Author's Notes: I am extremely sorry for being late, but my main story: Ancient Roots, has been taking a priority since it is so close to the end and those chapters are beginning to grow in length. Still, I do hope that you'll stay and read my chapters of this story. Anyway, I have decided to change Link's perspective to an Interlude and have the same concept as Ancient Roots: all perspectives will be in Interlude form unless they are in the eyes of the main character (so Ciren, in this case). I swear: things will pick up after the final Spiritual Stone is collected!
"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try."
~Brian Litteral~
Shards of Time
An Ocarina of Time FanFiction
Chapter 13: Sapphire
~Ciren~
My eyes are almost bulging out of my eye sockets as I shift my weight during our walk, making sure to always have my hands as close to my scimitars as I can without Link or Navi complaining that I am being too protective. Who can't be more protective than usual in such a place, though? There is far too much water here for my liking, and I don't like the thought of any of us drowning (if Navi can, I guess); especially since I haven't been enough water to learn how to swim properly in deep water.
I sigh deeply and shake my head, pushing my hand away as we make our way up Zora's River. Darunia had instructed for Link, Navi, and I to head up here after visiting Potentia: the Great Fairy of Power that resides atop Death Mountain. What I can't understand is that the mountain is called Death Mountain, but it's filled with Fairies and Gorons, the only race other than the Gerudo that are happier once they have a good old drink down their throats.
Hyrule...
I roll my shoulder in circular movements, feeling the semi pleasant feeling of the bones cracking. It's probably not healthy, Navi says that it's stress and all that nonsense, but I don't mind it. At least I can still feel emotion... The memories that used to hit me hard don't any longer, and I know that what I feel now is much healthier than before. I'm only quiet now because this "relaxing" water, as Link had put it, is way too loud.
"How can you live surrounded by so much water?" I mutter under my breath, crossing my arms tightly.
Navi rests on my head, leaning over my skull so that I can see her, even if her hair goes everywhere. "But you live surrounded by sand and heat? How can that not get to you?" I make a sound and shrug, sending her off course from atop my head, only because I know that she's right. She smiles a little, knowing that she has made her point (and made me feel a little better, but I am not telling her that), and flutters back over to Link. She said that she "likes his hair" more than mine, though I can't understand the difference. It's hair.
The day that I'll understand Guardian Fairies is the day that I swim in water without it being against my will.
We push onward, swapping our bags between us as we go to conserve energy and balance our weight over the two of us (even if I insist that I can hold onto the bag for the entire journey). By the time that the sun has reached its zenith, we have followed most of the River up towards the north east of Hyrule, curving our way around many small and narrow inclines that weave around each other. Once we manage to navigate it, we end up standing before an enormous Waterfall that I am not jumping into.
I look up towards the skies above. Nayru, since you created this very River, may I just say how much I love you right now. Stick a girl from the Desert in front of a Goddess damned Waterfall. Good going...
"I remember the Great Deku Tree talking to me about this place when I was young." Navi explains softly, shifting her weight on Link's head. "It's called the Sleepless Waterfall, one of two in Zora's Domain and never ceases. Many think that it's a miracle from Nayru herself..." She flies up and run her hand across the water. "He said that you had to play the Song of the Royal Family in order to open it, but the Princess never taught us or spoke of anything like that, so we have to find a way around it."
Link, who has been near silent for almost the entire trip, looks down at the ground beneath us. "Look..." I gently follow his gaze down, finding the insignia of the Triforce beneath our feet; the one thing that will save or destroy us all. His eyes, I notice, are a little dazed now as he shifts his hands around his bag for a few moments in puppet like actions. I raise an brow at him, though he says nothing when I attempt to ask him what in Farore's name he is doing. That is, until his left hand begins to glow ever so softly, and he pulls out his Ocarina.
Navi hovers around him with unease, although he pays no mind to us as I notice how the light surrounding his hand forms the shape of a triangle. Before I can even open my mouth to speak, he plays an unfamiliar song that I don't even think he knows. The lulling melody whistles out of the instrument. I would call it something stupid, but it does sound quite pretty after all.
As the final few notes echo off into the distance, his stance become unsteady. I hold my hands on his shoulders before he can fall, my touch causing him to gasp like I have burnt him and snap out of whatever daze he was in. "Link..." I begin cautiously, gripping his attention immediately. "What the Hell did you just—?" My ever so slight concern is ironically washed away when a deep grumble erupts from off to the side of us. Our eyes grow wide in panic and we draw our weapons, unconvinced that this is a good thing. However, before we even take more than a few steps away, something completely halts us.
The birds perched high above us stop their singing, crying out and flying towards their partners and offspring. The tree leaves draped across the rocky walls towering high above us rustle vigorously, and all three of us whirl around as the intensity of the Waterfall suddenly increases greatly. The Waterfall, it seems, suddenly decides that the song in which Link had played was the Song of the Royal Family, therefore granting us access to the great secret of the Sleepless Waterfall. Within seconds, the Waterfall parts like a curtain, permitting us into a small corridor embedded deep in the rocky face before us.
