Zelda shoved her thick, woolen boots into the deepening snow as she trudged up the slight incline leading up toward the Reservoir's stairwell, teeth chattering and her nose a fierce shade of crimson, but her resolve remained just as tenacious, even as Seggin bit at the air periodically, either complaining about his physiology or about what he was even doing out here. He had indeed been ordered to evacuate into the basin waters beneath the Domain, though he understood that his rank offered him the freedom to disregard orders he felt needed disregarding. Aiding a visiting head of state happened to be one of those occasions, though he couldn't help but with the Hylians' places had been swapped so he simply could have let Link run off on his own merry way up this treacherous path. He knew the stairwell would be equally as dangerous, if not more so, due to its frozen surface, though he was silently hoping Zelda would see the situation, and by then, admit defeat and simply return to the warmth of her quarters.

Still, he remained duty bound, and he dutifully followed Zelda's path, albeit with snarling critiques at times.

"This snow will be the death of me," he charged with a heated tone, "I'm going to collapse on the spot, be eaten by some lynel, to the utter astonishment and reverence of nobody. What shall my son think of me, then? I've tried so hard to instill a sense of honor into that child, and here I am, disregarding orders, for a Hylian with a penchant for tales of whimsy."

He shook his head with a droll sigh, "And to think of my position being in danger… I'm sticking my neck out this far for you, you know?!"

Zelda sneered through narrow eyes peeking through her head covering that left merely her sight free to face the lapping winds surrounding the two, "You can go back; I didn't ask-"

"By the tides!" Seggin snapped, instantly revealing his revolving door of duties, "And leave a head of state to the wilds?!"

Rolling her eyes, Zelda drudged forward, refusing to give in to the frigid cold that bound her to biomes so much the opposite of this one. It felt like those lashes that Link would deal to her by accident during their sword practices, only they whipped at her entire body, wholly unrelenting, like strands of wind slamming at her every pore. She could only grit her teeth, press forward, and desperately try to march onward despite Seggin's protests.

"What is that title, anyway?" she inquired, hoping conversation would help the seconds speed past them, "Demon Sergeant?"

His sense of honor piqued, Seggin failed to speak highly of himself, merely replying with a simple, "It signals the many accomplishments myself and my soldiers have brought to the honor of Zora's Domain."

Zelda turned her head, her voice lined with curiosity, "What exactly do you all do?!"

"Lately, not much beyond awaiting defense," he admitted, "That said, you never know when we might face an unruly lynel, or the occasional wayward cluster of Hylians who believe their cattle deserve our lands to graze upon."

He thought for a moment, pulling the shawl that he had wrapped around his shoulder to brace against the wind down along his chest, "There are some Shiekah clans who enjoy starting the occasional ruckus, as well. Some more indication of how far your Kingdom's reach is without having shown they can effectively govern."

Frowning lightly, Zelda inquired with a bite, "None of those sound like demons."

"Heh," Seggin scoffed, a smirk pressed along his face, "The Demon in my title doesn't imply that I fight demons."

Zelda's attention returned to her trudging steps, somewhat unnerved by Seggin's insinuation. Not that he was any sort of threat, but why he was so insistent to be the one to join her. Perhaps it wasn't that he was overqualified for the task; she worried that he might, in fact, be adequately so. She felt her eyes begin to scan the area surrounding them more, as though in search of some fearsome creature leaping out to challenge them.

"Your strides are lessening," Seggin suddenly noted, pulling the shawl from his shoulders, "Here."

Eying him with critique, Zelda charged in return, "Aren't you going to start feeling the effects or torpor?"

Seggin shrugged while draping the clothen shawl atop Zelda's head, "You must be made of sterner stuff to become the highest ranking of Zoran defenders. Why? Do you think so lowly of us?"

"I was just curious," Zelda offered plainly.

