Chapter IX: Beyond the Boundaries of Hylia
Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.
Morning brought a few surprises. Link was up before her, and while up he discovered a few things about the island that she hadn't gone over the day before. Wondering over to the observatory, Navi inside of his hat, the boy had found one of those potted plants like from the Zora's domain. Laying a magic bean on there, a small root grew up as the other one had been formed. Inside the place, he found no one, but a locked door. A sign on the outside said that the scientist was hard at work, so Link left them is whoever this scientist was.
At the garden, he found a few vegetables to munch on; the fairie hadn't been used to her full power, so he was pretty hungry. Link could ponder on the other fairie, but that one might be needed for going inside Jabu Jabu. If his assumptions were right, then Jabu Jabu was really possessed (like the Deku Tree), and may have had evil spirits inside of him. On his dig through the garden, Link just came across two scarecrows; they actually frightened him, for he had never seen crows before, or scarecrows. The weirder thing was that one of them talked to him!
"Well, howdy there, and who might you be?" The topmost scarecrow spoke out loud.
What is that? Spinning around, his hand on the sheath of his sword, the boy examined the scarecrow, figuring he was nice, and smiled a little shrugging a shoulder. Leaning across the iron fence that separated the scarecrows, Link stared up at him with eyes wide.
"I can see from your expression that you thought I was inanimate, yea. I get that a lot. My name is Pierre, and I am a scarecrow who adores music. Any type of music is good enough for me." Stopping for a second, the scarecrow sniffed something with a nose that wasn't there. His straw stiffened. "Mm, I smell an instrument, you wouldn't happen to have one on you, would you?"
"Yes sir, I do." Pulling out the ocarina, the scarecrow went ecstatic. He leapt upon the pole he was positioned one, holding his hands into air in a jovial manner.
"My, my! Would you happen to play a tune for me? I am have an excellent memory and would remember any tune you gave me. Come on, don't be shy, and I want one you made up, nothing authentic. If it has ever been played, I will know it, my ears do not deceive me."
Well, playing a tune from his collection was out of the collection, so he reversed the notes on Saria's tune, claiming it as his own. It was technically his own, you know. The scarecrow jumped for joy when he gave it to him, telling him to come back in a few years and visit him, only then would the song become useful. After being unanimated once again, Link wondered away from the garden with an expression of confusion on his face, yet he did write down the tune in his sheet as the Scarecrow's Song.
The fishing arena was the only other place to spend the day, so the at nine o'clock that morning, he spread out his arms and dove into Lake Hylia. Those weird creatures from before were back, the Octaroks, or whatever they were called. Link could only dive under when they came near, for if he took out his sword, he feared that it might get lost it in the one hundred feet deep water. That was right, near the entrance it was shallow, but now the scene just scared the boy to death, as if the octopuses made it any better! For an hour and half he swam at full speed, reaching the small island at about ten thirty that morning. Fully energized from the vegetables, he had no trouble scanning the small hill that led up to the tiny house at the top. In a matter of fifteen minutes, his hands latched open the wooden door, pushing inside.
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Discoveries were one in the same at some places, so when the boy wandered past the doors of the cabin and into the man-made lake, all saw was all the glory of it. Navi had been right, there was some sort of man-made lake sculpted out of the ground. Infront of him was a path that led to some sandy ground, then inside the circle of that was a small pond extending twenty feet across and thirty feet wide. He didn't even notice the voice, until something hooked him on the back, making him scream with surprise.
Whirled back into the air, the boy levitated for a few seconds, before he uncovered his eyes cowardly. Before him, a man with a hat was chuckling away, holding a fishing pole into his hands. Putting two and two together, the boy spotted the line sinking down towards his clothes, and the bobble hooked under his shirt. Growling, the boy threw himself off the hook, tearing a huge cut in the shirt, but landed on his bottom with an abrupt sound.
Shaking those tresses aside, his long cap having come unraveled from the scene before, the boy scooped up the headgear (his slumbering fairie, also), putting them back into position. Taking a good look at the man, he saw he was about middle aged, tan skin, and some weird shirt with different blue and red patterns sketched upon it. Link couldn't view any pants on the man, because he was sitting at a desk with a register to hold money, and fishing poles held on the back wall. On the desk were a few odds and ends, paperweights, and extra rubies. Attracting the most attention was a huge tank of water that was empty to the core. Taking a few steps forward, the boy put his hands on the counter, staring up at the Hyrulian (yea, he had small ears!), with a hat that was perked through with hooks.
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It was a fisherman's hat, or so the man would have said. Taking one quick look at the boy was enough to make him burst out laughing. How did a kid ever get out this far to Lake Hylia and swim the few miles to the cabin? Only the most strongly of men could earn their way out here to the lake, sometimes resting for days when the reached the cabin, but this kid looked as if he had just woken up. By Goddess, he still had sleep in his eyes, was he that fast! Grinning a little, he stared down at the boy, tipping the hat towards him. "What can I do for you, son? You lost or something?" Of course the lad wasn't.
"Oh, well…" Seemed sort of nervous, he did. "I want to go fishing, may I have a pole?"
"Fishing? Well, you seemed to come out a long way, so I guess I can give you a deal. This is an adult's fishing hole, yet there aren't many around, so I'll cut you some slack. But I am warning you…" Pulling out his finger, the man taunted the boy in the face. "The fish out here are not friendly. Sure there are some that could be around a pound or so, but some of them get as much as twenty-two pounds. If that happens, break the line, son."
"Break the line?"
Oh that was it! He couldn't help himself! Grabbing the edge of the counter, the man guffawed into the sides of his mouth, holding back the laughs as much as possible. No avail was given because for three minutes the boy sat there steamed the man laughing, and a sparkle coming lazily out of the kid's lap. Not even bothering with questions, he handed him his smallest rod, hooked with a lime green bait.
"It's twenty rubies, kid."
Pouring out twenty from his adult wallet bag, the boy stared up at him, the pole over his shoulder like a long sword. "I am ready to fish, any final thoughts?"
"Just don't--- just don't-- just don't--oh Goddess!" The man was still laughing when the boy hit him with the side of the rod, running off out into the lake. Rubbing his head gently, the middle-aged man shook his head one last time, giving them a farewell glance. It seemed like a short distance, but the end of the lake he was at. It had to be a mile out, too far for the man to see. You see, the lake may have been small, but the land was vast and rich all around that area, harboring some sea crabs, other crustaceans, and plants of all sorts. The crabs and all were indoors for the season, so he didn't warn the boy about them.
Eventful dreams soon took over his mind; this was his own business, so he didn't have to worry about anyone taking him for granted. All the Hyrulian got for his troubles were some fish from the Zora, traded with the fish-people and the solitary time by him. It was pure bliss to be out here, the erected tops hanging off themselves, shining the artificial light from the sunroof out into the real scenery, all the woods and reefs for the best fishing, and the dream that one day someone might catch ole' Mody. Yes, ole' Mody was the one he was after, a twenty-five pounder he had meant to keep for himself, spending thousands hours rooting after, but he never came close to bagging him.
Tuckering himself off, the boy watched the child from the distance, only a speck of a real manufacture. The kid caught quite a few fish, more than the man had predicted, but nothing over five pounds. That was chump change, according to the fisherman, nothing over seven was anything special, and nothing under nine could go in his hall of fame (the tank.) Not many people came out here to fish, so he really didn't have anything to put in there, plus the last one had died in a misfortunate night he had been hungry. Lazily resting his head down, he drifted off to sleep at one o'clock that afternoon.