The sounds of nature, ones that are rather uncommon for me, begin to pick up again. The birds calm themselves, somehow understand what just happened, however I turn to Link with eyes that narrow into thin slits. "I don't know what you did, or how you did it, and I want answers." He takes a step away from me, though I don't falter. "No one knows that Song but the Princess, like Navi said, so how did you somehow manage to so it?" I take another two steps forwards until Link finally cracks, clutching the Ocarina in his hands tightly.
"I-I don't know!" He cries. "I don't know what I was doing. I wasn't... I wasn't in control."
Navi flies down to sit down on his shoulder, eyes glinting with concern. "He's telling the truth, Ciren." She says softly. "I'm his Guardian Fairy, and I knew something was... different, I think. The only thing that we do know is that the Sleepless Waterfall is finally asleep, and the way into Zora's Domain is open. I feel the presence of a Spiritual Stone, so it shouldn't be too hard to find, right?" She smiles at me genuinely, and I finally push myself to let this drop. It takes more than enough for me to do it, but I finally allow myself to do it.
I mutter something about Guardian Fairies and always trying to be being right before we finally return to each other's sides and face down the Sleepless Waterfall. "So..." Link whispers from beside me, which is barely heard due to the Waterfall's loud presence. "Ladies first?" I roll my eyes, though I refrain from answering. I peer over the gap between myself and the entrance to Zora's Domain, realising how the drop is larger than I had first anticipated, but nothing as worse as the jumps that Nisah and I had tried to leap off of.
We shared many days in the Infirmary too, but it was worth it.
Shaking my head, I take a flying leap towards the gap in the towering wall. I land my a mile with Link following in moments after. I can hear a slight thundering sound again, and Navi barely has enough time to fly towards us and straight into Link's back before the Sleepless Waterfall reverts to its usual self. Wisps of water fly out on contact with the entrance that we stand in, and I permit myself to reach out and brush the water. It's cool against my skin, far colder than the oasis in the Valley, although I don't stay there for too long before Link is calling for me; Navi's flickering glow awaiting in the blackness.
Pulling myself away, I return to their sides and join them in the walk. I soon find torches coming into my line of vision, and the corridor like tunnel opens out into a gigantic cavern which resembles the Dodongo Caverns a lot, I suppose. The floors and walls are all formed with a glossy stone, moist with water spray. A large waterfall descends into the large pool before us, twisting pathways leading all around the Domain. Large stalactites dangle from the ceiling, shells and water droplets from plants hanging from the high roof of the Domain, even if the amount of water concerns me.
I stand out like a Gerudo in Zora's Domain, as the saying goes.
As soon as we step inside, the torches become submerged with mist from the waterfalls and droplets falling from the ceiling. The mist bubbles across my skin, though I have trouble realising whether this is comforting to me or not. Having so much water in one place is strange enough, even if I lived in the same place if the water was replaced with sand, so living here must be a nightmare for all expect Zoras, huh? A figure emerges through the darkness, and my hand reaches for my scimitar instantly, although I have to force my hand away when I recognise the creature.
"Who are you?" The tall creature asks, more so demands, of it. Their white scales reflect evenly in the torch light, the tips of their fins and toes dyed a deep blue. Their webbed hands and feet ripple as water dribbles from it, most likely due to them leaping from the water or something. "State your business here in Zora's Domain. Neither of you are part of the Royal Family, and have no—" Their long speech, probably memorised by them, is abruptly cut short when their dark eyes fall on to me before proceeding to narrow into thin slits. "Gerudo! So, you've come back to finish the job, huh? Not on my watch!"
"I have a name, y'know..." I mutter under my breath as the Zora rudely grabs my arm. "Hey! Get your hand off'a me before I put my blade into good use!" The Zora, who hasn't even introduced themselves (which, to be honest, is rather rude of them), cares nothing for the fact that I could harm them and drags me down the pathway. My shadow casts distorted images across the walls of the Domain, tainting the reflections of the water as I go. I look over to my shoulder, Link and Navi hot on my heels. "Maybe Ganondorf came here too?" I mouth to them, knowing that I've got it in one.
If he went to the places where the other two Domains that held Spiritual Stones, then he must have come here. And yet, I note that Zora's Domain hasn't been physically damaged, it seems. I wonder why.
The Zora jerks me forwards before I can attain any response from my comrades, only further irritating me. We, more so I, am pulled up a set of spiralling coral coloured steps and deeper into the Domain. Before long, the steps reopen again into another large cavern, one decorated with numerous religious symbols associated with the Zora people, many symbols of Nayru also carved into the wall. From what I recall, the Zoras do worship the three Golden Goddesses, although they tend to worship and honour Nayru more due to her creation of law and the sustenance revolving around water. However, the numerous thoughts running through my head are stopped when I am halted too.
I am thrown up a small set of steps before me, forced onto my knees with my hands locked in a position that I can't even think about worming my way out of as the Zora who hates me removes my weapons. Another set of footsteps stop behind me, followed by a whizzing sound of a Guardian Fairy. My fiery hair whips over my shoulder so that I struggle to look over my shoulder and not see hair. Link and Navi stay close, not wanting to make things any worse than they all ready seem to be. I huff as the Zora jerks my arm so much that I can touch the back of my neck. "Your Majesty!" They cry. "We have caught a Gerudo trying to taint the waters like their disgraceful King!"
