Okay, before I start this next chapter, I would like all who read it to review it! This is my first fanfic and I would really appreciate some feedback. Also, I;ve noticed that people have disclaimers on the fics and I'vedecided to say that I don't own Zelda...and I guess I mentioned Princess Ruto so Idon't own he either!

Lastly, I'm sure you've noticed that I've changed my title a lot...that's because I never really liked it. I thought it was too vague. This should be the final title so please forgive me for changing it so much.

Okay, here it is. Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 6

Plagued Seas

Delicate azure waves caressed the seashore, ebbing and flowing with the wind. A cool breeze swept over the sea carrying gulls that occasionally swooped down and gulped up a few fish. The sun was free to shine without any clouds blocking her way and shone down sending glimmers of sunlight upon the calm waters. Its rays also graced the grand city of Centrenil, reflecting off of the marble spires that rose majestically into the air. Aquamarine and beige melded together on the Centrillian walls which were mildly coated with the soft sand that dominated the shoreline.

"Ahhh..." sighed Trem as half of his body became engulfed in the tide. His arms bent back to behind his head and his tentacle flopped to the side. The water retreated leaving his body glistening in the sunlight and his face in a state of bliss. Relentlessly the tide pushed in further and further until it overcame the top of his head.

Surprised by this sudden rush, Trem jumped up and sprinted into the sea. Lunging forward, Trem yelled a shout of excitement as he plunged into the water at full speed. His body flowed with the undersea current as if he was one with the ocean. Both his tentacle and fins aided him in high-speed swimming; his tentacle acting as a rudder and his fins effortlessly slicing through the water pushing back no water pressure. The young Zora suddenly changed his forward direction and jolted upwards, leaping out of the water with immense enthusiasm.

"Ahaha, nothin' like a good swim to relax me." said Trem to himself. Instead of diving back down, he lifted his legs upright and began a back float. His eyes wandered the above sky, gazing at the birds that soared by. He kept his eye on one bird in particular to see if it would be able to get a fish for it was getting ready to feed. The gull indeed fell down from the sky after it spotted something and dove onto the water. Slightly surprised that the bird landed on the water, Trem discontinued his back float to swim over to the gull.

The gull was pecking at the water fiercely, trying to get a bite to eat. As Trem neared, however, it flew away in fear of the new face. He eagerly approached the object that the gull was so pressed to eat only to look away in disgust. A fallen bird was floating on the surface that appeared to be torn open and gnawed on.

"Nasty..." muttered Trem. Sighing pitifully, Trem sunk back underneath the water to exhilarate himself yet again. He opened his eyes as he was almost submerged and was greeted with two, gray orbs staring back at him. Startled, Trem quickly pushed the new form out of his way and swam backwards. The object was floating lifelessly, slowly spinning around from Trem's push. Not caring to see what it was, Trem turned around and started to speed back to shore when he saw yet another figure, this time with various welts and boils protruding from its body.

Upwards he swam until he reached the surface from which he made his way to the shore with his eyes shut tight. Trem scrambled onto the shore and held his legs close to his chest, not wanting the water to touch him. He scurried back off the shore a bit more and let his body fall into the warm, comfortable sand. The pleasant sand comforted his shaking body, ridding all the shock of what he had seen from his mind, Zoras. Pale, lifeless, limp, Zoras.

Panic had started to overcome him when he realized what he had seen and, forgetting the comfort of the sand, he ran back towards Centrenil to tell someone of what he had seen.

"Ugh, what is taking them so long!" complained Saeli. One hour passed and still the council was progressing leaving Caelin and herself stranded in the Main Hall with nothing but the incessant sound of footsteps and the constant whispering. The giant, white doors that led into the council room were staring back at the two Zoras, immobile and solemn while keeping out any and all disturbances. This vigil, however, was broken as Peter walked burst open the doors and walked swiftly out into the middle of the lobby, obviously infuriated. The rest of the council came out quite calmly and began to mingle with each other in various spots around the lobby, eventually starting up the staircases that went up either side of the doors to the council room. These golden-banister stairways led up to a balcony carpeted with a long, gold, silken carpet on which rooms were placed all along the walls.

After speaking strictly with a few scholars that were scrambling around the lobby, trying to organize themselves with random paperwork, Peter made his way over to Caelin and Saeli with his normal personality back in check.

"Please, follow me to the Queen's quarters. Normally I would have you wait until she made it there first, but under these...circumstances, we must make haste." Peter quickly spun around and strode up the staircase, making a hand gesture signaling both Caelin and Saeli to follow him. The threesome turned left as they reached the balcony and walked speedily through a hallway that led into another room that contained even more scholars and small antechambers with people whispering worriedly and trying to complete their tasks.

This time, the three of them turned a right and walked into a hallway, exactly the same as the last one; golden carpet lining the floor and pure white walls for the primary color. With another right turn, they made their way into yet another room, however instead of scholars, guards lined the walls wielding spears that vastly exceeded their height. In the middle of the room ran a grand staircase leading up to another balcony. Ambrosial carpet blanketed the room coupled with elegant, overhanging crystal chandeliers that were shining in the light they produced from within.

