"Are you sure, Sidon? You must be certain. I dare not suspect one of our brethren otherwise."
"I tell you, Father, it was a Zora shaft that brought Link down! I have no doubt."
"Nor do I doubt your honesty, my son. I believe that is what you believe you saw, but if I act and it is proven otherwise, such an accusation could divide our people completely."
"Father, much as it pains me to admit it, our people are already divided! Only a Zora thoroughly convinced against your wishes would dare attack Link after the Council's vote!"
"Again, my son, if it was an arrow that brought him down, and if it was a Zora…"
Sidon's heated arguments and Dorephan's calming efforts woke Link from a deep sleep. Their words recalled the events from Shatterback Point to vivid and painful memory. The leap. The calm descent on the paraglider. The arrow and a sudden drop into the deep blue waters below. Then blackness.
Link's eyes blinked open for the first time since that chaos and found the silver-blue ceiling of the guest wing. Dorephan and Sidon stood a few beds away, no doubt to ensure their conversation did not wake him. To his great relief, Link did not feel sharp pain nor restrictive bandaging anywhere on his body. He had been lucky to hit only the lake surface instead of its mountainous shore.
Having ascertained his well being, Link sat up on the Hylian-sized bed.
"It was an arrow, Your Highness," he interrupted to the surprise of the two Zora. "Two, actually. The latter, your son saw for himself. The first alerted the lynel to my presence atop the mountain."
"Link!" Sidon exclaimed as he rushed over to his friend. "Thank Hylia you are still with us! Are you all right?"
"Better than I'd hoped," Link admitted. "How long since I fell?"
"It is night of the same day," Dorephan informed him as he sat his massive frame on the bed next to his. "Sidon wasted no time getting you out of the reservoir. But you say someone alerted the lynel to your presence, then did nothing more until you were defenseless?"
"Coward!" the prince cried passionately.
"Not a coward," Link corrected him, shaking his head. "Whoever wanted me dead tried to make it so without being seen. I am loath to cast blame toward any of your people, Your Highness," Link added with true regret, "but I can think of no others with the need to slay me anonymously."
Link's words clearly troubled Dorephan, whose broad face was creased into a considerable frown. Sidon, however, nodded in agreement.
"You see, Father?" the prince insisted. "It fits all too well. Speak with the elders who opposed Link's aid. They will not lie in your presence!"
"Just as they would not oppose my will after a Council vote?" Dorephan dryly countered. "My son, if it was one of our brethren, he or she has already cast aside all bonds that bind us. Even discounting that, I will not conduct an aimless hunt among my own people. We have only suppositions at this point. Better to build a bridge made of water than to accuse without the benefit of truth on our side."
Sidon was clearly furious at the helplessness of the situation. Link, with no desire to see further disunity among the Zora, quickly intervened.
"The arrows, do we still have them?" he asked.
Link noted Dorephan's subtly grateful nod as Sidon answered.
"They are there, Link," Sidon said, motioning to Link's bedside table. "The quiver kept them dry even after you fell. Thank Hylia for that, for I could not have fished you out otherwise."
"I thank both Hylia and you, my friend," Link replied honestly. "Frankly, I would not have had you risk your life in Vah Ruta's waters."
He was slightly alarmed when Sidon smiled at this.
"Then I am afraid you will be displeased with me, Link," the prince bracingly informed him. "For I must risk those waters again, and do so with you, if we are to halt Ruta's rage."
Bazz sat stoically, his iron-hard expression hiding the raging fury within. Over and over in his mind's eye he watched the Hylian fall to what should have been his doom. It would have been a fitting end: drowned in the waters that were now home to the Divine Beast he had allowed to curse the Zora.
Then Sidon had appeared, only too eager to rescue the same man that had spelled death for his sister. What madness, Bazz thought bitterly, aligns him closer to his sister's killer than to his own people?
