Chapter 54: Land Without Guidance

Link's feet were more blister than foot at this point. His mismatched shoes slid about as he walked, scrapping over flesh, rubbing all the wrong ways. Often he took them off completely, and that would help for a bit. However, trodding on the thick stones of the main Hylian road over miles made his feet ache as if he was stomping down with every step. And if he walked along the roadside among the more forgiving grass and dirt he inevitably would step on thorn or pebble that dug right into his flesh.

So, he walked, moving from shoe, to barefoot on the road, to barefoot off it. Walking until he could bare one pain no longer and switching to another.

"Almost there," he said to himself as he stopped to put his shoes on for the dozenth time that day. "Almost there." He had been saying that for over a day now. In truth he had little idea how far he had actually traveled. The Lands of the Zora were surrounded by mountains. Not the massive and mighty looking Death Mountain that housed the Gorons, but an entire range of ridges and spiking outcroppings that pressed in on every side. The road he traveled would reach the Zora, that much he knew, but it seemed that whoever built it decided to make the longest path possible to get there. Around some rocks, over others, with little reason that made sense to him. Weaving back and forth slowly up the mountain.

One thing he could tell was that he was close to water. The mighty river roared somewhere nearby, its rushing waters echoing across the path. He'd seen it, even crossed it in the early part of his trek. But he'd moved so often he didn't really know on which side of him it was anymore. But the sound! He could never escape the sound. For the last few hours, it had only grown louder and louder. Until he could hear nothing else. The Gerudo Army could be right behind him, and he'd never notice.

"Almost…" he rounded one more of the great pillars of rock and stopped. "There."

Not a quarter mile away, a waterfall larger than the entirety of Kokiri Village poured a wall of water down. His mouth dropped open as he marveled at it. How could there be so much water above sot that it could spill down and not stop? How did it refill itself? Where did the water come from? It was so vast, he barely noticed the bridge that swung beside it. Wide enough for a wagon to pass, though currently he could only see a handful of people making their way to it.

It looked so small, like a toy before the rushing water. He laughed, less out of joy than not knowing what other noise to make at the spectacle before him.

He ran. Ignoring the ache in his feet, he needed to get closer. To walk across that rickety bridge, to witness the waterfall as close as he possibly could. When he reached the bridge, the people there moved so slow. Taking steady turns to cross. Few of them looked pleased or excited, one Hylian man looked so green in the face Link thought he was going to vomit. Link sprinted past them all, barely hearing the people shouting at him. He couldn't tell what they were saying with the crashing waters so close, but he could guess they were demanding he wait his turn or be careful or something else suitably boring. He didn't care. He needed to be on that bridge!

The wood creaked beneath his feet. Something he could not quite hear over the roar of the waterfall, but he could feel the soaked wood settle around his feet. He stopped midway across the bridge and looked down one side, then the other.

"Out of the way," one woman screeched somehow piercing through the din of the falls. She carried a massive backpack near as tall as she was, and not looking too sure of foot as she traveled.

This puzzled Link a bit, he wasn't anywhere close to her. "Sorry," Link yelled back, regardless, though the lady didn't seem to notice.

Which was fair enough, how could anyone pay attention to anything other than the waterfall? The way the water rushed down the side. How it crashed below. Was that how far he traveled up the Lanayru Mountains the last few days? How far down was that? What would happen if someone jumped down? Would it still hurt? Or would the water make the fall easier?

Memories of jumping into the ponds back home came to him. How one day Mido dared him to jump from one of the tallest trees into it. He tumbled through the air and landed on his back splashing all those around. That had hurt, for hours he could feel it. And this fall was, what? A hundred times bigger? A Thousand times? Who could even know? He took hold of the rope and sat down, letting his feet drape over the side of the bridge. Kicking them in the air as he stared into the waterfall.

Beautiful.

If there was one thing that made his entire adventure out of Kokiri Forest worthwhile, it was seeing all these wondrous things. From the great walls of Castle Town, the view from the top of the tower he climbed, the immeasurable scale of Death Mountain, and now this.

The world is beautiful.

Within the waters, something moved. At first Link thought it was only a shadow, some trick of the light. But he squinted at it anyway. A dark shape shifted within the waters, moving up the waterfall. Up it! And not only one, there had to be a dozen or more of the blackened splotches taking the full force of nature and still swimming against the current.

