A/N: Wow...it's been almost four months since I last updated...well, I don't know what to say...I was doing some other things (school mostly) until I came up across old files, found this story, and felt myself saying, "Oh, my God, I forgot all about this!"
If there were people waiting for me, I apologize severely.
I have looked at the old chapter one and decided that it isn't the best way to start this...so I have a completely different beginning...
Hopefully you'll enjoy it...
I. A Time for Celebration
It was a late, yet calm, summer afternoon, centuries after the Great Raphael had slain the great fish that caused such havoc on the present day Wind Fish Bay, now an area called Great Bay in a land known as Termina. The very place in the bay where Raphael triumphed over the powerful Gyorg now stood a temple to commemorate the Great War, so many years ago. Called Great Bay Temple, it took on the likeness of the fearsome beast. In the case that intruders would try to enter the sacred temple, it was protected by a powerful windstorm that, according to legend, Raphael had conjured up himself with his last breath on his instrument. The storm, to his day, never disappears, which gave new form to the meaning that he would always be guarding the sacred area, watching, until the time would arise when his help would be needed again…
If you were a Zora, you could easily swim through the water underneath the storm, bypassing it altogether. But there was only one way past the stormy shield for a human, and that help was rumored to have been a gentle spirit sealed away with magic, and the only way to awaken it was through another mysterious song…
But enough about the legend…forty miles away from the land of Termina was another Zoran area called Windy Bay, where a family known as the Zoraskis lived. Here, the smooth, peaceful water was tranquil, and there was not a cloud in sight as bright sunrays pierced through the blue water, touching the home of the Zoraski family, in happy celebration, on the underwater street known as Canvas Boulevard.
The reason for celebration, you ask? The ten fertilized eggs that Mrs. Zoraski had laid were all neatly lined up, sitting in the aquarium, waiting to hatch. Everyone in the family was there to witness the event, including the gossip-hungry Ellen, sister to Mrs. Zoraski. There was a mix of laughter, nervousness, and alacrity as the whole family waited for the Zoran eggs to hatch. Even Mr. Zoraski, usually the type to remain calm, was searching frantically for the camcorder.
"Oh! I forgot the camcorder!" yelled Mr. Zoraski. "I need to tape this - no one should miss this!" He swam upstairs like lightning, crooked.
"John! You and your crooked freestyle swimming!" yelled Ellen as he knocked over a vase upstairs. "You probably passed that trait on to your children! Seriously, Julia, I always wondered what you always saw in that Zora..."
"It was a normal bonding that eventually grew into a relationship," said Mrs. Zoraski. "Nothing unusual to me, I'd say."
Ellen's eyes widened. "You don't think that he is unus-"
"Oh, Ellen, give him a break," said Uncle Marlen, Ellen's husband. "You know he means well."
"Yeah, he means well, with his strange behaviors and horrible swimming…"
"AND THE STRANGE WAY HE HOLDS HIS CLUBS FOR URCHIN GOLF!" yelled Peter Airheart from across the street, overhearing the conversation through the open door of the Zoraski residence.
"HE MAY BE MY BEST FRIEND, BUT I ADMIT THERE ARE SOME STRANGE TIMES WITH HIM," he yelled.
"OH, FINE, SEE IF YOU EVER BECOME MY CHILDREN'S GODFATHER!" yelled back Mr. Zoraski from the upstairs window. "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SUPPORTING ME, NOT CRITICIZING ME!"
Everyone in the house laughed, and so did the Airhearts across the street. "I'm just giving some new gossip for Ellen," yelled Peter from across the street, closing his door behind him. He laughed when he went inside, telling some of the story to his wife, Debrah, sitting inside.
"What is it, Pick on the Excited Husband Day?" Mr. Zoraski called from upstairs.
"Oh, such funny business around here." said Ellen, turning to her sister. "Well I am so surprised that you even made those people across the street the little Zoras' caretakers. I mean,Debrah, she has that defect that keeps her from even laying eggs…honestly, I don't know why Peter even…"
"Must you criticize everybody, Ellen?" asked an exasperated Marlen.
"Oh, just trying to make a point around here…" said Ellen, turning to her sister.
"So when did you lay these young guys, Julia? Three days ago?" asked Ellen.
"Oh, that's about right," said Mrs. Zoraski, still laughing. "Or else I'll have some problem with these little guys, won't I? Speaking of problem, the ocean has been acting so strange lately…I mean, with the water randomly turning grey and the stories of all those missing Zoras…I wonder if they're all interconnected? I do pray that nothing will happen to us…I feel a little frightened…"
Ellen shrugged. "I know for a fact that nothing will happen to any of us…I mean, if something DID happen here today, there are plenty of witnesses. Anyway, back to these young Zoras. I'll bet you must be proud of them all. Imagine - ten eggs, all in one sitting! I don't know whether to thank you or take offense…I'm going to be a
pretty busy aunt!" she said playfully.
"Yes…now you know how I feel with those eight children of yours!" laughed Mrs. Zoraski. But it's a good thing we have all this extra space for the ten little Zoras," she said dreamily.
The clock then chimed a half-hour's passing.