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"What was that all about?" When Link reached the area as far away from the man as possible, his guardian was fully awake, letting out a cute little yawn. Looking over towards her little one, a small question pondered her inner brain. Why was Link up before him, how was he at the fisherman's house, what exactly had happened last night? Yes, the stuff from last night was blurry (not the part with Gaebora, but when she had returned to Link and the thoughts that passed therein.) Hardly recalling much of anything, the fairie lounged off his hat when the question popped.
Trying to figure the rod out, Link sat upon a rock on the beach-covered surface, studying the oak-made rod. He knew little about fishing, they fished out in the Kokiiri forest (a stream led down there), but he had never been out there. Saria's world was the outdoors, but she detested killing little fish for food, when they had all of these berries and natural supplies to benefit them. Reason is, when he first tasted meat on the outside world it was quite a surprise to him, just on how much he had been missing from the isolated forest. Grabbing the rod by the head, he launched it out into the open.
"Huh? Oh, him… I think he was laughing because I am so small…stupid man." A dumb Hyrulian was what it was.
"Oh, Linky, don't mind him. He is a simple man who thinks you are just another immature Hylian kit, but in reality, you are a fully mature Kokiiri." She nodded the young boy seemed to be growing up.
"Navi…I am not a mature Kokiiri, I am an immature Kokiiri, I am only a decade old." Letting out a giggle, he held the large pole under his armpit, pressing her flimsy body into his face.
"Mm, you act better than the others, anyway." Letting herself be nuzzled, the girl went back and did the same thing to her as he was doing to her. Not in so many motions, since she was smaller, of course.
Cuddling with her a few seconds, the boy slapped her on his pole as the line began to tug. Grasping, the boy yanked back with all his strength, the small flying through the air. Grasping the line quickly, he examined the fish with the disappointment forming in his face. The fish wasn't a fish at all; it had to have been a fish stick! Only under three pounds, the boy grasped the fish and chunked it back into the fresh underwater.
"What happened, why did you throw it back?"
"Did you see the size of that fish?"
"Looked pretty big to me, maybe it could have won." Two pounds was actually a lot for Navi, so she really couldn't tell if the ten-pounders were in there or not. Floating towards the fish, Navi peered at the fish with her eyes glaring a bit. Taking a glance over at the man, he was watching them with drooping eyes of an old pervert. Automatically her veil reappeared, going back over towards Link, she perched upon his shoulder once more.
"No, ten-pounders win the heart, I am pretty sure."
"Well, let's get to work!"
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Moving to the center of the pond was Link's idea of the day. At the beginning of the lake was a reef that extended out to the center of the lake, or almost to the center. After measuring the reef for its weight several times, the boy stood upon the reef and began to fish for his luck. The following three hours had been spent catching five pounders at the most, but the first scaly animal he caught was a seven-pound fish! Grasping with excitement, the boy began to fish out for the following three hours, keeping himself out of the trouble from falling in the water.
Ten pounders didn't start appearing until he caught himself an eight-pound fish, instead of throwing it away; the kid used it as bait for the other fish. It was only common in the food chain that bigger animal ate the smaller animals, not plastic little reefs he got for renting a stupid pole. The first time he used and eight-pound fish, he received an eight and a half pound fish. Using that one, he came across the nine pound one, and following the process over, he came upon the ten pounds.
Some amounts of mass seemed easier on the first impression. Ten pounds may have been easy to lift, but it wasn't easy to pull. Especially when the dreaded little 'moby dick' had its head wrapped around the line and pulled back as strong as any of the monsters he had faced. Ever since Link had come out to the reef he had been using the little string attached to the coil that you turned to yank it in. Throwing himself back in the air would land him a quick ease in the deep water, losing any fish he came into contact with. The funny thing was that when he was after the other fish, he had no need to yank the fish in that other manner, except with when multiplied by five.
Jumping upon the edges of the reef, he kept his feet apart and the rode buried between those hands that hung on for dear life, trying to keep those other stupid fish from biting at the line. Navi took the position without warning, throwing her weight against the smaller fish, scaring her off, but the real problem was getting that traumatic thing to calm down. Flaring her aura, the kind she used to blind enemies, she zapped the fish in the eyes, making a squeal erupt from the cry out. Blood splattered all over the water, just from the hook, not from the zapping or anything like that.
Chance was all in it, for when Navi blinded the fish, it gave up in the fight for survival. Pulling back all the way, he made the yank, throwing himself into the water, but held onto the pole as if he was on a cliff and the edges were the only escape. Leaping into the air, a reef to propel him upward, the boy caught the fish in the air. When he landed, halfway in the water, halfway on the coral structure, his hands still held the fish down. Surprise threw him off the coral, making him grip the fish (and the fishing pole, which he picked up before leaving), tracking back the mile in only a few minutes.
The distance didn't seem like anything, only staying on the move, so that they reached the area in under a minute. Staring up at the fisherman with disappointing eyes, the boy let out a smug growl and slammed his fist upon the wood. Nothing, nothing at all. Giving Navi a disgusted look for the man, he reached forward and put the fish before the man's lips, nada, nothing at all. Well, he had one last idea, but it was sort of a dozy Running back a few feet, the boy cupped his hands together letting out an excruciating long screech of excitement towards his direction. Sound waves picked up, and the man jutted awake with profuse intrusion.
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Jutting awake from the screaming of a young child, the fisherman stared forward to see the child from before. Obviously he was turning in his pole, having given up? No, that wasn't the reason at all, in his hands he held a fish consisting of what seemed more than nine pounds. Gripping the fish quickly, he slammed it upon the weight, surprised to see it far exceeded ten pounds, it went past the area of fifteen miles. How could a young child get something this heavy, how could he catch it? Not even bothering with details, the man fed the fish something from a blue bottle, putting it inside the water, where the hatch closed making the glass turn black.
"How did you c-catch something that big?"
"Used some of the smaller fish for bait, I guess. How much is it?"
"F-fifteen pounds. I can't believe you caught something that huge, that is just unbelievable." Shaking his head, the boy handed him the pole back, which he hung up generously (not even a smirk forming his lips, contradictory of this morning.) Leaning forward, the man patted the boy upon his head, searching through his bag and pulling out a fourth of a heart. He didn't know what exactly the thing was, but from the excitement in his face, it had to be something special. "You certainly earned it, whatever it is. I found it while cleaning out the pool last week and decided to postpone it as a reward, what exactly is it?"
"Well, if you earn four of these in a row, then you grow stronger and stronger." Pulling out the fourth of a piece, he connected the two together, forming a whole half. Showing the pieces off to the amazed man, the boy said his thanks and disappeared out of the door. There was something weird about that boy; he wasn't ordinary, which was for sure. Something told him that one day he would see that child again, a much older man, and he would do great things. Maybe it was his allergies acting up, but something was abyss.
Ignoring the thoughts of tonight, the man opened up the tank and checked upon his new prize. There it was fifteen pounds of fish for all the people who visited his new business to notice and ponder who caught it? His story would come out how a boy dressed in green, guarded by a sparkle of bright blue, braved the odds and captured the fish. Unfortunately, he did not have the boy's name, but he knew of a legend of the green clothed children, those from the ancient tribe. In the following morning a plaque would be placed right above the tank that said "the Kokiiri tribe wander." For now, the man would slip back to sleep at three in the afternoon. The life of a fisherman was patience that was the number one rule: patience.
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Shutting the door quietly, Link cupped his hands together, holding the half of a heart pressed completely together. Throwing the heart into the air, the boy pressed his index and middle finger up together, performing the peace sign. Meanwhile, Navi caught the heart piece launching it down inside of the satchel, snapping it shut. Giggling at the child, she pushed him down off the edge of the island and into the water. When his head emerged from the cerulean pool, the girl fluttered near his face.
