female Zoras were both watching Mikau by now, and Lulu had a hand over her mouth, hiding a smile. The friend, however, looked unimpressed. She resumed eating as if Mikau's injury was of no concern to her.
Lulu was a bit more sympathetic. She came over beside Mikau to see if he was okay. "Are you alright?" She asked, placing a hand on Mikau's tail.
"Ow! It hurts!"
"Oh! Sorry!" Lulu apologized and quickly withdrew her hand. Upon seeing Lulu, Evan and Tijo shifted over, providing her a space to place her chair. She smiled at their kindness but shook her head. "No, I'm not gonna sit here. I'm already sitting at a table over there, with my friend."
"Your...friend?" Mikau ventured.
"Yes. Her name is Altress. Have you met her before?"
"Altress?" Evan's head jerked up when he heard that name.
"Yesss, we've met her. She's in Phys Ed with us." Mikau coughed once and exchanged glances with Evan. Altress was not the most popular Zora between the two teens. Mikau recalled how she zapped him in the Jeeball game and the way she glared at him. Apparrently, Evan has also been on the recieving end of her wrath. "She wouldn't have happened to say anything about me, would she?"
"No, not really." Lulu said. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why? Do you have a bad reputation with her?" Mikau sputtered for a response, but Lulu spoke again before he could answer. "I wouldn't be surprised if you do. After all, she's a devout feminist. She doesn't like men."
"Oh really?" Evan and Mikau exchanged glances again. This was certainly news to them. All this time they assumed that Altress simply had an inborn detestment of anyone who looks at her.
"Yeah. She's always like, 'Men are only after your body.' and 'Males think with testosterone.' and stuff like that. It doesn't help that she came from Hyrule. You know what it's like for females who come from there." Lulu shuddered. "There were a bunch of perverts staring at her first day, so I've heard. I think it's disgusting."
Tijo answered with a wholehearted, "I agree!" Mikau and Evan, on the other hand, remained oddly quiet.
Lulu laughed at their reaction. "I'm just teasing you guys. She's quite nice, once you get to know her. Too bad she doesn't take to males." She shrugged helplessly. "What can you do? You don't try to change your friends. You just accept them."
"Oh." Mikau replied simply. He thought of how those words could apply to him and Japas. Sage advice from someone as beautiful and talented as Lulu. Mikau shook his head. Where did that thought come from?
Lulu went to rejoin her friend Altress, who immediately questioned her association with Mikau and his friends, judging by the sidelong glances their way. But Lulu laughed off the accusations and directed the conversation elsewhere. Pretty soon the two of them were chatting about more innocent subjects.
There was a small moment of silence between Evan, Mikau and Tijo, while each of them thought their own thoughts.
Evan grimaced. "What a bitch." He said, breaking the silence.
Mikau almost fell off his chair again. "What?! Who?? Lulu?!" He exclaimed in shock.
"No! I ment Altress!" Evan clicked his fingers on the table irritably. His brow was wrinkled and he put an elbow on the table, supporting his chin with a hand. "What did we ever do to her? I hate people who stereotype, especially women."
"You just stereotyped." Tijo mentioned casually.
"Huh? No, that's a fact." Evan folded his hands together and spoke in a 'lecturing' type voice, as if he was speaking to a young child. "The Goddesses of Virtue ordained that those of opposite sex differ from each other in every concievable way in order make life as much a living hell as possible for us mortals. One of these differences is that women gossip more and have a weaker mind, which which makes them prone to stereotyping others."
Tijo stared at Evan incredulously. "That's a horrible thing to say! Not only are you degrading females but you're mocking the Goddesses as well!"
"I ain't touching this." Mikau commented. His words were lost to Tijo and Evan, who ignored the Zorian Hero in favor of arguing with each other.
The piercing bell ended the debate prematurely, signaling the end of lunch and implying that students better get right back to class or face the consequences. Especially since they'll all be seeing King Zora soon. Tijo instantly forgot about his conversation with Evan and waddled off as fast as his stubby legs could carry him.
Evan and Mikau lagged behind to push in their chairs and throw away the remains of their lunch. "What's with Tijo?" Evan asked.
"Oh, he's just one of those people who feel a deep allegience to the king." Mikau said to the eel-Zora.
"Ah. One of the devouts of tyranny." Evan sniffed.
Mikau bore an ill-concealed frown on his face. "Are you always so cynical?"
Evan thought for a moment. "No. I just have solid opinions. I think you either believe in something strongly or not at all."
"But what if what you believe in is wrong?"
"Well, you still must keep an open and accepting mind. I don't claim that anyone else's ideas are incorrect, I just debate them." Evan shrugged. "Hey, if I'm ever proven wrong, I'll just have to give in and take it like a man." He slapped Mikau's tail in a friendly way. "C'mon, we don't want to be late to meet his Highness. Let's see exactly how great this King Zora is."
Mikau nodded his agreement and smiled. The two of them swam together for as long as possible until they had to split up to attend their various classes. Which was really unnecessary because in a few minutes, all the freshmen Zoras left their classes for the main university auditorium.
Having never been to the auditorium, Mikau simply tailed the other Zoras who seemed to know where they're going. A few of them were apparently skipping school, for Mikau found himself partway to the dorm rooms before he realized his mistake in following them. Eventually, he located the auditorium by himself, and was amazed at how it could have escaped his notice.
The auditorium was huge! From far away, the main body of the auditorium looked like a fat, nondescript dome with thick chunks of coral growing up out of it. The coral were actually passageways leading up to the higher levels of the building, which were used for the faculty of Law. Only the lowest floor was used for assemblies. Inside, neat rows of carefully tended Sargasso seaweed was used for anchoring people to their postitions, while a weaved mat of the same weed hung like a cargo net between the ceiling and the floor, providing a second level of seats for Zoras. A few bubbles of glass attached to the back wall permits non-Zoras to attend the underwater assemblies without choking to death.
