M.S.K: Apparently, I've been wanting to get this updated, yesterday. But, I had things to be done and decided to wait until today. Want to know something? The reason I decided to write this story is because I've been thinking that since there are so many times that Link and his friends were often on land with feet, I think it will be fun to have them in water with fins. Unlike in OoT, where one doesn't need to be a merman or a mermaid to associate with the Zoras. Now, enough talking for me. So, without further ado, Link. Will you do the disclaimer?

Link: Sure! Sure! Kaoru doesn't own anything about Legend of Zelda: Four Swords. She only owns her own character. The tale I come from only belongs to Nintendo.

M.S.K: Thank you very much, Hero Boy! (Hugs, Link. A little too tightly)

Link: Ack! Too tight! Too tight, Kaoru!

Zelda: (Giggles)

Blue: Grr. . .

Vio: . . .

Red: Aww! I want a hug too!

M.S.K: Oh! (Releases him) Sorry. And now, uh. . on with the story!

Chapter 1: That Princess, Hoshimi

On this fine afternoon, around the outskirts of Hylia and among the many reefs, Link and his brothers were happening to be spending their time with their usual doings.

"Ready, Blue?" Asked Link as he raised his sword, preparing himself as if he were ready for battle.

"Oh, you bet I am, Green!" Blue is prepared too. In fact, he's always prepared for fighting than anything else.

"Let's do this!"

With that, they both charged in at each other and began their sword duel. They were basically sparring for the day. It was often something they do almost everyday or so.

While the two were sparring, Red is busy chasing some small goldfish that are swimming in a small school. He really enjoyed spending some time with the sea creatures. Especially with the reef fish. "Ha ha ha! You guys may think you're all fast swimmers but, I can get ya!"

However, amongst the ruckus of the sparring and the giggles of the goldfish chasing, Vio is busy concentrating on the book he has on his lap. All the while, he's been very quiet.

After all the sword swinging, dodging, and tackling though the water, Link and Blue are already tired and worn out.

"Whew! I think. . . That's enough. . . For the day. . ." Link huffed in the middle of his panting.

But, although he's a little bit tired, Blue is still having more energy in his body than ever. "Hey! I still want to practice! I can at least pull a good maneuver with my sword as well as getting my fins up to speed."

"Yeah? Well, that's easy for you to say. Because, believe it or not, I definitely need a break." Link said as he fell backwards on to the sand of the seabed.

Blue then snorted. "You can have a break if you can. But I still want to spar! There's no way I want to rest myself just yet!"

"You can at least relax a little." Said Red. "We all know that our Father wants us to be skillful swordsmen, but any mer-hylian boy can give himself a break. I think you can do so, too. Perhaps a little."

"I can't believe you're on Green's terms, Red! In your situation, you've hardly spend any amount of time with your sword. I don't see why you would bother swimming around with fish all day."

Red lowered his head innocently and said. "But, they're always cute. How can I resist such cute little critters in an ocean like this one?"

Blue then scoffed. "Oh! By the Three Goddesses! You're always unbelievable for a brother and a prince!"

"Calm down, Blue. You're only taking your sword practice time way, way, way too seriously." Said Vio as he flipped the page in his book. "And Green is right. You should at least give it a rest for a bit, regardless on how much energy you're having in you."

"Well, you're the one to talk, Mr. Calm and Collected." Scoffed Blue again as he swam over to his brother. "I can't take anything seriously about taking a break. You never get a break from all that book reading."

Vio only laughed a bit and said. "You're only mistaken. I do give myself a break when I have to attend to Father's summons or meal times."

At that, the blue-tailed mer-hylian prince didn't have anything else to say at the moment. But, he is still grumbling silently to himself.

It wasn't too long when Red asked. "Say, are we missing someone?"

All of the other brothers looked at each other.

Then, Vio said. "Yeah, I think we have. Now, I'm beginning to wonder where. . ."

"Whee!" A high pitched voice cut him off. Then in a swirl of bubbles and sand, a cute looking mermaid dressed in a white tank top, and wearing a diamond encrusted, head band-like tiara came along. "I'm back, guys!" She greeted with a smile.

