Fyras14: Didnt take long for this chapter! Good for me! Well...actually i was working on this chapter during school just after I finished the last one, but I was only half way...I just finished after an hour of working...phew...some might remember this chapter from the original...it had something missing, but dont worry, I made sure that didnt happen this time around.

Enjoy!

Summary: After the attack on her castle, Zelda manages to escape, half dead. Found by Link in the wild, she is taken care of, but when fate plays its harsh hand once more, the princess must do everything in her power to aid the hero, recover her kingdom, and maybe fall in love. AU Twilight Princess.

Please read or review, or criticize, whichever comes first. Flames are not accepted, frowned upon, and possibly deleted.

Also remember, that this story is not a walkthrough, and that Zelda and its characters do not belong to me.

Water has no taste, no color, no odor; it cannot be defined, art relished while ever mysterious. Not necessary to life, but rather life itself. It fills us with a gratification that exceeds the delight of the senses.

-Antoine De Saint-Exupery (1900-1944), Wind, Sand, and Stars, 1939

Chapter 11: A Serenade of Water

Zelda was quick to guide Link towards Lake Hylia, with Midna muttering something between the lines, 'What a useful bird brain, eh, doggy?' or 'She's actually good for something!' Of course, most of this lines were met with growls, snarls, cries, and glares, which were visibly ignored by the little imp. Well, at least she isn't as insulting as before…Zelda thought quietly, as she and Link evaded a group of twilight affected Bulblins, or at least that is what the hawk princess thought. They did look familiar, though.

Looking up in the distance, Zelda sighed. The great bridge of Hylia lay not too far away. She turned her head down at the running wolf below her. "We are not too far away, now, Link!" She called, catching the attention of both the hero and imp. "Just a little more!" Link took a while to respond, much to the hawk princess's worry.

"Yeah, thanks!" Zelda, however, noticed that he hadn't said it with the enthusiasm of really meaning it. It must be Ilia…the hawk princess thought, a little bitter. Why she was being like that all of the sudden, Zelda didn't know. Could it be that her feelings for Link were more than just platonic? Sure, this man-turned-wolf had saved her life, taken care of her, was being nice, treating her with the respect any human deserved, but, yet why was she being so protective of him all of the sudden? She hated herself even more for thinking sourly about Ilia and Link being together, and tried to focus on the task at hand. Well, by trying she meant, 'Blocking all emotions out, even if it hurts'.

The hawk princess decided to fly up ahead, giving Link some privacy, however, what she saw made her gasp. Suddenly Kaepora Gaebora's words came to mind. The lake was no longer even a lake, but a puddle, leaving most of the area unmasked. That small puddle hardly looked like Lake Hylia, but, then, Zelda realized that it probably had something to do with the evil that plagued this lands. Yes, that must be it. Only evil. Yes…evil that you failed to stop, Zelda thought angrily. She turned around in the air, and spotted Link and Midna already making their way slowly on top of the bridge.

No one noticed, however, that something else was watching them from the distance.

When Link arrived at the bridge, something was strange. Something was off suddenly, his senses almost driving him crazy. He began to walk to the other side, watching strange stains upon the stones of the bridge. The wolf quickly moved to sniff them, only for seconds later to jerked his nose away. That smell, it was strong, and sour. Midna seemed to have noticed the sour smell, too, for she covered her nose with a hand. "…Hey, do you smell anything funny around here?" she asked him. Link nodded and pointed his nos—

"WATCH OUT!" It was already too late when Link heard the warning, as a Twilight Bulblin sent a fire arrow to the ground. Link's eyes widen in fear as fire soon engulfed the area in front of him.

"Move it, Link!" Midna cried desperately, pulling the wolf's hair for him to turn around. The archer behind them was ready to shot another arrow, when a cry caught everyone's ears. Link stopped running, and both him and the imp turned around.

Shannon was flying quickly towards the archer, who noticing her, barely had time to grab another arrow, as she tackled him to the ground. Before she could get to the air again, however, the fallen archer grabbed her by the talons. The hawk screeched and flapped her wings in desperation, with all of her strength, she went to the sky, carrying with her the archer, who let go of her talons to fall on the ground below, probably to his death. Shannon shook her head in the air. "Shannon!"

"Another archer!" Midna cried, making Link turned towards the other side of the bridge. A fire arrow fell to the ground, torching the black stains on the stone, and creating a firewall that left Link trapped in the bridge. "Oh no! We're trapped! Quick, get the heck out of here!" Link looked from both left and right, trying to find a way out.