A pulling sensation at his arm temporarily distracted Bazz from his dark musings. His father was securing one of two twin spaulders just below his son's brightly colored shoulder fins. Its silver-steel alloy was burnished to shining, as was the rest of what he already wore. The armoring of a Zora warrior normally fell to his or her mother or spouse. As Bazz had neither, the duty fell to his father.
The Zora captain took vicious pride in this. His father, the great Seggin, preparing his son to right the wrongs of a century past. It was a circle completing itself, a sign that Hylia had ordained his people's vengeance.
A splash in their home's entry pool announced the arrival of Muzu, who quietly took a seat while father and son finished the inaudible ceremony. Only when the narrow helm was placed on the front of Bazz's crown did the younger Zora stand. He was acutely aware of his own body, of its youth and strength. Finely toned muscle swelled snugly against flawless silver armor. The presence of his aged father and Muzu further emphasized his unbowed height. He was a Zora warrior in his prime. Who better to triumph over the disgraced Hylian Champion?
Seggin stepped back to critically appraise the preparations made for his son. Bazz felt pride stir within him as his father looked upon him approvingly.
"You are ready, my son," Seggin solemnly declared. "May Hylia swim with you."
The ritual was all but finished. Normally, Bazz would have taken up his arms and left then and there with Seggin's blessing. Son and father, however, both turned their attention to the patiently waiting Muzu.
"Where is Trello?" Seggin asked.
"Above with some of the other elders," Muzu answered. "I did not think it wise for our collective absence to repeat itself more than necessary. No doubt the Hylian and Prince Sidon are suspicious after yesterday's events."
"Those will not be repeated," Bazz said harshly before remembering to whom he spoke. Muzu, however, actually appeared pleased with his brashness.
"I am glad to see this task has consumed you beyond the bounds of propriety," the elder observed with satisfaction. "Besides, I do not reference the Hylian's good luck to reprimand, only to warn. Eyes will be watching to see if similar interference occurs at the reservoir. I assume you will take precautions to ensure those eyes remain blind?"
It was Seggin who answered, and Bazz sensed it was to save his son's anger for the battle to come.
"Bazz is scheduled to be on patrol," Seggin assured Muzu. "Once gone, he will make his way to the reservoir's southern platform. Only if the Hylian penetrates Ruta's defenses will Bazz intervene."
"Very good," Muzu said approvingly before turning his attention to Bazz. "If you are forced to board Vah Ruta and confront the Hylian, you must do so by circling opposite from the rest of us. No one must see you."
"What do you mean, the rest of us?" Bazz asked sharply.
"King Dorephan," Muzu said with sardonic respect, "has commanded that we all accompany the Hylian to the reservoir, 'to support him with our presence if not our spears.'"
"He would place his people in danger's path?" Seggin hissed in outrage. "Within Vah Ruta's reach just as the Hylian would seize control of it?"
A circle complete, Bazz thought to himself once more.
"Worry not, father," the armored bull said firmly. "Our king has only ensured that the Zora will witness their safety secured by one of their own. Perhaps, once I have slain the Hylian, I can seize control of Ruta myself and stop this accursed storm."
Muzu nodded thoughtfully at Bazz's confidence. Seggin, however, went directly to the back wall of the cave to remove his son's fish-tailed spear from its brackets. The bent and wrinkled Zora offered the weapon to his only offspring.
"Go then, my son," Seggin gravely bid him. "Go and save your people from this threat - and from themselves."
As he had the day before, Link girded himself for the task that lay ahead. This time, he thrust aside any misgivings about donning the Zora clothing and armor. Whatever offense it might cause paled in comparison to the actions already taken against him. All Link could do was focus on Vah Ruta and hope his unseen attacker would feel compelled to reveal himself.
