A/N: Thanks to alwaysingirl, RoseWing and (NEW REVIEWER!) Kirkysaurus for their reviews!
I don't know, Kirkysaurus. When I started this story I expected the worst, but it's been better than I thought. Thanks for that, though!
Me too, alwaysingirl. I prefer cold to hot. Maybe that's why I like winter the best XP
Yeah, me too RoseWing. Actually I only found out Sheik was a girl when I played SSBB XP
Chapter 18 - River
In about half an hour, Zelda made it to the pathway to Zora's Domain. It was freezing cold, even with Rauru's necklace on, and Zelda noticed herself shivering subconsciously. If she could feel the effects from all the way back here, she wondered how bad the cold was at the actual destination. Perhaps a first step to heat up would be to start running up to it.
She jogged on the spot for a few seconds before jogging forward. There was a large unnecessary fence in front of her, blocking her way. The two ways to get past the fence were simple. One, climb it. This wasn't really possible because of the sharp spikes at the top which could very well impale her if she lost her footing. Two, go into the river for mere seconds to go past the fence and onto the dry land after it. Although she was very unlikely to die from this method, she would be pretty freezing afterwards. The air's temperature compared with the freezing water wouldn't be the least bit pleasant. But it had to be done.
She walked up to the river, gingerly dipping a foot into the shallow part in the beginning. The water reared up around her foot and bit at it with fangs of ice, and she gasped and yanked her foot out of the water. Suddenly, movement started to occur under the water a few metres away from her. She couldn't be sure whether it was the stepping into te water that set it off or the gasp, but nonetheless a large octopus-like creature shot out of the water, roaring. She recognized this creature as an Octorok. Easy enough to kill perhaps, one needle or two and it should be over.
The Octorok made the first move, firing a small stone at her from its snout and diving back underwater. She easily deflected it with a punch and threw a needle of her own. However, the Octorok was quite deep under the water, and the needle slowed down dramatically, harmlessly bouncing off the Octorok's skin. It jumped out of the water and fired another rock at her. She dodged it easily. Noticing that her needles won't work when the monster is underwater, she tried to hit it while it was out.
It went on for a while, mostly because the monster had ducked down by the time Zelda threw the needle at it. She seemed to be getting more and more frustrated. Her arms and legs ached from deflecting the bullets away from her. There appeared to be no way to defeat the monster for the time being, and it was wasting precious time. Perhaps the direct approach would work quicker.
After dodging the monster's latest bullet, she jumped right into the river. Her body almost shut down from the shock of the transition from cold to freezing. She recovered in mere seconds and yanked out her dagger. The Octorok seemed taken aback at the warrior's sudden change in behaviour and stopped moving for a second. It was only when she stabbed it in the head that it reacted.
It screeched and flailed out its tentacles at her. Unfortunately, since she was in water, she couldn't jump back fast enough because of the high water resistance. She cried out in pain as it jabbed her in the stomach twice. Clutching at her stomach, she got even more angry and slashed at it so many times that it was like her arms were a blur. The Octorok didn't fight back once, and after a minute it went still.
She sheathed the dagger and climbed up onto the land in front of the fence. Now the adrenaline was starting to wear off, the cold began to get to her again, only this time much more intense. She curled into a ball, shivering violently. Sneezing a few times, she hugged her knees to herself to get warmer. Her feet and hands were numb and her legs felt like they'd just been through a marathon. It was beginning to warm up as the sun got higher, and her feet became real once again. She stood up awkwardly and continued up the path.
XxX
After two hours, three more Octoroks, and five stops, she made it to the waterfall that leads to Zora's Domain. It looked incredibly fast, and it would be impossible to jump through to the entrance without getting forced backwards. Suddenly, she noticed a Triforce engraved in the ground underneath her feet. There was also a small inscription underneath.
'The flow of this waterfall serves the King of Hyrule. When the King slumbers, so too do these falls.'
After thinking for a second, Zelda took out her harp. She reasoned that the only thing connecting her father to sleep would be a lullaby. The same lullaby he taught Zelda as a child.
She didn't have to look once since she was so familiar with the notes. It was easy. In fact, it was in total only eleven notes. Nostalgia brimmed up within her as she played. This song was taught to her not only by her father but also her mother and Impa. She wondered how Impa was coping. Rather, she wondered where she was in the first place. It had been seven years since she had seen anyone.
She finished, and the waterfall split into two, revealing an entrance. She smiled and put her harp back into her bag, then jumped through to the opening.
The cold almost knocked her over as she entered. And she though the river was bad? It wasn't like the Zora's Domain she had been told about, which meant to have lots of warm cascading water and a huge waterfall. Instead, there was only ice as far as the eye could see, and the waterfall was frozen mid-stream. There were absolutely no signs of life either.
She walked in further, and as she walked she could see faint outlines of bodies underneath the ice, unmoving. Zelda sighed and bowed her head in respect for the fallen tribe. As she remained motionless for a second, silent, she could her a faint knocking sound. She had to prick up her pointed ears in order to fully know where it was coming from. There it was again, a muffled knocking, urgent yet lethargic. And... shouting? Yes, shouting.
She went to her left, and the volume of the noise heightened. She got close to it now, even though the shouting was too muffled to make out what was being said. She looked around, and her eyes fell on a patch of ice a lot thinner than the rest. Underneath was a fist that kept rapping at the ice, and more shouting. As Zelda looked closer, she could see the figure of a Zora girl, shouting frantically and hitting the ice wall.
Zelda quickly kicked at the ice, shocking the girl into stopping. She kicked it again, many more times, until she realized it wasn't doing any good. She stopped and thought for a second before she got a brainwave. She pulled out an Ember Seed and threw it down quickly before it singed her fingers. It hit the ice and exploded outwards, a large wall of flame covering the ice. As the flame died down, she noticed that there were now many cracks in the ice where the girl was. Seizing the opportunity, Zelda kicked the ice and it shattered instantly.
'Hey down there! Take my hand!' Zelda shouted down. She plunged her hand into the water and screamed as her hand numbed instantly. She resisted the urge to pull it out as the Zora's hand grabbed hers and she hoisted the girl out onto the ice. The girl fell onto her stomach, gasping for breath and clutching at her throat.
'Ah... ah...' she whimpered. Zelda just watched, nursing her hand.
'Hey. You alright?' Zelda whispered to the girl. The girl just sputtered weakly and sat up, shivering like crazy.
'Want a blanket?' Zelda asked her.
The girl just nodded frantically and held out her hands. Zelda pulled out the blanket and handed it to the girl, who wrapped it around herself like a cocoon.
'Th... Thank you...' the girl whispered.
There was silence for a few seconds, only filled by the girl's chattering teeth.
Eventually the girl asked, 'Who are you?'
'I am Sheik,' Zelda proudly stated, 'one of the last of the Sheikahs.'
'I see,' the girl replied, 'well, my name is Ruto.'
Zelda's mind flashed in recognition. This was the girl she had to save from the ice.
'Come on, we should get you out of this cold,' Zelda said. The girl nodded frantically again and stood on shaky legs. Zelda had to grab her before she fell.
As they left the Zora's Domain, a creature watched them with burning yellow eyes from the top of a rock face. The young Zora was shivering, and the other one was talking to her, perhaps trying to comfort her. The creature's eyes glinted with hate as it reached to its scarred cheek. Its cracked voice only uttered one word as it filled with anger.
'You...'