"JUMP, LINK!" Shannon cried from the air. "THERE'S WATER NEARBY, YOU'LL BE SAFE!" Midna and Link exchanged glances, before they nodded. Taking a deep breath, Link began to run towards one of the stone walls before him, and then, he jumped. Midna grabbed unto him and gave a loud yell as they met the water below, but nothing was compared to the screech of a hawk just above them.

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Zelda groaned as she hovered as slowly as she could to the ground, the arrow sticking out from her back causing her much displeasure and pain. That guy had just been lucky, the hawk princess being too busy watching Link and Midna escape from the raging inferno that she didn't see that second archer get another arrow, and swing! Straight to her back. She had been lucky to still be far away from the archer, or else she wouldn't be hurting, but dying. While the arrow had planted itself well upon her back, only half of the arrowhead made it through, yet, it was painful. Painful because one, her body was a little sore after not resting well a day or so before.

The hawk princess finally managed it to the ground and collapse, breathing heavily. It feels like I'm back in my castle again…all that pain…Zelda sighed and shook her head, getting up, and then, a cry caught her ears. "SHANNON!" Zelda turned around and spotted Link running frantically towards her, she could see that he was obviously wet after he landed on top of what remained of Lake Hylia. Link arrived over to his friend, and frowned, at least as much as his wolf's face would allow him. "…you're hurt…" Link said simply, going towards her to try to take care of the arrow, only to be beaten to it by Midna. Both beasts looked puzzled by this, and then, the imp shrugged.

"Well, unlike you, I do happen to have fingers." Link didn't say anything at her mocking comment, and only watched as she took out the arrow from Zelda's back. It was an easy task, even for her small and delicate fingers. The imp quickly threw the arrow to the side, dusting her hands. "There we go! Now, don't go around playing target practice, eh, bird brain?" Zelda nodded a thank you.

"Thank you very much, Midna…" Midna only brushed the screeching aside, unconcerned by its meaning, before she jumping unto Link's back. The wolf looked back at her and muttered,

"I never knew she was capable of being nice," Midna seemed to understand him, for she glared at the wolf below her. Link, after receiving a good glare from the imp, turned to face Zelda. "are you sure you can continue with that injury, Shannon?" Zelda nodded. The last thing she wanted to do was be a burden, especially to Link.

"Yes…I can manage…thank you for your concern." Zelda began to flap her wings, and hovered in the air, hiding her pain within her mind. I can manage this…come on, Zelda! You can hold on! Link looked worriedly at his bird friend, before he was finally convinced, or he thought that he wouldn't convince her to not go with him, and left it at that. He turned to face Midna, who was looking around the remains of Lake Hylia. Some spirits were nearby, about three close to the puddle of water, and another one far away from said puddle.

"So this is Lake Hylia," Midna commented as she was looking around. "…but there's so little water…I wonder…" She looked at Link below her. "You don't think that the Fused Shadow in here is responsible, do you?" The hero shrugged, and turned to the hawk princess hovering above them.

"…Hmm…the air is…cool all of sudden," Zelda commented, feeling the breeze hit her in the face. It was awfully cold even in the middle of the spring, which was odd. The hawk looked back at Link, who went towards a group of spirits that were nearby, Zelda followed suit, landing and stifling a groan, the pain in her back getting harder to bear. Using her magic, while Link probably used his senses, Zelda and the wolf were met with the sight of Zoras, older than the Zora that was staying at that place. They had a strange helmet on and carried lances, with them. Zelda had immediately recognized them as Zora Soldiers, but whatever were they doing here?

"We've had absolutely no water flowing from upstream…" one of the Zora soldiers commented, looking as an ally of his inspected the puddle that was now Lake Hylia.

"There's no mistaking it. Something must have happened at the water's source back in our home." Came another soldier, looking back at the first Zora that spoke.

"Yet, how are we to return upstream to our home? With the way things are now, we can't even walk back there…"

"There must be a way! For now, we just need to find another way back upstream to the domain."

"Even if we could climb the stones, we would fall before we even reach that far…"

"But…"

"Let's just pray to the Goddesses that our Queen and our peers are safe back in the domain…"

"…." Zelda and Link exchanged looks, before Midna spoke again.

"Well, at least we know now what happened to the water, now…if what those two said is true, then, how do we find our way upstream, if they can't even get up there?" Midna glanced back at the small cave above them, to which Zelda and Link set sights on as well.

