Chapter VIII: Azure Reflections
Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.
How could water been so plentiful? For the past three days the duo had followed the river's trail past endless miles and miles away from civilization. Persuasion from Navi was the only thing that kept the boy following the path, because in his opinion, he thought that the river was a hoax and there were no Zoras. Had he seen one? No, he had seen a Goron in Kakariko, but never a Zora anywhere near the area. Three moons had passed and gone, going on the fourth sunrise when Link spied upon an entrance where the river led inside.
"Would that be it? Seems more like a cave, though." The structure was obviously made by a person, for it was carved into a smooth square. Link walked up to it, the path would have to be swam.
"Yea, Link, I am sure this is it. You can swim, right?"
Sticking out his chest, he laughed a little. "Of course I can! I am a Kokiiri, I was taught to swim when I was only five or six." Leaping into the water, his swimming skills didn't really come in handy this time, for currents immediately drug him screaming into the darkness. Navi was right at his side, lighting the way as the darkness turned back to the sunlight of the morning. No, not a cavern, it was actually just passage that concealed the contents of the new land from outsiders. The current threw him on the grass, out of the water.
Raising up all the way, he studied his surroundings, to what was around in this little place. To his right was the base of Death Mountain poking out into the grass, on his right was a larger part of Death Mountain, for there was no end to the rocks. No where to stand upon the structure. Up ahead was a small gate with some bombing boulders infront of them? Walking through the contents of a bushel of grass just up ahead, Navi piped up.
"Look, Link." Rustling through the underbrush, the farie came back with a wooden cylinder filled with some green liquid. "You should hold onto these, I am pretty sure they recharge your manna."
"Manna? Oh, my chi. Yea, that's what those faries were talking about?" Gripping the cylinder, he stuffed them inside the same bag as his heart containers, and other little assortments. Searching throughout the grass, Link pondered upon three more heart containers (which he drank two, she drinking one.) That search ended when he came to the boulders, blowing them up with only two bombs in the center of the others, and passing over that owl (Navi made him dodge the stupid thing, so the journey would get a move on.) For the next few hours they wandered until about three o'clock, they came upon a chubby man with no shirt on.
Grimacing, Navi studied the Hylian? Yea, it was naked except some blue pants, and worn flabby, pale skin. A bullish-shaped face was planted in a grin, as it snacked upon some beans. Taking a few steps forward, Link tapped the man on the shoulders. He didn't move, so he got down on his knees, crawling infront of the man, staring deep into those beady eyes. They could have left, except a huge gate was guarding their way out. Unless Link could leap thirty feet to the other side of land, that had broken off from Death Mountain, he was stuck.
Oh, creatures of the night! Finally noticing the two adventurers, the man leapt up against the gate in fear, leaving a rank breath of beans in Link's face. Backing up a few feet from the gate, Link looked over at the man, now noticing he was a lot younger than he was first presumed. Maybe in his early twenties, so still a man.
"Young sir! Young sir, please don't rob me!" He was literally in tears.
"R-rob you? What's that?" He was more surprised than the man was, why would be suspected as some sort of criminal.
"He thought we were going to steal from him, Link." Her veil was on, had been since that morning so it appeared to the young man that some sort of weird energy source was speaking, that freaked him out. With a shout of perseverance, the accusing was about to start.
"A warlock! Please don't hurt me, please! Your magic talks, I can see that with me own two eyes!"
Some eyes… "Warlock? Oh, no, I am not one of those. This is my fairie, you see I am a Kokiiri--get down." Leaping forward, the sword turned face-forward, so it didn't cut, he deflected a nasty ball that was launched out of the earth. The ball reflected back into the water and hit the purple monster that had launched the mucus at the young man. Whatever it was, a purple octopus with a metal cap upon its head and green hues, the ball launched into its nozzle-mouth. Screeching out in pain, the monster's lungs were clogged up, so it fell into the water dead, but kept floating down the river into the stream that led out into Hyrule.
Staring around the scenery, he saw no more of the weird octopuses, and looked down at the man who was shivering in fear. Smiling a little, he sat upon a small patch of land a few feet from the man, speaking out clearly. "Hey, don't worry, it's alright. I am not going to hurt you. Navi! What was that?" Keeping his eyes positioned on the man, he didn't dare look over at Navi, fear the man might bolt off in an attempt to escape the evil warlocks.
"They are called Octaroks, Link. They are octopuses that shoot out their own feces at enemies for a defense. It is hardened so that the ball could break a predator's skull, but luckily their own can be deflected back at them, or killed with a long range weapon." Fluttering to his side, she perked upon his shoulder and stared over at the boy with a bit of concern plastered upon her face.
"Oh, thank you sir! Thank you so much, oh how may I repay you? Hrm, I think I have a way." Reaching deep into his pants pocket, the man produced a small bag with the symbol for plant written on the brown bag only a fistful. Grabbing Link's hand, he scooted up and placed it in-between his palms. Smiling, he nodded to himself, getting himself ready, as if too go. "Sir, these are magical plants, if you put them into the ground, years may pass, but when they reach full growth the plants will grow and levitate to magical proportions."
"Wow…really?" Pulling open the small bag, inside were nine beans of multiple variations with the colours red, blue, yellow, and green mixed inside of them. Closing the cloth shut with the strings attached on it, Link placed it down on the pocket where his rubies were. Patting his sides, he turned to the man to thank him, but was short sided when he noticed the man was gone.
"Navi, where did he go?" Staring down at where the boy sat, a small patch of dirt was positioned down with a small leaf growing out of it. From Link's accusation, that was where the seeds needed to go, the man had planted the first one for him. There was nothing to do now, but wait until he ran into a few more of those patches. Not really his concern, since after this place, he was to head home to the Kokiiri Forest, but with a pit stop at Hyrule castle too.
"He ran away, Linky. Right after you opened the bag he slipped away, I would have caught him, but he dove in the water, and the current changed directions to let him out. Seems that my original plan is a bust."
"Original plan?" Leaning up against the wall, he studied the eight-foot tall gate. Yea, maybe he could scale it, but the bars on top were sharp enough to slice him into tiny pieces of Kokiiri. Slamming his foot against the stone wall on the left, he slumped down a little, staring over at Navi.
"I was planning on us using the current to drag us northward, but he changed the tide somehow. Maybe it changed on itself. We can wait until it changes back, or we can leapt across the structure--better yet, find a way over. If only we had something too glide with."
"Yea, if only we had a glider or a--" His ears picked up a distinct sound. The sound of a bawk was entered in his sensitive Hylian ears. Bursting for joy, the boy shushed her and ran back towards the original gate. Navi stayed back and watched him return thirty minutes later; a good distance for the run, bearing a small white Cucco nestled in his arms. Nodding towards her, she gave a smile and fluttered across to the land Link couldn't leap across.