Mikau wandered into the auditorium, pushed and pulled by the wake of others. He wondered where he should sit.
"Pssst! Up here, Mikau!" Japas called from the second level of seaweed. He had managed to stick his head through the tangled weave of aquatic plants in order to call down to his friend. Mikau gave a wild wave and swam upwards to meet Japas.
"Hey, I saved you a seat. There's a hole in the seaweed over there. See it?" Japas pointed to his left, where a large rift in the weave allowed Zoras to pass.
"Okay, I'll be up in a sec." Mikau was about to swim through the hole but Japas stopped him short.
"Err, can you help me? I think my head is stuck in the weave." To demonstrate, Japas tried to yank his head back with little success. Mikau laughed at his friend's plight and pulled at the plant stems around Japas' neck.
Mikau was having as much luck as Japas had in defeating the tangled weave. "Almost got it...Arrgh! No offence Japas, but your tail is not only short, but fat. And Goddesses, what is this stuff?" The weed stubbornly refused to release it's victim. In frustration, Mikau chewed on the thick branches of the Sargasso in hopes of breaking them. His teeth pierced the plant's skin, releaseing a hideous, raw-tasting sap that bled out of the injured stem. "Eeeuch! Nayru's mercy, what a nasty flavour!" Mikau spat, shaking his head to rid himself of the offending taste.
The Zorian Hero had to give the university credit, though. They're certainly more clever than Termina in their choice of anchor seaweeds. He remembered how pitifully scrawny the weeds in his old classrooms were, struggling to survive the insatiable appetites of young Zoras.
With a little more effort, Mikau was eventually able to free Japas from the seaweed around his neck and zipped up to join him. As soon as he settled down, the shells of iridescent fish on the walls suddenly closed and the shells facing the stage opened. A respectful hush fell over the audience. From the side of the lighted stage, a large Bottom-feeder Zora floated towards the center at a steady speed. That's right: floated. He was one of the biggest and roundest Zoras Mikau has ever seen, and as he bobbed along, little fins and a furiously flapping tail steered him towards the center stage. He wore a red regal cape embroided with golden string in the symbol of the legendary Water Sage. No doubt that this Zora was the King Zora of Hyrule.
Three other Zoras also followed the king: another Bottom-feeder and two Sleeks. The Sleeks were obviously King Zora's attendants, judging by their expensive, yet not so elaborate clothes. One of them carried a bubble with something inside, something which twirled endlessly. Mikau squinted his eyes, and guessed that the twirling thing was a Zora tadpole.
The Bottom-feeder was smaller, therefore faster than the king. He swam behind the podium at the front of the stage and waited for the last of the shuffling to die down. Then the Zora spoke in a formal voice that carried to the far reaches of the auditorium. He introduced himself as Mr. Armnent, the principal of Seafifth University, and spoke of how pleased he was to be principal of this fine school, blah blah blah, that this school has turned out some of the finest Zoras to grace the eternal oceans, blah blah blah, please give his Highness Flounden Vers, King Zora of Zora Domain a warm welcome!
The Zoras from Labrynna and Hyrule, lands which both have kings, stood up in respect. They trilled in high-pitched Xyrian whistles, since clapping was impossible underwater. Zoras from Termina watched their peers and hesitantly copied their actions, not certain about how to behave in front of a king. King Zora replaced Mr. Armnent at the front of the podium and held a hand up for silence. The audience obliged.
As bubbles rose towards the ceiling, King Zora spoke slowly, softly, yet the whole auditorium could hear him clearly. "Children of the deep oceans of Labrynna! Free people of exotic Termina! And finally, esteemed Zoras from my own crystalline waters of Hyrule! It pleases me to no end to be amongst this gathering of cultures from all corners of the world for the purpose of education."
Way back in the ninth row, twenty third seat of the balcony level, Mikau stifled a yawn. This was basically the typical speech officials gave all the time and it gets boring. There was nothing special about King Zora. His voice was not terribly awe-inspiring, and his posture neither impressed his followers nor intimidated his enemies. Mikau wondered what was so great about this Bottom-feeder king. Thankfully, King Zora kept his speech relatively short, leaving plently of time before last block. He exited out the same way he came in, cheered on by a deafening roar of Xyrian whistles.
"Should we go back to block 3?" Mikau asked Japas when the shells against the walls lit up again. Everyone got up to leave.
Japas laughed. "Sure, why not? It's not as if you have anything else to do. Only, I have things planned! Rotan and the guys invited me to a tour of the Chaotic Rim. Y'know, that canyon between the university and the women's dorms." He hesitated. "You wanna come? There ought to be enough time to get there and back before last block starts." Japas watched Mikau's reaction carefully, hoping that they the Zorian Hero would be willing to accompany him. Why must Mikau be prejudiced against his new friends? Things would be so much easier if everyone just got along.
"No." Mikau answered neutrally. "Guess I'll be seeing you in Singing." Japas sighed, defeated. But he smiled and swam away.
While a vast number of Zoras tried to squeeze through one of two auditorium exits, Mikau noticed Tijo swimming against the crowd. How strange. Mikau weaved through the school of Zoras easily and met up with his roommate. The poor Bottom-feeder was making slow progress.
"Tijo, the exit is that way." Mikau pointed to the direction of the flow but Tijo still resisted. He even grabbed Mikau's arm and tried to tow him along. "Hey! What gives??"
"Just shut up and follow me." Tijo snapped. Mikau's never heard his roommate speak in that tone before and it was enough to stun him to silence.
They passed by Lulu, who stared after them in confusion. She turned around and swam alongside Mikau. "Hey, the exit is that way. Where are you guys going?"
Mikau shrugged helplessly. "I dunno. Ask the towboat."