One of the black shapes breached the water a moment, enough for Link to see a silvery-blue back. He could not keep his eyes from them as the collection of splotches swam all the way up the waterfall. Bursting through the foaming white near the top, the dozen black shapes turned into people. Strange people of blues and reds and whites, all slender and slick to the look of them, with gills along their necks and large bulbous heads. Their hands were webbed, and their feet were flippers. The Zora. He had seen a handful of them in Castle Town, and a few more on his journey across the Fields. But he had never seen them swim. They moved through water with all the skill the Gorons had when they worked with stone. But where the Gorons were powerful, they were grace and majesty.

"Did you see that!" Link yelled to the nearest of the bridge-walkers. He did not get an answer, but perhaps that was best. Let this show be his to enjoy. He had spent almost the entire journey alone; he never would have made it if he had not learned to hold the little joys close.

He watched the waters until the pain in his feet turned into a dull throb. He could have spent all day there, maybe longer. But he still had his duties, and who knew how long he had before the Gerudo arrived?

Past the bridge the road split in two, a trail for those with carts and horses went one way and a massive set of stairs for those without either. He climbed, the stairs up until he went as high as the waterfall had been and past the final lip of rocks.

Beautiful.

That was the best way he could describe it. In the heart of the basin a city seemed to float atop it. IT was only with the moving of the waves that Link could see massive stone pillars anchored the city in place. Green trees and greener moss draped over walkways that shone with brilliant blue twinkling lights. It seemed to come from the rock of the pathways itself, but it wasn't the rocks. Link bounded up to one, trying to figure out how it could shine without fire. As he stared at it, the little thing grew and shrunk, as if it was breathing.

Was it alive?

Everything about the land of the Zora seemed so different from the Hylians. With their homes of stone and planks of dead wood. This place seemed to be shaped with the guidance of the waters themselves. Mollusks attached to the side of the great platform of the city, with crabs and snails moving along the paths as if they belonged there. All the city seemed alive. Almost like the homes of the Kokiri out of still living trees.

He strolled along the path, or, on the side of it. The main route of the city seemed to be great lanes of water, that Zora would swim down faster than Link could run. There was life in the city, there was movement, and wonders.

But very few actual people. Almost immediately upon stepping on the platform the others who had crossed the bridge with him dispersed. Rushing to wherever they needed to be so fast Link thought they were fleeing from something. Other than the occasional wave as a Zora swam past the streets were empty. The only person he saw after the first minutes in the city was a Zora standing watch in bright bronze armor, with a spear in one hand and a large shell on his hip. He stared out across the waters, unmoving. He must be some kind of soldier or guard, and probably could offer directions.

"Excuse me," Link approached the soldier, making certain to be friendly and not pose as any threat. After all his time spent with soldiers on campaign, he felt he had a good understanding of them. If he spoke to them with respect, honest and straightforward then they would-

"Go away," the Zora barked.

"Oh," Link was taken aback. "Sorry for bother-"

"I said go away," the man tore his eyes away from the waters to look at Link. "Don't you know anything, boy?"

"I think so. I know plenty of things, but I was just wondering if-"

"Go away!" He slammed the butt of his spear into the ground. "And find someplace safe."

Link apologized and backed away from the soldier. Well, if he was too busy, perhaps Link could wait until another of the Zora citizens or even one of the travelers came through. But after wandering past several roads and side paths he gave up trying to find help that way. All he wanted to know was if he there was a cobbler anywhere where he could get new shoes, or a swordsmith where he could fix his blade. But whenever he even saw someone outside, they rushed far too quickly to ever stop and talk to him.

He wandered the streets until he came across the main markets more through luck than anything. But even here it was all so different than Castle Town. There the marketplace had been bustling with more people than Link had ever seen. So many it made him uncomfortable. Everyone going to shops or watching shows. Sure, it had been a celebration, which he think meant it had been busier than usual. But he had passed through other towns and even a few cities on his travels and they had all seemed busy as well.

The marketplace itself was as beautiful as the rest of the city. The main circle had shops on most sides, but just beyond them at almost any side was a look out over the waters that the city was situated overtop. He wondered what it would be like to cast a fishing line out into the blue. Would they allow him to? That sounded like a near perfect day, getting excellent food at one of the shops, and then sitting down and fishing. Enjoying the beauty of the lake, and the best part there could be fresh fish at the end of it.