No introduction was needed for Chicken Gliding lessons; he had probably invented it. Link jumped off the ledge, using the Cucco for a glider across the solemn path, which was inaccessible until now. When across, the boy bounced the Cucco on the head, letting it rest for the night. A few miles up the path, the sun just setting for the night, he came to the end of the ledge. Across the river, was the main path from before, except it opened up for a long distance, there were no more gates to worry about, were there? Leaping this jump, it being smaller than the previous, Link tucked the Cucco on his shoulders, so it wouldn't get away. Something told him he would need it before the night's end.
He noticed she was a little tired, so he cupped her inside of his hands, giggling somewhat. "Navi, should we go on? It's only seven o'clock, but if you are tired we can stop."
"No, no. I will just lay on you, if you don't mind." Seems he didn't, for she was lying on his shoulder before he could even respond to it. Nodding a bit, he patted her aura, letting the chi come off for the night, and wrapping her up inside the collar of his shirt. Tucking her in neatly, hoping the wouldn't fall off, Link pulled the chicken under his armpit and kept his pace out into the beautiful lush Zora's fountain.
Several ledges led up to many pillars that were positioned in the air; the bottom pathways were blocked with those strange Octaroks and numerous gates, so Link took the highroad in favor of the lowroad. Climbing up to the one at his west, the structure went up several hundred feet, connected to the wall and broke off with some platforms stretching out several hundreds of feet. Biting his lip, Link glided too the first one, easily landed on the next structure that was connected to the wall. To his far right was a platform with a piece of heart on it! Gasping, he glided across his early position and landed upon the platform with a simple thud. Laying the chicken on the ground, he grabbed the three fourth's part of the heart, placing the formed heart into its original keepsake.
Two other platforms led to some not-so-interesting places, just structures with nothing on them. The huge one, forty feet across and connected to the right side of the place, was the best place to be. That was where he rested for the night. Link was dead tired, as was his chicken, when they reached the huge area above the other platforms. Only a lone circle of rocks rested upon the earth. Slamming his behind in the middle, a thump sounded to his sensitive ears. This could only mean one thing, so he tried it.
Two bombs blasts later, he found a hole that led down into a hole. No ladder was attached, so falling back first; he plummeted inside of the pit. Death would have been near, but this was on the surface level, so no lava was spread for Link. He reappeared in a bright white room. Up ahead was a white gazebo with water spread upon the surface, but in the middle was a small little bed for him. Was it made for him? Right about his size, but why would a mountain set up a bed for him? It didn't make sense, but was reasoning something Link did at midnight? Dropping all his supplies and weapons (along with the sleeping cucco) on the path that led to the bed, Link trotted to the beautiful comfort zone without his socks or shoes on. Falling upon the bed, dampness was released upon him, as if a spring rain had filled up the bed, yet he wasn't wet.
Muffling him with the covers, the room darkened for him too sleep, but something came about. Millions and millions of pink orbs appeared in the night sky, like fireflies in their migration seasons. The 'fireflies' surrounded his bed, stretching all over him so that he was resting upon the little auras of pink. His realization kicked in when he felt the tongue of something on his leg, shivering he looked down too see the auras were gone and it was millions of fairies. Not a Fairie-sama's fountain, this must have been a fairie fountain. Drowsiness soon took over, the kisses making the scene all the sweeter before he sunk down into unconsciousness.
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"Au puise" The young sprites cooed out in their most sensual tone to the overprotective guardian. Again she shook her head with no ounce of giving in, letting them comfort the boy, but that was it. They had had a sweet taste, and wanted more of the pie. That simply wasn't happening on Navi's guard of the boy, which was forever. Never had this been a problem for Kokiiri, because the sprites helped warriors outside the forest that was their mission.
He is now a warrior outside of the forest, silly. The voice sounded out in a teasing tone; it had gotten better, but was still a jerk in Navi's opinion. They shared the same beliefs about Link, yet she was more of the playful type, something Navi just wasn't.
I know that, but they don't have too be so--
Oh, you know you want too--you have. Oh, she was getting her fill off of this, whoever this was, seemed to enjoy teasing Navi at this game. It certainly wasn't Navi, no she wasn't crazy, and this voice started appearing the day the Deku Tree had summoned her.
Shaking her head to both the voice and the sprites, Navi turned around from the little fairies and let them do their work. The first order of business was bathing him and washing his clothes, so with close observation from Navi, the sprites washed the boy in the farie fountain water, his clothes done later on. Feeding him with some of the magic that the sprites ate (it would energize him for a day), when Link awoke he was inside of his clothes, up on the bed from before.
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Dreams hadn't come through his rest, only nightmares. When he awoke from the smoke of darkness, the bed was illuminated all around him, little faries were still trailing upon him, but he was washed and refreshed. Leaping from the bed, cries of protest from the sprites, he shyly leapt off of the bed and felt under his shoulder. Navi! Navi had fallen off! Crying out, he searched around the place desperately, oblivious to the fact he was having a joke played on him.
Watching from the shadows was the young girl, admiring his grace and beauty. The cry had made her come from hiding, reclining upon his shoulder, nuzzling her face into his neck. Spinning around, the boy checked his shoulder and found her peeking over the covers at him, smiling somewhat. The veil was gone for the time being, but her clothes remained the same, it was that everlasting effect, or something. He guessed Navi didn't need baths or changes of clothes, she was a fairie, and they were special.
"Where did you go!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I woke up hours before you and I see you stumbled upon the cavern of fairies, should of warned you about this place. I've never been here, but fairie caverns are usually full of female fairies that are just looking for heroes to take them. Now, since have Tui in your bottle, we can't have one. We should leave before we disappoint them."
Nodding, he waved too the fairies--which was a mistake, they all rushed at the poor boy who had to grabble up his equipment, slap it on, and run out of the cavern with no exit in a matter of seconds. All his stuff was on when they knocked him forward into the center of the hole he had come on. Just like in the graveyards, a small platform was there, that transported him back to the top of the cave. Standing himself up, he brushed the dust of the cavern off his clothes, pulled his Cucco out and stared out at the scenery, it was about ten o'clock.
"They were in a hurry."
"For you, Linky." She peered forward at the place. It was quite an area, all these new places really fascinated the young fairie so much, too think that this place wasn't hardly known to most Hylians, or anyone else for that matter. Navi fluttered forward, nodding for Link too follow, guiding him down the stone hideaway and onto a new platform near the edge of the wall. Not quite what she was aiming for, she was actually aiming up ahead past the blocked canals and steep climbing. Oh well, no one is perfect.
Touching down, the wide-awake Cucco wanted away from Link, so he bounced it unconscious again, sliding it into his sack where his supplies were stored.
"That's not very nice, Link." She whispered.
"O-oh! Hee, I didn't think you noticed…" He grinned a little, staring off to the north side, that was when he noticed the logs had some shadows upon them. Not the Octarok shadows, but something else was there, something more peaceful. Walking up too the main log that was connected to the wall (finding out it was some roots), a group of eyes stared up at him in peaceful unison. "Navi! What are those?"