"…well, we could find a way to climb up there…but, maybe I could…you know..." Zelda told Link, but the wolf only shook his head.

"You could carry Colin, but I bet you'll have difficulty carrying a very large wolf like me, who is in reality a grown man." Link explained, making Zelda sigh. That was true, even though she had her human strength back, that didn't mean that she could carry Link, maybe give him a small boost or something, but not carry him, not even as a wolf.

"…alright, but how would you get up there, then?" Zelda asked, her question aimed at Midna. The little imp seemed to understand what the hawk meant, and looked down at Link.

"Well, there's no use staying around here and wondering how to get up there, let's start looking for an alternative entrance!" Link nodded and began to walk, with Zelda flying above him.

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Link sighed as he made his way to a nearby house close to the lake, well, to the puddle of Hylia. It was quite pathetic, really, how he was thinking more about Ilia's well being than to help out the Zoras. He had been extremely happy to see Ilia, but had worried again when he had seen her injury. While she seemed fine at that moment, Link had become extremely distressed after seeing her wound, but had hidden it quite well, at least from Midna. Before Shannon separated from Link to see if she could find a different path to the Zora's Domain, the hawk had shot him a worried glance, that seemed to dig into his soul, before she left. Somehow, his worry was also affecting Shannon, but being worried about his friend's well being and a hawk were two different things, even if the hawk in question had saved his life once in a while, and also Colin's.

As he was thinking about all of this, Link's ears caught the voice of another spirit. Turning around, he spotted a strange clown or something of that sort nearby, with a melancholic face upon his person. "Hurrrmm…I'm too old for this…our grand opening and not a single costumer in sight…ah, and then comes the lake," the clown muttered, looking back at the remains of Lake Hylia. "…with little water…maybe it isn't a lake at all…fancy with the name I bet…I wonder though, did the Zoras that live upstream do something, or was it that strange spirit that lives nearby?" At the mention of a spirit both Midna and Link looked at each other.

"Could he be referring to that spirit that we are looking for?" Link whined, and shrugged.

"I don't have a clue," the wolf told her, and turned to the clown, trying to find out more about the Zoras, at least, he hoped so.

"Well, whatever they did…it's not like I can go up and complain…Too high.." The clown turned to face the ground, and suddenly something seemed to catch his eye. "Whuzzat, a customer!" he cried, making both Link and Midna turn around to the said customer. The customer turned out to be a Twilight Bulblin, making its way towards something in the distance. The clown cowered in fear, and lay low. "That ain't no customer! That's a FREAKING MONSTER!"

"Come on! I don't like what that guy is planning." Midna told Link, to which the hero nodded, and quickly followed behind the monster.

Both hero and imp had counted on the element of surprise to catch this monster, but it seemed that this element worked the other way around, when the Twilight Bulblin grabbed something from the ground, and blew on it. Link quickly recognized the tune that the monster was playing, mouth wide open, jaw ready to crash against the earth. What the..! You have to be kidding me! That thing can use hawk grass? His surprise went to new levels when a Twilight bird made its way towards it. Nodding its strange head, the bird allowed the monster to hope on top of him. "That's a joke, right?" Midna whispered, mouth opened, what she saw before her unbelievable. "Get ready, doggy…because, this might hurt…" Link closed his mouth and nodded, as the bird took to the air.

The monster on top of it began to fire arrows with fire, and Link began to wonder if he was part of the group that had lighten up the bridge nearby and attacked Shannon. Link was able to evade most of the arrows, but when it came time to attack the beast, it just flew in the air. "OH! How bothersome!" Midna cried, quickly creating a black circle around him. Link know what this one was, some strange attack that paralyzed some body functions of an enemy close to the circle, enabling Link to attack them. "Okay, at three…one," the bird was flying towards him, with the Twilight Bulblin already with an arrow stuck on the bow. "two," they were coming closer, the arrow soon to leave. "THREE!" The circle caught the two monsters by surprise, before Link jumped on the Twilight bird, and bit it. After three or so bites, the bird shook Link off, and flew away, with the monster still on its back, who was already preparing to attack Link with an arrow.

Before he could release the arrow, however, Shannon suddenly appeared, and tackled the monster to the ground, allowing Link to attack. The wolf quickly bit down the monster's throat, killing it. Spitting out some blood, Link and Shannon both faced the huge Twilight bird before them, still flying around. Without warning, Midna suddenly jumped from Link's back, and hopped on top of the raging bird. "MIDNA!" Link and Shannon cried out in alarm. Midna barely noticed their concern, as she was quickly calming the angered bird that now was below her, using her hair to calm it.

