Introduction

Recently got back into gaming after being on a bit of a hiatus. I ended up purchasing the game Hyrule warriors, the definitive edition, as one of the games to play that I missed out on. The Zora Princess Ruto has, and so far still is, my favorite character in the Zelda series. I had a moment of rediscovering my love for this character playing her in Hyrule warriors. I am sad that Nintendo never clarified what happened to her exactly. Only that she was in love with Link, and that he disappears on her in the Adult timeline. So this is a story I created on how I want things to work out for her.

I tried to keep things as Canon as possible, but given that Nintendo leaves a lot unclarified, I had to fill in my own ideas of clarity to make it work.

If it isn't obvious already I don't subscribe to the idea that the sages died at the end of Ocarina of time. If they did, why wasn't Raru, the sage of light, on the mountain with them at the end? I personally believe it's because he was the only one actually dead. I just think they had the ability to go into spirit form.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy reading it. It was a challenge to write. As much as I love Ruto's character, it's hard to write in her personality, since it's a personality type that requires A LOT of self confidence. That is something I have struggled with throughout my life. I hope the way I wrote her is believable to her character.

If it gets liked enough, I may write a sequel. I may not. Anyway, again, enjoy.

CHAPTER 1

Dear, King Kaito

It's been a long time since I've written to you and even longer since I've seen you. I hope all is well for you. I'm afraid not all is well for the zoras of Hyrule. Something is going on in the water that has me worried. There have been strange tannins flowing in our waters. It's causing strange side effects in the zora. Birth Defects are forming in the new hatchlings. We have also had 20 unexplained deaths among older zoras. I am trying to return the water to normal as quickly as I can, but it's flowing faster than I can purify it. I want to get them out of there.

My father doesn't seem to be taking it seriously. I know there are zoras who are not worried, they seem to have faith in my father. However many are worried, I am too. I talked to Hyrules King, it isn't being caused by the Hylians. He doesn't know how to stop it. He confirmed that the tannins in the water are being caused by dark magic. I had heard in passing that you have been taking in refugees from marine sea zoras in a current territorial war with river zoras. I was hoping you would hear my plea, and be willing to accommodate taking in the blue sea zoras of Hyrule. I don't tend to keep them there long, just long enough for me to figure out where we can relocate. The population in Hyrule is small compared to the zoras of other domains. Last census was around eight hundred. I want to take as many of them as I can.

I know you and my father have had tension between you two in the past. Still our two domains have remained allies. If possible, would you be willing to allow my people to temporarily relocate as refugees. I will be forever grateful if so.

Yours sincerely,

Ruto

Dear Princess Ruto,

It's good to hear from you, I wish it were under more favorable circumstances. Your situation concerns me and I will be glad to help you in any way I can. I will gladly put the zoras of Hyrule into the refugee housing. I also have spare rooms in the royal chambers that you are welcome to stay in. Please do not concern yourself with the timeline of your stay.

You are correct that your father and I often clash in ideals, however Hyrule has remained strong trade partners and allies to the lagoon sea zoras of Labyrinna, and the kingdom as a whole. I would hate to think the health of the zoras there being compromised due to dark magic. If your father changes his mind he is welcome as well. Knowing him, I won't be expecting him, but hope to be pleasantly surprised by his presence.

I haven't hosted royal guests for a long time. The opportunity to see you again after so many years sounds delightful and I look forward to your visit. I will be informing the border patrol of your intentions and to be on the lookout for you. I shall be seeing you soon.

Yours faithfully,

Kaito R.

Zora De Bon XVI, AKA King Zora of Hyrule, sat on his throne looking down at his daughter. She was angry with him and he understood why but felt like he had difficulty explaining why he wasn't going to do as she asked.

"I can't purify the waters fast enough, even as a water sage. The waters of Hyrule will slowly become far too toxic for the zora to continue living here, we need to evacuate."

"Ruto you said it yourself, the rate in which the waters are being polluted is happening very slowly." King Zora said.

"Some of the newborn zora are affected with odd birth defects as a result." Ruto said with anger in her voice.

"A very small few have gotten birth defects recently, from one zora, it isn't deadly. Personally I like the look of the feather/fin combination." King Zora replied.

Ruto didn't say anything and just left in disgust.

She was sure of another reason. Her dad was getting old and making the journey was going to be hard on him. She offered to use her water magic to carry him, but he refused. He was going to be long dead by the time the pollution became a problem. She would have told him off if he wasn't the king and her father. However, telling her father off would have left them on bad terms, she didn't want that.

She turned to the two guards outside the throne room. "There is no convincing him. Gather everyone up this evening, we swim at dawn. The Zora King of Labyrinna will be expecting us."

The two guards bowed and headed off into the domain. The guards were Muir and Nehir. They were Ruto's personal guards. King Zora assigned them to her, which at the time she felt was unnecessary since she discovered she had water magic; her water attacks were stronger than the guards' attacks. Still over time having two extra sets of eyes and ears proved to be useful, and she became good friends with her entourage.

