Chapter Thirty - An Adventure With Ruto
Link awoke to the bright sunlight pouring into his room, temporarily blinding him. He groaned as he sat up, blocking the light with his hand. He rose to his feet, only to see a figure standing next to the window.
"Good morning," Ruto's voice greeted him, although it didn't sound quite like her.
Link walked over to her, turning away from the light so he wasn't blinded. "Same to you."
She laughed as she realized his problem. Stepping back into the partial shade, she smiled. "This better?"
As she stepped back, Link was able to see her more clearly. He realized now that he was taken aback at her new look.
"Wow..."
She laughed again. "Am I that amazing?" she asked.
Instead of the person Link had met before, she had been completely changed. Her skin had changed to some sort of bluish tone. Her forearms seemed to have sprouted fins of some sort; long, folded attachments that seemed to shift colors as she moved. The same sort of fins had also grown at her waist, flowing back and down behind her legs. Her head had been reshaped, favoring a more streamlined look. Her entire body seemed to have been streamlined, now that he thought about it. He also noticed that the bluish color of her skin gave way to a stunning shade of silver as he got closer.
Her now-violet eyes scanned Link over as she noticed him examining her as well. "You like?" she asked mischievously. She spread her arms out, making the 'fins' unfold and glisten in the morning light.
"You look amazing..." Link commented.
"Why thank you," she replied. She brought her arms back down to her side and strode over to the other side of the room. "So, what have you been up to lately?"
"Oh, the usual," Link responded. "Saving the good guys, fighting the bad guys, stuff like that."
"What, not been having fun in the wonderland that is Hyrule?"
Link shook his head. "Not really."
"Then you're missing out! Here, come with me!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the door. Giving in, he let her drag him out of the castle. As they passed through the Market, Link inwardly laughed as several people stopped to stare at the Zora Princess dragging the Hero of Time through the town.
She stopped once they reached Hyrule Field. After several seconds of deliberation, she walked to the left, stopping at the bridge across the river. She stopped and quickly grabbed a small bag hidden in the bushes, which she thrust at Link.
He took the back and emptied it. Out fell what seemed to be a tunic, yet none he had ever seen before. It was a deep blue and it seemed to have been made out of some sort of special fabric, although he wasn't sure of its uses.
"Well?" she asked after a second or two had passed.
"Well, it looks nice..."
"Just put it on."
Link jerked off his green tunic and replaced it with the blue one. Instantly, he felt hotter, which he assumed was not a good sign.
Ruto, who had walked up to her waist in the river that flowed by them, turned back to Link. "Come on! The water's waiting!"
Without hesitating, Link dived into the water. The cool water rushed by him as he looked at Ruto. "What's this tunic made of?"
"Special Zora material," she replied, walking further in. "It'll let you breathe underwater, but out of the water, you'll feel like you're burning up a lot."
Link nodded as she dived into the deeper part of the river. She shot forward, the water rushing around her as if it was naturally made to do so. Later, Link would realize that it was naturally made to do so, her being a Zora. Link swam as close to her as he could.
"Where are we swimming to?"
"Lake Hylia," she replied, slowing a bit.
Link laughed. "You know, I have a faster way of getting there."
"Oh really? And how is that?" she asked, stopping and turning to Link, who explained the Serenade of Water and its teleportation properties.
"Well," she started after he finished, "that doesn't sound too fun. Takes the swimming out of travel."
Link shrugged as well as he could, being in the middle of the river; the water was already easily over his head. "Well, then, just for you, we shall swim."
Ruto laughed mysteriously. "Of all things I thought you'd say, that wasn't one of them."
"And why not?"
"You don't remember?" she asked. He shook his head. She sighed. "Well, back before the curse, before your adventures, before your first time jump, I wasn't exactly the nicest person you've ever met."
"Oh? And why is that? More importantly, how is that?" Link asked, starting to swim forward lazily.
She followed suit. "You remember Lord Jabu-Jabu? Well, you may or may not remember, but part of your 'assignment' from Zelda was to get the Spiritual Stone of Water, or the Zora Sapphire. Well, naturally, I had it, and you went into Lord Jabu-Jabu to save me and get it. Well, I was a stuck-up spoiled brat at this point. My father always babied me and the whole 'princess' bit went to my head. So, obviously, I wasn't nice to you at all. I should have helped more, actually. And I'm not even counting how I acted after the seven years passed!"