"Oh, Lulu! I didn't notice you." Tijo stopped to catch his breath. "We're going to see King Zora. Would you like to come with us?"
"What?!" "Come again?" "King Zora?!" "Give your head a shake!" "We can't just waltz in there and expect to get an audience with the king!"
Tijo smiled slyly. He turned and resumed swimming. "Are you coming or not?"
Lulu and Mikau glanced at each other and silently agreed to follow Tijo, if only for the purpose of trying to make him rethink his mad quest. The three of them swam through a tunnel at the side of the stage, and thankfully, met no one on the way. The tunnel branched out a number of times, but Tijo followed the main one all the way to the end. There, they found a lone Sleek guarding the final tunnel. Mikau recognized him as one of King Zora's attendants. The attendant regarded the trio curiously.
"Okay, now what?" Mikau whispered to Tijo, who stopped short of colliding with the attendant.
"Hello, Talis. Is the king in?" Tijo said cheerfully, as if greeting an old friend.
The attendant smiled. "Tijo! Quite a coincidence for us to meet here! Are these your friends?" Talis turned to Lulu and Mikau, who could only nod dumbly, not knowing what else to do. How did King Zora's personal attendant know Tijo by name?
Tijo could barely contain his amusement at Lulu and Mikau's surprise. "Yes, these are my friends, Mikau and Lulu. I would like to introduce them to his Highness, if he's not too occupied at the moment?"
Talis nodded without hesitation. "I'm sure King Zora will be thrilled to see you! One moment, I'll let him know." The attendant disappeared down the tunnel and reappeared promptly. "His Majesty, King Zora would now recieve you." He said formally, gesturing to the trio that they may enter. As Mikau and Lulu passed, Talis winked and added, "Don't be overly formal. His Highness prefers to be less stiff when among friends." Lulu laughed nervously and Mikau produced an awkward smile. That should be no problem; neither of them knew how to act in front of a king anyways.
Tijo pushed aside a door of light-yet-durable volcanic rock and found King Zora waiting for him. "Why, it's the Ebb boy! Tijo! What a pleasant surprise!" The king cried jovially, swimming up to greet his guests. He hugged Tijo warmly and Tijo tried to hug him back, but was unable to wrap his arms around the larger Bottom-feeder. "Why, I remember when you were but a wee tadpole, and now you're in university! As the tides turn! You're almost as big as me!"
"It's good to see you too, my king." Tijo replied, smiling ceaselessly. He stepped aside and gestured to Mikau and Lulu. "These are my friends, Mikau Lorecrest and Lulu Zeracotta." King Zora looked up and seemed to notice the two Sleeks for the first time. He appeared to have difficulty focusing his large, watery eyes. "Lulu is from Termina, and her mother is the Lulu of the Indigo-goes." Tijo intoduced. Lulu curtsied timidly in response.
King Zora swam over to Lulu and held out his hand, palm up. She remembered this was the same way Tijo greeted her when they first met. She surrendered her own hand and the king gently planted a kiss on its back. "M'lady, it delights me immeasurably to make your acquaintance, for this moment shall be mine to treasure forever."
"Thank you, King Zora." Lulu curtsied again. She caught Tijo's eye and smiled at him. It now seemed pretty obvious where he learned his manners from.
Tijo turned to his other friend. "Mikau is also from Termina and he's my roommate. He's one of the last Zorian Heros." Mikau bowed stiffly, his torso making a 90-degree angle with his legs.
"A Zorian Hero, hmm? Don't see many of the like around anymore." King Zora shook Mikau's hand vigorously. "Good to know the honorable lineage has not completely faded out. One day you'll make us Zoras proud, m'boy!"
"Yes, sir." Mikau replied. He wasn't so sure about the king's last comment, but he's in no position to debate.
The regal Bottom-feeder motioned to a few chairs and indicated that Tijo and friends should sit in them. The chairs had a hook to place an arm in so the person sitting in it doesn't float off. "This room is in a bit of a shambles but I'll only be staying here for a few more hours. Please, make yourselves comfortable. Merenda!" King Zora called out to his other attendant, who nobody had noticed before. She had been in the corner, tending to something which now rested on a cushion. "Merenda, please serve some refreshments to our guests."
Merenda bowed and left the room. She returned shortly with a plate of delectables such as turtle meat and shark fin shards. Mikau and Lulu eyed the treats with interest. Some of these tidbits they have never tried before, only heard of.
King Zora noticed their interest with amusement. "Don't be shy. Try the southern sea slugs; they're absolutely to die for. And try to eat them before they eat the rest of the snacks. Help yourself to anything you fancy."
"If you insist." Mikau rubbed his hands together in anticipation before selecting a purple jelly-meat. He examined the morsal while rolling it between his fingers. Then realized he might be acting rude and popped the whole jelly-meat into his mouth. It tasted okay, but it had a tangy flavor which doesn't really match it's melt-in-your-mouth texture.
The scent of the food attracted someone unexpected. A column of bubbles wafted upwards from the cushion in the corner and a Zora tadpole uncurled itself, wiggling it's body to move forward.
King Zora beamed at the tadpole's efforts. "Ah, Ruto! You're awake! Here's some sea slug. Your favorite!" He held out a slug for the baby. It squealed in delight and made use of it's whole body to propel ahead. It wrapped it's tail around King Zora's hand to make sure the snail doesn't escape and tried to fit the whole thing into it's mouth. When that didn't work, the tadpole settled for nibbling off bits of the chewy, still wriggling treat.
"Awww, she's so cute!" Lulu gushed. The baby completely ignored all the attention she was attracting.
"How do you know she's a she?" Mikau whispered to Lulu. It was very difficult to distinguish the sexes of Zoras while they're still in their tadpole stage.
"Oh, I learned it in Child Development class." Lulu explained. "You see those buttons above her eyes? They'll turn into vestigal eyes, just like mine, and only females have them."