They weren't the only guards planning on going with her. Only twelve were staying behind to guard her father. Of the eight hundred zoras living in the domain, around two hundred and fifty agreed to follow Ruto. Even then, while some stated they were hesitant to go with her on her journey; they did agree that they may want to join her later if things got worse and she settled somewhere better. King Zora had dealt with water poisoning problems in the past and managed to pull them through, they were much more confident in him than Ruto was. Ruto knew her dad didn't have a plan. She knew of her people, at least those choosing to follow her would be safe. She could be sure of that.

Dawn came, and the zoras following Ruto had gathered the night before. The journey was going to take them about 8-10 hours not including the breaks that were scheduled. Ruto herself could swim to Labrynna in half that time, but her water magic wasn't something shared by the other zora's of Hyrule.

—--—--

"King Kaito, we have reports coming in that a shoal of blue sea zoras is heading this way. We believe these are the refugees coming from Hyrule." the Lead guard stated.

"Ah good. Any estimates on how many the princess got to follow her?"

"We estimate less than 300 Sire."

"Not nearly as many as she was hoping then. That's a shame. Well, make sure to direct

them to the courtyard upon arrival. I want to greet her personally"

"Yes sire" the guard bowed and left.

King Kaito hadn't seen Ruto since his inauguration day as king of this domain. She was very young at the time. He didn't remember much about her other than she was very adventurous and very sassy. She went missing twice, before and after the ceremony, because she wanted to play on the beach near the domain. He chuckled a little thinking about it, wondering how she would have changed after all these years. While he hadn't seen her since then, she would occasionally write to him. What sparked her to be a pen pal of his at that age was something he didn't quite understand but he liked the drawings he received and appreciated that she shared her opinion when she thought his dad was correct and her father wasn't when she managed to figure out what disputes they were having. Hyrules race war was having quite the impact on her, especially having lost her mother at that time. As time went on she didn't write to him as frequently. She hadn't seen him in a long time, and Hyrule was at peace, so writing to him wasn't needed as a coping mechanism anymore. Still it was always nice to hear from her when he did. He enjoyed correspondence with her more than her father, which was largely just business related.

King Kaitos' father died when he was quite young. When he was older, his mother remarried in another zora domain across several ocean territories, leaving him behind to take the crown on his own. He had two sisters but they also left to marry. He was alone. It had been a while since visitors from the Royal family came to stay with him so he was looking forward to it.

It took another hour, but sure enough a large shoal of blue sea zora rose from the ocean and on to the beach. Using a small telescope from the highest balcony of the domain, King Kaito looked over the crowd. He spotted Ruto front and center, leading the group onto the beach. When he spotted her he could feel his heart stop for a moment. While he knew she wasn't going to be a child anymore, he wasn't exactly prepared to see her in her adult form. He could feel his face going red. She was gorgeous, especially seeing her in the hues of the sunset. He soon remembered she once spoke of a Hylian fiancee in passing. It was only in one letter, but confirmed rumors at the time, so he started to wonder where he was in this migration picture. Perhaps he was coming by boat?

Regardless he put the telescope away and began to descend to greet her properly.

King Kaitos' domain wasn't hard to find, it was built within large sea caves. The land immediately above the caves was also his as well as the beach and immediate ocean in front of it. This domain was currently home to just over 500,000 Zoras, and was easily big enough to support five times that amount in its current state.

Kaitos lagoon sea zoras weren't too different from the blue sea zoras. They were both brackish water that could adapt to freshwater or ocean water. The biggest difference were shades of red with more jellyfish qualities than finned fish ones. The tails on their heads were more like tails of eels; they had what looked like jellyfish arms coming down like in their heads like hair with a few around near their fins. Their bodies also sported what looked like hood margins of a jellyfish. Kaito himself didn't sport very long jellyfish arms on his head and legs, though he did on his arms.

King Kaitos guards escorted them off the beach to the courtyard near the entrance where he greeted them.

He spoke warmly "Ah princess Ruto. Welcome to my domain. It's good to see you. I haven't seen you since my inauguration. I barely recognized you, you were so little at the time. Look at you now though. I hope you have been doing well outside the fiasco in Hyrules waters"

Ruto bowed, "It's good to see you as well King Kaito. I want to thank you for your hospitality. I hope this isn't too much trouble for you."

"Nonsense," Kaitos replied and turned to the guards. "Guards take a census of the Hyrulen zoras and show them to the refugee camps."

"Yes sire" the lead guard said with a bow and began to lead them away.

Ruto then turned to her guards, "Muir, Nehir, you two go with them. Watch out over them, let me know if anything is out of sorts."

Nehir then said with concern on her face, "Are you sure you are going to be okay by yourself?"

Ruto looked back at her with folded arms, a frown, and one raised eyebrow. She then lifted her hand in the air, created a small ball of water and splashed it on Nehirs face.

Nehir smiled sheepishly, "Right….water magic. Sorry."

Muir laughed, which caused Nehir to laugh and Ruto smiled.

Muir responded "We'll check in in a few days, or sooner if there is anything noteworthy to report." they both bowed and went with the crowd

Ruto felt a hand on her shoulder, and Kaitos voice, "Come princess, let me get you something to eat and show you to your room."