All right, I may not honour my King as much after what he's done, but cut some slack. I don't go insulting the Zora's King without understanding them, now do I?
The large being atop the platform opposite stirs, apparently in the middle of meditation before being stopped rather suddenly. The large Zora raises their head, red robes shaking as they shift their weight back into a seated position. I raise a brow at who I assume is the King, the jewel he wears atop his head gleaming in the torch light. It takes a while for him to shuffle his gaze down to meet ours, and then twice as long for him to hum a little and finally respond. "A Gerudo, you say? Piscis, you have done well. Have they spoken at all about my daughter?"
I resist the urge to roll my eyes, my presence in the room not picked up whatsoever. Piscis, it seems, is some form of guard to either the King or his daughter, and I am somehow connected to this. "No, Your Majesty. We haven't forced her into interrogation yet, and—" Suddenly, Piscis is pushed aside by some unknown force, taking me with him. We both fall from the platform and into the water below. I don't even struggle, slumping against the water and questioning the Three on how my life has gotten so bad.
"Hey!" A voice, Navi's I realise, calls. "She hasn't done anything wrong. She's the only Gerudo who isn't standing for the work of her King, and you've gone and accused her of something that none of us know about because of how she was raised. The Zora are renowned for their desire for permanent justice and equality, so where did that go?" I am hoisted back onto my feet, though I barely register it as I continue to stare at the Guardian Fairy with a shocked face. I think this is the first time that I have heard Navi actually speak up with such passion in her words, especially after all that she has said.
The King and Piscis are stunned to silence, and Link takes the time to step forwards; glancing towards me for a moment before climbing onto the platform with his Guardian Fairy. "She's right." He remarks, steeling his courage. "We have come here on the instruction of Princess Zelda to return the Spiritual Stones. Darunia has trusted us and given us the Goron's Ruby—" He takes out the Stone, allowing it to glisten in the torchlight before pulling out the Kokiri's Emerald too. "—and the Great Deku Tree trusted me with the second Stone too. We may help you find your daughter, but the Princess said herself that this collection is too important to be taken away from, and I can't do it without Ciren with me."
Finally someone seems to acknowledge my work...
Piscis grits his teeth so loudly that it makes me cringe from here. "Your Majesty, you can't possibly—!"
The King simply waves off his attendant as Link pockets the Spiritual Stones again – Navi staying close to him. "I would bestow upon you the Spiritual Stone of Water once proving yourself, however... my daughter was the last person known to have it before she was missing, caused by Gerudo savages or not." It takes all of my will to bite my tongue. He gestures to Link and Navi, but not me. "Very well, I will allow the two of you to stay here. But, if you claim the Stone, then I will permit you to leave these grounds with it to return to the Princess." The King snaps his head over to me, and I hold back from struggling. "You shall stay here until that time until the Stones are returned and your companions have come back to confirm this so that you cannot sabotage it."
I roll my eyes. "What would I be able to do with the Stones, huh? It's not like they do much other than sit there and look like Stones..." Of course I know better than this, and how they can open the way to Paradise or Hell, yet "playing dumb" will probably help my case right now; not that I have been known for this. Piscis tightens his grip on me, and I sag a little. "Fine, fine. Just remember that I've been taught how to get out of these situations, so you better watch your backs. I'm talkin' especially to you." I nod to Piscis, who hisses at me.
"If you bid me to, Your Majesty, I'll take this savage to her cell?" The King, strangely, has returned to his prayers; uncaring of anything but his daughter, which is somewhat understandable. If Ganondorf came here for the Stone, and then another few people (Gerudo in tow) come to ask the same thing probably doesn't bode well for his Kingdom. Nonetheless, I am torn away from my companions before I can think more on this topic, unable to do much but abide by Piscis as I am taken away.
Well, I should have realised that my day was going to be bad when we came to a place filled to the brim with water, huh?
"So..." I huff, shifting my weight. "Have you got anything on "Her Grace's location? What?" I add, noticing the dirty look that I get from the guard on the other side of my cell. I roll my eyes and shrug. "Zora..." I had always been told, as Navi had rightfully said before, that the Zora were all about justice. But, I guess when the only culprit worthy of the Princess's disappearance is right there, you would take it. The Zora turns back around as Link takes his seat in front of me, Navi resting on his shoulder.
The cell isn't too bad, I suppose, other than the fact that my hands are shackled above me and not at my sides. Piscis had taken me down here not too long ago, though there aren't any windows so I cannot say how long; and I have been stuck here ever since. The bars and bonds are formed by strange coral fragments, which is the weird thing because I thought that it would break easily and it's just as strong as any metal. Navi frowns at me a little. "Not much." She admits honestly. "The Zoras know as much as we do, which isn't a lot. She was last seen at Zora's Fountain at the back of the Domain, though all that's there is a large Deity known as Lord Jabu Jabu?"