"Why'd you do that!" Shaking those blonde tendrils back and forth, the kid stared up at the fairie.
"Hee!" Landing up on his cheeks, she rubbed them a little bit, glancing down at him. "Come on, little one, let's head back and maybe we'll make it by the end of the afternoon."
"Then we head back to the domain and deliver that letter?" Putting his feet against the edge of the island, he pressed off into the water, quickly breast stroking the entire way, on the fifteen-minute way they spoke at what the next destination was. Navi's idea was not to head back to the domain, at least until later tonight, but to take the advice of Gaebora. Yes, she still remembers the encounter with Gaebora Kaepora, that was clear in her mind, and the favor was still fresh in her young mind.
"No, we don't. I say we head to Gerudo Valley."
"But, I thought you didn't want to waste anymore time? Isn't the Gerudo home over two days away?"
"Yes, but we will be there in two hours." Grinning, her veil flashed off for the time being, then she explained her situation. Well, I shouldn't say she explained it all, there was a bit of fibbing in the story, but then again, what would it hurt? Navi explained that on her way back from the bathroom last night that she stumbled upon the infamous (or at least she thought so) Gaebora. Reminding him what Gaebora was (although he needed no remembrance); the girl went on to speak that the owl had suggested they take a trip to the thieves' valley for a few surprises.
"The owl mentioned something about some rewards at the valley."
"Rewards, like those heart pieces?"
"Maybe, maybe not." It was a fact that Navi knew that there were two pieces stored in the valley, it was just there wasn't really the location she knew. And another factor that stood was they wouldn't be able to get across the Gerudo, so those things needed to be near the area before they reached the guards gates. Hrm, that would be a problem, but if they couldn't get past them, they just couldn't. The Gerudo women were trained to fight from the day they could walk, they would easily dispatch the boy.
A fourth of an hour displayed later before he was sitting upon the grass and drying his clothes out in the afternoon sun. Nothing much else happened for the remainder of the hour, both of them taking a forty-five minute nap, awakening at ten after four. Waking himself up with the automatic alarm clock, the boy and his fairie were surprised to see the wise owl perching upon the gate, where they slept, staring at him with eyes closed. As soon as Link made the first attempt to move, though, the owl stared down at him with those yellow glaring eyes, brown feathers stretching out.
"Hoot, Hoot! Well, good afternoon, young hero. I presume your accomplice has told you about our travel plans?"
"Accomplice?" He giggled a little, nodding his head somewhat. "Yea, she told us we were going over to the Gerudo Valley, but-- you never said how we are going to get there."
"Fly, you dummy!" The 'accomplice' spoke up, shaking her head a little. "Forgive him today, Gaebora, he got too much water in his brai-" Being thrown across the ground, the girl was tackled by the Kokiiri, who began to tickle her all over. Bursting out into a fresh stream of giggles, the girl tried to tickle back, but to no avail. That forest child was just too strong at sometimes, playfully repeating over and over that he wasn't the dummy--she was. Kaepora just watched to two with a chuckling look upon his animal features.
Separating the two apart, the owl shrugged a small feathery shoulder. He tried to separate the two with the slip of his wings, but that didn't really work, for Link threw himself over to another patch of overgrown grass, continuing the tickle torture upon her. What was so strange to the owl was how gentle the boy was with her, being how fierce he could get, how could one be so gentle with a fairie only the size of his middle finger?
Finally deciding to separate the two beings, he pushed his wings between the two. That didn't help, for Link crawled over the wings in an instant, Navi flying in-between the wings, also. Throwing her head back in a squawk, his claw grabbed Link by the shirt collar, clasping the fairie with both wings pushing together. Struggling with the two for a few minutes, the kid's energy finally pushed down, slumping down somewhat, as Kaepora put Navi in Link's hat.
"Hang on, you two."
"You are gonna fly us, Kaepora?"
"But of course, little hero." Throwing his wingspan out, the flyer lifted up one hundred feet into the air, staring forward at over the horizon. There wasn't that long left until they would reach Gerudo Valley from this destination, so taking off towards the eastern horizon, Gaebora would stop until they reached the area of the thieves. Looking down at the boy, he had already fallen asleep from the air travel within the first few minutes, his ears popping the higher and higher they rose. He was very careful not to go up too high in the sky, fearing the atmospheric conditions would make him short of breath.
From the lake he would head east, along side the huge range of Death Mountain. Spiraling forward for the next hour and a half, nothing else was in order unless he ran into the occasional Peahat (which he evaded easily.) Since it wasn't nice there were no problem of the Stalchildren, but then again, they could never reach this high up, could they? An hour later went by with no activity; the mountains remained the same until they carved down into a valley. Past the structure of the valley was places were the grass grew no more.
Streaking off the grassy plains was a rooftop that extended out, guarded by a gate, but below that was the bare plains full of dirt and rock. Nothing was around this area except the occasional rocks, even the Peahats weren't in this area, and it seemed the Gerudo had the unstable environment of them all. No grass, no water, although the river was up ahead, but it seemed that it didn't rain out here and all. Gaebora hadn't been out here in a while (the first hundreds of years ago), but back then again in the past it had been beautiful as the center of Hyrule Field.
Pulling away from the breeze, the owl flapped down into the valley, pushing down into the valley that narrowed its length to just fifteen feet across. Maneuvering through the place in fifteen minutes, the owl came up to an area with a long rock bridge that led into the beginning of the Gerudo inner valley, a small little waterfall was at his right (but not the one that led to Hylia.) Flapping up a few more feet, landing just after the stone flab of rock, he pulled the two down on the ground, shaking them with their wings. Not even waiting for them to awaken, the owl flew up into the air and took off away from the valley, it gave him some bad vibes, but Navi wanted to come here for some reason.
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The trip was a blur to Link, it seemed like the owl had some sort of sleeping power in his talons, for he was asleep from the time he took off, until the time he heard the animal give out a screech of farewell. Sitting up, he covered his face with those hands, staring over at the land, surprised with not so much as envy. The entire place was barren; all he saw from all around were barren plains that stretched forward. Looking up, he noticed that it was just a hill, so when he climbed to the top, his discovery was a more barren land, but also a nice-looking rope bridge. It seemed this had been built for good use, the thing was ten feet wide and fifty feet across.
Carved from stone, the beginning of the bridge seemed to be. Above the bridge were two pillars that stood five feet in the air, that was what the ends of the bridge were connected to. On the other side was another pair of pillars with the opposite end of bridge connected to them. Walking ahead, the boy stepped on the footbridge as Navi began to flutter from out of his hat, staring around at him, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Giggling, he kept his hands on the rope that was used as the handrails.
"Mm, where did owl go?" Peeking ahead, there was a shadow up ahead, but it didn't seem threatening, at least from right now. What really was frightening was when he looked down at the ground. There was some way down; it reached down into the Gerudo River that would connect to Lake Hylia. No, that wasn't the scariest part of this adventure, it was the drop down that frightened him past all beyond belief. Wide-eyed, the child glanced down at the ground, feeling his legs begin to wobble a little.
"L-Link, calm down! Heights, you must be afraid of heights! Calm down, little guy, the bridge is wide, you won't fall. Stable yourself!"
Sinking down upon his knees, the boy's vision began to sink back and forward. Gaping forward, the boy grabbed the Rope Bridge, slamming into the bridge and slinging back and forth. Falling upon his back, he curled up a little bit…rocking back and forth upon the bridge, making it not seem so stable. This would have gone on for the entire time, unless Navi hadn't lifted him up and carried him the whole way, until she stopped and dropped him down on his stomach. Her eyes had jolted out in an expression of pure fear, there was no un-mistaking it, it was as if Ganondorf himself had appeared before them.