Atop the balcony stood doors similar to the council room doors, but much larger and had a bright golden gleam to them. Ignoring the beauty of this room as if it were nothing, Peter led Caelin and Saeli up to the doors and with absolutely no difficulty, swung the doors inward and glided into the room as if he were running leaving the two Zoras to hustle in just as the doors slammed shut.

"Stay here and do not touch a thing. You two are the first foreigners to ever step foot within those doors and you, unfortunately won't be the last all thing considered." Leaving them with a strangely cold glare, Peter waltzed out of the room in a hurry, being careful to slam the doors on his way out.

Sand scattered in Trem's wake as he left the beach in a hurry to find someone to tell of his findings. He was headed towards Centrenil, which was really only about a quarter of a mile away from the edge of the beach. The back entrance to the grand city was lightly guarded with merely two Zoran guards who seemed to find sleep much more important than staying at attention. They sat asleep underneath a green, moss-laden archway which served as the city's backdoor. Trem decided not to tell them his sightings because they were probably either too drunk or too intolerable of teenagers, for many kids seem to play pranks on the guards everyday, that they wouldn't listen. He rushed in, not disturbing the "on-duty" guards but spraying a bit of sand on them and on the now cobble-stone ground upon with the city was supported. A sparse number of Zora were walking around in the city, traveling to each other's houses or finding a bite to eat.

Though Centrenil was home to the largest Zora population, save Ferathur, there weren't as many citizens waltzing around as there were in some of the smaller cities seeing as here, the people seemed to be more content with being within their own homes. This was to be expected because the more money-gifted Zora had houses that were almost as big as some of the very tiny suburbs of Centrenil. Hundreds of the beige and aquamarine spires that rose from these houses paled in comparison, however, to the ones of Centrenil Palace. The same color theme of blue and green was used throughout most of the city, including the palace.

Many of the citizens stared at the strange Zora sprinting down the middle of the street alone. Trem didn't quite know who he should tell about this so he decided to go to Caelin's house. The main street, the one he was running on, ran straight to the front entrance and split off at the sides many times into an infinite number of curves and hills bordered by an even more numerous amount of houses.

Trem made a left at the first turn and entered a street that was drastically smaller than the main road. He made his way to the right sidewalk and started towards a gap between two very large, identically houses, sprinkled with sand and moss. Through the alleyway he walked, trudging through the rocks, moss, and a strangely warm liquid that covered the ground. On the other side lay another street, but instead of running through it, he knelt down and lifted up a large slab of the ground that was drenched in waste and moss. Struggling with the immense weight of the rock, Trem instead slipped his lower legs down into the hole that the cobblestone had once concealed. He let the rock rest on his thighs and then with a forceful push, aided by his leg support, Trem knocked the rock out of its place and slid down into the dark, his tentacle nearly getting caught when the rock came smashing back down and resuming its job as a lid.

He landed with a loud splash and was knee deep in surprisingly crystal clear water. Trem walked swiftly forward in the darkness, confidence in his stride. A few fish brushed up against he ankle, their smooth scales making Trem shiver mildly seeing as how he, ironically, hated fish. Eventually, came to a solid, rock wall. After putting his hand up to it and feeling around to make sure he was in the right place, he dropped down quickly and forced himself forward in the shallow water through a opening that hardly allowed someone of his build through. Trem was always fairly muscular. He swam for hours on end during the day and was one of the few of his friends who actually worked out. The rest of his friends were of average Zora build: tall, lanky, little to no structure on their limbs, but very nicely sculptured chests, including the women who looked extremely similar in to men except for slightly different facial features.

After slipping through the opening with some difficulty, Trem rose up out of the water and found himself in a cavern that had two pathways bordering its sides and a vast stream flowing down the middle. The cavern was lit by blue by the light at either end and the water that sparkled on the walls. A few Zoras were walking the pathway, looking down at Trem in disappointment and either walking away rolling their eyes or shaking their heads. He wanted to yell out what he had seen to them but decided that since he wasn't even allowed in the Zoran City Transit, he better not make himself seem even more a delinquent by disturbing people. Trem swam back down after confirming where he was and sped through the water towards the light, skimming past various fish and weeds that were floating around. In his opposite direction lay the entrance to this transit which was heavily guarded and clearly not meant for children of any age to go through. The shortcut Trem took was one that only he, Saeli, and Caelin knew about. All three of them used to go through it and travel throughout all of the Zoran kingdom. The main reason they went through it, however, was because Caelin lived in a house at Belore, a suburb of Centrenil.