I snicker. "Jabu Jabu? That's a name and half... hey, I'm just saying." I slump against the wall after another painful glare from the guard, turning my attention back to them. "I can't understand how someone with such status can be seen at one point and then disappears in another. At this rate..." I drop my tone. "I'll be getting out of here before she'll be found so I can help you myself." The both of them smile, taking in my smirk for something that is much more normal than it was before we had met. The guard doesn't seem to have noticed, which is always a good sign.
"How will you do that?" Link questions, smiling as he does so.
I shrug, wishing that I could buff my nails off of my uniform in smugness. "I have my ways." He laughs, being weary of the guard at my cell before twisting back around to me while Navi sticks herself down on my leg. "Have they given you anywhere to stay? Or will you be sleeping out in the open or taking other people's rooms like we have done for this task? We better get a reward for all of this..." I grumble, nodding up to the bonds above me. "Especially for this." Navi flies up so that she is at eye level with me, shrugging a little.
"They've given us a small room just above the cells." She drops her own tone for a second, leaning in to whisper in my ear: "Which may or may not help you." I grin when she pulls away, causing her to giggle while Link looks positively perplexed. It isn't long until he figures it out too and laughs along with us. "It isn't as bad as what you're stuck with. You sure that you'll be all right?" I scoff in mock anger as she floats back into Link's lap, drawing my leg up towards me chest and leaning my head back against the wall, the trickling of water starting to get to me.
"I'm sure that I've had worse." I wince slightly when Nisah's dead eyes bore straight into my mind, although I shake my head when they notice. "I'm sure that I've had worse..." I repeat, wondering why I am getting so worried about that again. It's in the past, and hopefully I can fix it once we – more so Link and Navi – attain the final Spiritual Stone and we deliver it back to the Princess. "Anyway, I'm sure that the good sir at my cell doesn't want you here for much longer." They twist around, noting how the guard's dark eyes scan us every now and again, readjusting his grasp on his spear before averting his eyes again. "I think you better go before he starts thinking that I'm somehow gonna get free. Which I could..."
Link shakes his head. "I think making the people who don't like you paranoid is not the best of plans, and there have been some bad ones so far."
"Hey, it's not that the Zora don't like me." I remark with a smirk. "It's just that my King has other ideas about leading the tribe that I've grown up in, and stereotypes—" Most of them probably true... "—sorta make people give double takes to us when we're around, especially when their Princess is missing." He nods in agreement, and the guard (understanding our separation) unlocks the door with a flurry. I call out to the guard: "Hey, what's the time?" The guard says nothing, apparently deeming me as nothing more than a "convict"; which is very rude of him. "Maybe the Zora don't like me after all..."
The two of them laugh a little, although Link turns to me one last time before leaving, moving down to meet my gaze. "Ciren, whatever you do, don't let us come back to see you bruised, battered, or worse because you annoyed the usually calm Zoras." I pass him a smug grin, realising how much him knows me. And besides, they wouldn't lay a hand on me before they got it back twice as hard. He doesn't quite return the smile. "And, when all of this is done, I promise that we will help you get to your friends all right again. I know Navi will too. Your friends don't deserve this, and neither do you."
I stare at her as she returns to Navi's side, the latter giving the former a questioning look. Link simply shakes her head, meeting my eyes one last time. I nod at him, my face stony though my eyes filled with gratitude. I shouldn't bring them into that, but having friends is a novelty that I didn't think that I would have after the night that I had fled from Gerudo Valley; whether it was cowardly or not. The Zora guard doesn't meet any of our gazes as the door is slammed shut behind them, the two of them ushered out to leave me to my own devices.
"Traitor!"
I sigh, slumping further against the wall, looking up to the curved ceiling; lowering my voice once the guard shifts out of my view against the wall beside my cell. "Hey... um, Din, Farore, and Nayru?" I quietly ask the air, determined for them to somehow hear me from their perch in the Golden Land. "I've probably neglecting any honours to you since, well, everything, but I don't have much luck on my side because of it and I need..." I huff, catching the guard's attention for a fraction of a second before dismissing me. "Fine, I need help. I know that getting the Spiritual Stones will help World Order and whatnot, but slamming me in here wasn't the most subtle of ways of telling me that I can't do this."
"Are you talking to yourself? And lying through your teeth too?" I hear the guard murmur from outside, although it is loud enough for me to hear.
"Actually, I am praying, and I would like solitude for that; which means no distractions. I'm kinda busy here." They scoff, and I narrow my eyes. "Just because I'm a Gerudo, doesn't mean that I will neglect my—never mind. You never know, what I could be saying may help you before you think of interrogating me." I tilt my head back up to the ceiling again. "Sisters, I understand that I am reckless, conjure up foolhardy actions, and am far too mule headed for my own good... but if you would just give me that chance. I can show you that I am a Gerudo, that I am capable of this when the rest of my tribe oppose me, and that I will protect the land that you created no matter what."