But even beyond the natural beauty, the Zora had decorated their marketplace with art. Great paintings right on the side of buildings featuring deep blues, purples, and greens. Swirling around each other in spirals. Seemingly a reflection of the Zora's Domain itself. As he stared at the art, it blended with the horizon behind it, the whole thing forming one glorious celebration of the sea.

Or at least it would, if the painting didn't have a chip in it. In fact, most of the buildings seemed to have some crack or flaw in them. Now that he looked, even the ground had dark marks and divots in the stone.

That was more than a little strange. The signs of damage seemed to spread everywhere. As he wandered the marketplace looking from shop to shop, he continued to notice the cracks and scratches. He wished to figure out what caused them, but eventually he came to one of the shops he most needed.

It had a trident sign on the front, and when Link peered through the door, he found rows of racks and tables. Some of which held weapons, though it largely looked as if it had been picked over. What remained were mostly spears of various kinds, but a few swords and shields beside them. All polished and neat, with a great deal of intricacies of design etched into them. It all made his sword seem quite plain. But a plain sword of a jeweled one worked the same. At least, when they weren't damage.

It took all his effort not to run down the aisles and touch and fiddle with every single weapon in the shop. Even after all this time, and all his journeys, even after he had spent hours cleaning the weapons of the Gerudo, the simple pleasure of seeing and holding all these tools of battle was near too much.

No. I have a job to do. And then I can come back and play.

"Hello," Link smiled to the shopkeeper, a thin Zora with a wide shark-like mouth.

"What are you buying?" the shark-woman said. Though she did not seem to be giving Link her full attention, instead glancing up behind him toward the door. Link looked around to see what distracted her, but there was nothing. No one had entered, it was only him and the beautiful allotment of weapons all around him.

"I'm not so much buying," he unsheathed his sword and placed it before her. "I damaged my sword, here, you wouldn't be able to fix it for me, would you?"

The Zora picked up the blade and held it close to her eyes, rubbing one of her webbed fingers over notches on the side. "What were you hitting with this? Rocks?"

"A few trees."

She frowned down at Link. "Children should not play with weapons."

Link felt his ears grow hot. "I wasn't playing," he muttered, not that it made it any better.

"See all this?" She put her finger at the deepest notch and ran it along the side of the blade. "That will never cut smooth again. I will have to shape the blade, removing all this to make a clean edge. Then I will have to do the same to the other side or the blade will feel unbalanced in the hand."

"But you can fix it?"

"Eighty rupees and it will be done by tomorrow morning."

"Oh. Rupees. Oh," Link looked into his bag. Bethmasse had given him a few rupees for his work as her squire every few days. But if he had all of it still with him, he doubted it would be eighty. And some he had spent on his travels for a warm meal. "Uhh, I have," he pulled out all the stones he carried with him. "Twenty-three? Will that do?"

The woman's mouth spread into a grin filled with sharp teeth. "What do you think?"

"I could… I could sell you something instead? Do you… would you need? Umm," The only thing he had of any value was the Ruby and there was no way he was going to give that to anyone. "I have this bag, Goron made. It was given to me by the mighty Chief Darunia himself."

"Let me stop you boy," she held out her hand. "You smell as if you have not taken a bath in weeks. You have no money to your name. You are begging for someone to fix this thing," she forced the sword back into his hands, "which is old and frankly even if it was undamaged, I would be embarrassed to ever display it in my shop. And you expect me to believe that you were gifted something by the leader of the Gorons? No. No I have entertained you long enough. Please leave."

"But it is from Chief Darunia."

Before the Zora could respond, a deep and reverberating horn blared from outside. Then came another, and another.

"What's that?" Link moved to the entrance to see what was happening. The sound was quite pleasing. Link wasn't even certain it was a horn really. A bit lower than the ones he heard in Hyrule and the Gerudo. A few Zora were still in the marketplace, but they were moving frantically. "What's going on?"

"Get away, fool," the Zora woman grabbed Link by the arm and pulled him back inside, slamming the door of her shop, heaving up a massive wooden beam and using that to bar the door shut. "They're coming."

"Who?"

The Zora hushed him, ran to her counter, and hunkered behind it. Link listened in confusion, pressing his ear against the door. What is going on?

The horns went silent, replaced with the crashing of waves. "Gahh!" Water seeped beneath the door and filled his boots.

"Be silent, and hide," the Zora gave a loud whisper.