"This is my daughter, princess Ruto Vera." King Zora held the baby up for everyone to admire, as proud as a father could be. The little princess looked about two or three years old. She was already resembling a salamander more than a tadpole due to the tiny arms and legs growing underneath her main fins. Ruto's baby tail was shrinking as the rest of her grew, and the gills at the side of her head would eventually become ears. Her enormous blue eyes stared at all the new faces, blinking curiously.
"Ruto, darling, you remember Tijo, don't you?" King Zora released the princess in Tijo's direction, but she swam towards Lulu instead. Lulu didn't move as Ruto swam within a breath of her face, not knowing if the king would object. The tadpole held Lulu's chin awkwardly with her stubby hands and examined the older Zora's face. But when she tried to nibble Lulu's nose, Lulu laughed out loud at the absurdity of it all. The baby squeaked in surprise and zipped back to the safety of her cushion.
"Ah, she is soooo adorable!" Lulu had trouble trying to stop laughing as she rubbed her nose.
King Zora chuckled. "My Ruto always did prefer females rather than males. Why, the little scamp prefers Merenda's company to mine. Merenda is her nursemaid."
Mikau hasn't spoken for a while and felt inclined to add to the conversation. There was something he was wondering about. "In that case, where's her mother?" He asked curiously.
King Zora swallowed and his jaw clentched visibly. "She passed away two years ago." He replied quietly.
The mood in the room changed from jovial instantly to somber. Lulu gasped in shock. "Oh, I'm so sorry..." She looked down at her hands which she clasped in her lap.
King Zora sighed and shook his head. "No no, it's alright. It happened a while ago; I had to move on. I suppose you didn't hear about the accident in Hyrule all the way in Termina. Two years ago, a caravan of Zoras traveled around the southwest rim of Hyrule on official business. They hugged the coastline which was lined with sheer rock cliffs. But at that moment, a fierce eastern wind assulted the caravan; the wisdom of Farore so ordained. The turtles and a number of Zoras were crushed against the cliffs, my wife and Tijo's father included."
"Tijo's father??" Mikau said incredulously.
Tijo nodded. "My dad was the Minister of Development for Zora Domain back then."
King Zora nodded vigorously. "Yes, he was a good friend of mine and an excellent minister for the people. One of the best."
"Ah, so that's how you and Tijo know each other!" Lulu exclaimed. Suddenly, the class bell sounded in the room, distorting in the water and panicking a certain Zora tadpole.
"I guess that's our cue to leave." Tijo said regretfully. He bowed in parting and Mikau and Lulu followed his example.
"Ah yes, the neverending torment of a student: lessons and homework. Then it's farewell until the next time we meet." King Zora slapped Tijo's back in a friendly way. (Bottom-feeders don't have tails long enough to slap.) The king turned to the two Sleeks. "Bring your friends next time you come home, Tijo. I'm sure they'll enjoy sightseeing around Zora Domain."
"Of course, Sir." Tijo bowed again and left, with Mikau and Lulu in tow. He waved good-bye to Talis, who still dutifully stood at the door, as he swam out of the auditorium tunnels. "So, what do you think of King Zora?" The Bottom-feeder asked his friends once they were all out in the ocean.
Lulu cocked her head thoughtfully and said, "He's better in person than on stage. Much nicer, less stiff. I'm surprised that he even bothers to look at commoners like us! I can see why you like him, Tijo."
Tijo sighed. "He's been taking care of me and my family since my dad died. He's like another father to me."
"I guess that would make you a prince." Mikau commented.
"Well..." Tijo couldn't think of any witty comeback, so he just smiled. The trio reached a fork between buildings where Mikau and Lulu had to part ways with Tijo. Swimming side by side, the two Sleeks were off to their last class of the day.
End of Chapter 18
Yes, Ruto is still a tadpole in this story. It makes sense if you think of the whole Zelda timeline: Link is 10 when he meets Ruto, who is about the same age. Link meets Mikau a year or so after, and by that time, the Zorian Hero is already way past university and has made a name for himself among the Indigo-goes. So Ruto would be but a baby while Mikau was in school.
I recieved a lot of positive feedback about my "Ballad of the Windfish" back in chapter 14, so I wrote the lyrics to the "Song of Healing" from Majora's Mask. Nifty, no? Try reading it while listening along with the Song of Healing. Props to all my loyal fans who support me with their numerous reviews. *hint hint, wink wink, nudge, nudge*
And thanks to Stormcat2002 for letting me use the Chaotic Rim from his story. He's written a fanfic titled "Ocean Sun" which is loosely inspired by "Ocean Eternal". If you're done with this fanfic, go and check it out.
Soul weeping
Heart bleeding
Memories sublime.
Life greying
Sight fading
Voice stilled for all time.
Death grips my heart; have I lived my life in vain?
Heal my soul, bring me peace, Goddess, I pray!
When will I see the light of a new morning?
Have I forsaken the lives I hold dear?
Hear me my loved ones, please don't mourn my passing
On the horizon a new day draws near.
-Song of Healing
It was day 3 of university, lunch hour, in the cafeteria.
With a smile and a slap of tails, Mikau let Japas go with his new friends without looking twice. He was determined not to let Rotan and his gang bother him in the least. Instead, he tried to follow the heated debate that Evan and Tijo were engaged in. Goddesses, those two really love their arguements! Their discussion was something about the phase of the moon in relation to the rise of the tide. But as much as he tried, Mikau could not talk fast or intelligently enough to keep up with the Bottom-feeder and eel- Zora's constant spew of words. Mikau drank some distilled ice water through a straw and leaned back, wondering what he could do right now.