As my voice trails off into the silence of the dungeons, I note that the guard is watching me; perplexed. I know that I am Gerudo, therefore many believe that we care nothing for others which includes the Three. However, if they would look past themselves, they would realise that we live for our Sisters in the tribe and follow our intentions through the Goddesses too. I won't hesitate to pray to them, even if I do use their names in vain, and I will not hesitate to do whatever I can for my Sisters whether they thirst for my blood or not.
Within moments, though, the guard has returned to their shift and ignores that moment entirely. I, with nothing else to do but pray, lean my head back against the wall and shut my eyes; praying that I can find out a way to break free before destiny hopefully intervenes as it has its way of doing.
~Interlude~
Dawn rose slowly from the ashes of nightfall, drawing all from their slumbers and either into morning prayer or catering for their families and loved ones. The sunlight in Zora's Fountain in particular glinted softly across the waters that floating down and into Zora's Domain. The canyon like walls towered high above the Fountain, encasing the water to a set route into the homeland of the tribe which dedicated itself to Nayru. Rubble from numerous landslides had built up as time went on, leaving very little left other than trees and other pieces of vegetation to grow forth from the ground along with one large platform near the early stages of the Fountain.
As the sun dragged itself towards its zenith in the skies, deep grey clouds drifting hazily across the bright blue fabric like stitching, the waters flying down and into Zora's Domain rustled. The birds that sang from overhead quietened to welcome their visitors, the presence of two almost too right and pure to keep chanting their melodic rhymes out to the world. It was almost like the entire Fountain stilled as the two entered, stillness befalling the area like a orchestra of silence.
"This seems to be Zora's Fountain..." Link mused as he stepped into the sunlight, scanning the area filled with so much beauty. His Guardian Fairy followed behind him, flying ahead and towards a large platform situated near the beginning of the Fountain. When she gasped suddenly, Link sped up to meet back up with her, his eyes falling onto a large creature resting happily in the sunlight against the platform. "And that..." He added after a few moments. "That must be Lord Jabu Jabu. Let's have a look around to see if the Princess left anything before she went missing..."
Navi nodded, beginning her ascent to search the Fountain from the skies while Link searched the ground. A tiny bird seemed to catch his attention after a long few minutes of searching with no clues under his belt whatsoever, landing in a field of reeds and water based vegetation. Link drew closer to the bird, kneeling down before it and studying it quietly; his Guardian Fairy holding back in pure confusion as he did so. The bird stared up at him, looking deep into the youth's eyes too before tweeting sweetly, tightening its grip around a bouquet of reeds and flying off into their air to rejoin its mother who also watched from high above the Fountain.
What the bird left behind, however, was the main idea that caught Link's attention.
With a few tugs from the small bird, the bunch of reeds broke free from the bed of the Fountain, spiralling along with the bird and leaving a vial behind. The vial lept forth from the water before losing its energy and plummeting back down towards the water, only to be caught a few moments later by Link. He held it up to his eye line, Navi soon returning to his side to see what was going on. The water lapped at his sides as he pulled free the cork from atop the vial to reveal a tiny note inside. It was written in calligraphic Hylian, something that was used rarely in places such as Kokiri Forest.
The Guardian Fairy set herself down onto his shoulder, reading the letter aloud as it became unravelled. "Father, if you find this, then I wish to tell you that I am faring well. When choosing a suitor for me, you cared none for my own opinion, and I cannot bear to stand the thought of marrying someone out of the need for an heir over love. Therefore, to escape this, I am fleeing in search for one for me to become United with due to love and not the lust for an heir. I shall return when I have found one, and send this letter filled with my love." Navi frowned. "This is the King's daughter. I wonder why this was here and not handed to King Zora before we got here. Hmm..."
Link shook his head in deep thought, his train of thought on par with his Guardian Fairy's. "We should give this to the King." He resolved quickly, pushing himself to his feet and shuffling along the edge of the Fountain's bank, making sure that he would not slip and fall into the Fountain. He kept his eyes trained on the bank as he went, not shifting them away until he had fully planted himself back on somewhat solid ground. "If she's out somewhere in Hyrule, then he may know a certain place where she may have gone too first. We didn't see anything of her on Death Mountain or in Castle Town, but..."
"Hey." He snapped his head over to Navi, who had flown away during his thoughts. She was hovering before Lord Jabu Jabu, lip chewed in deep thought. She soon turned back to Link, who watched her as she kept her thoughts to herself. "You don't think she was... eaten do you? I mean," She quickly added once noticing her partner's reaction. "I know it sounds crazy, but if the vial was found here, and the only other thing here is Lord Jabu Jabu, then this could have been the last place where she ever was. Besides, no one ever saw her leave the Domain, and there are guards everywhere."
However, as Navi spoke, all that Lord Jabu Jabu saw was a sign of a good meal before him; and pounced.
Lord Jabu Jabu, much to the Guardian Fairy's surprise, opened his gigantic jaw without any hesitation or warning; inhaling deeply in order to take in Navi with any other food that the Zoras had left to honour him as he slept. The Guardian Fairy screamed in fright, whirling around and came to a sudden realisation that she was food. She attempted to fly away, her partner recklessly rushing towards her in hopes of aiding her, but it was far too late. Within seconds, the Guardian Fairy was taken in by Lord Jabu Jabu, her light snuffed out from the Fountain.