"My defense of my home, my king, and my people come first. But if I'm to return in due time, I had best accommodate your safe passage," he asserted with a regal air, though he immediately grew impatient once again, scoffing, "or at least until you decide to return. What have you planned to do, anyway?"

Zelda thought for a moment. She truly hadn't a clue; something within her told her to seek the help of Vah Ruta, but what help? It wasn't too long ago that she had trekked to visit each and every Divine Beast only to discover the exact conclusion that she hadn't a clue of how they operated. What was Vah Ruta even capable of doing? What was she going to do, ask the giant mechanical beast?

"I mean-" she gave weakly, offering Seggin all he needed to retort.

"So you have no plan?"

She bit back, "I'm working on it!"

Seggin shook his head, "Of all the wild ideas…"

"Maybe Navo will-"

"Navo?!" Seggin criticized, "Our Watcher spends too much time as it is up here. I honestly think he'd do better to see the world more; if I recall from your previous visit that he mentioned hearing Vah Ruta speaking to him? It's sad to watch one so eager to fall into delusion."

Zelda frowned, "It's not delusion! These Divine Beasts-"

"Beasts," Seggin corrected with a huff, "I often think you Hylians are similar. Digging up the earth around your entire Kingdom just to find relics, hoping they'll tell you something of our future."

He bit his lip, "There's a reason they're buried. Because that's all in the past. They're where they belong."

Zelda retorted with a heated breath warming her covered face, "I understand my position, and yours. If you're the one needing to be convinced, that's all the more motivation I need to complete this trek up to the reservoir."

Realizing his attempt to dissuade the Princess only had the opposite effect, Seggin whined, "By the light of the moon! I suppose we'll only test your resolve further once we-"

His hand quickly took hold of Zelda's shoulder, rather forcibly yanking her back a step, nearly leading her to stumble before she caught her footing. Without complaint, given Seggin's status, she immediately knew that something was amiss, her eyes scanning the frigid landscape, the niveous ground sprawled before her as cleanly presented as she might have imagined a top the cover of fresh snow. Still, she knew that something must be out there, especially as Seggin refused her escape, his silence speaking volumes.

Suddenly, a sickening aplomp of a hoofbeat rang past her ear, whipping her neck to see a lynel standing only some yards away, its approach from beneath an outcropping of rock only causing the creature's shock as much as the two travelers'. The stalemate alone forced blood rushing throughout Zelda's body, her skin no longer even aware of the chilling breath of air constantly upon her.

Her eyes locked onto the lynel's, knowing only in the deepest recesses of her mind the antagonism behind such a behavior. The beast's attention had remained upon Seggin, who probably returned the action with the fiercest stare he could muster, though in a split second, the lynel's eyes shifted, catches the glimmer of terror in Zelda's eyes. She had read up on these beings in her textbooks -had even been told nightmarish bedtime stories of them as a child- but to see one in person: just how massive they were.

The lynel grit its teeth, flexing its muscles only with the tiniest movement before Seggin immediately shoved Zelda to the side, yanking free his halberd and returning the blow meant for his escort with a mean glance of his weapon in parry. Zelda fell to the snow, quickly forcing her way to her feet while Seggin forced combat on her behalf, his voice echoing in shouts as he rallied with every swipe from the lynel.

"Go!" he yelled with an even-tempered roar that commanded Zelda's feet more than her nervous system did.

She took off up the incline of rock that lead to the reservoir steps, hurrying with every strained footfall as the freezing cold returned to her senses. Her attention remained focused ahead of her, not simply for utility, but also to avoid what was transpiring behind her, catching only passing gusts of wind that carried Seggin's voice as he fought in valiant effort.

It felt like an eternity since she had felt the comfort of a roasting fire upon her skin like a welcoming radiance of a loving embrace. The sight of the massive staircase only furthered her strenuous doubt. Her breath which had painted her baklava with warmth had begun to fade as the wind grew even more powerful, sapping away from her any chance of relief. Her feet had grown sore before becoming numb as her body had begun to focus her internal temperature to her chest, the same with her hands and fingers; even her protectors, first Link and now Seggin, had been lost to this frost. Her lungs constricting painfully as she eyed the magnificent steps up to the reservoir, Zelda knew there was no turning back. Even if there were, advanced would be just as miserable as returning to the Domain; a sardonic grin crossing her lips as she considered that fact.