Crying out in slight pain, the boy looked up at what had scared her so bad, for when he looked at her she was shaking a little and pointing forward. Ganondorf it was not, but there was a beautiful woman just less than six feet with her arms crossed over her chest. A small scarf wrapped around her mouth, so he couldn't view her expression, but the rest of her body gave off a nice sensual glow. Her invisible aura shot off a beautiful feeling, but also a deadly feeling, because the girl was stretched inside what looking like Gypsy clothing. Gypsy clothing was strung about her body, her halter top made of silk, showing off her flat, tanned stomach, and matching violet silk pants upon her slim form. The traditional Arabian shoes lay on her feet, also. Sheathed at her side was a sword, but not like his, it was small at the bottom and curved up into a beautiful wide blade made of stainless steel (bigger than his, that was for sure.)
No armour strung across her form, but that silky red hair, which was tied up into a ponytail, glanced down as she stared down at him with cat-like yellow eyes. Her nose stuck out against the purple cover, but from the imprint, Link could make out that a grin was positioned upon her face. Bending down on her knees, the woman leaned against an Iron Gate that had to have sealed the Gerudo palace form the rest of the world. Without even asking, Link knew it was a Gerudo, and taking a few steps back, his fear of the fall dissipated.
"Where do you think you're going?" Her arms uncrossed heading for the sword, but before she could get the thing out of its sheath, Navi slammed into it and watched as it bounced off the ground and flew down into the river.
"Why you--what the hell was that!" Flailing at the dot, it easily evaded her feeble attacks with her hands. From the looks of it, the Gerudo fought like girls, but were mastered in the blade. That was a bad disadvantage for them, but a good one for Link. Flipping backward, his sword was pushed out and ready to fight (his first human opponent), it seemed this would be his first human kill. Readying himself, the child charged up at the woman, aiming for her throat and ready for the kill.
"P-please wait!" Throwing herself upon her knees, the girl burst into tears, crying softly into her hands. Link blinked a little, looking down at her, to Navi, and then back to the girl. Staring down at the sharpened blade…the boy slipped it inside of the sheath and slumped down on his knees right next to her. Grabbing her shoulders, he smiled a little and spoke sweetly.
"Hey, it's okay, I won't hurt you."
"P-promise?"
"Of course." Grinning, he shrugged a shoulder and stood up ready to speak to her, but that was when he was overtaken by a slam to the gut. Gasping, his hands fell upon his stomach, staring up at the grinning woman, eyes widened with pain. She gripped him by the collar, spitting into his face, and reached for his blade. Shaking her head, the woman walked over to the side of the bridge, dangling him over.
"I hate men…I hate boys, and I hate you." Spitting into his face, she dropped him off the edge of the bridge.
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This was it, this was the end. His own stupidity would be his demise, he knew from the start he should of killed her, but she just looked so sweet! He couldn't help, but feel sorry for the beautiful woman who was crying on her knees. Must be one of the attacks against the men, Eh? Seduction was a good term for it, and if he survived (of course I won't), he wouldn't fall for it again. Shaking his head, the boy cried silently as the hundreds of feet sank down from miles to miles, doing the only thing he could, which was hide his shield above him and hope it broke the impact.
Nothing would break the destruction he imagined, nothing could save him, even if Navi would get a hold of him, there was no way she could stop him and float him down the feet this valley reached. Below was a river, but the impact was going to kill him! Another alternative was that it may have been like the water in the Zorian Domain and was soft, although he knew the answer to that, since this was the same water he had spent thirteen hours scrounging in. Great, no one would ever find Ruto; she would just turn into stomach acid after a while, what a wonderful way to die!
He could feel to fluttering of Navi, trying to scream her name for help, but his voice was drowned out by the fall. How long had he been in the air, five, ten hours? He couldn't tell, but he believed it had only been a few seconds, was his life flashing before his eyes? Images of everything that had happened were weighing upon his soldiers, he was be a traitor to the Kokiiri, brother to Goron, loser to Zoras, disappointing Zelda, Ganondorf would rule the world, and Saria would have been disappointed he hadn't come to visit. Hands stretched out and grasped Navi, holding him close to her, he tried to hold it in, but the tears began to splash down his cheeks and into the air (he was falling face-first, so they streamed upward.)
Feeling and watching Navi, he saw she was crying and trying her best to help him survive. She would survive, of course, he hoped that her next master would be better than the other would. Pulling her close to him as much as she could, he whispered into her ear to find a better master next time. That made him receive a hard slap across the face, and her beginning to choke over her sobs, Goddess! He made her cry that was a heavier weight on his heart than anything else did. Holding him close, she mouthed something to him that he couldn't understand, it started with an 'L' that's all he caught.
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This wasn't happening! It couldn't happen this was insane! Goddess, she should have told him to cut the wenches' throat when she had thrown the sword aside, but her honesty rule of not killing something unarmed had kicked in. Vowing never to use that damned thing again, the girl had been quite surprised when she heard the boy yell and saw that nothing was where he had been two seconds ago. Viewing downward, she saw that the girl had knocked him off, spit on him, and said some awful words towards the kid. Flying up at the Gerudo's face, she brightened herself and shot a chi ball right into her forehead. There was a yowl and cursing in the ole' Gerudo language when Navi had thrown herself, spiraling a downward speed to Link.
She reached him a few seconds later, seeing he was trying the trick in the Deku Tree, but this time it wouldn't work, that valley had to be at least five hundred feet deep. He was already halfway there when she reached him and started to cuddle up with him, for she knew she couldn't stop the impact of the fall, it would kill both of them. Here's what would happen: the impact of stopping him would kill her and then he would drop the rest of the way and die. Was it better to live on her own, for she knew she couldn't live on her own? The little fairie had always been alone, but now here she was with Link and he was going to die! No, no, she wouldn't allow him to die, she wouldn't allow it. Cuddling up with him, she began to think as the seconds ticked away.
No, nothing would stop them now; nothing would stop this process, for they were doomed. All the possible choices flowed through her mind; they could land and die. They also could do some more sensible manners and try to find someway to float down, but how? Nothing in his satchel was a parachute, the satchel! Maybe they could use that as a parachute? No, it wasn't big enough; there was nothing else in here that would help them, unless it was the shield, which was the only way to do it. All that ran through Navi's mind was if the Goddesses' wanted their tasks accomplished they would have to thrown out an ole' miracle at the two.
During her thinking process he brought up the part of maybe getting a nicer master. A nicer master! How dare he, she couldn't help but slam her fist into his cheek, and cry out in curse words, cursing him for saying such words. How could he say something like that! How could he be so cruel? Beating upon his chest, the girl was surprise when he pulled her towards him and kissed her cheeks sweetly. Pushing against him, the girl yelled out at the top of her lungs "LINK! I LOVE YOU!' her voice being drowned out by the air of the wind. Cursing herself, she was about to give up when she heard the squawk.
A squawk? A cucco? Her mind rattled on for the questions to the answers, and turning sideways, she saw that to her left was a Cucco. How it got here was a mystery in itself, but a miracle was all that could explain it. Grabbing hold of the Cucco, she threw it at the weeping boy, he fumbled with it for a few seconds, but caught it around the waist. All of a sudden his impact was slowed down, as the chicken began to flap around for some pressure. The pressure stopped slowly, easing down as the falling stopped all at once. There he was, floating down to the rocks, and what was better was that there were two spaces that he could land where there were places to rest!