The colour faded from Link's face as Lord Jabu Jabu's jaw began to close. At the back of his mind, whether it was instinct or Ciren's influence on him, something twitched. He had the urge to save his Guardian Fairy, of course, although the way in which he wanted to complete this could have had potential downfalls too. And yet, he knew that he had to help the one who was with him in this mission from the very start, and nothing would change that. So, as the large, gaping mouth of Lord Jabu Jabu slowly started to close again until the next time that he sensed a good meal present, Link jumped forth
Fortunately for him, Lord Jabu Jabu was still greatly inhaling, therefore allowing Link to be drawn in briskly. Link tumbled inside, picking up height as he cried out. His thoughts raced as the world began to dim not due to any form of loss of consciousness, phantom pain at the pit of his stomach multiplying by the second. As the world drew darker and darker, his resolve became even more fortified. The white glow of his Guardian Fairy was ahead of him, lighting up the way as he flew into Lord Jabu Jabu's closing mouth. Before long, he collided harshly with something warm that shifted in a way that made him cringe to even think about it.
He was inside of Lord Jabu Jabu, the vial still clutched tightly in his hand. The large specimen that he had leapt into became wide eyed, unsure of what else he had inhaled other than the "meal" of the Guardian Fairy that was nothing more than a mistake. Nonetheless, Lord Jabu Jabu had eaten and soon fell asleep, unaware of the plague that had settled deep inside of him. His tail shifted back and forth as he fell into a deep slumber, his deep skin paling ever so slightly as the darkness increased with every passing second; nothing else for him to do but allow his subconsciousness to fight it.
As Link drew himself into a seated position, he took in the sights of a place that he thought that he would never see: Lord Jabu Jabu's stomach. The large rib cage rose high into the air, skin and muscle weakly clinging onto it. Large pools of green liquid bubbled across the bottom of the stomach, looking far too disgusting too look at for more than a few moments. Something didn't feel right, not because of where he was (and still alive, in some case) or anything like that, but Lord Jabu Jabu had the same sort of signs that the Great Deku Tree had before wilting away in the Kokiri Forest. Something special was inside of Lord Jabu Jabu, and Link knew that he couldn't let him die because of it.
"Navi?" He called out, his voice echoing across the entirety of Lord Jabu Jabu's stomach as he rose to his feet and desperately searched around for his Guardian Fairy. "Navi?" He raised his voice, his tone slightly shaky as the thought of his Guardian Fairy lost while his thoughts went off track concerning him greatly. However, in a few moments, a twinkling groan escaped into the area, a tiny light sparking on the other side of the pools of water. Link felt himself visibly relax as he raced through the water, finding that it wore away at his boots until he resurfaced, discovering Navi resting against one of Lord Jabu Jabu's ribs. "Navi, you're all right!"
Her eyes fluttered open in a daze, only for her to suddenly grasp what happened before she was inhaled by the great beast and shot into the air, dancing about in order to fully grab a steady hold on the situation. When she noticed her partner, she flew into his face, sending him back a few steps. "Link, what happened?" She questioned hastily. "Has Jabu Jabu... did we... what's going on?!" He raised his hand for her to sit on, her hair all in an array as she attempted to calm herself. She looked around the area, still unable to come to a complete conclusion. "What's going on?"
"Lord Jabu Jabu must have seen you as food and inhaled you." Link explained quietly, taking a seat on the moist ground beneath him and pocketing the vial. "I came in here after you, and I think we're trapped until he..." His stomach twisted, and his Guardian Fairy realised just exactly what he was about to say. "But something's wrong with him." He diverted the subject. "Something doesn't feel right. To be honest, it feels the same way that the Great Deku Tree did before he wilted, so there's something in here that must have been special to Ganondorf, and Lord Jabu Jabu will..." He shook his head and picked himself back up, not wanting to dwell on something like that. "I think that the—"
A scream ripped straight through Lord Jabu Jabu's insides, chilling both Link and Navi to the bone. They both exchanged a worried glance before rushing towards the source of the sound, Link drawing his sword and shield while Navi decided to fly on ahead. As they reached the end of the strange stomach, a large wall of skin or other material blocked their way. As soon as the light of the Guardian Fairy shone upon it, although, the mass seemed to detest the amount of light emitted from Navi and retracted near instantly; allowing the two of them to proceed onward and into another part of Lord Jabu Jabu.
With Navi's guiding light, the two of them dashed lightly through gigantic valves and into another mass covered opening. Acidic water dripped from all sides of Lord Jabu Jabu, continuing to infect the great monster further and further. Thoughts of the Great Deku Tree returned to the both of them as they went, hoping to the three Golden Sisters that nothing like that event would occur to Lord Jabu Jabu too; and that the person inside of the beast would also be alive, even if their high pitched screech was enough to argue otherwise.
