Princess of the Zoras
Disclaimer: The usual crap.
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Ruto walks back out to Jabu-Jabu's shrine. Jabu-Jabu is still there, of course. But his breathing seems hard. It breaks Ruto's heart hearing it.
[Link destroyed the monster, maybe it just takes a while for him to get better.] Ruto thinks. She goes around to the water and goes to where she saw the white thing when she left with Link. When she has dived about half-way down to it, she stops suddenly. She recoils like she was hit, then races up to the surface. She thinks for a split second, then comes up with the perfect way to get some of the other guards out here.
Taking a deep breath, Ruto screams as loud as she possibly can. The response is immediate. Ten guards and King Zora himself come rushing out to the Shrine.
"Ruto, what is it? What happened?!" King Zora asks concerned. Ruto points down to the bottom of the shrine. One of the guards dives down to check it out. He goes through the same basic motions Ruto did, then comes back up. He looks King Zora right in the eye.
"Your Majesty," he starts, his voice breaking a bit, "It's Noran. She's dead." King Zora just stares at him like he doesn't understand. Two more guards dive down to check it out.
"Noran..." King Zora says. "But, how?" He looks at Ruto.
"I was feeding Jabu-Jabu," Ruto explains, knowing what her father wanted, "and we heard something over there..." she points to about where Noran had dived in. "She told me to stay and finish my duties, and she would check it out." King Zora nods, then looks back at the guard on the surface. He is looking at his fellows down near the body. One of them comes up, while the other one starts preparing it to be brought back up.
"Gerudo Scimitar, no question. She was attacked." He reports. Ruto starts to cry. One of the female guards goes over and brings Ruto back to where her father is standing. King Zora clenches his fist.
"How could they have gotten up here?!" he says angrily. The guards are visibly shaken. All their jobs are on the line right now. Ruto just looks up with tears.
"Daddy..." she says. King Zora calms down and looks at his daughter. Then he looks up at the guard next to her.
"Take her inside for now. And call the priestesses to start the ceremonies." The guard bows, then leads Ruto inside the Domain.
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A few days later
[First mommy, now Noran.] Ruto sits on her bed staring at the wall. [Am I really a bad girl Nayru?] She sat through all five hours of ceremonies and rituals to commit the body. That basically means feeding it to the local piranhas. Ruto couldn't actually watch that part. She still remembered watching her mother in the same ceremony. Nightmares for weeks. Her father cheered her up a bit when he announced that Noran's name would be forever inscribed in the wall of the Shrine as a Zoran hero. [Least she gets something...] Ruto thinks.
"Your Highness?" A priestess says through the door. Ruto looks at the door, then sighs.
"What." She says. She is still a bit numb.
"Um, there is some bad news you should know about..." The priestess's voice is shaking. Ruto notices and goes over to the door. When she opens it, she finds that her voice isn't the only thing shaking. The priestess is scared.
"What's the matter?" Ruto says. The priestess takes a deep breath. Ruto knows she won't like what she's going to hear.
"Hyrule Castle has been attacked by the Gerudo." Ruto stares at her. The castle, attacked? The priestess continues. "King Harkanian has fallen, and no one can find the Princess Zelda." Ruto keeps trying to form words but can't. Then she just follows her insides and rushes to her father.
"DADDY!!" Ruto screams. King Zora looks down as she rushes up to the throne room.
"I already know Ruto." He says. His voice is shaking also. Another priestess is on the podium before him. She looks like she is going to faint. "This is a very bad thing."
"We can't do anything?" Ruto asks. King Zora shakes his head.
"Ruto, you need to understand this. As a member of the Zoran Royal Family, your first duty is to the Zoran people. Sometimes it is hard, but you must do what you can to protect them. Even if it means pretending to serve a bad person." Ruto looks like she wants to smash something. King Zora notices. "The Hero is awake." Ruto looks up.
"Really?" She asks. [I hope it's that kid Link. I'd like that.] "So where is he?" she asks her father. King Zora looks at her worried.
"I... don't know." He admits. "It is said that when he opened the door and touched the sword, he disappeared." Ruto almost facefaults.
"But..." Ruto can't find the words. "Daddy... I'm scared." King Zora looks at her.
"So am I." He says. "I only hope the Hero returns soon." Ruto bows, trying to hold back her tears. Then she rushes into her room. She looks at the table where she used to put the Sapphire.
[Hero, please hurry...] she prays.
Disclaimer: The usual crap.