She took a step, carefully, planting her foot for a moment before twisting it to find the metallic surface frozen, forcing her teeth to tighten. Removing her gloved hands from her coat, Zelda sighed, allowing her frustrations to leave her amidst the very winds that fought her so fiercely, before aiming her resolve. If this was to be her struggle, after being unable to summon any sort of magical ability, she would do what she had to in the face of helping the many peoples of Hyrule.

Zelda carefully placed her hands atop the stairs further up, carefully steadying herself as her feet joined them on the ascent, slowly allowing her body to tense appropriately above the weight of ice that prevented any grip. She eyes went blank in focus, moving one limb at a time, feeling the ice blanketing her palms with stabbing pain, like daggers, the longer they remained in contact.

"So…" came to panting breath of Seggin from behind her, causing Zelda to jump in surprise, "You're pressing on?"

Incredulously, Zelda remarked with a rather heated voice, "Y- You beat it?!"

Allowing an uncharacteristic chuckle, Seggin slowly stepped up the stairway after her, "You needn't beat a lynel; you simply have to prove that you're more trouble than you are delicious."

Zelda shivered at the confirmation of some of those childhood bedtime stories.

She jumped in further surprise while Seggin stepped beyond her reach up the steps, "And sometimes…"

He smirked, "You simply have to accept that acquiescence is the most efficient step forward."

Seggin whipped around the tail end of his halberd, offering the handle to Zelda, her face a messy confusion while trading glances between the Zora man before her and the weapon held out toward her.

Before she reached out, she stared at the fresh series of bruises and a large swath of torn scales that she only just noticed lining his arm.

"Is that-"

"Just grab on," he assured with confidence, "They don't call me Demon Sargeant for nothing."

Zelda eyed him skeptically before crossing the gap, allowing her escort to pull her to her feet. As unsteady as she was atop the frozen surface beneath her feet, the grip at the halberd remained incredibly assuring, Seggin's hold staying true.

Navo, the Watcher of the reservoir who oversaw the overall care of Vah Ruta. He had taken the rising inclement weather in stride, but only at first, now having resorted to a patchwork shelter made up of furniture that remained there for relaxation along the reservoir's heights. He poked his head just overtop a mattress and wicker chair, ensuring that his task as Watcher remained fulfilled, even in this situation. The man was many things, chief among them was loyal, but he was also incredibly protective of his charge, and his paranoia as of late had grown, largely due to foreign interest in his beloved- namely Zelda's curiosities that had brought her here a few months earlier. Navo already ceded his reputation in his service, becoming rather accepting of his perceived anti-social sensibilities -perhaps because it allowed him absence from many social gatherings- and in the most recent months, his reputation only bore further in that direction.

Still, however he did it, his job was impeccable, and even amidst the orders calling for him and his peers to retreat to the basin waters, Navo remained ever watchful of his lady. Ensuring his daughter's care, here he sat in shelter, only piping up from his shivering state upon noticing a certain Hylian's approach.

"H- Hey hey hey!" he clamored with a yell, not daring to leave his shelter without absolute necessity.

Zelda's attention piqued in his direction, but she maneuvered toward Vah Ruta instead, earning her the Watcher's ire, "Don't-! Don't you-!" He noticed Seggin's arrival. "D- Demon Sargeant! You must catch her! Get her now!"

Expecting Seggin to have been in pursuit of Zelda, Navo only grew perplexed at the knight's lackadaisical effort, forcing him to hop up in place, "Seggin!"

The Demon Sargeant groaned, muttering to Zelda as he reoriented his stride into Navo's direction, "Make it quick. He won't be in the mood, and you can't afford to tarry anyway."