"Let me check…" Submerging underwater with the veil on, she resurfaced a few seconds later, the veil shimmering off. "Some frogs. About six of them, they are just staring at you."
"Frogs, huh?"
"Don't bop them." Returning to his shoulder, she watched him stand in the center of the log and pull out his playing instrument. As soon as the ocarina was revealed, all six frogs popped out of the water and onto six little sub-branches connected to the main one.
"You want to hear a tune, frogs?"
"Yes, good sir, we shall want a tune. If you play some too us, we will reward you with some treasure." The center orange frog regarded. The others were violet, blue, green, red, and yellow, so when Link blew out the tune for the Royal Family, the center frog began to leap around more than the others do. His size went from fitting in the palm of your hand, too an armload. Link gasped a little, almost losing his balance off the branch, Navi repositioning him with her own face amazed.
"Music can sooth our ears and return us to our normal form. Thank you kind sir, here you are." A purple ruby appeared inside of Link's hands, but he smiled sheepishly.
"I can't accept this." He whispered modestly.
"Why not, kind sir, are you too generous?" The frogs spoke in unison.
Giggling, he shook his head. "No, it's just my wallet is much too small for this, I can only carry ninety-nine rubies at a time. I only have fifty now, sure, but I will be one ruby short."
"Not a problem, kind sir." The blue one chirped up and whipped back its head throwing a larger wallet in Link's hands. This little bag was twice the size of the first one, and he included his new prize in the bag when he added the rubies in. That brought his total from fifty rubies too one hundred rubies.
"Thank you, frogs. That was quite generous of you." Bowing a bit, he placed the wallet at his side where the other one used to be (the latter in the riverbank now.) The ocarina was still handy, so he played Saria's song too the frogs, followed by Malon's tune that he learned in Lon Lon Ranch. His total went up too the max of two hundred. Bidding a fond farewell, Link made his way past roots and back to land.
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Over the next eight hours, he spent climbing series and series of steps that led one after another past many waterfalls in the distance. The wallet was nice, but Link had wished the landing from before had been made. If it had then they would have reached this place where the Zoras were already. Six o'clock was on the brink of time, only stopping for lunch for fifteen minutes (only for Navi, Link wasn't hungry), when he reached the last area and into a huge hill with rocks for resting points.
"Navi…this has too be…a fifty foot hill!"
"Come on, sweetie, we are almost there." A pat on the shoulder she gave him, before helping him climb the hills. Her help was sometimes lifting him most of the distance, sure she could have carried him the entire way, but these were exercises to strain his muscles too their maximum.
At nine-thirty that night, a long bridge was met from the paths of no more hills. Hills were the last thing Link ever wanted too see, so the thin bridges were actually a save from the Goddesses. Each wasn't that stubby, so he was across the first in five minutes, running to the next one in the distance. When both were accomplished, the path took a twist of turns, with no accusation to the pun. The path seemed to go in five different directions, but really the grassy earth was looping around itself in five different twists. A giant waterfall was at the base, but his best concern was the corner.
Another one of those cracks of land was on the earth, but what rested upon it was none other than the second heart piece of this land. Grinning, he took no heeding and glided down his Cucco at the heart piece, otherwise not being able to reach it. Letting the chicken go, it flew off in the distance, trying to escape the painful memories of ever traveling again. Blowing out his breath, he turned to Navi. "Fourth piece."
"I thought we were on the third?"
"No, I got one last night using the Cucco, that's why I kept it. I had the feeling we might need it." Some adjustments in his pack and the heart container were absorbed into each of them, giving them a little bit more strength. Navi tested her powers by lifting Link through the loops and setting him in the middle of the waterfall. Down below his feet was a small stone square, with a box having an inscription on it. It looked like it was carved a while ago, and Link read the verse.
Sleepless Waterfall
The flow of this waterfall serves the King of Hyrule.
When the King slumbers, so too do these falls.
"Slumber? I wonder what it means." Navi pondered the thought out loud, as Link sat down on the platform and stared forward, listening to Navi speak aloud. These riddles weren't that hard, but all it took was some thought to solve them. Growling, he laid down upon it and stared forward into the waterfall, it was moving too fast for them too jump, he would make it, but the fall and the current speed would kill him.
"King of Hyrule, maybe they mean the lullaby? Impa-san did call it a Lullaby, maybe this is a riddle, because most people don't know that it is a Lullaby, even if they got a hold to the tune." Link thought out loud towards Navi's direction.
"Yes, if the lullaby puts the king to sleep, maybe it would put the falls too sleep, or cease them to stop moving. That's it, Linky, you are good at this!" She giggled a little, tugging for him to stand up, but he refereed to sit and play. Pulling out his ocarina from his satchel, the boy blew the tune of the Royal Family, watching as the waterfall dried off. The water came from onto Death Mountain, it was weird, but it was all gone all at once. There was no little stopping motion; it was so sudden it scared Link.
"Ready?"
"Sure, we may get caught, Navi, we really aren't supposed to be here." Shrugging a shoulder, he grinned a little. These little escapades were growing upon the boy, his fear still existed, but maybe the courage was finally revealing its true colours. Leaning for her, he blurted out.
"I am starting to like danger, anyway." Gripping her with his hands, the boy jumped the ten feet to the side of the waterfall, surprised too find out that it was made of stone. Darkness embedded the sky as it turned darker and darker, seeming the pathway to get also the midnight flush. Gulping, he trenched forward deep into the hidden city of Zoras.
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A domain was the only way to explain this place. After they emerged from the long corridor of darkness, the two entered a large place carved straight out of Death Mountain. The entire place was made of stone, not a bit of grass or anything else from the outside riverbanks. A winding road stretching down a few miles, and after following it, they saw that it led down into the city (or what was best described as a city.) Entirely the place consisted of a huge lake stretching across several hundreds of feet, looking as if it were many meters deep. Too deep for Link to dive in, but he could swim, not that swimming was a choice at this point.
All that was in the lake was a waterfall that led up and a large boulder in the right-hand corner of the lake, and one more near the waterfall. Shivering a bit from the cold, Link headed down towards the small shop, opened to the public, but first stood upon the carpet in the front. No, the carpet wasn't the reason to be down there, but a small torch was the reason.
"Should I try my manna?" Backing from the carpet, singing was something he didn't need, he moved towards the torch.
"Yea, give it a try, this place has to be below the temperature of Hyrule." It wasn't a snowy mountain region or anything like that, but pretty cold for a place where civilization existed. Not to be even compared to the dungeons that Link had faced, he was just cold, that was all. Spreading his legs, the boy crossed his hands, slamming his fist into the ground. Out erupted the red flames from the dust, spreading towards the torch, but when it hit, a chiming sound came out of the middle of no where. Navi recognized the sound, speaking.