Leaping over another large mass of acidic waters, Link and Navi reached through one final wall of mass before the interior of Lord Jabu Jabu somehow opened out slightly more rounded area, one that held one of the most vital organs of the great Deity: the heart. Link skidded into a stop as he became aware of the situation, Navi's body lit up the ground to reveal two things in particular: the heart was being attacked by a strange monster, and watching the happen was apparently a young Zora holding a yellow item in their hand. Without Navi's light near it, the wall of mass reverted back to its previous state, not permitting them to leave once many other materials covered it.
"Hey, you!" Link snapped his head back into thought, locking onto the young Zora – assuming female. "Help me get this thing gone right now!" Shocked by her suddenness, he barely moved an inch before her dark orbs narrowed. "Don't just stand there. You've got a sword and shield, so put it to good use before Lord Jabu Jabu dies!" Instincts finally came back to him, and he nodded; not even knowing the Zora's name before turning his attention towards this large beast. "It's known as Barinade from Zora myths, but it's not a myth any more!"
If he wasn't worried all ready, then he certainly was now.
The Barinade, it seemed, had attached itself to both Lord Jabu Jabu's heart and the ceiling of his body too, removing the host's life energy as time passed by. It was the reason for the Deity's presumably abnormal behaviour and infected body, therefore had to be defeated like Gohma had to be; only Link hoped that the same would not happen to Lord Jabu Jabu as it had to the Great Deku Tree. Within moments of Barinade noticing Link's presence, it sent forth a string of light energy, striking the Kokiri Shield before it was too late; but Link soon came to the realisation that it was not light energy but something else entirely that he did not know about.
"You idiot!" The Zora shouted, no concern laced into her tone whatsoever. "Don't you know about electricity! It'll shock you! I'm "shocked" that you didn't know that!" Navi flew over to the Zora, her eyes gleaming with irritation even in a few minutes of coming to know the young Zora. The Zora backed away, not wanting anything to come so close to her so suddenly due to her upbringing that neither Link nor Navi knew of. As Link dodged another wave of "electricity" and threw himself at Barinade, Navi let herself take a single moment to say something bitter to the young Zora.
"He's trying his hardest, so why don't you help since you know so much about it?"
The Zora scoffed. "Well, I would if you would get out of my face." She rolled her eyes and looked over the Guardian Fairy's shoulder. "That doesn't matter, we can talk when Barinade is defeated. We need to separate it from Lord Jabu Jabu and then go in for the kill, or at least that was how the Zoran Hero of legends defeated it in the myths..." The two of them turned when Link cried out, taking another blast of electrical energy to his sword arm, leaving nothing but a deep scorch mark behind. In seconds, Navi was at his side again, using what light that surrounded her to distract the monster's shots of electricity.
"Be careful, Navi!" He shouted as he sheathed his sword for a moment and dropped his shield, leaving him out in the open as he sent a few Deku Seeds out from his Slingshot, finding that they did little damage other than stunning the creature from sending out more waves of electricity. An appendage suddenly struck out at Link and knocked him to the ground as he ran to reclaim his shield. Navi could do nothing as she danced through numerous waves of electricity, one spiralling straight towards him. His eyes widened in shock, skidding across the ground and just out of reach of his shield, though he knew that he would not be able to move faster than Barinade's attacks. He covered his eyes at the light was channelled in his direction, knowing that the end was near.
However, it soon came to pass that the end was further away than he had first seemed.
The young Zora threw herself in front of him, throwing the yellow object in her hands straight towards Barinade. The wooden object made its mark in the beast, slicing straight through one of the appendages clinging to the roof of Lord Jabu Jabu's body and through another as it swung back around and into the Zora's hand. The stream of electricity was cut off abruptly, stunning Barinade before any other attacks could be made out to the three of them.
She breathed a deep sigh of relief and hoisted Link back onto his feet, who was still perplexed on why his heart was still beating. She shoved the item into his hand. "I swear, you need to stop having me tell you everything and save you. Use this Boomerang on Barinade, and it should help to defeat him." Link did not speak before she added: "Go on, then! You've got a monster to defeat!" Something in her tone seemed to amuse him, whether it was the slight worry over him or the sheer thought of her dominating over all, but he ignored it for now as he sprung back into action, taking his shield back into his grasp but leaving his sword sheathed for now.
Navi flew back down to his side in a hurry, out of breath from distracting Barinade for so long. "Lord Jabu Jabu won't last much longer, Link. We need to defeat him now, otherwise... you know." He silently agreed and twisted back around to the dark mass before him, his Guardian Fairy floating back up to face Barinade head on. Adjusting his grip around the Boomerang, he threw it forwards like the Zora had done and watched as it circled around the appendage that he was aiming for before returning to him again. Barinade shot forth a burst of electricity that he agilely leapt out of the way of before throwing it forth again.
The Boomerang hit its target dead on, cutting the final appendage away from the roof of Lord Jabu Jabu's body. Barinade, now annoyed with the lack of life energy that it was gaining from the Deity, released many smaller versions of its base that were drenched in electricity. The young Zora cried out from the suddenness of the attack, jumping out of the way as they swung around Barinade as a form of good defence. As the Boomerang return to Link's hand, his instincts took full control and he threw the Boomerang around at the tiny beings before rushing forwards himself.