Mikau's current overview of the day: Evan was getting along very well with Mr. Bayn now, even though he's not the most athletic Zora in the class. Mr. Bayn has accepted him as a private pupil, and the eel-Zora has replaced Mikau as the class's potential star student. During Music Comp/Theory class, Prof. Iciirri gave the class a song-writing assignment. Mikau and Japas had hoped that they could revise one of their old songs to use, but the criteria was too specific. Still, it was no problem for the two maturing musicians. Japas was delighted to write a new song, and he considered criteria limits as an interesting challenge to tackle. Later in the day, King Zora was coming to visit the school. Mikau has never seen a Zora king before, and wondered how a Bottom-feeder could generate so much awe and respect amonst Zoras.
Mikau leaned back on his chair's back legs as those thoughts drifted around his head. He turned his head to the side and smiled when he noticed Lulu sitting at a distant table. How come he never noticed her here before? She was laughing with one of her girl friends. Mikau sipped his straw contently, but suddenly choked on the water when he noticed who Lulu was talking to. In fact, Mikau lost his balance and the chair tipped, resulting in his tail colliding painfully with the floor.
Evan and Tijo stopped talking long enough to help Mikau get back into his chair, then resumed their interrupted debate. Mikau spilled his cup of water all over himself, but it didn't worry him too much. Hey, he needed some hydration after all. What concerned him more was in Lulu's direction. The two female Zoras were both watching Mikau by now, and Lulu had a hand over her mouth, hiding a smile. The friend, however, looked unimpressed. She resumed eating as if Mikau's injury was of no concern to her.
Lulu was a bit more sympathetic. She came over beside Mikau to see if he was okay. "Are you alright?" She asked, placing a hand on Mikau's tail.
"Ow! It hurts!"
"Oh! Sorry!" Lulu apologized and quickly withdrew her hand. Upon seeing Lulu, Evan and Tijo shifted over, providing her a space to place her chair. She smiled at their kindness but shook her head. "No, I'm not gonna sit here. I'm already sitting at a table over there, with my friend."
"Your...friend?" Mikau ventured.
"Yes. Her name is Altress. Have you met her before?"
"Altress?" Evan's head jerked up when he heard that name.
"Yesss, we've met her. She's in Phys Ed with us." Mikau coughed once and exchanged glances with Evan. Altress was not the most popular Zora between the two teens. Mikau recalled how she zapped him in the Jeeball game and the way she glared at him. Apparrently, Evan has also been on the recieving end of her wrath. "She wouldn't have happened to say anything about me, would she?"
"No, not really." Lulu said. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why? Do you have a bad reputation with her?" Mikau sputtered for a response, but Lulu spoke again before he could answer. "I wouldn't be surprised if you do. After all, she's a devout feminist. She doesn't like men."
"Oh really?" Evan and Mikau exchanged glances again. This was certainly news to them. All this time they assumed that Altress simply had an inborn detestment of anyone who looks at her.
"Yeah. She's always like, 'Men are only after your body.' and 'Males think with testosterone.' and stuff like that. It doesn't help that she came from Hyrule. You know what it's like for females who come from there." Lulu shuddered. "There were a bunch of perverts staring at her first day, so I've heard. I think it's disgusting."
Tijo answered with a wholehearted, "I agree!" Mikau and Evan, on the other hand, remained oddly quiet.
Lulu laughed at their reaction. "I'm just teasing you guys. She's quite nice, once you get to know her. Too bad she doesn't take to males." She shrugged helplessly. "What can you do? You don't try to change your friends. You just accept them."
"Oh." Mikau replied simply. He thought of how those words could apply to him and Japas. Sage advice from someone as beautiful and talented as Lulu. Mikau shook his head. Where did that thought come from?
Lulu went to rejoin her friend Altress, who immediately questioned her association with Mikau and his friends, judging by the sidelong glances their way. But Lulu laughed off the accusations and directed the conversation elsewhere. Pretty soon the two of them were chatting about more innocent subjects.
There was a small moment of silence between Evan, Mikau and Tijo, while each of them thought their own thoughts.
Evan grimaced. "What a bitch." He said, breaking the silence.
Mikau almost fell off his chair again. "What?! Who?? Lulu?!" He exclaimed in shock.
"No! I ment Altress!" Evan clicked his fingers on the table irritably. His brow was wrinkled and he put an elbow on the table, supporting his chin with a hand. "What did we ever do to her? I hate people who stereotype, especially women."
"You just stereotyped." Tijo mentioned casually.
"Huh? No, that's a fact." Evan folded his hands together and spoke in a 'lecturing' type voice, as if he was speaking to a young child. "The Goddesses of Virtue ordained that those of opposite sex differ from each other in every concievable way in order make life as much a living hell as possible for us mortals. One of these differences is that women gossip more and have a weaker mind, which which makes them prone to stereotyping others."
Tijo stared at Evan incredulously. "That's a horrible thing to say! Not only are you degrading females but you're mocking the Goddesses as well!"
"I ain't touching this." Mikau commented. His words were lost to Tijo and Evan, who ignored the Zorian Hero in favor of arguing with each other.
The piercing bell ended the debate prematurely, signaling the end of lunch and implying that students better get right back to class or face the consequences. Especially since they'll all be seeing King Zora soon. Tijo instantly forgot about his conversation with Evan and waddled off as fast as his stubby legs could carry him.
Evan and Mikau lagged behind to push in their chairs and throw away the remains of their lunch. "What's with Tijo?" Evan asked.
"Oh, he's just one of those people who feel a deep allegience to the king." Mikau said to the eel-Zora.
"Ah. One of the devouts of tyranny." Evan sniffed.
Mikau bore an ill-concealed frown on his face. "Are you always so cynical?"
Evan thought for a moment. "No. I just have solid opinions. I think you either believe in something strongly or not at all."
"But what if what you believe in is wrong?"