"Link, we did it! We're saved!" Actually, she was never in any danger, but after this experience, he thought of them two as one in the same. Her decision would have been to probably to stop the fall at only a few feet and die, for she knew she couldn't have bared to watch him splat upon the water, or the cliffs nearby. As luck would have it they were floating southward towards the higher cliff that was only twenty feet above the lower one. Coming to a full stop at the edge of the first cliff, he put the Cucco out inside of she searched around for those rewards, this may have been the place that she had mentioned earlier, but that sure wasn't the initial plan of the day.
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My Goddess, how could a miracle like this happen? Link had presumed himself dead, but out of the blue a Cucco appeared and Navi threw it at him. Relying on past experience, the boy floated down the rest of the way and kept he in one piece when he landed off of a ledge that wasn't quite at the end of the mountain, but a pit stop. Staring around, in utter amazement at the situation, the boy pulled the chicken into his satchel and fell upon the rock ground. Yelling at the top of his lungs, he sighed with satisfaction after the souring of his lungs. Who cared, he was alive! Oh, Goddess how could this happen, did the Gerudo throw a chicken down after them, did she feel sorry for them?
His fairie had gotten up and was already looking around the seven feet long cliff, so he got up and went after her. Curiosity was still pondering his mind on what exactly she said before, he hadn't gotten it out, but it wasn't his name (even though it started with the same letter.) The lip synch was quite different, so moving over to her, the boy sat down right infront of where she was searching and spoke to her. What he didn't notice was that there was a chest right infront of where Navi was perched.
"Navi, what did you say earlier?"
"Say, what do you mean?" Trying to crack the huge lock upon it, she began to perform Ki shots upon it until it finally snapped open.
"When we were falling. You said something that started with an 'L', but it wasn't my name."
"O-oh, that! N-nothing at all, sweetheart I was just saying stuff, I forgot, I was temporary insane." Flushing, she pushed open the chest and came out with a piece of heart, revealing it for the boy. That would wash away his questions, no doubt, because he grabbed the piece and grabbed the half of one, linking them together to form the seventy-five percent of one. Squealing and placing it down inside of his satchel, the boy stared back at her.
"How do we get down?"
"Easy, there is another cliff down there that leads right to the waterfall, you can float down the river until we reach Hylia and then we can head back to the Zoras."
"How long will that take," He scooped her up and placed him on her shoulder, walking over the edge and peering over, grabbing the Cucco, he readied himself to launch off, but waited for Navi to answer his question.
"A few hours, we should be there at nine-thirty. Judging that from the sun it is almost six o'clock, so we should be there at night. I think we should go into Jabu Jabu at night though, something tells me the hear will not be so excellent in the daytime." Pushing him off the ledge, the boy gasped out loud, grabbing onto the Cucco for all his might, and floating down the remaining way of the valley. Shrugging a quick shoulder, the boy actually agreed with her, who knows what sort of stuff was inside this giant fish (or whatever it was), it was best to come at night.
"As long as the king lets us through."
"I think he will when we show him the bottle…he was upset over his daughter's disappearance, Link."
Agreeing silently, he could tell that the king would want them to go get his daughter. He hoped she was as sweet at the king was, he may have been an old fish, but he was one of the nicest people Link had ever met. The King would respect Link for his courage, he thought he was brave for taking one of his own guards down with the sword, and agreed that if they got the stone, then they could keep it. That was best part of it, because he was wearing their symbol, and if he wore their scale, he needed to keep his honor too them. Maybe it was irony, but his Kokiiri tribe symbol was gone, since he was thrown out from the tribe. So, maybe he had to honour himself with the other ones, even though he really wasn't their race, but he was accepted as one of them. It was strange, strange and stupid in a way, yet he would keep his honor towards the Zoras and rescue the princess.
After a few minutes of floating, only six feet from the landing point, the chicken gave out of strength. Maybe he should of let it rest, or maybe he should of checked to see if it was in any bad condition, for when Link looked up the chicken was dead. There was no time to retaliate, all he did was cry out and throw the chicken down into the ground. The chicken smashed into the ground, where a little blood splashed over, but the funny part was when he hit the ground. He landed right onto of the Cucco, which exploded into millions of pieces. Crying out in disgust, the boy jumped up and stared down at the mass of pulp.
That wasn't even a chicken anymore, it was some sort of monster. Bones and entire skeleton had been ruptured into nothing, there were guts and brains scattered all around, surrounded by feathers. Those feathers were covered with red liquid, the blood obviously, and Link couldn't control it. Running over away from the waterfall (this one was about forty feet long), he hit the ground and threw up over the edge of the water. Bile had begun to form in his throat when he heard the cracks of the bones, but seeing it was so different. Watching the puke flow down the river, the boy drowned himself in the fresh water and gulped it down. Rolling away, he grabbed his stomach as the cramp form, crying out in pain. He would have rolled into the cliff, but a large foot stopped him.
"Well, what do we have hear?" A voice, feminine in speaking, rolled out from the tip of a tongue. Moving his head past the foot, he saw another Gerudo, but this one wore no weapon of choice, and was dressed in a silken suit of white that showed no parts, aside her appendages. That, however, didn't mean she wasn't dangerous. Navi was about to pounce with a blinding attack, but something told the boy to stop, so he calmed her down and cupped her inside of hands.
She must have noticed him doing something with his hands, maybe a magic spell, perhaps, so she reached in for a hit to the throat. Pushing himself backward, the boy caught his feet guard, and threw himself backwards a few more feet. Reaching for his sword, the boy stopped and watched the unarmed woman, he had some honor. No, he wouldn't attack the woman without a weapon, but holding the sword steadily in his hands, he backed away from her. Meanwhile the commotion was around, Navi slipped back behind Link and drifted off towards the waterfall.
With a gasp, he realized his fairie had deserted him. Turning around to call out her name, he was greeted with a swift kick to the back, surely would have knocked him out, had it not been for the shield. Luckily, he just pushed him to the ground, which he greeted with pushing his hands back and flipping him upwards. Landing upon his feet, the blade aimed steadily behind her, the boy nodded a quick few steps and watched her. No, she didn't seem to be going a where now, seems she underestimated a warrior, and you were to never do that (even if it was a child.)
A few minutes of yelling for Navi, his front form never leaving the Gerudo's nasty eyes, and keeping her at bay with some of the few rumbles, had really tuckered the boy out. Crying out once more, Navi returned to his side with something concealed behind her back, so he didn't see when she slipped it inside of his pocket and a clinking sound chimed. Immediately he knew what the sound was, that was the sound of a fourth of a container clicking together. That meant that the whole heart was completed, and when that happened, well, we will just see.
Ki-ing a deep blue, the boy sheathed down his sword and ran right at the Gerudo. It seemed these surges not only increased his stamina, speed, and strength, but also gave him the capabilities of something far past his normal extents, when it was charging up. That poor thief tried to throw a punch at him, which he parried by flying back against a wall, and bottle rocketing into her chin with his fist. Not aiming to break, he nicked it, causing her to break down in pain. While the girl was tending to her face, Link hit her in the side of the head with his hilt. Reclaiming the sword into the scabbard, he saw nothing else of interest and did the only normal thing to do: dive in.