Reading the clock, Julia was a little startled to see how fast time was moving. "Time to feed the little fellows!" she said.
She went to the kitchen and got some milk. Through a special tube that separated liquids from the surrounding water, she emptied the carton into the aquarium, where it was immediately sucked up by the eggs. Mrs. Zoraski watched them with pride.
"Oh, and you're right Ellen - I'm proud of them all, especially this one." With her fin, she pointed to a transparent egg, where they could see a little baby Zora wiggling its fins, begging to come out. It repeatedly beat at the inside of the rubbery shell with powerful fins, which were surprisingly sharp.
"What's so special about that one?" inquired Uncle Marlen.
"Well, other than being the most energetic, I do believe that he has his father's eyes! And I just adore those beautiful markings on that little fellow, even if other people say they look strange. Take a look for yourself!" said Mrs. Zoraski.
Ellen got closer to the aquarium and examined the baby Zora. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "Those are unusual. Look at this, Marlen! Kids, you see this, too!"
Automatically, ten Zora adults and children swam up to the tank. They saw the curious blue markings different from the back of a regular Zora, and saw strange birthmarks on the crown, neck, and right arm. His fins looked a little too large for his small Zoran body, and the head-tail that was supposed to be at end of the recognizable Zoran crown was missing.
"He'll look different from any normal Zora after he comes out of that egg, I can tell you that," joked one of the children.
"Roger!" snapped Ellen.
"Sorry, Mom, but you gotta admit, it's the truth!"
Mrs. Zoraski laughed.
"Ugh…Upstairs, Roger. I'll have a talk with you later." said Ellen. Roger glumly swam upstairs. Ellen faced her sister.
"Sorry, Julia."
"Oh, that's no problem, it's only child talk," said Mrs. Zoraski.
"Eureka, I found it!" said Mr. Zoraski from upstairs with the camcorder. He swam down to the living room and started taping the event. "Yes, any minute now," he narrated with the camera.
He panned the aquarium. "Here are our soon-to-be Zoran children, quietly waiting in their eggs."
Then he faced the camera in his wife's direction. "And here is the star of the show! The beautiful Zora who laid these beautiful eggs! Smile!"
Laughing, Mrs. Zoraski waved at the camera.
Still panning the house interior, Mr. Zoraski yelled through the camera, "And here's the sister of the beautiful Zora, Ellen…say 'hi' Ellen!"
Waving, Ellen said, "And what do you mean by that remark, John? That I'm not as beautiful as Jul-"
"And moving on!" said Mr. Zoraski, avoiding Ellen's confrontation by looking in another direction.
"Here's soon-to-be Grandmother Gail and Grandfather Lee!" They waved.
"And the eight…er…seven out of the eight children of Ellen and Marlen! Where's Roger?" he asked off camera.
"Upstairs, being punished," said Ellen.
"Hmm…OK," said a confused Mr. Zoraski. Then he turned the camera back in his wife's direction. "Well, dear, we can't put this off any longer. Did we ever give names for these ten guys of ours?"
"No we didn't," she said. "Where to start? Let's start with this little fellow," she said, pointing to the young Zora she was so proud of. What shall we name him?"
"You know," said Ellen, "Now that I look at him, doesn't he resemble that Zora from our legends in Zoran History Class? (Gosh, I hated that subject!) I can't exactly remember his name - ruggedly handsome fellow, though…"
"Oh!" exclaimed Mr. Zoraski, "You mean Raphael the III, my a-"
"JOHN!" Mrs. Zoraski cut him short.
Oh, that was close, thought Mr. Zoraski, with a dumb look on his face.
"What did you say, John?" asked Ellen, looking at the camera.
"Uh, nothing…" said Mr. Zoraski. "I h-happened to mention that Zora's name, Raphael!"
"That's right!" Ellen excitedly said, forgetting the crisis. "Raphael, Julia! Name him Raphael!"
"No, I don't care for that name," said Mrs. Zoraski, steering the conversation out of dangerous waters. "I always wanted to name him, well, something different…something like…Mikau."
"Mikau Zoraski?" asked Ellen. "Well, OK, Mikau!" she said. "I still think Raphael is better," she muttered under her breath to Marlen, who responded by rolling his eyes.
"Uh…OK…little Mikau!" said Mr. Zoraski, zooming in on the egg. "Now what should we name this little fellow?" he said, panning to the egg left of Mikau.
But they never got the chance...
Unexpectedly, the sun's rays disappeared from the open door, and the clear blue water suddenly turned dark grey. A foul odor filled the room.
"W-What's going on?" asked Mrs. Zoraski, slowly and nervously. "I don't like the feeling of this at all…I feel a chill down my back."
Sensing something terrible was about to happen, she looked around the room. Then she saw the culprit.
"AHHH!" she screamed. "JOHN, IT'S ONE OF THOSE…THINGS!"
Putting down the camcorder, Mr. Zoraski turned around and looked at the open door. Blocking the sunrays was an unexpected guest.
Terror and pandemonium filled every Zora in the room as John Zoraski yelled, "EVERYBODY! UPSTAIRS, NOW!"
A/N: Hopefully this sounds better...reviews, if you may...