"Link, the torches, it is another one of those puzzles. Light yourself a torch and find some places to light." Moving towards his pack, she came out with a Deku Stick, lit it, and places it between his palms.
The lad ran forward, water almost making him lose his balance, but realizing that it was only the shallow region of the water. Coldness stopped right above his boots, so he waded to the next torch in the middle of the water. Placing the crimson flames upon it, he noticed another region, hidden behind the waterfall where two torches stood. That was the piece of pie, for when he jumped past the deep in, saving the torch from wetness, his fire went to the other two, making another chime come about. Whisking around his feet, as out of no where, a large chest appeared. Bowing to his knees, the boy pried it open, coming upon a piece of heart.
Sticking it inside his satchel, Link made his way past the water, noticing there were tiny fish in it, but something else caught his attention. The water was swirling back and forth in different directions, not like a whirlpool. It was as if a person was swimming at an incredible speed. Moving to the edge of the shallow, the boy sat on what seemed like a cliff yelling out a call of hello.
Flurrying from the water, something jumped right infront of him, armed with a spread from both of its hands. In the shallow water, he got a full view at the creature, and boy what a view it was. Six feet of slimy scales adorned over Link, the skin wasn't really a reptilian scale, but more of the skin type amphibians had. A muscular male of this race, blue was the colour of the skin, except on the fins at its sides and the fins attached to his arms, those were green with white spots upon them. His basic form was a human with the skin of a fish, fins upon his hips and arms, plus his feet were webbed like a ducks. The most unusual feature were his eyes had no pupils in them, only a strict deep blue stared down at him, a tail attached to the back of his skull, matching the colours of the fins.
His weapon of choice was a pointy blade attached to a wooden pole, and this spear was aimed right at Link in a way of unfriendliness. The spear launched forward, Link jumping backward into a wall, his shield ricocheting him off wall into the spear's direction. Spinning him in the air, the spear connected with the shield, slamming him back against the wall. Rolling to the right, his blade went up when he spun around, hitting the wood of the spread. Farore's blade went into action, cutting the spear in half, making the fish-creature gasp out in a bit of fear. Before Link could go in for the kill, Navi flew infront of the creature, holding her hands out in both his and its direction.
"Wait, wait, wait! Please, sir, we come in peace." Navi unveiled herself to the Zora, he stared at the fairie in fascination, fairies were not something common to whatever this thing was, or so it seemed. Curiosity escaped the thing, which poked the empty pole at the man; the wood was very unknown to Link. Deku wasn't known out here, so maybe they were from some other trees, for he had seen others.
"I demand to know why you are here! You have no permission, and you certainly aren't royalty, how did you sneak in!" The wood poked at Link, who slapped it away, whining a little. The thing didn't hurt, but it certainly made him uncomfortable, so he spoke.
"We used the tune of the Royal Family that I learned from Zelda-sama, we are after-" He didn't finished his sentence, before the guard threw down the pole and lifted him upon his shoulders, laughing jovially. Before Link could even finish, the guard raised his hands and yelled out something in another language. Heads of all kinds, mostly with tails upon the backs, appeared at the water, nodded and went back in. Changing direction, the guard headed up past the shop, to the winding path that led upward, turning forward and stopped infront of a long winding path of stairs. Sitting the boy back on the ground, the guard stared down at him.
"Our outside waterfall had stopped so I believe your story. I am truly sorry." The Zora seemed sincere.
"Oh, it's fine, now could you just give us the ST--" The joyful guard, whose expression turned a bit sour, interrupted Navi.
"Now normally we would have a party in the celebration of someone from the Royal Family visiting, but we can't. Alas, our princess gone missing and we are searching desperately for her. This entrance leads up to our Zorian King; you may ask talk to him personally. Again, I apologize for the misinterpretation." Bowing in an apology, the Zora leapt off the stairs to his doom. Gasping, Link jumped towards the edge, watching the man fall gracefully into the water. Blowing a sweet sigh of relief, he pulled himself up, staring up.
"So, those were the Zora? I don't think we maybe able to get our jewel for quite a while." The young fairie stared on ahead, as the Kokiiri slimily climbed the pair of the stairs that winded sideways, turning back up forwards for the hundreds of feet into the air. He guessed they climbed to the path of the waterfall inside the domain, for when they reached the front, he heard the fall of water.
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This was not well; this was not well at all. Something had happened to her, and all he could blame was that damn man from the desert. He had visited the Zoras a few days ago, somehow entering the place with the tune of the Royal Family. After the waterfall had parted, he greeted them with such a kindly manner, that the king was ready to give up the stone. His daughter was the one who had protested this whole thing, claiming that she felt a bad aura about him, proclaiming that something terrible was going to happen.
After discussing the matter with the bred of his late wife, the king decided that it was a good choice to keep the stones that were assigned to them by Naryu. The agreement was discussed with Ganondorf, whose expression remained pure, that was until the end of the discussion when it was simply put like this: we aren't giving the stone too you. Enraged in a manner not known to the Zoras for years, the man promised revenge on the king, and on his daughter for knocking the king' "foolish mind astray" as he put it.
The Zorian guards had to drag that Dragmire away from the Domain, but they were killed in a matter of seconds. Dragmire raced for the two royalties of the Zoras, but did not touch them; he simply raced out beyond the King and headed towards the Lord Jabu Jabu's home. After moving himself, the king sent his guards to check out the area, and after days of swimming, they found no trace of Ganon.
Lord Jabu Jabu was the same as usual, a bit grumpier than before, but no harm had come to him. It was concluded that the Jabu Jabu had either swallowed up the Gerudo, smashed him or the Gerudo knew magic and preformed a simple warping spell to escape the place. The Zoras, after all, were planning on putting him to death for insulting their king.
That was all a few weeks ago, but now, as he sat weeping the missing of his daughter, the king knew not what to do. Some commotion was found downstairs. Since no one came to warn him, he guessed it did the Zoras find just a misguided clue? Footsteps clad up to his chambers, that not of the Zoras. At first, he feared the Gerudo had killed all the Zora and was here for the stone, except these steps weren't as heavy as the Ganondorf's were. These steps were light on their feet, as if a child was coming. Still, they were shoes, so he knew it wasn't his Ruto.
Bracing himself for the intruder, the man was surprised to see that it was indeed a child! A young child of the Hylian descent, maybe a messenger of the Royal Family was here? After the Gerudo had left, he had sent out his strongest warrior that was promised to his Ruto when she came about age, but no word had come to him. Still, it was strange of the king to send a child; he may have had a sword and--was that a Hylian shield? How could a mere child brace it? Those questions fondled him, along with the little girl upon his shoulder. Not a smaller child, but a miniature adult.