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Navi resumed her position at his head while he fought the Gerudo, you see, she had heard the hollow trinkets of the waterfall on their way down, which only had to meant there was some hole carved in there. Taking her natural instincts for granted, she flew behind the waterfall and landed right upon a ladder that led up to the human-carved hole. Certainly not made by erosion, the block concealed a hidden brown chest that hid upon the fourth heart piece they would discover. Fluttering back to the one she protected, she handed him the piece and viewed the battle with astounded ability. The view upon his face made her beam with her own little ambition, yea, the journey out here was not just a waste of time, it was relaxation and collection four extra heart pieces sure helped the boy and her in their quest to defeat Ganondorf. From her guess, Link was nine times as strong as when he arrived, not that he was nine Kokiiri boys put together, more like he was strong as a nineteen-year-old Hylian would was.
Not even bothering to test out her own ability, she guarded the enemy, but gave no tips on how to beat the Gerudo. I mean, it wasn't hard to be an undefended woman, who was deadly nevertheless, but had to be taken care of so not to report down to her comrades. How she got down here and how she got back up was still a mystery to Navi, maybe she was an outsider? If she had been an outsider, she would have greeted them pleasantly, but no, she just had to attack them with the ferociousness. From Navi's guess, she was the Gerudo farmed of some sort, that would explain the huge cow right where she stood, a crate, and a small soaked patch of where seeds would go.
When she went to plant the seeds down inside of the patch, without Link's understanding, she heard a splash and feared the worst. The guard must have jumped in for help! Retracting around, she heard Link call her name out in a boyish laughter, pointing for her to follow him. Clutching the newly tied bag of seeds together, the fairie went after the boy. Yes, she almost caught up with him, before the water seemed to disappear, or was it dip down? A scream erupted, then a splash as Link sailed down a miniature waterfall. He was spluttering when Navi caught up with him, nestling upon his shoulder, chuckling silently.
When he finally returned back to breathing in oxygen, instead of the usual aquatic features, the boy looked over to his fairie and gave her a quiet slap on the face. She cried out loud, staring at him, holding her sore mouth with a bit of hurt in her face. Pulling a finger forward, he stroked the cheek softly, not really patting her so hard, it was just a punishment of payback for not telling him of those 'little' adventures on the rapids. Almost reading his mind, the fairie nodded and slunk down inside of his hat, which was the driest place for all. Storing those seeds with her, so not to fall out since he couldn't reach his side belt in these conditions, the fairie drifted down the sleep as Link dealt with the rapids.
And what a dealing it was! Link spent the next three hours dodging rocks, not that there were many, closing his eyes for the impact of the waterfalls, and drifting along in the loneliness of the world. It really gave him a good chance to think of some things, gave him the chances to study his options when the quest was over. Gotta get the third stone first, dummy. His mind pointed out to him in a matter-of-fact tone. Shrugging sheepishly, the boy dodged one more rock for what seemed the thousandth time.
How was he going to end this, were they going back the Kokiiri Forest to live? Man, why do I think like that, I am already banned from there, I would be living in the Lost Woods for my life. There were other options, he could stay with the Gorons, but those beasts had hugged too much. Ever since Link had been named the 'Dodongo Buster.' (Which they said with so much prides, it was gloating) the child got hugs from every type of Gorons. A Goron hug was not a very nice hug to compensate with in the matter of his already weakened bones.
Maybe stay with the Princess? Not that was a nice thought, he could stay with the Princess (even though he didn't particularly find her as his favorite person, she seemed to know too much), but the chance to train with Impa-sama was a great honour. When it came right down to it, she was his first and only sensei (unless you count the fairies, which he didn't, they just gave him the technique coordinates, anyone could do that.) He would deal with Zelda-sama, it wasn't that he didn't like her, she was pretty and all, it was just that he decided the King wouldn't want a boy a junior to his daughter living in his castle.
If I go ahead and rescue this princess, maybe here? He did enjoy fish a lot, and the fishing arena was a fun place to be. With the new scale he would have no problem staying here, and catching his own food. That was a mistake for staying with the Gorons, they made him food from the Dodongo's, but after those were gone they went back to eating rocks. His pearly whites just couldn't suffer that sort of damage from eating those hard rambles of dirt. Zoras were as good as any place as this, unless the Kokiiri could be reasoned with and understood he didn't do anything to harm them or the Deku Tree.
Maybe the Gerudos? That one gave a short laugh, he hadn't even told the Gerudos what he was and he was already dealing with their antics. Not to mention their king was the enemy of his, maybe if he killed Ganondorf then he would become the King of the Gerudos? Not a fancy title, there would be no one to mess with him, though Link didn't think he was King-material. Most likely, he would be a visitor to the forest and a drifter from town to town, maybe a mercenary of some sort? It was a sad destiny, but at least he would have his companion at his side, he would be with her forever. That was a reassurance that made him consider himself very lucky for her.
Then that other question pondered his mind, the one he had been trying to knock back for all eternity. Why was Navi so different? It is like she had changed over the time they met from the present day today, looking back on the days, he couldn't count how many. Maybe he should have brought a journal to record his history for some tales that would be told hundreds of years from the present day. Link just couldn't understand her behavior, she was different, but not in a bad way, she just seemed to get overzealous of him. The lad didn't understand why women thought he was cute; maybe it was a gift or maybe a curse, and all he understood was Navi.
Communication was different from them, sometimes it was like they could read each other's minds, and known what the other one was thinking. Yet, in this case she had some sort of mind block upon him, and just claimed that she didn't want to lose him to any of those other pretty girls. Did that mean that she thought that he-- nah, she wouldn't think of that, Navi was pretty, but she was just a fairie. They didn't--or did they have feelings like that? Staring up from his nostalgia, he noticed he was not drifting down the Gerudo River anymore, how he was sitting at the base of Lake Hylia with his waist pressed against the edge.
Four hours had actually passed by the time he found the entrance that led back to the Zora's domain, the reason that he had delayed somewhat for the heart pieces, and the fact that later on he discovered himself. When he had found himself lying on the beach, he would later discover that he had been lying on the side of the Lake Hylia for thirty minutes. Another factor was finding the entrance, without the slumbering fairies help, was going to be hard work. Link doubted they would start the dungeon today, he was just too tired to even consider venturing inside the belly of a beast.
Ruto would just have to wait another day that was the answer when Link swam inside of the door to the Zorians, pounded upon it with a message for the King, and was promptly let inside. After making his way from the curious squeals of some Zoras (including the guard, plus the sultry one), the boy was let through to the Zorian King. Now, he would have been down there too in a heartbeat, except the fact that he couldn't move. When Link went up to the platform and yanked out a letter made in the paper of the Zoras, the king was ecstatic.
"W-who is that from, young warrior?" Balling the letter up, Link chunked it up at the King, who caught it with a slick flipper. Even though the Kokiiri and his fairie couldn't decipher the message runic very well, the king was done in three minutes and proudly announced it to Link and Navi (whom had just been pushed from her early slumber by the tiring Link, whose lids needed the rest even more.)
"It says this "Please help me, I am trapped inside of Jabu Jabu's belly. Please hurry, and don't tell my father.' Her signature are there, which looks authentic, but the strange thing is that she can't conduct these sort of runic in her schooling lessons yet. It is either the opposition of Ganondorf, or he wrote the note to tease us, for we might never find it and that is where the princess has gone."
"Was her time to feed Jabu when she disappeared?" Navi blurted sleepily, wiping her eyes a bit, reclining upon Link as support from her nearly unconscious body, yet she heard the whole conversation in whole. Thank the Goddess' for the long elven ears, Eh?
"Why, when you mention it, it was her time! Oh dear me, Jabu Jabu must have been poisoned like your poor guardian and now instead of the contents being evil, he is evil instead." He was shifting his weight back and forth, when suddenly his eyes fixated upon Link. "You will go and rescue her tomorrow, or tonight? Please, let it be as soon as possible, I am ready for my daughter's safe return and I know you are ready for your present."