"Well, you still must keep an open and accepting mind. I don't claim that anyone else's ideas are incorrect, I just debate them." Evan shrugged. "Hey, if I'm ever proven wrong, I'll just have to give in and take it like a man." He slapped Mikau's tail in a friendly way. "C'mon, we don't want to be late to meet his Highness. Let's see exactly how great this King Zora is."
Mikau nodded his agreement and smiled. The two of them swam together for as long as possible until they had to split up to attend their various classes. Which was really unnecessary because in a few minutes, all the freshmen Zoras left their classes for the main university auditorium.
Having never been to the auditorium, Mikau simply tailed the other Zoras who seemed to know where they're going. A few of them were apparently skipping school, for Mikau found himself partway to the dorm rooms before he realized his mistake in following them. Eventually, he located the auditorium by himself, and was amazed at how it could have escaped his notice.
The auditorium was huge! From far away, the main body of the auditorium looked like a fat, nondescript dome with thick chunks of coral growing up out of it. The coral were actually passageways leading up to the higher levels of the building, which were used for the faculty of Law. Only the lowest floor was used for assemblies. Inside, neat rows of carefully tended Sargasso seaweed was used for anchoring people to their postitions, while a weaved mat of the same weed hung like a cargo net between the ceiling and the floor, providing a second level of seats for Zoras. A few bubbles of glass attached to the back wall permits non-Zoras to attend the underwater assemblies without choking to death.
Mikau wandered into the auditorium, pushed and pulled by the wake of others. He wondered where he should sit.
"Pssst! Up here, Mikau!" Japas called from the second level of seaweed. He had managed to stick his head through the tangled weave of aquatic plants in order to call down to his friend. Mikau gave a wild wave and swam upwards to meet Japas.
"Hey, I saved you a seat. There's a hole in the seaweed over there. See it?" Japas pointed to his left, where a large rift in the weave allowed Zoras to pass.
"Okay, I'll be up in a sec." Mikau was about to swim through the hole but Japas stopped him short.
"Err, can you help me? I think my head is stuck in the weave." To demonstrate, Japas tried to yank his head back with little success. Mikau laughed at his friend's plight and pulled at the plant stems around Japas' neck.
Mikau was having as much luck as Japas had in defeating the tangled weave. "Almost got it...Arrgh! No offence Japas, but your tail is not only short, but fat. And Goddesses, what is this stuff?" The weed stubbornly refused to release it's victim. In frustration, Mikau chewed on the thick branches of the Sargasso in hopes of breaking them. His teeth pierced the plant's skin, releaseing a hideous, raw-tasting sap that bled out of the injured stem. "Eeeuch! Nayru's mercy, what a nasty flavour!" Mikau spat, shaking his head to rid himself of the offending taste.
The Zorian Hero had to give the university credit, though. They're certainly more clever than Termina in their choice of anchor seaweeds. He remembered how pitifully scrawny the weeds in his old classrooms were, struggling to survive the insatiable appetites of young Zoras.
With a little more effort, Mikau was eventually able to free Japas from the seaweed around his neck and zipped up to join him. As soon as he settled down, the shells of iridescent fish on the walls suddenly closed and the shells facing the stage opened. A respectful hush fell over the audience. From the side of the lighted stage, a large Bottom-feeder Zora floated towards the center at a steady speed. That's right: floated. He was one of the biggest and roundest Zoras Mikau has ever seen, and as he bobbed along, little fins and a furiously flapping tail steered him towards the center stage. He wore a red regal cape embroided with golden string in the symbol of the legendary Water Sage. No doubt that this Zora was the King Zora of Hyrule.
Three other Zoras also followed the king: another Bottom-feeder and two Sleeks. The Sleeks were obviously King Zora's attendants, judging by their expensive, yet not so elaborate clothes. One of them carried a bubble with something inside, something which twirled endlessly. Mikau squinted his eyes, and guessed that the twirling thing was a Zora tadpole.
The Bottom-feeder was smaller, therefore faster than the king. He swam behind the podium at the front of the stage and waited for the last of the shuffling to die down. Then the Zora spoke in a formal voice that carried to the far reaches of the auditorium. He introduced himself as Mr. Armnent, the principal of Seafifth University, and spoke of how pleased he was to be principal of this fine school, blah blah blah, that this school has turned out some of the finest Zoras to grace the eternal oceans, blah blah blah, please give his Highness Flounden Vers, King Zora of Zora Domain a warm welcome!
The Zoras from Labrynna and Hyrule, lands which both have kings, stood up in respect. They trilled in high-pitched Xyrian whistles, since clapping was impossible underwater. Zoras from Termina watched their peers and hesitantly copied their actions, not certain about how to behave in front of a king. King Zora replaced Mr. Armnent at the front of the podium and held a hand up for silence. The audience obliged.
As bubbles rose towards the ceiling, King Zora spoke slowly, softly, yet the whole auditorium could hear him clearly. "Children of the deep oceans of Labrynna! Free people of exotic Termina! And finally, esteemed Zoras from my own crystalline waters of Hyrule! It pleases me to no end to be amongst this gathering of cultures from all corners of the world for the purpose of education."
Way back in the ninth row, twenty third seat of the balcony level, Mikau stifled a yawn. This was basically the typical speech officials gave all the time and it gets boring. There was nothing special about King Zora. His voice was not terribly awe-inspiring, and his posture neither impressed his followers nor intimidated his enemies. Mikau wondered what was so great about this Bottom-feeder king. Thankfully, King Zora kept his speech relatively short, leaving plently of time before last block. He exited out the same way he came in, cheered on by a deafening roar of Xyrian whistles.
"Should we go back to block 3?" Mikau asked Japas when the shells against the walls lit up again. Everyone got up to leave.