Zelda nodded in understanding, standing at the edge of the reservoir waters while Seggin tightened his jaw, Navo's heated voice catching the wind to sound as though he was already in his superior's face.

"I must protest this intrusion! There is now certain protocols in place for visiting Vah Ruta; I was willing to compromise with that. My king asked me to be courteous in the face of science, all in the interest of foreign affairs, and I grit my teeth and acquiesced. But I will not allow someone to just pop in like an irritable neighbor!"

"Navo, Navo…" Seggin grumbled, patting the man's shoulder, "She has my supervision. I'm sure you can-"

"You may lead our men and women into combat elsewhere, Demon Sargeant, but as Watcher, I would be in abject dereliction of duty were I to ignore protocol!" Navo insisted.

Seggin bit his lip, "Navo, there were no protocols until you started your-"

"Nevertheless!" interjected Navo, peering over his superior's shoulder, "I have a responsibility to- Hey, hey!"

He charged past Seggin toward Zelda, who had taken a tepid step onto the nearest slab of ice that floated there atop the reservoir's waters. The weather had frozen solid these waters, but Vah Ruta's continuous movements caused the solid sheet of ice to perpetually tear free, leading to the height of the water to become choppy with varying shapes of ice. As if to test it's buoyancy, Zelda stepped deeper into the closest slab, biting her lip as though in consideration of some frigid ferry to take her to Vah Ruta.

Navo, who was having none of it, stomped toward her, crying out, "As a guest to these waters, I must insist your forfeiture! Step no further!"

Sighing, Zelda nodded in reply, deciding that she wasn't quite desperate enough to avoid diplomacy altogether, turning toward Navo with weary eyes, "Look, Navo, I think if I can just communicate to Vah Ruta somehow- or maybe even you? we can help the Domain not completely freeze over."

"Pshaw!" he scoffed, "Vah Ruta only speaks in the currents and rains of this world. Who but the Watcher would know how to speak to such a magnificent being?"

Zelda tilted her head, realizing Navo's confrontational miscue. Seggin must have heard, too, given his gait had slowed to a stop to allow his full attention upon Zelda's next words.

She frowned, "Quite so, I mean- Ever since I learned about how your reverence to this being granted you some brilliant form of telepathy, I was- Wow! So, so jealous!"

Navo suddenly breathed a haughty air while crossing his arms, "It- It's certainly a difficult burden at times, but if Vah Ruta deems me able, I shall abide by her wishes."

"Such a wonderful ability, truly," Zelda muttered in awe, "Would you be able to show it off? The last time we were here, I only heard tales from you, but to witness it in action-!"

His eyes narrowing in a pithy glare, Navo snorted, "Your attempts to trick me will fall on deaf ears, Hylian. Surely you have more respect for me than-"

"GWAAURRR!"

Navo leapt upward in terror at the sudden rumbling of a sickening roar from the stairwell, the lynel from earlier stomping up to meet them with a gigantic log in tow as an upgraded weapon. Seggin immediately brandished his halberd, gritting his teeth as he felt the bruises on his arm pulsate in memory of their previous encounter.

"They never learn…" he grumbled.

Despite his immediate fright, Navo almost miraculously fell into a defensive stance, grasping his spear and a shield from his back before joining Seggin in defense of the reservoir, his normally stammered speech suddenly taking an air of abject authority, "G- Get his left flank; I'll go right."

Seggin smirked, "Who's the superior officer here?"

"Here upon these stones, me," Navo, seemingly uncharacteristic in his bravado, charged steadily, "Princess of Hyrule Kingdom, stay where you- Eeep…"

His voice squeeked in abhorred realization upon turning his neck to find Zelda atop a slap of ice right upon the reservoir's waters, sending the Watcher's eyes wide in terror, "J- Just-! Hold on there one sec-!"

