"Yes, indeed! Many merry tidings to you and yours!" Daruk declared with a boisterous air, before immediately bowing toward another Zora, "Ah, and a happy holiday to you as well, madam."

Preoccupied as he was with the staging of the celebration, and wholly devoid of the ever-increasing threat posed by this staggering, dangerous weather pattern, Daruk went about his merry way, helping to retrieve and set up decorations, all while his rocky hide prevented him for growing aware that anything was wrong.

It wasn't until he began noticing Zelda's increasingly distracted attitude that the Goron had begun to build a slight wave of paranoia. Her flagrantly wintery outbursts had been what Daruk had drawn from for his own character, but now, Hyrule Kingdom's princess had grown reserved, directing her assistants only when asked, and even then, Daruk had fielded concerns that her instructions were amassing so many moments before they could be relayed.

Finally, he couldn't help but inquire. Her deadline was approaching fast, after all, and Daruk soon found himself making a bee-line for the princess, though making sure not to panic any onlookers any further by losing his own festive demeanor. After another few greetings and good tidings, Daruk whipped around a corner to find Zelda standing there, a quick question escaping him in that very instant.

"Are things progressing well enough?" he offered with a smile, though this lasted only a second before his brow tensed, a trembling voice blaring from him, "Why am I so worried all of a sudden?!"

Zelda jolted to attention, turning toward him with a questioning twist of her face, "Isn't that a question for you, alone, to answer?"

Groaning, Daruk rubbed his face before opening his arms wide in pleading, "I mean, am I missing something? Nightfall is upon us, and we still have to set up the tree, and get the children to construct it proper! You've yet to set out the cookies and other pastries for the midnight consumption- and I think I overheard something about reindeer hovering overtop of us and judging our goodness?!"

"No, silly; they just carry Santa around throughout the night. Where did you hear that?" Zelda giggled, "We've plenty of time, Daruk; don't worry. I've only been preoccupied with figuring out a present for Mipha to give Link."

She stroked her neck with a frown, "It seems I neglected to mention the gift-giving. I didn't intend for any Zora to partake in the giving part, but she rightly noted that she wished to offer something to Link."

"Hmm," Daruk nodded in synchronizing thought.

"I knew I could trust you with the festivities, though, in the meantime," Zelda smiled, "I didn't want to distract you further about the weather and how cold it's getting. It's actually growing rather dangerous for those of us blighted by skin."

Nodding fretfully, Daruk turned to glance beyond the Domain, noticing only now the pale gray atmosphere that held steady through Zorana, "Will Yuletide still go along? Does Santa brave harsh weather?"

Zelda reached up to yank at his tied-down beard, grinning mischievously, "Santa's already here, dummy." She returned to the table that had preoccupied you at Daruk's arrival, "Now I just have to figure out how to construct a gift out of thirteen centimeters of cord, a skewer that a helpful Zora child offered me when I was absently muttering about how stressful my thoughts were becoming, and a few pages out of a rejected library book about a little lost tadpole."

Sighing, she shook her head, "Perhaps I ought to resign myself. Don't couples wrap a bow around themselves in times like these or something?"

"I dunno," Daruk shrugged, "Friendly Gorons often wrestle to demonstrate their friendship to one another!"

Zelda spun her lips to the side, "Well, I think Hylians do that too, sometimes, but not in that exact way. Most of the thoughtful-species husbandry books I'm familiar with don't exactly dwell on the social aspects of these things."

"Perhaps you're thinking of it in the wrong way. Now now, I may have only grown accustomed to your- well, custom- a handful of weeks ago, but I know a thing or two about constructing gifts!" Daruk boasted in a zealous burst of energy as he stepped to the desk, forcing Zelda to stumble backward to avoid his hearty movement, "Let's see here. I see a powerful buckle! See?"

His powerful hands attempted to grasp the tiny, child-sized skewer to no avail. He attempted a few more clasps before his face tensed in shame, eyes awkwardly peering to the side in begging for Zelda's assistance, which she noticed quickly enough. She took the skewer herself, awaiting Daruk's instruction.

