A STORM RISING

Link absently stroked his sword as together he and Rulula walked back to the throne room in silence. Hope that had before so brilliantly blossomed in his chest was almost extinguished, but still it glowed softly like the embers of a dying fire, only waiting to be rekindled to life. If the last guardian – Jabun's brother in the trees – could help him, he might still save both Malon and the kingdom. He would have to trust to fate – an entity that he had, for so long, fought against with tooth and nail.

He felt Rulula's eyes upon his back and knew that she wondered at his role in the world. It was a cruel thing, and most struggled to understand how so much could rest upon one man. Link grimaced. He understood; he was just a tool – a mule upon which the Goddesses could lay their troubles. Damn them, he silently cursed, as he had done almost every day for years. I never asked for this.

Soon, the throne returned to view. As they emerged onto the plateau, Link saw that not much had changed in the hour they had been gone. Kin reclined against the far wall, eyes closed, likely lost in a melody. Rialus still sat, overlarge, in his stone throne. Many of the elders, though, had disappeared, no doubt grown tired of waiting. Only six remained.

Rulula gestured for Link to return to the platform across from the king, but for once did not accompany him, instead turning to stand beside the throne. His footsteps upon the hard ground pulled Kin from her thoughts, and with a small shake, she leapt to her feet and joined him at the water's edge. When she saw The Master Sword in his hands, her jaw dropped, but she held the questions that Link knew lay light upon her tongue.

Link tried not to shiver as water dripped from his tunic and sloshed around his boots. The cold of the river felt as though it had seeped into his bones, but he could worry about that later.

"I do hope that you did be finding what you needed from Lord Jabun?" King Rialus asked in a regal voice.

"More or less," Link replied. "I want to thank you for your gracious hospitality, and I truly wish I could stay and celebrate our new brotherhood, but as always, duty is heavier than a mountain." He gestured to Kin. "We must get to the Lost Forest as quickly as we are able, though I'm ashamed to say I do not know how."

King Rialus nodded. "I did expect as much. So as to celebrate bringing you into our nest, I did send several of our school to the wreckage of your ship. They will be salvaging enough wood to rebuild a smaller boat for your journey."

Link bowed, deeply touched by the king's thoughtfulness. "I am in your debt, nestbrother," he said, making use of what Rulula had taught him.

"You do be Zora in your heart," Rialus said with a smile. He caught Link's gaze and held it. Behind his next words were given all the gravity of his crown. "As your king, I do command you to give all possible aid to Hyrule and Princess Zelda. Once the kingdom do be safe again, I will be giving you this last command: you are to be our first Zora representative above the waves. With hope, one day we will be bringing Zora back into Hyrule. That is what I do charge you."

Again, Link bowed. He could feel the added responsibility weight down upon him like a chain, but this was a weight he was happy to bear. Around him, he felt, rather than saw, the Zora elders reel at what the king had said. Surprisingly, they seemed pleased – enthusiastic even. The king was wise, and led his people well. Link silently swore that he would do everything in his power to serve his nestbrother with honor.

Within an hour, he and Kin were assembled at the entrance to Zora's Domain – where Rulula had first pulled them out of the Great Sea. Kin hugged her harp to her chest, and Link reveled in the familiar weight of The Master Sword upon his back. Navi was again hidden beneath his hat.

Three other Zora besides Rulula accompanied them.

"You will not be able to be swimming to the surface. It do be too far, and the pressure would be killing you almost immediately," the queen explained.

"Then how?" Kin asked.

In answer, Rulula removed two bundles from the pack she had brought with her. She handed one each to Link and Kin.

Link unwrapped the bundle with no small amount of curiosity. It was light, and soft. As the fish-skin wrapping fell away, he felt the fabric beneath; it was thick, and made from some sort of smooth fur.

A cloak, he realized, spinning the coat and fastening it around his shoulders. It was grey-blue in color, and it caught the light in odd ways, looking almost like ripples upon wind-kissed water. It hung right to his ankles, fitting as though made specifically for him. Reaching behind his head, he fingered the hood that hung down his back. It was fringed with silver embroidery that spun and swirled around the edges of the cloak. Within the hood, he thought he felt a loose cut of some lighter material sewn to the side.

"What is this?" Kin asked, her eyes full of wonder.

"Put it on," Rulula directed. "It do be of a making known only to the Zora. Even the name of what it did once be called do been lost to history. Now, we do simply call it a Zora Cloak." Her eyes sparkled. "It be a thing of magic. Wear it, and you do be able to breath beneath the waves like a Zora."

Link's eyes widened in shock. Beside him, Kin gasped.

Rulula grinned, pleased by their amazement. To each in turn, she showed them how to properly wear the Zora Cloak. Pulling the hood over his head, Link fastened the looser fabric around his nose and mouth. Immediately, the air began to feel different – heavy.