"Tomorrow, dear king, my partner here has been to the Gerudo Valley today looking for clues your daughter's disappearance, I think he deserves a nights rest and a full meal tomorrow, what do you say?"
"Well, of course, and when you bring her back we shall have a feast in your honour. Now, go on and eat your meal for tonight, I will have you some freshly cooked fish in the morning. Also, I want you to keep that bottle forever, it is sort of a reward. Be sure before you visit the domain of Jabu Jabu that you put a fish and water in there. The Lord would never let you into his bowels without an offering, at least for the past few weeks he hasn't.
"You actually travel inside him, how big is this guy!" -Leaning against one of the unlit torches, Link was trying to brave the conscious world, yet trying to listen to his next mission objectives, too.
"You'll see. Ah, look at you, poor thing." Clapping his fins together, two guards suddenly appeared out of no where and bowed for him to serve. When he pointed towards the tired child and his guardians, they nodded and helped him down the stairs to a hidden room in the caves, this is where a small bed was positioned, only one for him and her. There he was promptly tucked into the bed by some female Zora, stripped of his tunic and left in the bed in his undergarments for the time being.
A few minutes later, the fairie and the boy were fed a hearty meal of Octopus, probably the kind he saw a few days ago, but nevertheless he gulped it down in three portions (followed by the cleanest water he ever laid eyes upon.) While the things put him to sleep and Navi also, the crew of women came in and stripped him down to nothing. Sinking him from the bed, he was promptly given a bath and washed from all his dirty scars upon the young body. Returned to his bed in a pair of new undergarments, his tunic was replaced with sheen on it. The sheen was that sort of like the one Saria had put on for waterproof action, yet this one would be permanent and actually work in all situations.
Having replaced all his nuts and sticks with new ones, the side pack and satchel were emptied (not searched), and replaced with identical ones that were just as dry. Shield was washed and polished, along with the beautiful sword they revoked over. The Faroeians got the sword, while they got the water, why would the children have the dagger anyway? The Zorians had a magical triton that was sealed up, but who knew what the Gorons had. Finally when all the action died down, all his clothes and materials were aligned along his bedside (a fish in water in the new bottle), while the second empty one was poured with some elixir.
Commotion had finally ceased once and for all, that night he slept as sound as a baby did. He would never sleep like that again, maybe there were some weird weeds in the water, or the fish was toxin for his sleeping ordains. Whatever the case, he loved the sleep, for the nightmares were not there that night, all he dreamt of were things he used to dream of as a kid: fighting monsters, being a winner, and winning the girls, as in the story books. Except instead of Mido being the monster this time and Saria being the beautiful princess, there were two new characters in the plot. Ganondorf was the monster, and not Zelda, but Navi took the position as the beautiful damsel.
His dreams were sound and soft, as were hers. Though they never spoke of them, they both could be heard during most nights screaming and crying in their sleeps. It was torture, but relief when her own nightmares were gone from her. It had to be some special potion from the Zorians, which they wished they could thank with all the rubies in the world. Her dreams differed from hers, it wasn't a hero play, but that of a romantic, and the two together were as you guessed it: Link and Navi. The whole world was blown up, except them two, and they had to restart the population of the world. With the two slumbering beauties down, they had no idea what awaited them.
During the middle of the night, the Zorians returned and put the dried clothes upon the boy. Also, since the veil was off, Navi's clothes were washed and redone. Her body even washed, although they knew it didn't need it, when she would awake she would be as refreshed as the boy was the next day. As the Zorians left for the night, there are another slumber awakening, yet this one wasn't met with such a potion. This one was met with nightmares, belonging to a beautiful princess, her guardian holding her through the tears of pain. Elixirs like this weren't offered to the Hylians, for no one knew they had such dreams (psychic dreams, they did have, but never discussed them.)
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No repentance came about the fallen night, only a few hours passed. Abruptly they both awoke refitted, relaxed, and nurtured as if they were royalties. Being fed breakfast in bed didn't really seem to help the situation of being spoiled, either. After finishing his meal of fish eggs (a bland taste to them) some broiled fish, and fresh spring water; he was led to the King's chamber for one last talk with him. The talk didn't last long; the king basically explained what was going to be going on in Jabu's mouth, or his hypothesis.
He said he expected it to be a long and cruel journey, that he might spend as much as a day inside the creature, yet there was no worry, for a specific room was located inside of Jabu Jabu where they could rest the night. When Link questioned where this room was, the king flustered and began to dig through out his royal garments for something. Questioningly, Navi asked what he was looking for, yet the man ignored her and spoke something in his Zora language. After two calls to guards, they located a firm brown piece of paper, which one of them handed to the boy.
"A map?" Navi spoke up, while Link sat on the ground, spreading the small map on his lap.
"Yes, that is a map of Jabu Jabu."
"We've usually found these in the main area we were searching, before, I mean."
"Well, consider yourselves lucky, there might be a chest in there with a map, but I am helping you out so you can find the room. The room isn't located on that map, because it is so old and updated."
"Jabu created this room, then? How long ago, right before he changed." Link blurted out, clasping the map. He had seen a room that quite a while away, marked by some red ink, taking that for the room.
"No, three years ago he created if for when we would journey in him and get lost, we could always sleep there. There are some of our own supplies, so you don't have to sleep on his skin. Anyway, the venture will be tough, but I am sure you will get through it."
"Are there any enemies we should be worried about."
"There are no Youma around." The King clasped his fins together, nodding with himself. "At least, that is the last time we were in there."
"Youma, what are you--"
"Monsters, Link, it's the Zorian language, I know that much." Navi inquired, she couldn't speak the language, but knew a few odds and ends from the Deku library that Deku Tree had for the children, or fairies to study.
"You are correct, little fairie. Youma are monsters, but the last time we went in there it was empty. Now, you received a fish last night when you slept, did you not?" Not waiting for a response, because he had seen that it was put in there, the fish went on. "I want you to offer it to Jabu Jabu-sama. You see, there is a large ceremonial platform where people stand and talk to him, or offer him meals as thanks. Offer him a fish and his mouth shall open, not matter how cursed he maybe, he still eats."
"Yes, sir. I shall do it, now where is this Jabu?" He clasped the map and slipped it into his belt. The past maps were now thrown away, the compasses also (or compass), since they no longer worked whenever they left the dungeon. He had tried one on the outside area towards Death Mountain, but the stupid thing malfunctioned with all cost together. Maybe they were paired with magic that kept them there, maybe they returned? All he knew, was that his was sitting on Death Mountain trail, probably being pummeled by ten of hundreds nasty rocks. No compass was offered to them, so he figured that either the fish didn't have one, didn't want to give one, or didn't know there was a compass in there. Not taking it at rudeness, they looked onto the king who began to shift.
First time he had moved in the days they had met, the huge fish shifted from the right over to the left. He only moved an inch at a time (after each shift the gates he was behind showed a clear path open.) Finally, ten minutes later, after Link was sitting on the floor and waiting, Zora got over as far as he could and contended himself back, by rubbing his robes. Sitting up, the boy dashed up the long case that led up to where the King was. To Link's surprise, the man wasn't holding back a waterfall, but it was just an area with so much few water, he thought the place where Jabu was must have been drained completely. Turning his head towards the boy, the Zora royalty smiled a fishy smile.