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"Whoa!" His expression filled a 'o' in his mouth. Up there was a platform in the center of the room, but around the left corner, there was an entrance that had to have led to the top of the waterfall. The main attraction wasn't there, because moving to the top of the four-foot platform, two torches ablating him with heat; the boy grasped reality of above. A fifteen-foot wall was at the top, a path to the right leading up to the wall, where beautiful gates of gold adorned the passage beyond that. In the center of the passage, blocking it, but also stopping most of the water from sliding through, was a Zora. This was no ordinary Zora; however, this thing had to be at least thirty feet tall.
The beast resembled the guardian in some ways, but different in others. His skin was all blue around him, except upon his swollen neck. No fins were found on his thighs, but that robe of royal colours may have hid the ones on his hands. Crimson etched with gold was laced around his body, exposing his stomach and everything below, but adorning his shoulders and back. This ones eyes had actual pupils, and the whites shone through at the new coming boy, where giant fish lips puckered up in an expression of grief. Gills that resembled mustaches exposed to the area, where a tattoo that somewhat resembled Daruina's was right below the lips. Lastly, a crown of gold sat on top of his head, a red jewel sparkled forward, obviously not a sapphire.
"Ho, ho, ho, now who is this?" Hands went to his chin, in though, exposing mounds of flesh, but no fins were attached to his upper appendages.
"I am Link, of the Kokiiri, I come in piece. But I am in search of something." He frowned.
"Are you a messenger of the Royal Family?"
"Yes, and no… I am not a messenger from the family, but I do know them." Giggling nervously, the boy peered around the room and saw no guards. That was good, for guards may not have known about him and accidentally killed him. The ones in the lake looked like citizens, so where was the army? He had read of the war between the races, and the Zoras were formidable foes.
"Let me explain this, Link," Navi spoke up, floating up to the king, stopping a few feet from his face and speaking. "I am a Fairie from the Kokiiri forest, and my friend here is a Kokiiri."
"An ancient child of the woods, my, my, I thought they had died out. You have all been so isolated for the past years, but I am surprised to see a fairie. Besides the healing, you never see them neither." The Zora King seemed pleased with this becoming.
"Hee, anyway, we were sent on a mission from the Princess to collect the three Spiritual Stones, we have collected the forest from the late Deku Tree--." The King interrupted, he had personally met the Deku Tree back in the olden days, showing that the King was pretty old, older than most of the other Zoras.
"Late? What do you mean, he has died?"
"Yes sir, the evil Ganondorf had poisoned him with a monster called Gohma. This spider we stopped, and received the jewel as a reward, then asked to travel to the Princess. She taught the tune and told us to collect the other two stones, now we have the ones from the Great Daruina, now we need yours."
Staring down at her face, then down at the boys, he nodded. "I can see your eyes, you are both very courageous, not an ounce of vile is in your aura. I would give it too you, but you see, my little one is gone from me."
"The princess? Oh, the guard told us about that. They were searching for her, is Ganondorf responsible?" Link interrupted, plopping down on the platform, to the surprise of both Navi and the king. She was about to protest, when the king chuckled loudly, his laugh killing the entire domain, letting the guards suspicious down about the mysterious boy.
"Yes…Ganondorf Dragmire is quite responsible. I believe he is, for he swore revenge and now my little Ruto has disappeared. She has her hands on the Spiritual Stone; it was a gift from my late wife, so you need to find her to get hold of the jewel. I am sorry, but I do have something for you, you see that entrance to my right?"
"Yes sir I have seen that, but what about it?" Of course he saw it.
"There is a female Zora there who will challenge you to dive down and get her rubies, accept the challenge and win. If you succeed, and believe it isn't very hard, you seem to possess skills. Anyway, if you win, then she will give you a scale of our kind. That doubles your length of passage. How far can you dive?"
"Last time I checked, three meters." Navi looked onward at the conversation, letting them converse.
"Then you shall dive six with the scale, your fairie will possess the ability to let her veil let her breath as long as you can. Now, go on, find word of my daughter and I shall reward you with the jewel of the water."
Bidding his farewell, Link bowed to the giant king and leapt off the platform into the shallow water. Waiting for Navi to return the thanks for them both, and join him, the boy groped her with his fingers while heading out into the left entrance they had seen from before. The water waded for a few yards, before he came upon the entrance of the waterfall, where a lone Zora took with her arms crossed about her chest in a resting position. The female Zoras didn't have the tails in their backs, plus, this girl had the mounds that female girls of every other race had. The other naked ones had been all right, nothing was showing, but here, he had to stare away. Moving a few feet up, he tapped her on the shoulder very lightly. Nothing at all, so he hit her arm a little roughly.
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Eyes popped open, again no whites in the eyes, those blue hues darted at him in hatred. That was before she noticed that it wasn't a little adolescent Zora who liked to pull tricks upon the girl with the worst job here. Everyone could dive, and they even got to keep the rubies! Shaking her head in confusion, she rubbed her eyes with her arms, they still had fins and everything, like the males, but they were a bit longer.
"W-what are you?" Kneeling down a bit, she pulled his hat back, stroking those blonde tresses to get a small feel of him. Never had she seen something so mysterious, the Hylian King she had seen, but he was old and creased with wrinkles. This one was pure, about the princesses' age, with the most beautiful hair she had ever seen. Those five digits moved his hair back, smoothing her fingers throughout them once more, before rising she, and smiling a little. "So, what brings you here, young one?"
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Wow, they were really soft. The surprising thing was that the skins of her fingers were soft. When the embrace was done, she asked him a question, so he stared back at her with a down look expression. Yes, he knew that Navi was right at his side with a boiling temper available for this Zora, it must have been that the creature was paying attention to him, but it was new to her to see hair and tan skin like this. Clearing his throat, he stared forward.
"We are here for the scale of your people, we want to take the test."
"Ha, that is why you are here. I guess the king sent you out on the mission, well all right. I am going to throw down fifty rubies into the water below, now you must dive down and get them--Eh? Don't give me that face, cutie. The water is so soft here that it won't hurt you, I believe you have seen us dive off. I am telling you that the impact won't crush you, as it would other water. You dive and get the rubies--it is only three meter water--then you return them back to me and I give you the Silver Scale."
"How long do I have?"
"Fifty seconds, but not to get back up here. I can see you perfectly and I will call time when you get all of the rubies, plus you can keep the fifty rubies."
"Alright, throw them." He walked to the edge, bearing his arms to dive down, but she pulled him back near him.
"No so fast, young one. The price is twenty rubies for the play, you will earn it back in the jewels, so don't worry." Letting the boy cough out twenty rubies, she threw down the two red ones, and two blue ones. Clapping her hands, she threw him off the edge of the waterfall.
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Navi was quiet the entire scenario, because that one just didn't need no expression for thought. It was as if she blanked out of the message and ignored the conversation, but her emotions flowed through, the reason that Link had noticed her literally steaming. Now that stage was over from the time, because when she heard Link's screaming, her stillness let through, and she peered at the crying boy. Gasping, she gripped him, but couldn't get a hold before they hit the water before.