Vio dusted the pages of his book from all the particles of sand and said. "Ah, Hoshimi. Can you come up with a better way to swim by here without brushing the ocean floor with your fins? You always do that."

Hoshimi smiled and shrugged. "Well, I've been trying. But you see, this guy challenged me to another race and I've won when I got here."

Blue swam up to her and asked. "Who's 'this guy'?"

She pointed to what's behind her back. Then what loomed in front of him is a big gray and white manta ray, looking down at him.

In fact, the ray was so close, Blue almost lost the balance on his fins! "Woah!"

After that, the ray leaned in more closer to him and nuzzled its head upon his chest.

"Well, I win." She said to Vio.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Get. . . Get off me!" The blue finned prince complained. He felt embarrassed to have a sea creature leaning against him.

Hoshimi giggled. "Come on, now. That's just a ray's way of saying that he likes you."

"Now you're having fun with a sea critter like I do!" Squeaked Red with glee.

Now, this made Blue blush a bit. He can see that not only Hoshimi and Red were being giddy about this. But he can also see Link and Vio chuckling.

Afterwards, the ray gave the princess a hug before swimming off.

"See you!" She waved.

"Heh! I'm glad that's over." Blue mumbled.

Then, Hoshimi turned to Link. "Um, Link? Where's Zelda?"

"Oh well, she's in her garden right now. I do think that we should meet her there." He answered her.

"Yeah. We better get going. It's time that we should be heading back to the Palace." Said Vio, closing his book and getting up from his spot.

So, all four princes and their sister swam over to the Palace. That's where Zelda is happening to be waiting for them. Their free time in the outskirts is done for the day.

Once they got there, Zelda swam up to them. "Oh! You're all back."

"Good afternoon, sis." Greeted Hoshimi, first of all. "Were you doing more tending with your coral?"

"Oh, yes. They're all doing just fine in my garden. The reef fish were enjoying it too." She said to her. "Were you doing more playing with the manta ray?"

"Yes. Yes I have." She answered her elder sister.

"In fact, it swooped down on top of me and nuzzled on me as if I were a sheet of glass." Grumbled Blue again.

Zelda giggled. "Oh, Blue. You're always looking at the unpleasant side of things."

Everyone else laughed. Except for Blue, of course.

"Hey, what about your part of the garden, Hoshimi?" Asked Link.

"Hmm?" The youngest princess was questioned at what he asked her.

Red exclaimed. "Yeah! We haven't seen anything of what you do about it! I'm sure it'll be as good as Zelda's!"

"Yes, yes. Do you think you can show us yours?" She asked her.

With that, Hoshimi pondered a bit.

"Please! Please!" Pleaded Red, putting his hands together.

"Pretty please!" Added Link.

After a small moment, she made her answer. "Well, I think I got something to show you guys."

"Yippee!" Red cheered.

Zelda smiled.

However, the white haired mer-hylian girl spoke uneasily. "But, I'm not so sure about calling it as the best of my work, though."

"I know it will be good, Hoshimi!" Said Red, reassuring her with a smile. "We all want to see it!"

"Hmm. . . All right, all right."

So, everyone followed Hoshimi. When they got to the middle of the garden and to where her part of it is located, they all gasped. Unlike Zelda's part that shaped like a rose in full bloom, her part was shaped like the Triforce, itself! The top triangle had bright red coral, red anemones, red sea fans and red seaweed to represent Din of Power. The second triangle on the right side had blue coral, blue sea fans, and a group of blue starfish to symbolize Naryu of Wisdom. Lastly, the triangle on the left side had green anemones, green seaweed, and some yellow green sea fans to symbolize Farore of Courage.

"Well, bless the Three Goddesses! This is wonderful, Hoshimi!" Vio gasped in amazement.

Red swam in circles for astonishment. "I was right! I knew our younger sister is great at gardening!"

"You really think so, Red?" She asked him.

"Goodness! Did you do all of this yourself?" Zelda asked her sister.

Hoshimi nodded. "Yup! It took me a long time to get everything together. I always remember each of the Three Goddesses too."

"You sure did." Said Link.

"You even have a tremendous amount of coral, Hoshimi." Said Blue.