"Come, you do be ready," Rulula said, finally confident that they would not drown. "Dive into the water, and we will be carrying you to the surface." She winked. "You may be breathing beneath the waves, but you do still be slow of swimming, and the need for haste do bear down upon us."

Kin eyed the water nervously. Link, bottling his uncertainty, steeled himself and dove in.

Seawater swirled around him. Automatically, he held his breath. It was a conscious battle to open his mouth and breathe, but slowly, his body succumbed to his will. Air filled him. He wanted to laugh. This is incredible!

A swirl of motion erupted beside him as Kin followed him into the water. He watched her fight the same battle for control – watched her hold her breath until she couldn't hold it any longer. She weezed, and air filled her lungs. Spinning, she turned to Link, unconstrained joy in her eyes.

Link blinked. He could feel the water around him, but his skin didn't feel wet, and his eyes didn't sting like they normally would in saltwater. In fact, he thought he could see more clearly than he usually was able while swimming. This time, he really did laugh, though it came out as little more than a muffled guffaw and a burst of bubbles. Beside him, Kin did the same.

Suddenly, they were again accompanied by the Zora. Rulula's floated before them, smiling, her fins idly contracting to keep her in place. "We will be taking you to the surface, now," she said. Her voice echoed clearly through the water, sounding somewhat like a warbling songbird.

From behind, Link and Kin were grasped by two of the other Zora, and without warning, they were soaring through the water at unbelievable speeds. Link watched in breathless fascination as they flew through hundreds of feet of tunnels in only seconds. Suddenly, they burst out into open water. As they flew upward, Link marveled at the beauty around himself. He could see for miles thought the crystalline water. All manner of colorful creatures swam through the deep. In the distance, he saw a pod of whales that looked almost like they were dancing as they spun through the sea.

"It do be beautiful, no?" Rulula whispered as she swam next to him.

Link could only nod. There was an entire world down here that he had never imagined. A new world, with an entirely new set of rules.

All too soon, they broke the surface, and the dream ended.

Link squinted as the noonday sun pelted his still adjusting eyes. As sight returned, he became aware of the small boat they had emerged next to. Swimming over to it, he climbed aboard, then helped pull Kin out of the water behind him. As soon as the bard's feet hit the deck, she pulled her harp from beneath her cloak. Link was surprised to see that it looked entirely dry. He could hear Kin breathe a sigh of relief.

"May the goddesses be giving you a safe and swift journey," Rulula called out from beside the ship. Link turned to meet her gaze.

"Thank you," he said. That was all he could say. "You have given us so much." He fingered the Zora Cloak. It felt dry to the touch. "Thank you, nestsister."

She smiled sadly. "Good luck." Then, with hardly a splash, she was gone.

The Zora were ingenious, but had no experience with ships, Link quickly realized as they sailed upon their rebuilt vessel. It was small – barely twenty feet long – and the keel was short. Even with only one mast, they often had to stay at half-sail or risk capsizing.

It was slow going. The wind, which so far had seemed to rush them toward their destinations, had finally failed them. Their supplies, which had been fully stoked by the Zora, would run out far before reaching land at the snail's pace they made. Even so, the three adventurers kept hope. Link, for his part, busied his days with his sword, religiously repeating fighting forms for hours on end in preparation for the fight ahead of them. The only rest he gave himself was in the evening, when he we would cast a line over the side of the boat and fish for Greengill. Kin spent her days with her harp, slowly exploring line after line of her great epic. She too though, would put her work down in the evening, and sit with Link as he fished. Together, they spent hours talking and laughing together while Navi danced about their heads.

"The spirit of your sword?" Kin repeated during one such evening. The glassy water tickled her bare feet as they hung over the edge of the ship.

"That's what he said," Link replied, the fishing pole siting ignored on the railing beside him. "I can almost feel her, I think."

Kin shook her head, not in disbelief, but in wonderment. "And you're sure he said to find his brother in the trees?"

Link nodded. "I'm sure. That has to be the final guardian, right?"

"It must be," Kin replied. "But I've never heard of this 'Oni' before. I mean, there are plenty of legends about powerful masks infused with the spirits of the dead, but never of a mask that can do something like what you described." She was silent for a moment. "Unlocking the spirits of your ancestors..." Kin opened her mouth as if to say something, then changed her mind. "It could be dangerous," was all she said.

Link shrugged. His fingers found their way to Rulula's heartscale. He had hung it around his neck on a cord to keep from losing it. "It isn't worth worrying about. Jabun seemed convinced that I wouldn't be able to use the Oni anyway."

"About that," Kin said slowly. "I've been thinking, and I'm not so convinced. I mean, the Fairy Queen herself sent you after this thing. She must have known about its restrictions. I don't think she would have sent you to find it unless she knew of some way for you to use it."

