Link stared at the creature, person, standing before him, trying to process everything. He was getting a distinct sense of déjà vu from the start of the conversation he was about to engage in. Hadn't someone else asked him about his Hylian-ness too, a long time ago? Regardless, he nodded.

'Forgive my rudeness, but what are you?' he signed in return, trying very hard to quit his staring.

The person tilted their head in confusion, their large eyes looking from his hands to his face.

"Umm, what was that gesturing just now? Are you alright?" they asked, frowning in concern.

No. Not this again. Granted, it had been a long while since the last time he had to deal with someone not understanding him, but damn it, he had been so ready to never go through it again!

Just in case, he tried signing again, this time slower and very exaggeratedly.

'Do you understand me?'

The person looked just as baffled as before as they looked at his hands, then comprehension dawned on their face and they slowly shook their head, looking apologetic.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand your hand-speak", they said. Not the response Link had been hoping for, but at least better than 'why do you keep waving your hands like an idiot?' he sometimes got. Or the good old 'did you hit you head or something?'

Link sighed in frustration and chewed on his bottom lip. Alright. He really needed some answers, so it was time for desperate measures. Maybe… maybe his voice wouldn't fail him this time? Since there was only one person here? He did sometimes manage to speak with complete strangers. Not that he could really remember many times, but he was decidedly not thinking about that. He just had to concentrate and believe that this would work. It had to.

He took a deep breath and determinedly opened his mouth to speak, but felt his throat close up the moment he tried to get any words out. He swallowed and tried again, but, predictably, the results were the same. No words, only a feeling of pressure around his throat and chest, and his heart beating way too quickly.

Just like always.

He could scream. Except he literally couldn't, at the moment, even if he wanted to. It was very frustrating and made him want to hit something or possibly cry.

The strange person waved their hands frantically, looking more worried than before.

"It's alright! No need to try to force yourself. If you can't speak, then you can't, and that's fine. I'll just… ask you yes or no questions?"

Except it wasn't fine because technically Link could speak. Under certain circumstances. Sometimes. Damn it.

Where the hell was Sidon when he was needed?

"Umm", the person said, and Link forcefully brought himself out of his funk to pay attention. He may be unable to speak, but he could and should listen and save his problems for later. "Are you traveling alone?"

Speaking of Sidon. Link shook his head and gestured towards the water.

The person looked relieved for all of one second, then glanced towards the water and back at Link with horror written all over their face.

"They're in the pond?" they asked, voice tinged with distress. Link nodded warily. "Why are- no, you can't answer that one. Are you aware there's a lot of fish right by the shore?"

That sounded like the opposite of a problem to Link, who shrugged, confused. This seemed to make the person even more distressed.

"You don't- waitwaitwait", they said, shaking their head and looking at Link with a new understanding. "Are you… Are you aware that you've shrunk?"

…Shrunk? What did they mean with that? Sure, Link was short and that wasn't fun, but…

"You're currently the size of a Minish. That is, roughly as big as… an acorn", the person explained, looking at him imploringly, willing him to understand the problem.

The size of an acorn? Wait, Minish? Sidon mentioned-

Wait. Size of an acorn. Acorns are considerably smaller than fish. Hylian Basses, among most others, ate smaller fish.

Sidon was currently a smaller fish.

Link broke into a full run towards the water, trying to catch a glimpse of red anywhere and ignoring the shouts from the Minish behind him.

He took out his bow, the only thing that could even potentially be of any use in this situation, and scanned the water desperately. No Sidon in sight. Should he dive in? No, the fish would be faster than him. Damn, he left his Zora armor in the campsite with most of his things, although chances were it wouldn't have made a difference.

Okay, if he was Sidon, what would he do? Fight the fish? Sidon wasn't stupid; that would be the last resort. Also, if he had won he would be back by now, and if he had lost... Link wasn't going to consider that one. Try to out-swim it? Possibly, but if that had worked he would already be back. Hide? Hide where? The bottom was probably too far, and even so getting back up from there would be risky with fish all around him. What else was in the water to hide in? Rocks. He could hide between rocks big enough to reach the surface, or almost do so. Were there any rocks in sight?

Link scanned the surface of the water with keen eyes.

There.

Link ran, again ignoring the shouts behind him.

It took way too long to reach the spot on the shore that was closest to the rocks, but Link could immediately see he was in the right place: he could see the water rippling unnaturally, meaning that something was trashing just below the surface. Hopefully a fish trying to squeeze itself somewhere, and not Sidon wrestling with one.