He would be ready for both. Unlike the lynel, Link would face this day's foes with the full complement of arms. His knightsword and Dorian's smaller blade joined the Sheikah-stone hilt. So, too, did a small silver bow crafted especially for him. Its size was such that a Zora adolescent might wield, but it fit his needs perfectly. The shock arrows, safely encased in their drycloth quiver, hung at his left side, opposite the Sheikah Slate.
Link was not surprised to see Sidon waiting for him at the guest wing entrance. Unlike himself, the Zora prince was unarmed. He would not need to be on this day.
"Ready, Link?" Sidon said with an easy grin.
Link nodded with a smile of his own. Something about doing what he was about to do with Mipha's brother seemed… right.
"My father will address the people shortly by the statue," Sidon informed him gently. "I understand if you wish to wait until he is finished."
"No, my friend," Link replied firmly. "I no longer fear the past."
Sidon's grin widened.
"You are a Champion, Link, through and through," the Zora prince said softly as the pair exited toward the plaza outside. "So was my sister. Today is for both of you."
The plaza was indeed filled to capacity. Link and Sidon did not venture beyond the guest wing entrance. Those who could not fit on the main level were lined along the stairs leading around and up to the second platform of the Domain. Still more Zora observed the proceedings from the balcony above, completing the multicolored sea of fishlike people congregated in the heart of their home.
Like some benevolent father, Dorephan's immense form rose above them all. He was every inch the king, the diadem and vestments of office complementing his barrel chest and the long, thick tail falling from the back of his crown. When he spoke, it was with a combination of love and command Link felt must be unequaled in all of Hyrule.
"My people," Dorephan rumbled, "today we gather to accompany those who would halt Vah Ruta's wrath. One of them in particular goes for much more, for he is the Hylian Champion, Link, returned to us by means ordained of Hylia."
Murmurs rippled through the Zora, but they ceased as soon as the king resumed speaking.
"Link fought against the Calamity alongside my daughter, whose likeness is now forever etched in stone," Dorephan continued while placing a hand on the statue at his side. "As she remains in our hearts, Mipha lives on in Link's heart - and I know my daughter's spirit goes with him this day. Let us also accompany him, that the Zora may be united against the gravest threat our people have seen in a century."
Several Zora were silently weeping, but Link felt no temptation to do so. His heart was not heavy with loss, but light with the prospect at hand.
"Let us witness the beginning of the end of Ganon's reign," Dorephan thundered. "Let us go forth and see Hyrule restored as in the days of yore, when Zora and Hylian and all of Hyrule's peoples were united in the bonds of fellowship. Let us go forth as one."
The majority of the Zora roared their approval, their multi-colored arm and elbow fins waving proudly in the air. Link did not fail to notice those who omitted their support, many of whom were the elder of their race. He glimpsed Muzu looking decidedly expressionless. Some distance away from him stood Trello, who was having a difficult time concealing his disgust. Seggin, who stood on one of the stairwells, appeared openly furious.
Link was suddenly curious why the three were so blatantly dispersed among the crowd. They had been the most outspoken elders during his audience with the Council. It seemed only fitting they would band together in their open dislike of him.
One foe at a time, Link reminded himself.
Sidon began leading him through the tightly packed crowd. They left a wave of whispers and mutterings in their wake, all remarking at the Zora armor worn by the Hylian. Link did not care. Mipha's white scale pendant was like a talisman, its meaning shielding him from the uncertainty and distrust now swirling around him.
Link accompanied the Zora prince up the right staircase, after which they continued to the same eastern bridge they had taken the day before. Only there did they finally emerge from the congregated Zora, who began to follow at a respectful distance behind the pair.
"Mipha would be proud to see you wear her armor with such dignity," Sidon told him with a gentle squeeze of his shoulder.
Link said nothing. He felt as though each step he took was toward his mostly forgotten past. Something told him that Vah Ruta held more than merely the means to end Ganon. The thought was irrational, but neither could his heart dismiss it.