It wasn't over, like that woman had said, for the water felt as if he had only fell from three feet, instead of the usual miles up. Her grip let go of Link when he hit, she floating in the air, and watching the boy dive deeply into the three-meter water, searching desperately for something. Oh, wait--the scale appeared to her mind, and she dove under with him, searching for the jewels too. All at thirty seconds, Link and Navi appeared holding all the jewels, when the girl yelled out 'time!' She guesses that initiated the end of the session, for Link was swimming to the shallow mark, herself having trouble keeping up with him.
"Did we win?"
'Course. We had fifty seconds, I did it in thirty-two. Pulling out of the water, he was drenched from head to toe. It seemed the powder Saria had mixed was long gone, but the effort was worth it. I guess she didn't know it would have taken too long to reach this spot. Sloshing herself off, the girl followed Link up past the winding stairs, bypassing the sleeping king's chambers, and coming to a halt right infront of the lady from seconds before. Overall, he raced up the paths in thirty seconds, sticking twenty of the rubies he gave away, letting her keep the other thirty.
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"I told you to keep all of them." The Zora woman said, reaching out her hands, making a small scale appear incased inside a small little tube. Sticking the extra rubies back at her side, she smiled a little, presenting him with the scale of her people. It wasn't her own, but looked fresh when it was contained inside that small watery bubble? Maybe, it wasn't a tube that was for sure.
"Couldn't, didn't have enough room. Hee!" He grabbed the scale pressing it up towards his body, but the reaction caused him to gasp a little. The little scale disappeared from his grasped; appearing down on his opposite wrist the bomb flower was on. The insignia of the Zora (that was placed on the King's neck) now appeared on his other wrist. With those two insignias, it was as if he was accepted from both races. Maybe the Deku shield was the one from the Kokiiri tribe, but since his shield was burnt--he was pressed away from that race. It was true; he was pressed from his own race, except for Saria.
"Alright, I am going to go, but…where do I use this?" He had started heading down the path, past the king, and was now on his way down the stairs, the woman was following him, her shop closed for the night.
"Why, you use it to reach Lake Hylia, but the gate is closed for the night. I am sorry about that, we all sleep underwater, but you can always sleep on that rock outside." She spoke, lifting him up a bit, letting his fairie coil up at his hat for the night. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she pointed forward.
"The one in the water?" Navi intercepted, she was resting on the hat, not in it.
"Yes, Miss Fairie. It is very warm on the rock."
"Urm, there are no covers…" Link spoke, the Zora had dove in the water, wavering towards the rock. It was quite silent, for the other Zoras had disappeared to their underwater homes for the night.
Setting him upon the rock, she leaned forward, nuzzling him with acknowledgement before disappearing inside of the water. Blinking, the boy took off all his equipment off the large rock, laying down for a few seconds, then nodded to Navi. "She wasn't lying."
"What did she say? I just thought she kissed you…" She trailed off a bit, resettling upon hat, peering over the crest of it at him.
"She said it was soft and that I wouldn't need that covers, since they didn't use them. It is soft, so I guess we can sleep here tonight, hee! You trust them, Navi?" Stretching upon his back, the boy used his satchel as a pillow, laying his sword, shield, and side pack off at the edge of the boulders. Not so far as it would fall off, but enough so he couldn't kick it in his sleep.
"I guess we should, Linky. I don't know, I do trust the Zoras very much, but I don't trust her one little bit." The crease was too small now, so she planted herself upon his chest, sitting at the top of it, still a good distance away from her. Hrm, she couldn't help but stare forward at the boy as they talked the next few hours, eventually him falling asleep in the talking. When he finally succumbed to the evil temptress of unconsciousness, Navi coiled in the collar of his shirt, kissing his cheek gently. Giving into her own pleasure, another kiss was planted upon his lips, letting the darkness take her over.
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By morning he was up again, but this time a bit earlier than usual. When dawn first cracked its wings in the river of the Zoras, he was awakened by the ancient fish people and escorted right too the king. Chatting with the king for a few minutes, his stomach began to growl, for his potion was dissipated from the day before. Promptly asking for a meal, he was given a large fish, and a smaller one for Navi. Thinking it was cannibalism, he asked about it, but was given the answer that they weren't fishing at all. Zorians were actually a race of evolved mermaids from the ancient legends; it had to do with a Hylian fisherman.
At a quarter past nine, he was escorted down the halls towards the center of the lake; there the guard from yesterday stared down at the youth, asking questions to him. Such questions were his origins, the Kokiiri tribe, the other tribes he had visited, and other things of that sort. The real deal was the Zoras never traveled out of the regions of Lake Hylia or the River, so the Hylians, Gorons, Gerudos, and Kokiiri were foreign to them. After a recount of his battles, with some of the smaller Zoras, he was asked an important question. Would he find the princess?
"I guess I have too, might as well get started. Urm, where is everyone looking? Surely she isn't in this domain."
"Lake Hylia."
"Lake Hylia! Lake Hylia is past the Kokiiri Forest, how do you get that far?" Navi bewildered in amazement. Link may not have had an overview of Hyrule, but she did. It was a clear fact that the area was hundreds of miles away from the Kokiiri Forest.
"A secret passage," the guard from yesterday answered. Where they were sitting was on the steps, the lake of the domain right below, and grabbing the boy, the guard leapt down into the waters below. Submergence was weird, for as he held his breath, they swam down to the bottom of the river and through a passage that wasn't hidden before.
The intensity of the farie cavern and the graveyard filled him once more, as the warping from the Domain to a Lake hundreds of miles away, occurred. Reappearing in new surrounding, the water much cooler than at the Zoras, the Zora swam to the top, left Link there and disappeared back into the warp-hole from which he came. Grasping for air, Link swam to the top of the water, Navi right at his head, while they stared around the place, amazed. The place was huge; this lake made the size of the domain's lake look like a puddle. It was almost like an ocean, but the water spread out for miles and miles.
Fortunately, the warp point was at the beginning of the lake, so they didn't have to swim but a few miles to reach the shore. When breaching the shore, Navi took a glance around the place, reporting back in a full five minutes. That was quite a while for the ever perusing fairie, the area was just that big. It seems there was more than a lake around here, a whole observatory was available.
"How much, Navi?"
"The back of the lake reaches the ending curl of Death Mountain. I didn't imagine it was so huge, my goodness." Lifting upward, the guardian came a few feet forward and placed him upon the landing arch, that was barely underwater. Raising her hands, Navi explained that this was the only land in the entire region, a small island was at the back of region, but only a lone tombstone and a large tree stood there. Also, it could be reached by a rope bridge that stretched out as far as the eye could see, another island in the center was connected to the bridge, yet another tombstone was on there. Moving onward, there was an observatory behind them, where nothing in particular was there, except a scientist that lived amongst the aquatic creatures, a strange fellow indeed.