She smiled. "Of course. The reef fish and clown fish will be so happy here, they'll have a good spot to hide from predators that want to eat them. The seaweed will also protect them too. They can also feed on enough algae to keep themselves healthy."

After that, they decided to head back inside. But, before they can, a strong current of water blew them away from the entrance! "Woah!"

The currents began to grow wilder and stronger! They've grown so strong, the seaweed and kelp were keeping a slight stance in their places upon the ocean floor, with no slight chances of getting swept away by the currents.

Above the surface of the water, the bright blue sky turned gray with dark clouds gathering. Thunder rumbled in the air and the waves are about to become choppy.

Back into the the deep, all the fish, large and small, were gathering themselves in various schools as they scramble about to find different hiding places from the currents. Some hid in seaweed, and some hid among coral.

Others like clams and scallops closed their shells and burrow holes in the seabed to hide.

When all of this happened, all of the mer-hylian people of the kingdom's village hustled about and swam inside their homes for cover. They grabbed their most valuable possessions, animals, and children and swam as fast as they could to secure themselves in shelter.

In the midst of all this, Link, Red, Blue, Vio, Zelda, and Hoshimi were trying to keep themselves together as they all held on to either rocks or kelp stems, that way they won't get carried off by the repulsive currents.

"Woah! Not another sea storm!" Said Red.

"Hang on tight, everybody!" Vio exclaimed. "Don't let go!"

While this was still going on, polyps and sea anemones closed up, more fish hide inside the cracks of rocks or small caves, clown fish hid themselves in their anemone homes, and flounders bury themselves in the sand to take cover.

Hoshimi firmly gripped her hands on to a rock. "Oh! I bet this is Ganondorf's doing again!" She grunted.

"Ganondorf?" Exclaimed Red before realizing that he lost grip on the one of the fronds of kelp! "Eh? Ah!"

But, Hoshimi quickly grabbed hold of his hand before he can get swept away. "I got you! Hang on!"

"Thank you!"

Link sneered. "I hate it when he does this."

Zelda sighed. "All this time, he calls this his practice of his magic. But all it can do is getting the creatures upset and frightened."

"It is Ganondorf, all right." Said Vio sternly.

Blue then shouted. "Yeah! That big, dishonest, despicable sea devil has no right to push us around like this!"

In the darkest part of the Great Ocean, on the other side of Hylia, in a room inside a sinister looking castle, a tall man with dark colored skin, red orange hair, golden yellow eyes, and dressed in black armor, sat upon his throne like seat. He's the evil Sea Wizard, Ganondorf and he's been keeping watch on the Royal Mer-Hylian Children, with a diabolical grin. The way he's keeping a sharp eye on them is by looking at the surface on a large black pearl that's glowing with the purple aura of dark magic. "Heh, heh, heh. . ." He's quite amused at what Blue said about him.

Inside the pearl, Blue made another remark. "Boy! I'm going to have his head by the time I got through with him! He'll never see another light of day, I tell you all! You can never trust a guy like him!"

With that, Ganondorf chuckled some more. "Ha, ha! Little boy in blue, you can call me in whatever way you like. But, you must never forget this as if you should know as well as your siblings! I'm not only the most fiendish one in Hyrule, but I'm also the most dreaded being in the Great Sea as well! As long as I have my incredible powers, everything does as I command! Nothing and no one can have the power to overthrow me! Not even the King of the Great Sea, Thor can outrank me with his power of rule! Now, you and your siblings shall now bear witness on how much more power I can put into this maelstrom! I will be the most powerful being in this world! Ha ha ha ha!"

With that said, he used his magic to put in more control on the storm through the pearl!

When that happened, the currents grew stronger, the waves began to rise above the surface, thunder roared louder, and lightning began to strike! Ganondorf does have complete control on sea storms!

As the storm continue to blow, many small boats were lost at sea for now. Night time has fallen but, no one can see a speck of light from either the moon or the stars. The storm powers of Ganondorf were too great and more waves began to rise!

Back at the palace, Link and his siblings continued their struggle through the currents as they continue to grasp on whatever they can find in order to hold on. They're almost a few inches away the palace's entrance, now.

After grabbing on to a few more rocks, they're finally safe inside.