Japas laughed. "Sure, why not? It's not as if you have anything else to do. Only, I have things planned! Rotan and the guys invited me to a tour of the Chaotic Rim. Y'know, that canyon between the university and the women's dorms." He hesitated. "You wanna come? There ought to be enough time to get there and back before last block starts." Japas watched Mikau's reaction carefully, hoping that they the Zorian Hero would be willing to accompany him. Why must Mikau be prejudiced against his new friends? Things would be so much easier if everyone just got along.
"No." Mikau answered neutrally. "Guess I'll be seeing you in Singing." Japas sighed, defeated. But he smiled and swam away.
While a vast number of Zoras tried to squeeze through one of two auditorium exits, Mikau noticed Tijo swimming against the crowd. How strange. Mikau weaved through the school of Zoras easily and met up with his roommate. The poor Bottom-feeder was making slow progress.
"Tijo, the exit is that way." Mikau pointed to the direction of the flow but Tijo still resisted. He even grabbed Mikau's arm and tried to tow him along. "Hey! What gives??"
"Just shut up and follow me." Tijo snapped. Mikau's never heard his roommate speak in that tone before and it was enough to stun him to silence.
They passed by Lulu, who stared after them in confusion. She turned around and swam alongside Mikau. "Hey, the exit is that way. Where are you guys going?"
Mikau shrugged helplessly. "I dunno. Ask the towboat."
"Oh, Lulu! I didn't notice you." Tijo stopped to catch his breath. "We're going to see King Zora. Would you like to come with us?"
"What?!" "Come again?" "King Zora?!" "Give your head a shake!" "We can't just waltz in there and expect to get an audience with the king!"
Tijo smiled slyly. He turned and resumed swimming. "Are you coming or not?"
Lulu and Mikau glanced at each other and silently agreed to follow Tijo, if only for the purpose of trying to make him rethink his mad quest. The three of them swam through a tunnel at the side of the stage, and thankfully, met no one on the way. The tunnel branched out a number of times, but Tijo followed the main one all the way to the end. There, they found a lone Sleek guarding the final tunnel. Mikau recognized him as one of King Zora's attendants. The attendant regarded the trio curiously.
"Okay, now what?" Mikau whispered to Tijo, who stopped short of colliding with the attendant.
"Hello, Talis. Is the king in?" Tijo said cheerfully, as if greeting an old friend.
The attendant smiled. "Tijo! Quite a coincidence for us to meet here! Are these your friends?" Talis turned to Lulu and Mikau, who could only nod dumbly, not knowing what else to do. How did King Zora's personal attendant know Tijo by name?
Tijo could barely contain his amusement at Lulu and Mikau's surprise. "Yes, these are my friends, Mikau and Lulu. I would like to introduce them to his Highness, if he's not too occupied at the moment?"
Talis nodded without hesitation. "I'm sure King Zora will be thrilled to see you! One moment, I'll let him know." The attendant disappeared down the tunnel and reappeared promptly. "His Majesty, King Zora would now recieve you." He said formally, gesturing to the trio that they may enter. As Mikau and Lulu passed, Talis winked and added, "Don't be overly formal. His Highness prefers to be less stiff when among friends." Lulu laughed nervously and Mikau produced an awkward smile. That should be no problem; neither of them knew how to act in front of a king anyways.
Tijo pushed aside a door of light-yet-durable volcanic rock and found King Zora waiting for him. "Why, it's the Ebb boy! Tijo! What a pleasant surprise!" The king cried jovially, swimming up to greet his guests. He hugged Tijo warmly and Tijo tried to hug him back, but was unable to wrap his arms around the larger Bottom-feeder. "Why, I remember when you were but a wee tadpole, and now you're in university! As the tides turn! You're almost as big as me!"
"It's good to see you too, my king." Tijo replied, smiling ceaselessly. He stepped aside and gestured to Mikau and Lulu. "These are my friends, Mikau Lorecrest and Lulu Zeracotta." King Zora looked up and seemed to notice the two Sleeks for the first time. He appeared to have difficulty focusing his large, watery eyes. "Lulu is from Termina, and her mother is the Lulu of the Indigo-goes." Tijo intoduced. Lulu curtsied timidly in response.
King Zora swam over to Lulu and held out his hand, palm up. She remembered this was the same way Tijo greeted her when they first met. She surrendered her own hand and the king gently planted a kiss on its back. "M'lady, it delights me immeasurably to make your acquaintance, for this moment shall be mine to treasure forever."
"Thank you, King Zora." Lulu curtsied again. She caught Tijo's eye and smiled at him. It now seemed pretty obvious where he learned his manners from.
Tijo turned to his other friend. "Mikau is also from Termina and he's my roommate. He's one of the last Zorian Heros." Mikau bowed stiffly, his torso making a 90-degree angle with his legs.
"A Zorian Hero, hmm? Don't see many of the like around anymore." King Zora shook Mikau's hand vigorously. "Good to know the honorable lineage has not completely faded out. One day you'll make us Zoras proud, m'boy!"
"Yes, sir." Mikau replied. He wasn't so sure about the king's last comment, but he's in no position to debate.
The regal Bottom-feeder motioned to a few chairs and indicated that Tijo and friends should sit in them. The chairs had a hook to place an arm in so the person sitting in it doesn't float off. "This room is in a bit of a shambles but I'll only be staying here for a few more hours. Please, make yourselves comfortable. Merenda!" King Zora called out to his other attendant, who nobody had noticed before. She had been in the corner, tending to something which now rested on a cushion. "Merenda, please serve some refreshments to our guests."
Merenda bowed and left the room. She returned shortly with a plate of delectables such as turtle meat and shark fin shards. Mikau and Lulu eyed the treats with interest. Some of these tidbits they have never tried before, only heard of.
King Zora noticed their interest with amusement. "Don't be shy. Try the southern sea slugs; they're absolutely to die for. And try to eat them before they eat the rest of the snacks. Help yourself to anything you fancy."