The stream went on for a quite a while longer until it eventually opened up to the outside. It continued for awhile until it rested in a large pool which broke off into many other cities on the land . This pool was the centerpiece of Belore and out of it rose Trem. He looked around him and saw the city of Belore which seemed much less sophisticates than Centrenil. The moss had started to overtake the buildings and water from the tide had rotted out most of the shoreline homes. Hardly anyone was walking around save for a the few who had traveled from Centrenil to here. Beige and aquamarine was again, the main colors however a yellowish color that resembled that of puke started to form on the walls bringing an air of disgust on to the city

In front of Trem lay a small, once white staircase that was rotted to a yellow shade and laced with scum from the negligence of the town keepers. Despite the foul appearance, Trem made his way up the stairs and resumed his sprint after he turned out of the pond area and onto the cobblestone street. He made a left off of the road and came to a very short path that ended in a cul-de-sac. The almost completed circle of houses were pressed against one another, covered with moss and holes from pieces of rock falling out due to the fierce conditions that often befell Belore. Trem made his way into the middle of the circle and went for a house that was the worst of them all. This shack was covered in waste, scum, and moss through and through. It seemed unlikely that it could sustain life. Disregarding the looks of the place, Trem walked inside, not needing to open a door seeing as it had been gone for many years, rotted away by time.

"Ezreil? Ezreil?" yelled Trem as he entered the house. He walked around the hallway a bit, searching for the person that he called for. The house seemed empty and surprisingly clean. Everything was put away neatly and was cleaned up; no scum, moss, or waste was in sight. The inside was plain enough, white walls and a sturdy, stone floor. Wooden furniture laden with various knick-knacks laid stood in various places in the living room and kitchen which. A small light fixture hung from the ceiling that resembled a clam that was slightly opened. This was where the light shined through in the living room seeing as there were no windows there; they were placed in the kitchen.

"Who is it?" said a female voice, calm yet with a sense of force.

"It's Trem. I got somthin' ta tell ya' and it ain't pretty." responded Trem in a slightly annoyed voice.

"Trem? Tremory Bailock? I haven't seen you for quite some time! Have you heard from my lil' brother Caelin lately?" A woman walked out from behind the wall that Trem had been facing which formed a hallway to either the kitchen or the living room and bedrooms. She wore no clothes, as with every Zora for they had nothing to hide and nothing different about their bodies between genders. Their bodies differ greatly from those of the other races. Only the nobles wore clothes signifying their social and political status.

Ezreil had a petite build with not many signs of muscle anywhere on her body. Her fins were longer than usually and ended in a tip faded white. The same was with her tentacle upon her head; it hung down until it just barely made contact with the ground and faded into white at the very bottom where it started to split into two separate fins. Her features resembled that of every other Zora, except, of course, of the white that appeared on certain parts of her body.

"Ezreil? Ezreil Silfor? I haven't seen you for quite some time!" responded Trem in a mocking voice.

"Hey now..." Ezreil started to say something in retaliation to his rude comment but was cut short by Trem.

"Okay, I need to tell ya this...I know ya 'ave connections so I was hopin' you could help me with bringin' this to the government's attention." Trem proceeded to tell Ezreil of the bodies he saw floating beneath the water's surface out in Centrenil Bay. Ezreil's face was that of sadness as Trem finished his tale. A silence started to grow between them, no one knowing exactly what to say next.

"Well Trem...I really don't know what to do. Overlord Zoraco is out at Hyrule...I suppose I could talk to someone at Ferathur but that is a fairly long ways away." said Ezreil.

"You gotta...You are one of the agents that they use for organizing strategies! Yer the only person I know who can get into the government and tell them of what's goin' on. I'm sure they'd like ta know that there are dead bodies in their waters!" yelled Trem.

Ezreil put her hand up to her mouth in thought. "Okay Trem...I suppose I believe you...but we must hurry. If you aren't lying then waiting will only cause more of them to die...even if we don't know how."

The sound of birds chirping joyously filled the air as the leaves of the trees rustled happily. A calming breeze swept through Crikel Forest, gently caressing the many animals that thrive there. An occasional squeak or bark echoed through the trees as the mice and wolves traveled the green paths. The gentle tapping of hooves and snapping of sticks signaled the presence of deer prancing along on their daily journey. All the sounds of the forest blended perfectly together in a calming harmony of bliss.

In a glade, deep within the forest was a small pond that was being filled eternally with a trickle of a waterfall. A variety of animals came to nourish themselves from the clear pool of water such as deer, squirrels, and foxes. Out from the trees came a small fawn, clothed in a white-spotted brown coat and small, black hooves. It stepped next to the pond and put its mouth the water, gingerly sipping some to quench its thirst. However, it couldn't drink in peace for a constant dripping from the trees irritated its head. Looking up, the fawn simply looked back down to the water and turned to go back to its mother.

The water from which the fawn had drank from started to become red as the crimson droplets fell into the calm pool. Swirls of death filled that area of the pool and slowly started to spread across to the other side. These droplets started to become more frequent and became larger until it was a steady flow. Above the pond stood a grand oak tree, full of life, that bore the body of a mangled woman upon its branches. Her limbs were scattered across the tree top and the torso was left to rot. A dark shadow sat on the branch next to its victim, slowly tearing open more of the decomposing flesh. Quietly and barely inaudibly, the shadow began to hum a merry song. One of joy and peace as he started to eat away at the corpse of Athea Talim.