"I considered that too," Link said. "But maybe she never meant for me to use it, or maybe she didn't realize that I couldn't use magic. I mean, Jabun said there was a reservoir of stale magic within me; maybe she felt that and misinterpreted what it meant." He sighed. "There's no way to know. I just have to keep moving forward and hope that the last guardian can help us."

Kin giggled.

"What?"

"You said 'us' that time." She smiled. "I'm just happy to be a part of your adventure is all."

The next few days passed peacefully. But as always, the calmer the wind, the more powerful is the gale that follows after.

The storm came suddenly, and it came in the night. The seas began to roll and boil almost within the blink of an eye. Crushing hurricane winds struck at them from one side, then the other. The black skies were only broken by bolts of lightning tearing down to earth. Sheets of rain fell from above like bullets. It was as if hell had opened up and swallowed them whole.

Time after time, Link and Kin were nearly thrown into the sea. Every second was a battle for life. If not for the Zora Cloaks they wore, Link thought they might have already drowned upon their ship, so heavy was the rain that fell. With a mind for precaution, Link managed to tie his sword to his sheathe so that it could not fall out. Kin, likely thinking along the same lines, used a piece of sailcloth and a long bit of rope to tie her harp upon her back beneath the cloak.

It seemed like hours passed, but the sun never broke the dark clouds above. Day cannot come, Link realized. It could be morning, but the day cannot come.

Together, Link and Kin tied themselves to the mast. Exhaustion wore at them, yet still the boat bucked like a wild horse. They were helpless. Link thought he may have yelled when the lines that secured their supplies broke free and their food was washed into the ocean, but he couldn't hear himself over the constant thunder. Time and time again, he found himself reaching for Kin's hand, just to make sure that she was still safely tied down beside him.

Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light pierced though Link's eyes. He tried to scream in pain, but couldn't. Water. He was in water. His mind reeled. His vision was completely gone. Intense pain coursed through his body. He flailed. Beneath him, the remains of their ship sank into oblivion, torn into pieces by the lightning that had struck it. Kin. Where was Kin? He couldn't swim, couldn't control his body as it was flung here and there by the monstrous waves and powerful tides. Even with the Zora Cloak, it was hard to breath. Hard to think. A little speck of light furiously tracked him though the darkness, but all too soon, the darkness took him.

"Swordsman!"

Link coughed. His head spun like an angry Leever. He tried to open his eyes, but spots marred his vision. Gentle hands slowly helped him sit up. He could hear birds, and the soft crash of waves against the shore.

"Kin?" he asked, squinting at the blurred form that bend over him.

"It's me," she said.

"And me!" Navi sang. Her high-pitched voice shot through link like an arrow. He groaned.

"What happened?" Link asked. The world around him was beginning to come back into focus, though the sunlight still shone too brightly.

"I'm not sure," Kin replied. "I don't remember anything after the boat was destroyed. When I woke up I was lying on the beach. I managed to get back on my feet, and saw Navi floating above your body a few hundred feet down the shore." Her voice sank. "I was scared you—you were..." her voice trailed off.

"I'm fine," he reassured her. "Help me up."

Link looked around as he got to his feet. The storm was gone, leaving no sign it had ever been there at all except for the unusual amount of new driftwood washed high on the shoreline. There was no sign of their ship.

The beach was long; it faded into the distance without turning away from the ocean. "This isn't an island," Link realized.

Kin shook her head. Her eyes flashed with rediscovered excitement.

"We..." Link trailed off, lost in the moment. "We made it! We're home!" Just like that, all his exhaustion, all his pain, all his anxiety melted away. Laughing, he wrapped Kin up in a hug and spun her around. "We're home!" he yelled out toward the sea. Kin laughed with him. Together, they collapsed onto the sand. "I didn't know I could miss Hyrule this much," Link said, laying spread eagle.

Next to him, Kin chuckled. "Me neither," she said contentedly. They lay there until the rising tide began to lick the heels of their boots. Finally, the two adventurers rose to their feet.

Link's Zora Cloak seemed untouched by the storm. Offering another silent thank you to Rulula for her gift, he rolled it up to carry beneath his arm. He was pleased to see the Master Sword still secure on his back.

"These cloaks saved our lives," Kin said, rolling hers up as well. Over her shoulder was tied her harp. Link was glad to see it had survived the storm.

A whisper. The sudden feeling of being watched. Link spun, his hackles immediately set on edge.

Behind them, the land sloped upward away from the shore for nearly a hundred feet, then was suddenly met with a towering line of trees. A forest, stretching side to side as far as the beach. In the darkness of the wood, Link could still feel the invisible eyes. Watching them.

"What is it?" Kin asked, eyeing the forest warily.

"It's nothing," Link lied. He didn't relax. There was something there. His instincts were rarely wrong.

"What is this place?" the bard asked.

Link knew. He knew, but he didn't want to say it.

"The Lost Forest," he whispered. "We're here."