--------------------88888888888888888888888----------------------------
Ruto walks back out to Jabu-Jabu's shrine. Jabu-Jabu is still there, of course. But his breathing seems hard. It breaks Ruto's heart hearing it.
[Link destroyed the monster, maybe it just takes a while for him to get better.] Ruto thinks. She goes around to the water and goes to where she saw the white thing when she left with Link. When she has dived about half-way down to it, she stops suddenly. She recoils like she was hit, then races up to the surface. She thinks for a split second, then comes up with the perfect way to get some of the other guards out here.
Taking a deep breath, Ruto screams as loud as she possibly can. The response is immediate. Ten guards and King Zora himself come rushing out to the Shrine.
"Ruto, what is it? What happened?!" King Zora asks concerned. Ruto points down to the bottom of the shrine. One of the guards dives down to check it out. He goes through the same basic motions Ruto did, then comes back up. He looks King Zora right in the eye.
"Your Majesty," he starts, his voice breaking a bit, "It's Noran. She's dead." King Zora just stares at him like he doesn't understand. Two more guards dive down to check it out.
"Noran..." King Zora says. "But, how?" He looks at Ruto.
"I was feeding Jabu-Jabu," Ruto explains, knowing what her father wanted, "and we heard something over there..." she points to about where Noran had dived in. "She told me to stay and finish my duties, and she would check it out." King Zora nods, then looks back at the guard on the surface. He is looking at his fellows down near the body. One of them comes up, while the other one starts preparing it to be brought back up.
"Gerudo Scimitar, no question. She was attacked." He reports. Ruto starts to cry. One of the female guards goes over and brings Ruto back to where her father is standing. King Zora clenches his fist.
"How could they have gotten up here?!" he says angrily. The guards are visibly shaken. All their jobs are on the line right now. Ruto just looks up with tears.
"Daddy..." she says. King Zora calms down and looks at his daughter. Then he looks up at the guard next to her.
"Take her inside for now. And call the priestesses to start the ceremonies." The guard bows, then leads Ruto inside the Domain.
------------------===================-------------------------
A few days later
[First mommy, now Noran.] Ruto sits on her bed staring at the wall. [Am I really a bad girl Nayru?] She sat through all five hours of ceremonies and rituals to commit the body. That basically means feeding it to the local piranhas. Ruto couldn't actually watch that part. She still remembered watching her mother in the same ceremony. Nightmares for weeks. Her father cheered her up a bit when he announced that Noran's name would be forever inscribed in the wall of the Shrine as a Zoran hero. [Least she gets something...] Ruto thinks.
"Your Highness?" A priestess says through the door. Ruto looks at the door, then sighs.
"What." She says. She is still a bit numb.
"Um, there is some bad news you should know about..." The priestess's voice is shaking. Ruto notices and goes over to the door. When she opens it, she finds that her voice isn't the only thing shaking. The priestess is scared.
"What's the matter?" Ruto says. The priestess takes a deep breath. Ruto knows she won't like what she's going to hear.
"Hyrule Castle has been attacked by the Gerudo." Ruto stares at her. The castle, attacked? The priestess continues. "King Harkanian has fallen, and no one can find the Princess Zelda." Ruto keeps trying to form words but can't. Then she just follows her insides and rushes to her father.
"DADDY!!" Ruto screams. King Zora looks down as she rushes up to the throne room.
"I already know Ruto." He says. His voice is shaking also. Another priestess is on the podium before him. She looks like she is going to faint. "This is a very bad thing."
"We can't do anything?" Ruto asks. King Zora shakes his head.
"Ruto, you need to understand this. As a member of the Zoran Royal Family, your first duty is to the Zoran people. Sometimes it is hard, but you must do what you can to protect them. Even if it means pretending to serve a bad person." Ruto looks like she wants to smash something. King Zora notices. "The Hero is awake." Ruto looks up.
"Really?" She asks. [I hope it's that kid Link. I'd like that.] "So where is he?" she asks her father. King Zora looks at her worried.
"I... don't know." He admits. "It is said that when he opened the door and touched the sword, he disappeared." Ruto almost facefaults.
"But..." Ruto can't find the words. "Daddy... I'm scared." King Zora looks at her.
"So am I." He says. "I only hope the Hero returns soon." Ruto bows, trying to hold back her tears. Then she rushes into her room. She looks at the table where she used to put the Sapphire.
[Hero, please hurry...] she prays.