Perhaps she had a point. Clearly, he had no idea what was going on. He backed away from the door, until he heard a hammering pounding.

"Help," came a voice from outside. "Help. Let me in. Someone! Let me in!" A man by the sound of him, Hylian.

"Someone's out there!"

The Zora did not respond.

"Help!" The voice drew closer. More knocking, more hammering, more shouting. "Help! Help me! Please! There's still time. Please don't leave me out here!"

Something sloshed through the waters outside. The door shook on its hinges as a heavy fist slammed against it.

"Help me! No! No! Please help! Oh Goddesses! Help!"

The water beneath Link's feet rumbled, rippling about. The man's scream turned into a wordless bellowing cry. Heavy noises slammed against the ground. Something screeched. It sounded more massive than a Goron.

"I'm coming!" Link shouted through the door. He grabbed the wooden beam and pushed it up.

"What are you doing? Stop you'll let them in!"

Link ignored her and yanked open the door.

Wind and water smashed into him. Somehow the sky had grown dark in the few moments the door had been shut, and for the first time the marketplace seemed full. But not with Zora nor Hylian. Purple and green squids as big as a man, squelched over the paths, alongside translucent sacks of flesh with tendrils that flailed beneath them.

One of the slimy creatures gripped onto a Hylian man, half crawling, half swimming to try and get away, screaming.

The translucent creature glowed, pulsing with some strange energy, and the man's screams grew louder still as his entire body contorted itself, as though he was trying to flex all his muscles at once. The light died. The man went limp.

"I'm coming!" Link rushed through the ankle-deep water and started hacking at the creature. Careful to use the only sharp edge he had left, he stabbed at it. Cutting at the tendrils, trying to get the unconscious man free.

Then the monster glowed again.

Link stabbed at it.

Pain shot up his arm. His fingers clenched around his sword so tight it stung. His arm felt ablaze and then went numb. He pulled away from the creature as the man still in its clutches thrashed about. This wasn't working. He couldn't get close to it, not when it was using whatever strange magic that was.

Link sheathed his sword and reached for his slingshot. But by then other of the monsters had noticed him. A squid-beast turned to him, and from its round pulsing mouth came a gurgle of water. Then a stone whipped past Link, smashing into the weapon shop. Link tried to take aim at the translucent creature that still held onto the wounded man, but as he did another stone came for him. He jumped away, but it still managed to scrape his thigh, nearly sending him spinning.

He scrambled so that the translucent creature was between him and the squid. He took aim and released one shot then another into the creature. It screeched, releasing the man. But after a moment of spinning and whirling its tendrils about, it started moving toward Link.

"Get up," Link hissed as he grabbed under the man's arm and tried to lift him or drag him through the water into the shop. "Come on! Come on!" He was heavy, and the water was not making it easier. Another stone struck at him.

He dropped the man, took quick aim and loosed a rock of his own at the squid. The creature made a high-pitched screech. Link grabbed the unconscious man's arm and dragged him the rest of the way to the door. Only to see the shopkeeper closing it.

"Wait!" Link screamed. "Stop!" He forced his shoulder inside, just as the door pressed against him.

"Get out of the way, fool!" the Zora screeched. "Get out! Get out! You'll get us all killed!" She tried to shut the door again, only for it to press against the bag and the ruby within. The door bounced open. She then tried to put her hand on Link's head, pushing him back out into the streets.

"Get off!" Link pushed forward himself. Managing to take her under the arm, and sliding in. "I would have been through already!"

A stone smashed into something overhead. The Zora screamed then fell backward. Link pulled the man the rest of the way inside. But before he could shut the door, tentacles and tendrils glowing with that painful bright magic wedged themselves around the door. Clicking and slurping the monsters squeezed through the opening. Link dropped the man's arm, pulled his sword free and went toward the squid.

That one attacks at range. And it doesn't seem to be able to make itself hurt. That's the one to engage first. Just try to avoid contact with the translucent thing.

A fine plan, but in the cramped corridors of the shop, not as easy to do. When he got close, his sword sliced through the squid. Its skin burst as blue blood welled up. It screeched. Trying to retreat from Link, just as the other creature started to glow, and its tendrils reached toward Link's neck.

Link backed away, switching back to his slingshot. But as he took aim, his leg batted against something and he fell. His shot went wide as he collapsed over the Zora's shaking form.

