CHAPTER 22
The light faded a few seconds later, and Ruto cautiously emerged from the water.
When she dared to open her eyes again, a Zora lad with greenish highlights – rather than the usual blue highlights – stood where Link had stood, staring calmly back at her. "Link? Is that – is that you?" she stammered, almost too stunned to speak.
"Not bad for a party-favor, eh?" he replied, his voice noticeably deeper now.
Without another word, he leaped into the water and flapped away with fully-formed fins, laughing the whole time. Ruto ducked beneath the surface again, simply to keep him in sight, and gaped in absolute astonishment at. . . . . . . . .whatever it was that she was looking at.
How in Din's red fire was this possible?
She shook her head, giving chase to a passing school of fish. Her questions could wait.
Link wasn't far behind her, somersaulting in the water a few times before springing forward. With the newly-acquired fins, he easily kept up with Ruto as they chased the fish down. He'd never before used the Zora Mask – or any magical mask, for that matter – for something that mundane, but he had to confess that it felt. . . . . . . . .strangely liberating. As far as he knew, there were neither monsters to defeat nor poor souls to rescue from them.
Just some fish to catch and a Zora hatchling to –
"HA! I'VE GOT YOU NOW!"
. . . . . . . . .feed.
Startled, Link spun around to see Ruto bobbling in place. The fish in her jaw had already given up the fight and was simply waiting to bleed out. "That was quick!"
"Fairly slow for me, actually," she corrected him. "These fish are fast little buggers!"
"Aren't they all?" he asked half-jokingly.
"Ha! I wish!"
Once enough of a crimson ring had formed around her to attest that this fish was dead, she made a beeline for the bottom of the lake, pinning her prize to a stone and mercilessly ripping into the corpse with her teeth. To her right stood a massive pillar bearing the Zora crest – one of the four that soared above her, rising right through the water's surface.
"Um, Ruto?" Link asked, trying not to wince as the carcass disintegrated in Ruto's mouth.
She glanced in his direction, still chewing her mouthful of meat. "Hm?"
"Don't take this the wrong way, but wouldn't. . . . . . . . ."
"I rather have it cooked?" she replied upon swallowing, finishing his question for him. "Don't fret about that. The Zora much prefer raw fish."
She returned to her feeding without another word, and Link shrugged in response. Fair enough, he supposed. Hylians were rather picky when it came to food.