Seggin took Navo's arm and pulled him toward the ground alongside him as the lynel swung his mighty branch through the air above them in a horizontal slice, the Demon Sargeant immediately leaping to his feet with a biting breath.

"Navo! Steel yourself!"

The Watcher's attention torn in two, Zelda seized the opportunity. She hobbled carefully while traversing the unsteady terrain presented to her by ice upon water, hopping from one sheet to the next, all while keeping Vah Ruta's location in sight. As cold as it had been above soil, the air here seemed to pierce her very chest with its frosted biting breath. Her muscles, even her bones, began to ache as she tensed in focus, her speed fluctuating from careful steps to hurried leaps from one sheet of ice to the next.

The two Zora warriors battled in the background, their shrieking yells painting the landscape as Zelda pressed on with an increased urgency as she approached Vah Ruta. Beneath her reptilian brain's immediate struggle for survival, her rational brain recognized the lessening width of the ice sheets the closer she approached the Divine Beast -its movements causing the ice to fracture more frequently- despite her attempts to simply press on before sinking or slipping to her likely demise. Her breaths ran so immediate from one to the next that she felt herself hyperventilating; her lungs felt ready to burst, her heart sped at supersonic speed, threatening to rip out from her chest itself.

In an instant, her foot landed onto a thinner sheet, the surface immediately rocking back and forth, forcing Zelda to freeze in reply, throwing her arms out for balance all while terror overpowered her. Her weight suddenly forced the ice into the water, Zelda's eyes wide in terror as an instinctive shriek left her lungs.

"GAAAAH!"

Seggin whipped his head around, his brow tensing mightily at the sight of Zelda's panicked movements. Navo was locked in combat, skidding across the slick surface of the reservoir, narrowly avoiding the lynel's swipes, leaving Seggin with a tense expression as he summarized the situation. His thoughts spanning mere milliseconds, he recognized the lynel's challenge, rather than the Zora's- the lynel had no choice but to exert every avenue toward victory; it wasn't good enough to merely stand its ground.

"Navo!" Seggin ordered with a whistle, waving his cohort toward him.

With a skilled dodge, Navo rushed to Seggin's side, "I- I think if we-!"

"Run."

Utterly panicked in a split instant, Navo objected, "Run?!"

Not able to explain or await a reply, Seggin tore into a sprint toward the reservoir's waters, taking Navo's arm and dragging him along. Exactly as the Demon Sergeant had planned, the lynel charged toward them in pursuit, roaring a deafening growl in incredulous once recognizing its inability to follow should they enter the water, the lynel only followed for a few meters before using their momentum to grasp the mastadonic tree trunk in their hands, skidding to a stop and launching the tree like an artillery shell in the direction of the two Zora.

However, just before reaching the waters, Seggin slammed his halberd into the ground to immediately bring him to a stop. His eyes narrowed, calculating the tree's trajectory as it hung in space for only a brief iota of time before its velocity ended, passing control to gravity.

"Tch!" Seggin charged in panic.

He grabbed his halberd, spun his body to the side, raised his arms, aiming for the giant log as it careened toward Zelda's slab of ice. Calculations coursed through his mind like a powerful waterfall of numbers and movements. He bit his lip, blood tinging his sense of taste as his eyes sunk into his face.

Seggin wound his body backward like a rubber band before using every muscle in his body to lunge forward, launching the halberd through the air with such force that it tore through the atmosphere with a whistle. The log was idling to the left, not far enough to strike the sheet of ice Zelda was nearly to succumb to; with a sudden, nearly splintering strike, however, Seggin's weapon slammed into the log's broadside, halting its momentum and ensuring it would fall straight to the earth below, directly into the opposite end of Zelda's frigid island.

"Goddess…" Seggin muttered in horror, "It's going too fast!"

He grappled for Navo's spear, though the Watcher maintained a vicious grip, "W- What are you-?! The lynel-!"