"Ahem, yes, well," he attempted to relocate his zeal, "Now, should you bend that into place- Take the forked end and separate the prongs- There you g- Now turn the base up. And then a little twist down the- There you go! See? It's the Goron crest of Ribokotuk! The loyal Goron of centuries ago who ran off an incursion of mindless dodongos!"

He laughed a massive laugh lined with immense pride, "Who wouldn't want to be recognized in the same thought as Ribokotuk?!"

Brow furrowed in worry, Zelda offered weakly, "I don't think it's the kind of thing Mipha might expect to give to a lover."

"Hmm…" Daruk mused, "Well, my point still stands. If you stare at a mountaintop in one single place, you'll only ever see one vista. Stare at from a different vantage point and the whole of the mountain changes."

He gave an approving smile before jolting back into character, "Oh! and a ho ho ho, my lady princess! So long as you're not in any distress, would you have me get back to work? I'll have somebody track you down once the sun touched the horizon."

"Thank you," Zelda nodded with a welcoming smile, "With you at the helm, I've little to worry about."

"Bwah ha!" Daruk chuckled happily as he stepped away back onto the central platform of the Domain, pausing for a moment only to mull over her words, thinking to himself, "Wait, what little…"

He merely shrugged and went along, "HO HO HOOOO!"

Stepping by with a jovial nod, Daruk passed by the Domain's forefront protector in Zevan, the Zora quickly stepping into the interior hall where Zelda remained plastered to her project, his voice carrying with the weight of a commander, "Lady Princess."

Quickly pulling away from the table, Zelda's eyes went wide at the address, "Oh, uh- Yes? sir?"

"I just spoke to my King, who advised me to relay my message to you," he took a breath, "I guard the river along its entrance, clear along Tabahl Woods. I came to report as soon as I noticed the storm clouds barreling toward the Domain."

Zelda's eyes sunk in terror.

"I made a mad dash out to your small settlement of Linebeck to get in a word or two, but the Hylains there had already evacuated, probably southward to the safety of Hateno. I have no fear for my people, but I knew we had a royal envoy; I highly recommended that you evacuate to the Tal Tal Peaks in an attempt to avoid the storm entirely."

Zelda's head fell. Zevan eyed her curiously, immediately confused why she even had to consider anything different.

"Link," she spoke quietly, her voice shaking, "He's out there with Lady Mipha and Trello."

His own demeanor now immediately taking a terrifying turn, Zevan's eyes widened, "By the gods, why-"

"We could only assume the weather would worsen, but had no idea it would be this fast!" Zelda explained in a fright, "They went out to gather supplies in preparation for being stormed in."

Zevan immediately spun around, pausing only to apologize, "Excuse my lack of decorum, princess of Hyrule, I just-"

"Can you get them back?"

Blowing a cold breath, Zevan nodded, "It's a battle against my physiology as well, but if it's to the last, no harm will come to them."

Zelda nodded.

With that Zevan sped out, taking the soonest chance to leap from the Domain's outcast structure and into the basin below, charging through the water as fast as he could, leaving Zelda frightful of the situation. She fretfully bit her thumb, wondering silently to herself why the variables hadn't lined up; why did the weather have to become so freakish this year? It was supposed to be a season of happiness, of unity, of friendship and laughter and everything Zelda had so meticulously prepared for. Now, it felt like every other time she had left the castle.

Perhaps her father was right.

She groaned to herself, shaking her head free from those restrictive thoughts. She could only control what she was capable of controlling, and without her magic, the weather was as vicious and unpredictable a monster as any other. At least there was time, she thought; Zevan had assured her of that.

"WOOAH HOO!" came Daruk's voice booming from somewhere within the Domain, seeming to echo around the very basin that sunk into the crescent mountains.

Zelda rose from her thoughts, staring into the sky.

Snow.

She held out her hand, catching a listless single ball of snow that melted quickly into her glove. Then two. Five. Twelve.

Then they stopped melting against the fabric making up her glove.

Zelda shut her eyes, biting her tongue to hold back the water welling at her eyes.