Once the doors closed behind them, Link asked. "Is. . . Is everyone all right?"

"Yeah." Said Hoshimi. "Everyone's here. Boy! That's quite a storm out there!"

"The whole thing made my head spiny." Said Blue in a daze.

Then, they all fell to the floor, exhausted. "Haaaah. . ."

In a while, six beautiful mermaids in colored robes came rushing to the Princes and Princesses.

The first one in blue kneeled down and asked them. "Oh! Thank goodness! You're all right!"

They all got themselves up and Hoshimi answered. "Yeah. We're all fine. Thank you Blue Maiden. But I think the storm will be lasting in a few more hours."

"We just got back from the outskirts of the kingdom." Said Red.

"Oh, bless Farore. You didn't even tell us that you're all out there while Lady Zelda is here. You all could have been carried away in the currents." The Blue Maiden continued. She actually felt very worried about the Royal Siblings.

The Yellow Maiden then said. "So, I believe that you, Hoshimi have been frolicking with the animals out there. Even though, you're the youngest."

Hoshimi nodded. "Yes, and I've also shown my siblings my own garden plot."

"Well, you weren't still tending it while Ganondorf has made the sea very rough. Were you, Lady Hoshimi?" The Red Maiden asked.

The youngest princess laughed. "Of course not. It just started right before we get a chance to head back inside. It's seemingly obvious Ganondorf starts all of these storms because he doesn't like any land ships crossing his part of the ocean. Plus, I didn't mind the storm. After all, I was with my siblings."

But, the maiden sighed and said to her. "Oh, please. Don't give me any of that. We already know the facts about that wizard."

"I think she's right, milady." The White Maiden agreed. "As one of Lord Thor's children, you must know that you got to be more careful. Sometimes, the Great Ocean, itself is dangerous. Especially during the season of when sharks are on their yearly prowl. You're never allowed to go off, swimming on your own."

Then, Hoshimi humbly replied after a small pause. "Oh, but Maidens, although I'm one of royal blood, I can outrun any shark in this ocean."

"But, you're still a princess. And with Ganondorf still living in our ocean, chances of getting in danger were very high and no one is safe swimming alone." Said Vio, crossing his arms. "Another thing is, you're still younger than us."

When she heard those words, Hoshimi grumbled softly.

Her brother continued. "The thing is, you won't be able to come of age if your magic isn't getting anywhere stronger. By all means, it's not close to match Zelda's strength."

After that, she pouted. "Hey! Come on! I'm still gathering strength! Only bit by bit! Watch this!" Then, she positioned her hands and cried out. "Din's Fire!" But when she performed that spell, she only made one, small spark. Not a single flame was made. Hoshimi just stared at what she just did. So did the others. "Uh. . . I just called it out. . ." She muttered.

"What is that?" Blue roared.

"Not so loud, Blue!" Said Green, trying to assure him that it's not right for a Prince to raise his voice against his sister.

Vio shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. What did I tell you? It's still too weak. You need a little more practice on that."

"Oh. . ." Hoshimi moaned.

"You see, Hoshimi. We all want you to become a full-fledged Mer-Hylian Princess. But, the problem is you'll never become one if you don't learn how to keep control of your own powers. The thing that's keeping you from practicing is you playing around with the sea creatures and slipping away from the palace just to explore around the outskirts of Hylia." Said Link.

"Another fact is your father won't give you the Pearl of Din if you keep up the way you are now." Said the Purple Maiden.

With that, Hoshimi fell silent. Then she said to everyone around her. "Oh. . . . I'll be a very weak mer-hylian girl if he doesn't give it to me. I'll promise that I'll bring my strength up if you guys can give me a chance. I can please father if I can keep practicing. You know I'll do that. Will you, guys?"

At that, everyone didn't know what to say to her.

Hoshimi looked around at all the silence from the maidens and her siblings. Then she thought of something. "Hmm, this absolute silence really takes it out of not only me, but everybody else here. Maybe I can do this." "Hey! Maybe I can please you all with a little music." She took out her pearl white ocarina. She had it ever since she's a small mermaid. It was a gift from all the Six Maidens, themselves.

But before she can play a tune or two, a call rang out. "Hoshimi!" It's the voice of the King.