Instead of continuing toward Mikau Lake, Sidon and Link turned right. There, much like the channels behind the waterfalls, rose a magnificent wall built into the side of the mountain. This, Link knew, had been erected to complete the reservoir's confinement. Its silver-blue facade featured one unique characteristic: a staircase that zig-zagged its way to the top of the wall. The pair made their way upward at a measured gait, conserving their energy for what was to come.
When they arrived at the top, Link saw that the staircase spilled out into a massive observation deck. The structure emitted the soft, turquoise light that illuminated all Zora masonry. A long, narrow jetty jutted out into the reservoir itself. Link knew that it would normally be elevated from the water. Now, however, miniature waves lapped over its sides. Another day or two, and the reservoir would overflow to the stairs - and the Domain's already bloated waters below.
"Not a moment too soon," Sidon muttered at his side. Link could only nod in response as his eyes were drawn to the massive form of Vah Ruta, which squatted half-submerged at the reservoir's southern end. Water continued to pour from the vents just below its shoulders, while still more spouted into the air from its elongated trunk.
Link and Sidon made their way out onto the jetty. The rest of the Zora remained behind on the observation deck, allowing some distance between them and whatever battle was about to take place.
"You remember the plan, Link?" Sidon asked searchingly. "Are you sure you're ready? I would not blame any of my own people for needing an extra day if they fell as you did yesterday."
Link briefly removed the bow from his shoulder and tested its string. Like so many things the Zora made, it was impervious to the rain that continued to fall from the leaden sky above. Shouldering it, he met the prince's concerned expression with a set one of his own.
"The time for waiting is over, my friend," Link answered firmly. "Let us see the sun shine on Zora's Domain once more."
Sidon's now familiar, contagious smile stole across his face. With his people watching, the Zora prince performed an incredible, twisting dive into the reservoir's depths. He broke the surface next to the jetty a moment later, waiting only long enough for Link to join him. Though Mipha's armor allowed him to swim easily, it did not lend him the natural speed inherent in her people. For this reason, Sidon's help was essential.
Once in the water, Link situated himself atop Sidon's long, broad back. He clamped his legs tightly around the Zora's waist and firmly gripped the straps of leather Sidon was wearing around his shoulders just for this benefit.
"Ready, Link?" Sidon asked brightly, for all the world as if this were a countryside outing. "Hang on!"
Link's grip tightened sharply as he felt the Zora's well-muscled body surge through the water. He could not believe how easily Sidon cut through its surface, leaving a keenly cut wake behind them.
Faster and faster the prince swam, until Link gave up wiping away the fine mist continually spraying up and into his face. Only now did he realize the prince had started slowly on his behalf. Taking off at this speed, Link would have been thrown aside in a trice.
As it was, he squinted hard to keep his sights on the massive form of Vah Ruta that was now alarmingly close. The beast's metal-and-stone body was highlighted by rings and whorls of dark red light that intensified as Sidon and Link approached.
With an ear-splitting trumpet, Vah Ruta lifted its bulk from the water. Its size made Link feel like a raindrop able to be scattered should the Divine Beast deign to notice him.
Like a minnow evading the trout, Sidon cut swiftly away from the machine's path. The Zora's head bobbed steadily up and down, seemingly unflustered and in rhythm despite the great speed at which he swam.
"Get ready, Link!" Sidon shouted over his shoulder. "I'm going in!"
Like an arrow, the prince shot towards Vah Ruta's left flank until they were nearly under one of the water vents. The amount of liquid pouring down from just above the beast's leg would have drowned any other creature save a Zora - or one wearing magically enhanced Zora armor.
Link let go just as Sidon dove safely underwater, then kicked furiously upwards. As Link had hoped, the action had the same effect as at the waterfall the previous day. He ascended up the unintentional cataract as easily as any Zora. When he reached its crest, Link leaped from the flow as hard as he could.