"This path stretches outward, as far as I can tell there are some gardens over to our right, and a small house where I think we can rest for tonight, if we get delayed. To our left, past the observatory was a land bridge that led to some grass, but the real feature is there is another waterfall. Nothing's hidden under this one, yet it led into Gerudo Valley." Her eyes lit up a bit, Dragmire's home.
"G-Gerudo! Are you sure? You mean Ganondorf's home!" He whimpered, he didn't know the people Ganondorf grew up around.
"Yes, but he isn't there. Plus, I doubt we could get in, I heard they are a bunch of thieves and you need a pass to get in. Anyway, let's search the lake for something on Princess Ruto, shall we?"
"Mmhm." Diving off the landing mark, his search started out by swimming a few miles north, working his way back and forth for some sort of clues. Navi took the same approach, except they went over towards where the gardens were shown from the ocean, searching there. No clues would turn up for hours at a time, each time he ran into small little things such as jewels, complaining Zoras, or bumped into Navi. Going their separate directions, it would have been better to scout it together, yet they needed to do this fast and get that gem.
Finally scouting out ten miles from land, the two of them met up once more, but decided to stay together. It was 'better this far out' incase they got misguided by the wind. Working together proved more efficient, the more jewels they found, the better and closer they thought that the outcome of the search was coming. Time really passed that day, no one stopped for breaks, unless Link got a cramp or felt he was about to drown, then he stopped for a few minutes. Pure horror was a great way to describe that day at the lake, after that, Link didn't like water too much.
When they started it was about nine o'clock, but when they finished it was around ten o'clock. No, not ten o'clock as in an hour later, but ten o'clock as in thirteen hours later had passed since the time they had left the lake. All the other Zoras had gone in at about around seven for the night, the warp being shut down after ridiculous warnings from guards all around, that monsters came out at night. Link just shrugged a shoulder at them, but now at around ten-thirty, he was back at the place he had dove off of, near the portal…desperately searching.
"Link! What's that!" Blowing a bright green, she fluttered underwater at a glass casing entombed under a large rock. Link had to squint a little to catch the flow, and shrugging his shoulder, dove under the water to grab the object. A few minutes later they both emerged with a glass jar in their hands. Another one of those bottles like the one Anju gave him, and like the one he got from Malon.
"A bottle…that's it! We've been searching for hours and that's it!" Crying out, he crawled out of the water, crawling towards one of the patches of grass, taking a gentle rest into it. Navi was right at his side, sighing a little too, examining the jar. Yes it was another jar with a casing, some small paper stuffed inside--paper! Doing a double take, Navi grabbed the bottle and pried it from Link's soft arms, they felt like jelly.
"I think I am going to be wrinkled as a prune the rest of my--Navi? What is it?" Before he even noticed, she had the bottle halfway open. Staring forward, he watched her yank out a small sheet of white paper, hardly visible in the moonlight, let alone water.
"Link, I think we found out clue. A message in a bottle!" Throwing the jar down upon the soft grass, she spread the note before them, reading into it. Written in Hyrulian, at least it wasn't written in Zorian, but before she could read it, Link pondered her with some questions.
"Message in a bottle? What do you mean? What's that?"
"…When people are lost at sea they send a message in a bottle for--"
"There is no sea, we are trapped by Death Mountain--" Link was touted by Navi interrupting him.
"If you let me finish! It is a sign of help, now be quiet. All right, here is what is says…" But before she could read, the letter seemed to change, the text mixing itself up into a few little different runic, Navi swore to herself silently, pushing the letter back in the bottle and slamming it down into his satchel. Scarlet struck out on her face, as if she had been played a cruel trick upon. Link's face slashed concern, as he picked her up and stared at her.
"What is it? Navi…"
"They changed it--damn. They changed it, it must be magic. It was in Hyrulian, but now it is in Zorian. We will have to wait until tomorrow." Flinching as she swore (Navi never swore), Link nodded a little, relaxing his head upon the bushels. Nothing was peeking through the pushes, so he used the thing as a bed, the house up there did look comfortable, but it stretched out for a two-mile swim.
"Sorry…" He smiled a little, curling her frustrated body up in his hand, feeling the tenseness, he rubbed her small bit. That made a moan escape her, nuzzling against that large hand, yet keeping some of her sternness up at herself. Yet, she couldn't help but looked over at him, smiling a little for showing his compassion.
"It's not your fault. I have a feeling Ruto-sama didn't write that. I believe the note, but Ganondorf may have written it. How else would her letter have gotten out if something swallowed her, they did say Jabu Jabu was a person. I think Ganondorf has discovered us--he may have been watching us since that day we saw him."
"You are right, we should get out of the open, shouldn't we? Since we are right near the Gerudo Valley, couldn't he send an assassin out too kill us?"
"We should leave, but I highly doubt an assassin could make it out here just yet. Gerudo Valley is a two-day journey from here, not to mention this is Zorian territory and they might kill the treaty they have signed."
"Treaty?" Forcing himself from the soft patch of land, Link began to walk with her over towards the lake, a mile was the distance towards where the shore gave the shortest route, so he took his chances at walking. Sea legs were not something that Link would ever acquire. Not pushing away from the conversation, he paid attention to her as she explained something.
"Saria taught you history, right?" After receiving a nod, she went on. "Well, you know the war between every race that ended about a decade ago, well after the war they all signed a treaty. The Gerudo did it only to be at peace, for they hate every race. Anyway, Death Mountain was for the Gorons, the Kokiiri had the forest (but they didn't participate in the war, so they didn't even earn it), the Hylians got the Market Place, Shiekahs got Kakariko--"
"Aren't Hylians there too?"
"Yes, Miss Impa opened it up to the public some time ago, or that's what she told me. Urm, the Zoras got the lake, domain, and the lake. It is open to everyone except the Gerudos, for they were mortal enemies. I wouldn't worry about us running into any of those." Chuckling, her eyes widened a bit, pointing behind her.
Spinning around, slapping Navi on his shoulder, his hand was on the hilt of the sword when he saw it. Just another one of those Tektites from Death Mountain, except this ones armour was blue. Must be tougher, Eh? Smirking, he leapt forward aiming for the red eye, a trick learned from the infamous Gohma. With a slash of the quick blade, Link had the thing into two halves, no screeches able to explain the pain from the sword of Farore. More were staring to appear of the horizon, so Link charged them head-on.
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It was more of a quick battle than a war; Link was the head one pursuit, while three of the Tektites went in three different directions to confuse him. That didn't work, Navi knew it wouldn't. For when they went out towards the closing, and pursued in for the so-called 'kill' Link had his blade held out to the left with concentration pressed upon it. A white chi appeared around his body, spreading out until it only surrounded the blade, there is shined a bright, then turned a dark crimson. Keeping his eyes locked to the ground, he let out a yell.