"Hmm?" She puts her ocarina away and answered back. "Oh! Yes, father?"

His voice answered. "Come here and bring your siblings along with the Maidens."

Everyone looked at each other. Then, Link announced. "Ah, coming Father!"

So, all Six Maidens lead the Princes and Princesses to the grand throne room where they'll meet their father for an announcement that he'll be speaking to them.

Once they entered the room through the doors, the Maidens assembled themselves at one part of the room while Link, Red, Blue, Vio, Zelda, and Hoshimi assembled in front of their father's throne. The maidens bowed their heads first before the Royal Children bowed and curtsied before him.

Then, in unison they asked. "What is it, our great father?"

The King, Thor smiled and answered them. "I'm now giving you all in words that it's not safe for you to be up and about during tonight's storm. All of you shall go to bed early tonight."

"Yes father." They all spoke before turning to the door. "Goodnight!"

Hoshimi was about to leave too before her father said. "Hoshimi? Will you come here for a moment?"

She turned with a questioned expression on her face before swimming up to her father's throne to listen. "Yes, father? What is it?"

Thor told her. "Now, I want you to keep in mind of this. This time I hope you won't forget it."

Hoshimi gulped a bit before asking. "O. . . Okay. What's that?"

"Tomorrow, there's going to be an important ceremony and I definitely want you to attend it. Your sister, Zelda is going to be receiving the Pearl of Naryu and I want you to play Naryu's Song with your ocarina there. Please, please keep that in mind tomorrow and I don't want to hear a single word about you being distracted." The King said to her. "Now, if you attend this ceremony at the right cue tomorrow, I will arrange a ceremony of when you'll get the Pearl of Din. Do I make myself clear, my daughter?"

At first, Hoshimi didn't know if it will be simple. But, she knows she wants the pearl very badly. Of course, she always wanted to have others listen to her ocarina music. She enjoyed playing it for the Maidens, her father, and her siblings. But, she never seen anyone else listening to her music because, her father will hardly let her swim among the village of Hylia. So, without hesitation, she said to him. "Of course. I'll be there, father. I won't forget it." "I hope. . ." She thought to herself, though.

But, the King smiled and said. "Very good. Now, you run along and head to bed."

With that, Hoshimi giggled and swam off, cheerfully saying. "Goodnight!"

After she swam off, the King and the Maidens smiled and nodded at each other.

In her bed, Hoshimi thought about the Pearl of Din. She even remembered the time of when Link, Red, Vio, and Blue, each received four separate pearls of the Pearl of Farore. It's been said that the pearl started off as four. But, if there's a time when chaos ever reigns in Hylia or Hyrule, the four pearls will form into one.

The Pearl of Farore will also join powers with the Pearl of Naryu and the Pearl of Din when there's a time of havoc. When all powers of all three pearls were joined into one, it will greatly banish evil forever, bring peace and restore balance between Hyrule and the Great Sea.

Hoshimi also thought of the Triforce fragments her sister and brothers shared. But, when she looked at her back of her right hand, she let out a sigh when she saw the Triforce symbol with only the top triangle showing its right half. The other half isn't there. "I usually know that the Triforce has three complete triangles. But what does this one mean?" She kept wondering about why she's different from the rest of her siblings. Then, she drifted off to her sleep.

Yes, Hoshimi is the only one in the family who doesn't know that part of her Triforce trademark is missing. She's supposed to be someone who's born under the Triforce of Power but, part of her rightful power is lost somewhere.

Vio: I've never heard of anyone having only half of a Triforce fragment.

M.S.K: (Nods her head.)

Blue: I'm guessing that. . .

M.S.K: Ah! (covers his mouth with her hand) Don't give it away! You'll spoil it!

Blue: (Starts muffling protests while trying to pry off her hand.)

M.S.K: So, I'll be writing the next chapter very soon and update it when I had the time. Do feel free to review or comment. Have a nice day!

Blue: (Still muffling)

Link: I think you should let him breathe now.

M.S.K: (Removes her hand.)

Blue: Gah! (pants for a bit) What was that for?

M.S.K: I told you, didn't I? I don't want you to give the whole thing away!