"You've killed us," she cried as she clutched her bleeding face. "You killed us."

Link scrambled back, barely dodging the tendril that flopped down where his leg had been a moment before. He reached for his next ammunition, but it was empty. Why was it empty he always carried plenty.

Only for his eyes to be drawn to the water, and the rocks and seeds that must have spilled out when he fell. Link groaned and grunted as he backed away further into the shop. His back knocked into one of the rows of weapons. Without thinking he grabbed whatever was at hand and hurled it at the creature. Thankfully it had been a knife rather than a heavier spear or sword. His aim was true, the monster hissed and sloshed about. Moving slowly aside, making room for the squid to take aim as its tendrils flapped about the knife pocking from its skin.

Link grabbed the next weapon, this one a spear. He hurled it with all his might, but it was too big for him. And there was no space to make a good throw. The weapon batted against the translucent creature harmlessly.

The squid's mouth constricted. Link dived behind one of the empty racks just before it released another stone. Where were they all coming from? He threw another a sword, another knife, even a mace. Some went true, but more barely nicked one creature or the other.

The last thing on the table he grabbed as a simple item, something he thought looked more like a toy he'd played with as a child than a weapon. Taking hold of the boomerang he threw it with all his might at the squid. It struck the creature in the mouth, causing it to fall back. But the boomerang did not fall to the ground, instead it whipped back, bouncing off the squishy sack of a head of the translucent creature then back toward Link. He caught it and threw it again. And again. Each time hitting one or the other or both.

Gritting his teeth, Link threw it with all his might at the translucent creature. The translucent sack Link assumed was its head burst open. The monster quivered and fell, as it did the bright magic spasmed through it one last time, just as it fell atop of the squid. The squid screeched, clearly in just as much pain as Link had been when he tried to stab the now deceased monster.

The squid pulled back, retreating out of the door. Link jumped after it. Yelling and waving the boomerang as he charged.

A horn sounded. Then another. Just as it had to signal the creatures arrival. Throughout the marketplace Zora soldiers waving spears and tridents rushed into view. They hacked at the monsters, some few of them seemed to be able to call the water itself to lash at their enemy.

Link breathed a sigh of relief. They were saved. He pulled back into the store. The shopkeeper had done little bit drag herself away from the fighting. Link went to the Hylian man, dragged him out of the water as best he could. Propping his head up against one of the tables. He was still breathing, thank the Goddesses. But there were blackened marks where the monster's tendrils had wrapped around his torso, legs, and neck.

Link held the man, so he wouldn't slink back into the water and watched the fighting out before him. There were more Zora guards than there were monsters. They were going to win, that much was clear. But Link frowned as he watched them. They didn't fight like a unit. They weren't organized. If Nabooru or Bethmasse had seen this display either of them would have stripped whoever was in command of their duties.

It was sloppy. As if they had never practiced together. As if no one had ever thought they would even need to. As they slowly, sloppily, drove the monsters back Link realized the whole city was designed like that. As beautiful as it was, there were no walls around the marketplace. He could look out onto the waters at any time. And these creatures that rode the waves could assault any part of the outer city at any time.

It didn't make sense.

Once he was certain that the two inside the shop were safe, he trudged through the water out into the marketplace. Sword in one hand, boomerang in the other. "Look after him," Link called to the shopkeeper, though she didn't respond.

In the chaos of the conflict, Link saw one of the squids try to grab a soldier. He flung his boomerang, striking it in its eye. The creature howled, reared back, and gave the soldier the opportunity to kill it with his trident.

The soldier looked back to him, a confused look on his face. "Get back," he said, though his hand shook.

"What is going on here?" Link shouted back to the man. "How long has this been happening?"

The soldier looked shocked, confused as to what was happening around him. Was he injured and Link just couldn't see it? "A few weeks," he managed to say. His weapon lowered, as he looked to see his companions drive the last of the enemy back into the waters.

"Weeks?" Link couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Weeks? You should have built a barricade! The enemy is swimming straight into the markets! Why has no one mustered civilians to take up arms or build defenses? You could have brought the population back to a place easier to defend! Something! Weeks? Why haven't you done anything?"

The soldier didn't have a response. He looked as if he was grasping to find answers to the same questions that Link asked. "I don't know," his voice quivered in terror and sorrow. He looked out across the dangerous sea. "We are abandoned. Our guardian is gone."