"HEY! Stop it! I'm your new master now! Settle down!" At the sound of Midna's words, the Twilight bird quickly calmed down, allowing the imp to relax on its back. Both hawk and wolf looked at each other in bewilderment.

"How did she managed to tame the dark creature?" Shannon asked the wolf.

"Don't look at me like I know…I just as surprised as you are," Link informed her, looking back at Midna.

"Hey, doggy! Why don't we use this guy to get us all the way to the lake's water source?" Link cringed a little.

"Are you sure? I don't think that bird you are flying is safe…" Midna understood him and laughed.

"Come on, Mr. Hero! There's nothing to be afraid of! He's listening to me now!" She patted the monster's back as she said this, waiting for his answer. Link was about to say no, when Shannon interrupted him.

"Why don't you do it, Link?" she asked him, making the wolf turn to her in disbelief. "Look, it may appear dangerous, but it is obvious she has it under control." Shannon pointed a wing at Midna. "Besides, if that thing is extremely dangerous, wouldn't it be attacking us right now?" Link seemed to consider those words, and then sighed.

"You have a good point, there, Shannon…" He turned to face Midna and the bird. Yet, I still don't like it…and I pretty much will regret doing this…Link nodded at Midna, who in turn laugh.

"Okay, then! Up we go!" The huge bird flew towards Link, and grabbed him by the back with its strange black talons, then flew away, Shannon behind it.

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Link sighed in relief as the bird dropped the wolf down, and then, flew away, with Midna staying behind. The ride through the river had been extremely full of surprises, thanks to the explosions nearby, that had caused some rocks to collapse and crush on top of them. Fortunately, Midna was good at guiding the Twilight bird that held Link, while Shannon was naturally fast to avoid them. Some monster archers on the way, too, wanted to make their lives difficult, but Shannon and the bird were quick to get rid of them. Now, they were all in the upper river.

"Well, that was fast! We're here already? What do you know? That bird turned out to be more useful than I expected…"

"Well, the ride wasn't made any easier thanks to those explosions…" Link muttered, looking behind him. Shannon only shook her head.

"Those monsters didn't make things better, either…"

"Well, enough talking and more looking!" Midna order, patting Link's head. "We have to go and look for the village of the Zoras, right? Let's find it quick! It's starting to get cold around here…" Link and Shannon suddenly looked at each other, and then, felt the wind. The wind around the area was colder than before, this was certainly odd. Link looked back at the hawk before him, who seemed to be thinking deeply. He was about to ask her what was wrong, before she went into the air, and towards a small hole nearby, much to his amazement.

"Shannon?"

"Over here!" came Shannon's reply. "The water people's home is this way!" Link at first reluctant to jump, but he did so anyways. The wolf quickly landed upon solid ground, hardly feeling anything. Shannon hovered nearby and argued him to follow her. Something was odd at the ground at his feet, and the hawk seemed to notice it as well, for she stopped suddenly. "The air is getting cooler," she said as she hovered on Link's left. "…something strange is going on…can you feel it?" Link looked down at his feet for a while, and then back at Shannon.

"My feet are co—whoa!" Link suddenly came to a stop at what was before him, as did Shannon, who stopped flying and landed nearby him. It was only Midna that spoke.

"Oh…Hey…what's going on here? I thought that it was getting colder…but not in a millions years would I have thought that this place was frozen over!"

"You're telling us," Link whispered, as he and Shannon examined the place. Something was missing around here, and Link didn't like it not one bit.

"This is a Zora village, right?" Midna asked them after a while. "Then, why don't I see any?" Wolf and hawk shrugged. "Well…anyway, let's check things out. Let's see if there are any Zoras around…find out what's going on…" Link nodded, along with Shannon and began to look around for any sign of the Zoras.

Only after five minutes or so, did Shannon returned from her trek and shouted towards them. "Link! I found something up here!" Link looked up in the air, to see what Shannon was pointing her beak at. He then, turned to Midna, who seemed to have caught on the message.

"I guess…we could climb up there, using that…" The imp pointed to nearby sticks of ice, and then, she gulped. "This isn't going to be any fun, is it?"

"Well, I won't enjoy it, if you're wondering…" Link growled.