"Why? What happened then?"
"Are you getting any of your memory back? Any at all?"
"Eh, a little. It comes and goes here and there."
"Link, the Zora Sapphire was intended to be used as my engagement ring."
Link stopped abruptly. "And you said that this was one of the things I had to collect on my adventure?" She nodded. "So, are you saying that...I'm...and we're...?"
She laughed. "No, no, no. Of course not. However, I assumed we were when you returned, but that's history now. I'm more or less over you and you're in love with Zelda, yes?"
Link took a half a second to think about how over someone a person was when they said 'more or less,' then nodded. "Yeah, I am. Of course, I don't know how she feels about me, but I'm assuming the best. Assuming or hoping, at least."
Ruto dived down and resurfaced a second or two later. "Well, from what I can tell, it's pretty obvious."
Link sighed, letting the current carry him toward Lake Hylia. "Obvious or not, she hasn't said it, so she could feel anything and I'd have no clue."
Rut nodded thoughtfully. "I know how you feel there," she said, as if recalling something sad.
It took Link a second to realize that she was referring to him. "Hey, listen, I'm sorry about any way I may have acted before the curse. I wasn't me, or, well, I wasn't the me now. And you have to realize, I was ten. I had no idea what I was doing."
She nodded and half-smiled. "I know. I'll freely admit, I'm not all the way over it, but I'm working on it. You don't have to worry about me getting in the way of you and Zelda. I'm behind you two all the way. Now," she said with a sinister grin, "what say we hurry along to Lake Hylia?"
-
They had spent the entire day at Lake Hylia. For the most part, they swam and played around in the water, even trying a 'who can stay underwater longer' contest. Of course, with Ruto being a Zora and Link wearing the blue tunic, it had quickly been declared a stalemate. They had stopped by the Domain to eat, meaning that Link had choked down some strange combination of underwater plants, fish, and something Ruto referred to as the 'chicken of the sea,' even though it tasted nothing like any chicken he had eaten. Then they had explored the Water Temple, which had taken longer that they had expected. As Link and Ruto surfaced, they noticed that the sun was already setting on the Lake, a pathway of reddish-gold shining on the water's surface.
"Wow. Think we ought to get back?"
"Well, I know I'd suggest it. It just hit me that no one over there knows where you are. I'm sure Zelda's worried sick."
"Mind if we take my shortcut?"
Ruto shrugged as she and Link swam to the island. Link pulled out the blue-white Ocarina of Time and held up his empty hand to Ruto, who placed her own hand in his. He tightened his grip as he ran his free hand over the holes, the notes ringing crystal clear across the Lake. Suddenly, everything vanished in a yellow rush of light and was replaced by the familiar Temple of Time.
"Oh, thank the Goddesses!" Zelda exclaimed, rushing into the Temple. She stopped in front of the two of them. "Okay, I'm gonna give you a minute to straighten out your story because this has got to be one serious misunderstanding on my part."
Link hastily let go of Ruto's hand. "You know you need to be holding on to the other person for the song to work."
Zelda looked at Ruto for a second. "Ruto?"
Ruto nodded. "Yeah, that's me."
"You, um, realize that you're, uh, not wearing anything, right?"
Ruto seemed to find this quite funny. "Well of course I know! I favor a more practical approach. Clothes make living in water hard. Is there a problem?"
"Well, not that I'm aware of... Where were you two all day?"
Link spoke up. "We went swimming."
"All day?"
"Well, we stopped for lunch and to explore the Water Temple..."
"Oh, okay. Well, at least you're safe."
Link nodded. "Well of course I am! It takes more than one day than to take me down! It takes way too much to keep me down, so no one bothers anymore! Now, no offense to the Domain or the Zoras, but I'm hungry and fish ain't cuttin' it, so I'll see you later, after dinner, 'kay?" With a nod from Zelda, Link ran out of the Temple.
Ruto waked up to Zelda. "Don't worry; I don't plan on trying to win Link again. He loves you, you know. I don't want to make life any harder on him; Jabu knows he's already been through too much as it is." She walked to the exit of the Temple of Time, waited a second, and then turned to face Zelda once more.
"You found the best dog in the kennel and you've been handed the largest bone in the world. Don't make him try to hard for it or else he might decide it's not worth it to try to get it." And with that, she left.
A/N: Note that I'm not calling Link a dog. I couldn't think up any better analogies that didn't sound wierd.