Now that Barinade's main body was defenceless, he drew the Kokiri's Sword and lashed out at the monster, the Boomerang hitting the back of Barinade's main body on its return to Link and halting all of the electrical bodies that flew around the area. Link took no mind to it, continuing to throw himself at Barinade until he had no energy left. In the background, Navi cried out his name as the electrical beings sparked back into life, flying forwards to meet him when they noted that their main sustenance was being attacked. Again, Link paid no mind, leaving the Boomerang on the ground on the other side of Barinade and slashing at it one last time before they met him.
Or almost met him.
He thrust the sword into Barinade on final time, stopping the electrical offspring while they were in inches of colliding with him. He looked over his shoulder, meeting Navi and the Zora's wide eyes as he slipped through the frozen offspring with his sword in his hand faster than ever before. As he returned to their sides, Navi shifted closer than ever and muttering harsh things to him through her fear. Barinade rose high into the area, hundreds of bulges sprouting across its entire body. Spasms rocked through its body as it writhed in pain, no life left to sustain it in the face of death.
It reached out one last time to hurt the three of them, only for its appendages too fall from its body in bloody masses before the entire body exploded into green, bloody mounds on the ground. The three of them exchanged disgusted looks, only for the young Zora to notice a glint of light spark in the mass of Barinade's remains. "Lord Jabu Jabu should be fine." Navi clarified once she had calmed down. "I wonder what's in there?" The Zora took off, completely ignoring what she was wading through as she picked up the object that almost glowed in the light that Navi gave off and the dying electricity that flowed through Lord Jabu Jabu's body.
"Mother's Stone..." The Zora smiled down at the object in her hand, which turned out to be a small gemstone. The gemstone was made up of three small sapphires welded together by gold, the entire stone made up in the shape of Nayru's symbol. The Zora soon returned to their sides, her grin wider than ever as she held up the stone. " Lord Jabu Jabu had swallowed it when I was last in Zora's Fountain, though he was acting strange as I went inside." Both Link and Navi's eyes widened. "What? I couldn't lose the Zora's Sapphire, the main symbol of our tribe, to a whale, now could I?"
Navi floated forwards, though not too close to respect the Zora's peeve of people's closeness. "So you came inside of here to reclaim the Zora's Sapphire?" The Zora nodded. "Couldn't you have died while you were... never mind. You did what you thought was right." She turned to Link, nodding to his bag before turning back to the Zora. "We, um, found this in Zora's Fountain, and we think that it's from the missing Zoran Princess: Ruto. Before you came in here, did you see her at all?" The Zora's eyes widened for a few moments as she snatched the vial from Link's hands, hastily reading through the note before ripping it up. "Hey!"
"That means nothing!" She snarled, spinning away from them with crossed arms. "I bet you my Father sent you around to find me, huh? Just so he could find his "little flower"?" Link moved around so that he was standing in front of her. She raised her eyes to meet his, eyes glowing with sadness. "My Father arranged for me to be United one of the wealthiest Zoras in the Domain, but I hate him. I don't want to marry so that our name can carry on. I want... I want..." Her voice grew in volume. "I want to by United for love like Mother did!" She inhaled deeply, then exhaled. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled like that. It wasn't lady like of me."
"It's better to speak the truth than act "like a lady" in some cases." Link said softly. "Where I come from, being "United" doesn't exist. None of us could ever grow up to United, but I know what it is. To not be United for love doesn't sound right..." He pointed to the Zora's Sapphire. "That's why you ran away. To run away from being United without love, and to not follow in your Mother's footsteps. I didn't know my Mother, but if she was as wise as the Great Deku Tree, then she would have told me to do the same. You haven't done anything wrong...?"
She smiled, touched as she held her hand out. "I'm Ruto. And thank-you... for being so kind when I have done nothing but shout at you." He waved her off as he shook her wet hand. They held hands for a few moments before Ruto recollected herself and stepped closer, Navi watching with a raised brow. "You know what? I'll go back to Father, but I won't be United with that Zora. No matter what he says, I'll know in my heart that you've showed twice the courage at an age half of the Zora Father wants me to be United with. You were... cool. Cooler than I expected." She winked. "Even if only a little."
She stepped away and turned his palm upwards, placing the Zora's Sapphire into it. "I can't take what was your Mother's, Ruto. That's wrong of me to even think about it."
She laughed lightly, folding her hands behind her back. "It was supposed to be the Engagement Stone that I was to give to the Zora I was to be United with but... I think that you deserve it more. I'll show Father what happens when you try to control Princess Ruto!" She grinned at him broadly, watching his confused expression intently. "You don't know what an Engagement Stone is, do you?" After a few moments, Link shook his head, making Ruto laugh as she waltzed off towards the front of Lord Jabu Jabu, skipping as she went. "I suppose that's for the best then..."
Link followed after her, unsure of what her cryptic words meant as his Guardian Fairy laughed lightly from above; realising just how little he knew about the world.