Anyone who didn't know Ruto had water magic would understand Nehir's concern when they looked at King Kaito. He was over twice her height and his shoulders were about twice as wide as hers. He had a very muscular frame that was a stark contrast from her small frame. Kaito was shorter than most giant zoras, however there was no doubt the giant gene ran in his bloodline.

Ruto wasn't worried since Kaito had a reputation for being a gentle giant, between that and him being a nobleman, she felt no reason to be afraid to be alone with him, even if she didn't have magic.

She then turned to follow him and appreciated his request to get her something to eat. She realized she hadn't eaten all day. She had spent their rest stops planning and verifying they were going the right direction. She had been so focused on making sure everyone else was safe, she had forgotten to eat.

It was 8pm and the two of them sat in the dining hall. Kaito had tea, but had his staff bring Ruto a fresh plate of bass. She tried to eat slowly to maintain composure, despite not eating all day.

The two talked for hours, and Kaito got more details about what was happening. The waters had a light tannin forming that had a strange substance in it. She met with Hyrules king about it with the other sages, and he had noticed many changes throughout Hyrule.The king had mentioned to her that he had asked Valoo, God of the skies, to watch over the zoras. Lord Jabu Jabu no longer could in his death. Ruto blamed his death on the Tannins. King Zora blamed it on the age of his physical form. After returning from the meeting the newest zora fry who hatched had smaller fins and feathers growing randomly from their scales. She found the site disturbing, like the zoras were no longer going to be zoras. She also saw many were dying at 200 years old or older. 200 years was still fairly young for zora who often found themselves living twice as long as least, often as long as 500 years.

Her dad brushed off the recent deaths since most people in the domain weren't that old. There were only about 20 deaths from the tannins. Anything from race wars to demons gaining power, Hyrule had taken many hits to the various populations over the years. The zoras weren't an exception. Not wanting to see another hit be taken like the race war she decided she needed to get people out of there. It wasn't safe in her mind. That's when she first wrote to Kaito about leaving to come to his kingdom.

"I don't exactly know where we are going to go from here but I plan on scouting out some areas to see the likelihood of being able to resettle before moving everyone again." Ruto explained.

"I see" Kaito said, "I heard you had a Hylian fiance. Is he managing the scouting?"

Ruto closed her eyes, swallowed hard and looked down. "I don't know how that rumor is still floating around. He disappeared so long ago. At this point, it's well past the lifespan of a Hylian"

"Oh!" Kaito put his hand on hers. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I didn't mean to come off as insensitive."

She looked up at him with tired eyes, smiled weakly, "Thank you for your concern, I'm fine. I did manage to get a new zora sapphire without my father finding out I lost my old one with his disappearance. I had it imported from your kingdom in fact."

"Ah. That doesn't surprise me, we export many gems, but zora sapphires from here are easily the most popular for engagement stones. So does this mean you were planning on scouting things out for yourself? I can have some soldiers help you. Either to accompany you or even do it for you if you prefer" Kaito offered

"You are too kind, Kaito, but I will be fine. I appreciate you housing my people on such short notice, as long as they can stay here during my scouting trip, I feel confident that I should only need to do one final migration. Then we can settle and restart."

Kaito replied, "They can stay as long as they need, you as well. It's really not a problem. I had actually been planning on taking in a much larger number of zora in any way. As you mentioned in your letter, you are aware there are some marine sea zora immigrating here due to some territory disputes with some river zora, the wetland breed if I remember correctly. I'm expecting somewhere between 30,000-50,000 refugees coming in soon. I've been planning their arrival and building housing for them for the last couple months. Your small school of blue sea zora hardly makes a dent to the refugee plans"

Ruto looked shocked. "50,000? You just planned on taking in 50,000 thousand immigrants? Your gemstone business must be doing very well."

Kaito smiled at this."It is possible I'm the richest zora in the world. I've been very fortunate to have discovered that the deep ocean caverns near here are so plentiful. The last 30 years I have discovered several caverns with more than just sapphires. I'll have to show you soon."

Ruto went on to explain more of what happened with Link, how he was sent back in time to relive his childhood. It was still expected that he would show up again. When she talked to Zelda about it, Zelda had explained that it was possible that too many events were different that a paradox timeline may have been created. It was also possible he died in childhood after he was sent back. Regardless, she hadn't seen him either, Nor did she sense his presence. The stones that opened the sacred realm were destroyed, which is why it disappeared with him. She had hoped he would find a way back to her timeline somehow, but he never did.

After a couple more hours of conversation, Ruto found herself excusing a yawn. Kaito checked the time. It was 1am. How the time had passed that quickly surprised them both. They had been so engaged in conversation that neither noticed. Kaito then escorted Ruto to the room he set aside for her to stay in and pointed out his way down the hall. "Please don't hesitate to get me personally if you need anything. Sleep well Princess" He gave a small bow, turned and left for his bedroom.

Ruto returned his bow and turned to the room. The center of the room had a bedpool. The bed was a submerged woven bed of macroalgae. This was the first time in years she found herself sleeping in ocean water, she found it oddly soothing.