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Link sometimes wondered why he didn't transform into a bird instead of a wolf, it would have made his job a lot easier. Yet, he knew that complaining will get him nowhere, and so, he climbed all the way to the upper chamber of the domain, Shannon flying towards him. "Splendid jumping," she told him.

"Thanks…" Link muttered, and Shannon could see that he hadn't enjoyed the trip up here at all.

Link quickly ran through the small hallway towards the chamber, with Shannon following behind him. It had not taken them long to find the frozen chamber, overrun by shadow beasts. "Well, this is just great…" Midna murmured, getting ready to fight the beasts. Link and Shannon were quick to tackle the beast, as Midna created her small hole around them. Both Link and Shannon took it as their chance to go and attack the beasts before them, biting and pecking them until they fell to the ground. Soon, the shadow beasts were defeated, and they left in small particles, creating a portal nearby. "Well, what do you know? Another portal has appeared around here…well, you know the drill, you wanna go through the portal, just give me a wo—I mean, bark, and let me know." Link nodded to Midna, and looked around.

"I don't see any Zoras around here…" Link muttered, and Shannon nodded. Both were about to leave, when Midna's yelp caught them by surprise.

"DOWN! LOOK DOWN!" Confused by her request, the two animals, nether the less, looked down. It took Link a moment to inspect the area, but then he recoiled back a little in shock. Shannon soon followed after, surprised at what she had seen.

Underneath their feet, encased in a prison of ice, where the Zoras; most were floating in the ice as if nothing was wrong, while others, were, quite literally, frozen in shock. A few others were trying to swim away, but whatever had frozen the Zoras over had been too fast for any of them to evade.

"ZORAS! They're frozen in the ice!" Link cried, shaking the image off his head.

"Those…those are the Zoras!" Midna cried, hugging herself, afraid to even look down below. "Wow…" she said, almost whispering. "…this is really strange…what in the world happened here?" Midna took another peek, before she shuddered. "Hey…what do you want to do? We can't just leave them like this…" Link and Shannon exchanged looks, and nodded. Midna was right, they just couldn't leave them like that. "But, how? We can't just thaw them out with our eyes alone…" The three all stood silent for a while, before Shannon spoke.

"And…if we were to use that hot rock that almost crushed you, Link, back in the…rock dwellers' home?" Link looked back at the hawk, a bit surprised.

"…I'm not sure…but," he took a deep down, and shuddered. "it just might work…let's hope…" Link shrugged his canine shoulders, catching the imp's attention.

"Huh? What? You have an idea?" Link nodded, and pointed his nose towards the portal. Midna looked at the portal, too, and then back at Link. "Okay, so where to? Let me see…on the forest?" Link shook his head. "…okay, then…back to your home?" Another shake of the head. "…the Gorons' mountain?" A nod. "Well, let's just hope you have a plan…" She turned to Shannon, who didn't move and only looked at them, before they disappeared before her eyes.

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As soon as Link and Midna had left, Zelda had began to survey around the frozen chamber, and sighed. What had happened here? Zelda sighed. Even the Zoras had suffered from her mistakes. She also wondered what had happened to the Queen of the Zoras, for she had not seen her anywhere. The hawk princess sighed a bit. All this destruction…everything that's happened…it's my fault. If only I had been stronger…this would never have happened! Before she could continue with her musings, however, the portal above the place, began to flash a bit, suddenly, a red rock appeared from it, crashing down on the domain.

Zelda quickly hovered above the frozen layer of ice, and watched with fascination, as the rock nearby began to release water all over the domain. The hawk princess kept on the air, and watched as the whole area became free of ice, if only in certain places. Water began to fall down to the chamber below, Zelda mentally smiled. Link and Midna had done a good job on returning the domain back to normal. She looked down below, then, already the spirits of the Zoras were free, most shaking and barely conscious, but otherwise alive. Even the chamber had been returned to its normal status. Before she could go and explore the place, however, a voice caught her by surprise.

"Who knew that something so dangerous would come in handy…" Midna muttered, as she and Link surveyed the area around. Link sighed in relief, as he used his senses, and saw the Zoras, then, he nodded back at Zelda.

"Nice thinking, Shannon!" Link told her, nodding his head, as he thanked her for giving them the good idea. Zelda only blushed, and nodded in return. "All right….the Zoras are safe now, so let's get going." Midna told them, catching the attention of the two animals.

"The ice melted and restored the water flow to normal, so maybe now we can meet that spirit… …" Link and Zelda nodded and were about to leave, when a voice caught them by surprise.

"Please, wait!"