Seggin spun to face the lynel who had suddenly appeared there, knocking the Demon Sergeant across the reservoir's surface with a dull *THUD*. Navo readied himself for defense of the reservoir, and indeed Vah Ruta herself, baring his fangs with a ferocity unseen by any of his peers, his senses wholly focused on-

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

With a mighty splash, the lynel's branch had crashed into the swath of ice, sending Zelda skyward as a result. A brief scream was all that she could manage before her lungs seemingly collapsed due to the terror of being sent skyward, the velocity itself nearly forcing her lunch to reemerge mid-flight. Zelda's body careened nearly straight up into the atmosphere, feeling as though time itself had stopped, as if she was destined to remain in this sickening flux for the rest of her days, before finally beginning to slow. It took her only a second for her to recognize what was to come, all while she hung there in space for a magnificent moment. Her eyes widened as the entirety of Hyrule spread out before her; the briefest moment of serenity as her body slowly reached gravity's grip. Then, it was all too clear what was to come.

Terror fueled tears to her eyes. The pit of her stomach opened up in a nauseous gasp for her final breaths of existence. She so longed for the serenity of a moment ago, only to be saddened as she recognized that such a thing wouldn't ever happen aga-

*THUMP*

Her nausea was, in a single, earth-shattering moment, replaced by a mighty swell of pain atop the front side of her body. Zelda recognized that she was no longer falling, and yet- Then she felt the muted coldness to characteristic of that material she had known for years.

Sheikah material.

Only then did she realize. She'd been caught.

She pushed herself up, her face painted in shock as she found herself atop Vah Ruta's trunk, which appeared to have stretched up to break her fall, much to Zelda's immense confusion. With a scurrying energy, realizing her precarious situation, Zelda immediately grappled the stone-like trunk to prevent her fall, her eyes wide in terror at the prospect, even though Vah Ruta's movements appeared to emulate hers in that it followed her momentum as though to ensure that she wouldn't fall to begin with.

"O- Okay…" Zelda whispered to herself, still taking stock of the situation, "This is fine."

Her eyes peered over toward the two Zora knights, Navo having completely foregone any attempt at defense now that he merely stared at the situation unfolding before him, shoulders weak, just barely keeping hold of his spear.

"GHH-! Navo!" Seggin winced, locked in a fierce duel with the lynel who went unperturbed, "Help me!"

No reply came from Navo's stony expression. However, Zelda noticed the tense confrontation, muttering to herself in questioning as she looked around.

"Help. Help…" rose her voice in tepid refrain, examining the landscape for any method with which she could facilitate such a thing, before pausing with a blank glance into space.

She lowered her eyes, watching her hands atop of Vah Ruta's trunk. It was strange; she felt an odd warmth there, like the wall opposite of a furnace- a kind of furtive, steady radiance.

"Can you hear me..?" she questioned audibly, considering Navo's experience with the Divine Beast.

No reply.

Zelda peered over once again toward the melee atop the reservoir, Seggin's footfalls growing more uneven and desperate. She lifted a hand to allow it to pat at Vah Ruta's surface, biting her teeth as she relinquished all inhibition of craziness or, indeed, insanity. She knew there was something to these Beasts… Just perhaps..?

"We must help him," Zelda noted with a steady reverence, as though uncomfortable with giving an order to this mechanical Beast, "Please."

After a fearful pause, Vah Ruta churned to life, Zelda's brow growing with abject shock. She strengthened her grip while the Beast began turning to face Seggin and the lynel, the foreign beast's eyes slowly separating from Seggin's as the massive machine began coursing toward them. It's trunk began to descend, forcing Zelda to strengthen her grip once again.

"Seggin!" she warned.

The Demon Sergeant gave a rushed glance toward her, his eyes widening but altogether remaining unfazed even as Vah Ruta readied her trunk. The lynel stepped away, growling quietly before retorting with an impending roar. Before it could move, however, an endless torrent of water burst from Vah Ruta's trunk, encapsulating the whole of the beast in a tunnel of water that shook the ground without even touching the surface. As the torrential downpour blaster past the creature, the rapidly draining temperature caused it to freeze, creating a jutting series of waves carved in ice that imprisoned the intruder, appearing only once Vah Ruta ended its assault.