"Rhiu-Kiyto!" If the call hadn't been initiated then nothing else would have happened, except the chi may have gone down, but that wasn't this case. What happened was when he let go of pressing to the left; he completed a three hundred and sixty-degree spin at ground level. This was right about the time that the Tektites started to close in for their assault. Screeches were the only things that sounded as one after another, they watched themselves slit into three pieces. Yes, his sword did slice through, but before it stopped, it would do a backslash for the effect.
Grabbing his sword, slamming it into the sheath, nine pieces of Tektite appeared around the circle around him. Crossing his arms across his chest, the boy looked over at the startled Navi. Maybe it was a bit surprising, but the boy had been trying to perfect his technique ever since they left Death Mountain with it. He only did it when the night was high, so Navi was asleep, but this really was his first time using the technique in full battle. Grinning a little, his arms went up to the back of his head, stretching a bit.
"You surprised?" She now hovered over his head.
"Yes, I am. How did you get so good?"
"Maybe the heart pieces, but I have been practicing my techniques for the past few nights, not since we've been in the Zora territory. Before that, like when we were heading down the river."
"When have you been practicing?" For she also had been practicing, if they were going to train, they should do it together, not apart. Although those words that Impa spoke still rang in her ears. What if she needed to protect him one day, and could only combat separately? So, that was that, she decided to not mention her part on training, they might need to do some togetherness, though.
"Usually around midnight, for a few hours. I move away so the noise doesn't wake you--you mad?"
"Not at all. I think we all need a little training, urm, could we just go in the morning to that house. I am pretty sure it isn't an inn."
"What is it, then, Navi?" Glancing over at the wooden cabin, he was almost sure it was a cabin, but Navi had been the one to search. She had probably looked in the window and mistaken it for something else. Whatever the case, Link found another large bushel to rest in, so he piled in it, slipping his materials off, letting her lay in the grass with him. Keeping on his side, they could see each other now, as the lunar lights flared overhead.
"It's a fishing arena. It's run by some Hyrulian."
"What's the difference in them again?"
"Hylians have long ears like the Kokiiri and have psychic powers, like Zelda-sama's dream. Hyrulians are normal humans, they have round ears." Giggling, she covered herself in a bit of grass, keeping attention focused at him.
"I see, it's a fishing place. Can we check that out, I've never been fishing? I mean, there are none in the Kokiiri forest, maybe it's sort of fun? What's inside their, part of the lake?" It was interesting.
"Nope, it is a man-made lake. There is a counter where you rent rods and reels, then there is a small lake with some logs, rocks, weeds, and fish in them. Huge fish too, I even read that you get a prize for catching a huge one, something about the heart of the fish."
"Another piece of heart? I am sure we will need those in our quest, they have helped me master that technique." Yanking out his satchel, the scrounged around for some food, some of the fish cooked fish was in there from today, but not any good for a meal. Throwing the bag that it was in out to the side, Link closed his satchel, his stomach growling a bit.
"Hee, you hungry?"
"Yes, ma'am. We should have come back for supper when they called us." Now closer to the house, he could peer it on its tiny ledge, frowning a bit. If they had swum the two miles, they would have been let down, for there were no lights shining through the windows. Stretching his legs a little, he watched Navi wonder through the satchel and come out with the jar from the fairie. Popping open the top, the fairie poured out of the jar and surrounded him. Giggling, his fatigue was automatically gone, Navi's also disappearing, but the fairie left with the fatigue.
"Awe, she left."
"Only one use. You full now?"
"Yea, how long does this last?"
"Probably until lunch tomorrow, so let us rest now." Navi stared down at him, watching him contently with that smile broadening her face, yes, she was going to wait for him to fall asleep, just as she usually did the nights beforehand. It was always him going to sleep first, her admiring him, and then her finally falling down into the darkness. The mornings followed with her up first, then him, so she can admire him for the morning.
"Goodnight…Navi." Those hues rested themselves downward, while his head with the cap sunk down into the grass. Navi meanwhile just glanced upon him, watching him rest himself for the night before. Where would they go, maybe to the fishing arena to gain the piece of heart, but something else was going to happen. Maybe they would head over to Gerudo Valley for the day. If only she could find Gaebora right now, she had seen him perching upon the stones, but that had been so long ago.
Pushing off away from her little one, Navi flew past the mountains to check out for monsters. No fiends were in the area, so she was safe to travel away from Link for the time being. Catching the owl's scent, she headed over to the two little islands, searching for the feathered one. At the gravestone with the arrow inscription and the three, she found nothing at all, but when she flew over towards the nearest isle of the land, the owl was rested on there. Growling, the fairie headed towards the owl, watching it perch upon gravestone and gaze at her coming.
"Hoo, hoo, hoo! What brings you down here, young one?"
"I need a favor." Lowering her eyes, she stared down at the tombstone, reading the insignia of here lie the Zoras of the past, just some memorial. Knocking here attention away from the animal, he had to slap her with his wing to get the young ones attention. Flashing up with anger, she stared up the animal.
"Calm down, young one, what is your favor?" The owl whispered.
"We need a ride to Gerudo Valley tomorrow, do you mind?" There were certain events about this that she wanted to explore, but more than anything she wanted to have all day with him.
"Not at all, but is that really your problem." It smiled with that animalism grin of itself, they way it did it was strange, an owl could never smile regularly.
"Shut up!" Sparkling up, she fluttered away, watching the owl turn its head upside down, giving out a squawky laughter. When it did that, the thing reminded Navi of those quails, but nevertheless, she heard his voice drowning out her own little screams of frustration. The words that made her want to rip out her own hair, telling the whole word to screw themselves and those words were this: don't fall in love. Why did they all care!
Her own tears were starched across her face when she returned to him ten minutes later, some time was needed to get herself aquatinted with realty, some was needed to let it out, but most of it was to tell the others to let themselves worry about their own problems. Who cared what Gaebora thought! Who cared what the Deku Tree thought Farore rest his soul, but who cared? This wasn't supposed to be a mission that would take almost two months, this was a supposed to be a day mission. The rules had changed, and love was in the air, nothing could stop them.
Unless he doesn't return it… This time it was that voice that taunted out this out, in a humorous tone, as if mocking her.
Shut up! Shut up, I say! Navi screamed.
He won't return it! He won't return it! Now it had turned into a screaming match, the score was against the two of them and Navi was about to win.
Shut up! Yes, he will! Her mind screamed towards the voice, something had exorcised her out towards the voice.
That proves it, prove it to me. It sneered and cut itself off.
Grabbing his face, she pulled him into a kiss, nuzzling her face into his. Growling at the voice, as if snapping at it, the fairie nuzzled her into him, holding him with herself, letting the tears drop down from her body. It was so weird, what if she didn't return his love? No! This isn't the time, it is almost over, and we are almost done. One more jewel, we are almost there, and then we can leave and retain ours lives in the forest with the Kokiiri. Of course she knew the Kokiiri had abandoned them, they would most likely become travelers around this world, but this wasn't the time. Forgetting the voice, she nestled into him, falling asleep.