Now the only question was, how was he supposed to help? He couldn't swim there to act as bait, he would just get in trouble himself. Cryonis wouldn't be of any use when the fish was likely bigger than the ice cube would be. He couldn't throw his bombs that far, and he might hurt Sidon even if he could do that. He couldn't aim his puny little arrows to something he couldn't see, especially with Sidon there. He needed a bait…

He gasped out loud, and patted his pockets. Yes, he had a staminella mushroom there, like he always did in case he needed a boost in a pinch. But only one…

He turned to look at the babbling Minish he had ignored until now, and held a finger to his lips in a universal sign for "shut up". Thankfully, it worked. Link turned towards the water again, nocked an arrow, and shot. It landed way short of his target, as he had rather expected, thanks to details like the smallest gust of wind suddenly making a huge difference to his tiny arrow's course. He shot another one, now much closer. He kept shooting until he had his desired spot down so that he wouldn't miss it when it counted, even with the added weight of the mushroom. With any luck, Sidon had also noticed the arrows by now and would know to act when the opening was given.

It was very stressful to know that much of his plan relied on luck, but he had had worse. At least this time he didn't need to set himself on fire or anything.

He took a deep, calming breath, mustering up all the zen he could manage. Then he pierced the mushroom with an arrow, nocked said arrow, and let it fly without giving himself any time to lose his cool or second-guess his plan.

The arrow flew straight where he wanted it to, plunking into the water and under the surface, if only briefly. Link watched with bated breath as the arrow and the bait resurfaced, and were soon followed by an absolutely huge fish that chomped them right up. Behind it, the water rippled promisingly, but Link couldn't see beneath the surface from all the way up the shore, so he could only wait.

Anxiously.

Especially so when the fish disappeared beneath the surface again after maybe a second. Did fish need to chew their food? Hopefully yes.

Just in case, Link fired another couple of arrows with the hope that they would keep the fish distracted now that it was close enough to the surface to maybe notice them. He wasn't sure if it was working or not, but at least it was something to do besides waiting uselessly. If only he could shoot a lighting arrow there without the very real possibility of accidentally killing Sidon along with the fish.

As a side note, he couldn't believe that he was actually in a position where he'd need a lightning arrow to kill a damned fish.

He was finally brought out of his mechanical repetitive shooting and incredulous thoughts by the Minish, who he had honestly forgotten about, shouting and pointing into the water. Link looked into the pointed direction, and to his utmost relief saw a red blur swim towards the shore with impressive speed. He put away his bow and ran to the spot Sidon was heading to, just in time to see the Zora breach the water with a little less flips and overall flashiness than usual; just simple utilitarian jump out of the dangerous waters.

As soon as Sidon was standing steadily, Link jumped into his arms, or at least against his chest, and wrapped both his arms and feet firmly around his friend in a full on octopus hug. Sidon "oofed" and took a staggering step back, but then caught on to the situation and chuckled breathlessly, nudged Link's legs lower so they weren't squishing his gills, and returned the hug with equal enthusiasm.

"Oh Link, I'm so happy to see you!" he said, and nuzzled the top of Link's head with his dripping crest. Link was going to be soaked from the hug, but didn't exactly care. "I wondered if I would be stuck there all night with how persistent the giant fish was being. Of course it was partly my own fault, I had to provoke it a few times to keep the smaller fish from being able to squeeze themselves into my hideout in its stead. In any case, your intervention was very timely and appreciated. I hope I didn't cause too much worry?"

Link just nodded against Sidon's chest, not even sure what kind of answer it was supposed to be, exactly. It didn't matter; all that mattered was that Sidon was safe and with him.

Suddenly, Sidon stiffened.

"Oh! I didn't realize we had company", he said, sounding a little awkward. His hold on Link loosened, which was probably his cue to let go, but Link didn't plan to do that anytime soon. It's not like he could talk to the Minish anyway.

After a beat, Sidon seemed to realize his predicament and apparently just accepted it for now, judging from the small sigh.

"Pardon the… awkward position I currently find myself in. I'm Prince Sidon of the Zora. Pleasure to meet you", Sidon said, nodding to the Minish.

"You're a Zora? Wow, I didn't think I'd ever meet one, I was only ever told to expect Hylians or the Sheikah", the Minish said, causing Link to turn his head to look at them curiously. The Minish then bowed. "I'm Slateri the Second of the Minish. Nice to meet you, Your Highness."

...

Slateri, huh?