Seggin watched with disbelief at the frozen lynel, locked almost in time, before turning to watch in awe while Vah Ruta lowered her trunk near the two men, allowing Zelda to slip away from its trunk and onto solid ground, the princess sighing with a dramatic sense of relief.

"By the Goddess…" she exclaimed while supporting herself by clutching her knees while keeling over.

"By the goddess, indeed," Seggin muttered, still in shock by what he had seen.

Navo, to his credit, was able to remain standing, though only barely, watching in tempestuous silence, not knowing whether to remain in silent awe or to scold the Princess for her recklessness. or even to ask her how on earth had she managed what she had done.

"Are you alright?" inquired Seggin dutifully.

Nodding, Zelda answered, "I believe so. More shocked than anything, really."

"Tell me about it," Navo mumbled in answer, examining Vah Ruta with heavy eyes.

Zelda watched him for a moment, saddened by his melancholy, before returning to Seggin, "I think I might have figured out what I came up here for, though."

"Oh?"

She nodded toward the frozen lynel, "We have our friend there to think for it, actually. See, we obviously can't change the weather, but the deadliest thing has been the wind, particularly along your Domain's canyon, where every stroke of the wind's breath is funneled along. Up here, it's rather mild, wouldn't you agree?"

Seggin nodded simply, "So, what, you're going to stop the wind? Just wake it from its natural inhibitions?"

"Not quite," smirked Zelda while she turned back toward Vah Ruta, "Navo."

The Watcher jumped in place, jostled from his fixture with a suddenness, before acknowledging simply, "What is it?"

"Can you ask Vah Ruta a question for me?" she wondered with a smile.

"G- Can- Of course I can!" he replied with an inexorable perplexity, having assumed Zelda had summoned the Divine Beast on her own.

The Princess nodded before explaining, "If she can do the same as she did to that lynel: spout of a massive stream of water over there-" She pointed in the direction of the cavernous pathway leading just into Dora's Domain. "-perhaps she can create enough of a barrier of ice to halt the wind in its tracks?"

Seggin's flippers shook as he pondered the idea with pulled lips, nodding in thought. He calculated the distance in his mind, though abandoned the effort rather quickly, having learned in the last few moments not to bother.

"Hmm, I- I suppose," Navo agreed with a soft tone, as though afraid to make a demand of the Divine Beast, "If she should will it."

As though on command, Vah Ruta spun her body some degrees, eying the canyonous stretch of earth that would have been an insurmountable trek for anybody but the Divine Beast. The three watched, still in furtive awe, as Vah Ruta raised its trunk, let out a bellowing roar that shook the whole of the mountain, before a mighty torrent of water spewed forth from her outstretched appendage. The bursting flood of water coursed across the sky in a protracted arc, freezing in its path, allowing the continuous stream to follow in kind, the rolling waves of freezing water sticking to the sky like the stroking brush of a painting. At its apex, the flighty flood barreled toward the ground, cracking across the atmosphere in a freezing symphony before hitting on either side of the canyon, an icy barrier forming almost from out of the ether, dripping water for only a second before the flurry of wind froze it in place like a sculpture in the sky.

The wall of ice having grown stable, the horizontal waterfall slowed before stopping entirely. Vah Ruta broke contact with the frozen bridge that had attached to her spout and lazily turned to stomp back where it had come from.

"By the goddess, look at that!" Zelda happily chimed, hopping in place at the sight of the crystal rainbow, "Navo! Look!"

"I see…" murmured the Watcher in deepening reverence.

Seggin's voice shook, "As do I."

He turned his head toward Zelda, though kept his eyes upon the magnificent feat of nature, "I do believe you have won me over, Princess of Hyrule Kingdom."