"Now be careful. I seem to like you, young man, and don't want you getting yourself killed on account of my daughter. I would normally send one of my guards, but they seem to be weaker than you!" Bellowing out in a guffaw of laughter, he beat upon his chest with a precedence never to do that again. Clearing that gilled throat, he looked down at the boy with a sense of seriousness. "You are a skilled warrior, train yourself well, and succeed. Then you shall receive the my jewel."
Nodding an approval of thanks, the boy took off down into the darkness that led to a lighter edge. The Zora's words rang true in his mind, for he had never gotten such pleasure from going on one of these missions, what I mean was he usually was pushed into it. In the Kokiiri's case, he was pushed to be a true hero, in Daruina's matter, it was a survival bet, but this one was different in so many ways. This case gave him a feeling of content, that if he failed and found Ruto-sama dead, that the man would not kill him. Although, if he failed, he would want the king to kill him, he'd fell as if he betrayed himself to get so mad over a stupid stone.
When the light escaped from the darkness, Link was astounded to find that the rocks had disappeared. Hell, even the domain structure had disappeared, and what took its place was nothing short of a fountain. No, nothing was spewing about, or like the fairy's fountains, but the place stretched out about tens miles (not that Link had to swim that far. Wading through shallow water, he found the holy ceremonial platform that the king had spoken of, but he hadn't thought have been how big Jabu was.
Four pillars stretched out on each corner of the square-shaped ceremony, and the whole thing seamed to be made of rocked, yet runic of the Zorian language outstretched the entire full. At the end of the platform, near was a small barrier, Link walked up towards it and stared down at the runics. Yes, just like the letter, they were, for they changed in the form of the language he could read, his home language, Kokiirish. Kneeling before the platform, he reached inside of his weapon pack and pulled out a bottle, reading the inscription to Navi aloud.
Those who want to enter the sacred fish;
Give what a fish blessed by the holy king.
Only then shouldst thee receive an opening;
To the great beyond of an open sea.
"Open the bottle, Link, and I guess he'll open his mouth." Navi retorted, glaring around at the barrier. It was actually nothing there, no fish, nothing at all. Stretching across the left for a few miles, he caught the sight of a cave that lifted up eleven feet in the air. At his near right was a huge slab of rock that was at least a mile far, with trees extending off the horizon up to the rocky exterior. Link thought it was yet again a part of the Death Mountain trail, those mountains seemed to dominant the entire structure of Hyrule. Far off to the left, only a distance in the being, was a short island, but that was all he could see. It had to be right near the end of the fountain, for he couldn't view the full extent of it, only a gargantuan tree in the far-reach.
"Is he under the water, Navi?"
"Yea, I imagine so." It may have been shallow until they reached the platform, but when they reached after it, the water took a sudden dunk in depth. Staring over the edge of his ground, he considered he couldn't see the bottom of the fountain, it was not as deep as Lake Hylia, (he couldn't go some places in Hylia, because they were under six meters), but it gave the domain quite a challenge. Smiling a bit, he reached out for the bottle and popped the cork upon the bottle.
With a flip of the wrist, the fish fell upon the ground in a splash of water. Since the bottle wasn't that deep, the water soon evaporated in the hot sun, while the fish began to wiggle on the ground. Quite a sad sight, but with in two minutes the un-evolved Zora was dead as a doornail. Ten minutes flew by in a flash, the boy growling as he kicked the fish to the edge of the platform. It almost went in, which would have been bad, for no fish resided down in here (except the slumbering Jabu.) Crossing his arms about his waist, the boy sat down upon the ground and got into a waiting stance.
Fluttering near his shoulder, she listened in silence with him, because she knew what he was doing: he was searching for something, trying to hear a tremble, or a rumble in the oceanic floor. Nothing at all came about this, but more grumbling from the boy. Ten sixty seconds passed by their eyes, before the last wisp of power came out, it seemed it took quite a while for the scent to come to the bottom of ocean. Good enough for him, for soon he was back on his feet, grinning a little bit. Rumbling went on for the next three minutes, obviously the ascent to the floor, and then a shadow appeared right above the surface. Seeing it from his feet away, he gasped at the momentous size of it, that made anything he had ever seen disappear from his head.
Great Deku Tree rivaled the beast, rising above it in height in length, yet that was a few eons old tree, and this was a fish. Finally when the monstrous beast jumped out of the ocean, landing its head upon the end of the platform, it breathed in the scent of the fish and searched around it with pupated eyes. The beast had to at least be one hundred and sixty feet tall, its total weight was so astronomical he couldn't begin to guess at it. Flushing, the face was right near him, so he could study the monster in its full view. This had to have been the God of the Zoras, but he thought that they worshipped the Goddesses, yet maybe it was like Daruina and Deku Tree, a symbol.
Pale skin of the other Zoras did show that it was atlas half the Zora, maybe a full one, since he saw not a bit of Hylian in it. The pale skin stopped until it reached near the head, where hundred of rows of aquamarine scales aligned its his right down to the top of the tail that flapped tidal waves about. To see the view, the boy jumped back a few feet, catching Navi even further back than him. Giving a cute smile, he nodded and motioned for her to come over by his side, and finally when she did, he looked back to the beast to study it.
Right on the bridge of his nose was a golden chastise of some kind. What it meant was a grown endowed inside of his head, so that it could never be taken off, but it was known that the thing wasn't naturally made. This crown was aligned with hundreds of jewels in front, diamonds at the very most, then near the sides were rubies and emeralds. The 'crown' stopped right about where his neck was, and then that was it for its royalty. No pupils were in his eyes, just bulbous orbs that rocked inches from their sockets.
A fish backed from the platform and peered at the smaller fish, but it was strange, since the creature had never laid eyes upon a Hylian before. When the King came out to visit, they never called Jabu to rest, for he was always too busy slumbering and eating (his hibernation time was seven months a year.) Sniffing the food with great interest, instead of sucking the small fish up and opening its mouth, he raised his mouth as much as it could go, inhaling deep with great pleasure. What it thought, since the thing had fish scent on it, was that this was some sort of new breed of fish for him to taste. Sliding down his throat, the fish did, but it didn't stop there, for it began to breathe deeper and deeper for the bigger object to slither in.
"It's gonna eat me!" Squealing, Link jumped up and began to run back towards the domain. No, he would get the Zorian King to open up, but there was no way he was going to be chewed up by some smelly old fish. Crying out when his legs stopped moving, he was lifted up in the air and sucked backwards, peering Navi off to the side, her wings begging her useless. Gripping the tiny fairie, he stuck her between her paws so if they did survive those teeth, they wouldn't be separated. Yea, a stupid little thought, but it was better than succumbing to the inevitable, he knew he was going to be sucked in.
No chi magic would work upon this beast, so Link just curled himself up into a ball and gave into the darkness. The air pressure made his ears pop, as what had happened on the owl, only difference was that in the air he had been asleep, not he was in pain and crying out. Clawing upon his ears, he entered near the mouth, yet he noticed that Jabu's mouth wasn't descending shut. Maybe it was a twist a fate, irony, or just pure dumb luck, but as Link was sucked in, his face broke out into a grin, yes, he was not going to be eaten. Saying that same verse as the boy and his fairie were suckled inside, the mouth clasping shut after it.
In actuality, the fish was more of a whale. Not that it was mammal, but it ate like a whale, for it didn't chew up anything that was knocked into its system, the antibodies were for that, but instead swallowed it whole. The fish, if being normal, would have caught the scent of the Hylian and stopped its actions, also the scent of the fairie, but something was very wrong with this Jabu. It's expression was different, a emotionless aura came about it, as if it was being killed from the inside, maybe it was, or being ready to be killed. This was the punishment of Dragmire, or so it seemed, nothing could escape it, and nothing was going to let the food out.