"If you insist." Mikau rubbed his hands together in anticipation before selecting a purple jelly-meat. He examined the morsal while rolling it between his fingers. Then realized he might be acting rude and popped the whole jelly-meat into his mouth. It tasted okay, but it had a tangy flavor which doesn't really match it's melt-in-your-mouth texture.
The scent of the food attracted someone unexpected. A column of bubbles wafted upwards from the cushion in the corner and a Zora tadpole uncurled itself, wiggling it's body to move forward.
King Zora beamed at the tadpole's efforts. "Ah, Ruto! You're awake! Here's some sea slug. Your favorite!" He held out a slug for the baby. It squealed in delight and made use of it's whole body to propel ahead. It wrapped it's tail around King Zora's hand to make sure the snail doesn't escape and tried to fit the whole thing into it's mouth. When that didn't work, the tadpole settled for nibbling off bits of the chewy, still wriggling treat.
"Awww, she's so cute!" Lulu gushed. The baby completely ignored all the attention she was attracting.
"How do you know she's a she?" Mikau whispered to Lulu. It was very difficult to distinguish the sexes of Zoras while they're still in their tadpole stage.
"Oh, I learned it in Child Development class." Lulu explained. "You see those buttons above her eyes? They'll turn into vestigal eyes, just like mine, and only females have them."
"This is my daughter, princess Ruto Vera." King Zora held the baby up for everyone to admire, as proud as a father could be. The little princess looked about two or three years old. She was already resembling a salamander more than a tadpole due to the tiny arms and legs growing underneath her main fins. Ruto's baby tail was shrinking as the rest of her grew, and the gills at the side of her head would eventually become ears. Her enormous blue eyes stared at all the new faces, blinking curiously.
"Ruto, darling, you remember Tijo, don't you?" King Zora released the princess in Tijo's direction, but she swam towards Lulu instead. Lulu didn't move as Ruto swam within a breath of her face, not knowing if the king would object. The tadpole held Lulu's chin awkwardly with her stubby hands and examined the older Zora's face. But when she tried to nibble Lulu's nose, Lulu laughed out loud at the absurdity of it all. The baby squeaked in surprise and zipped back to the safety of her cushion.
"Ah, she is soooo adorable!" Lulu had trouble trying to stop laughing as she rubbed her nose.
King Zora chuckled. "My Ruto always did prefer females rather than males. Why, the little scamp prefers Merenda's company to mine. Merenda is her nursemaid."
Mikau hasn't spoken for a while and felt inclined to add to the conversation. There was something he was wondering about. "In that case, where's her mother?" He asked curiously.
King Zora swallowed and his jaw clentched visibly. "She passed away two years ago." He replied quietly.
The mood in the room changed from jovial instantly to somber. Lulu gasped in shock. "Oh, I'm so sorry..." She looked down at her hands which she clasped in her lap.
King Zora sighed and shook his head. "No no, it's alright. It happened a while ago; I had to move on. I suppose you didn't hear about the accident in Hyrule all the way in Termina. Two years ago, a caravan of Zoras traveled around the southwest rim of Hyrule on official business. They hugged the coastline which was lined with sheer rock cliffs. But at that moment, a fierce eastern wind assulted the caravan; the wisdom of Farore so ordained. The turtles and a number of Zoras were crushed against the cliffs, my wife and Tijo's father included."
"Tijo's father??" Mikau said incredulously.
Tijo nodded. "My dad was the Minister of Development for Zora Domain back then."
King Zora nodded vigorously. "Yes, he was a good friend of mine and an excellent minister for the people. One of the best."
"Ah, so that's how you and Tijo know each other!" Lulu exclaimed. Suddenly, the class bell sounded in the room, distorting in the water and panicking a certain Zora tadpole.
"I guess that's our cue to leave." Tijo said regretfully. He bowed in parting and Mikau and Lulu followed his example.
"Ah yes, the neverending torment of a student: lessons and homework. Then it's farewell until the next time we meet." King Zora slapped Tijo's back in a friendly way. (Bottom-feeders don't have tails long enough to slap.) The king turned to the two Sleeks. "Bring your friends next time you come home, Tijo. I'm sure they'll enjoy sightseeing around Zora Domain."
"Of course, Sir." Tijo bowed again and left, with Mikau and Lulu in tow. He waved good-bye to Talis, who still dutifully stood at the door, as he swam out of the auditorium tunnels. "So, what do you think of King Zora?" The Bottom-feeder asked his friends once they were all out in the ocean.
Lulu cocked her head thoughtfully and said, "He's better in person than on stage. Much nicer, less stiff. I'm surprised that he even bothers to look at commoners like us! I can see why you like him, Tijo."
Tijo sighed. "He's been taking care of me and my family since my dad died. He's like another father to me."
"I guess that would make you a prince." Mikau commented.
"Well..." Tijo couldn't think of any witty comeback, so he just smiled. The trio reached a fork between buildings where Mikau and Lulu had to part ways with Tijo. Swimming side by side, the two Sleeks were off to their last class of the day.
End of Chapter 18
Yes, Ruto is still a tadpole in this story. It makes sense if you think of the whole Zelda timeline: Link is 10 when he meets Ruto, who is about the same age. Link meets Mikau a year or so after, and by that time, the Zorian Hero is already way past university and has made a name for himself among the Indigo-goes. So Ruto would be but a baby while Mikau was in school.
I recieved a lot of positive feedback about my "Ballad of the Windfish" back in chapter 14, so I wrote the lyrics to the "Song of Healing" from Majora's Mask. Nifty, no? Try reading it while listening along with the Song of Healing. Props to all my loyal fans who support me with their numerous reviews. *hint hint, wink wink, nudge, nudge*
And thanks to Stormcat2002 for letting me use the Chaotic Rim from his story. He's written a fanfic titled "Ocean Sun" which is loosely inspired by "Ocean Eternal". If you're done with this fanfic, go and check it out.