Time seemed to slow. Link was now in the air, high above where Vah Ruta's leg joined to the body. There, nestled into that joint, was one of the glowing red orbs Dorephan had described. It was large, but hardly an easy target given what Link was attempting.
Even as he exited the "waterfall," Link had unslung the bow from his shoulders. Now, as his momentum petered out and left him hovering for an instant in midair, he removed a shock arrow from his quiver, strung it to the Zora bow and loosed it toward the orb.
The forked yellow shaft found its mark, causing a surge of electricity on the orb's surface before the light within it faded and died. As had been the case with Seggin just weeks before, water ceased to flow from the vent just below the paralyzed orb.
All of this Link did and registered in a matter of seconds before plummeting to the reservoir surface below. The Zora clothing, however, made the impact seem more pleasant than painful. Sidon appeared at his side immediately, waiting only long enough for Link to resume his grip before dashing away through the water.
"Marvelous! Well done, Link!" Sidon exclaimed over the rushing wind and rain. "I dare say a Rito could not have done better!"
Link did not bother asking or responding, for a flash of blue light had erupted behind them. He craned his head for a look and witnessed with awe what Sidon had described from his previous encounter with the beast.
Hovering along Vah Ruta's side by virtue of some unseen magic, enormous blocks of ice spun in agitated circles. Then, as though loosed from an invisible sling, they rocketed toward the exposed Zora and Hylian.
"Ruta's powers are upon us!" Sidon shouted.
The warning was needless, but the Zora's sudden shift away from the fast-approaching ice was not. Link knew that Sidon was reaching the limit of his incredible speed, and he needed every second it would buy him. Regripping his left hand to its leather strap and offering a swift prayer to Hylia, Link removed the Sheikah Slate from his belt.
The first ice boulder was nearly upon them. Link aimed the slate at it and pressed the small, snowflake symbol - the cryonis rune.
The threatening ice block immediately burst apart in a shower of shards and water. Link felt a thrill of hope that was accompanied by a triumphant shout from Sidon. It was but the work of the moment for Link to similarly shatter the remaining ice, the magic from his Sheikah Slate canceling out that of the Sheikah-built Divine Beast.
Their path clear once again, Hylian and Zora made straight for the machine. Just as he had the first time, Link ascended another cataract, drew his bow and wounded Ruta at an orb just above its shoulder joint. Once again, the vent directly below it ceased dispensing its flow of water.
Twice more the cycle repeated itself, each time with the Divine Beast retaliating with a barrage of magically conjured ice. The slate reduced them all to melting motes. When Link's shock arrow connected with the final orb, Sidon was waiting in the water below, but this time it was to jointly observe what would happen next.
With a great roar, Vah Ruta's serpentine trunk crashed into the water, causing a sizeable wave that swelled underneath and past the two companions. Without its water flow, the unnatural clouds above immediately began to thin. For the first time in what felt an eternity, Link felt sunlight stream down from the heavens above.
"We did it, Link! We did it!" Sidon exclaimed with joy. "That was astounding! Absolutely amazing!"
Link, however, was paying fast attention to Vah Ruta's side, which shuddered before folding open to reveal a platform exactly level with the water's surface.
"My task is not yet done, my friend," Link said quietly. "I must enter Vah Ruta and seize control of her within. Merely subdued, she will not help me defeat Ganon."
Sidon nodded in understanding.
"Yes, of course," the prince agreed. "Come, then, Champion. Let us see you aboard this Divine Beast."
Link allowed himself to be towed smoothly and swiftly to the platform. He lifted himself up, leaving Sidon treading water as he bid farewell.
"Show the enemy no fear," the Zora prince told him with an upraised and clenched fist. "Farewell, my friend."
Nodding as much to himself as to Sidon, Link turned and beheld a familiar sight: a Sheikah pedestal complete with an open slot for his slate. He was not surprised to see a bronze circle, centered around the Sheikah eye, flare to blue life.
Taking a deep breath, Link entered Vah Ruta.