The Next Day...
Link woke up early to find Zelda still sleeping. He did not think anything of it at first, but eventually she started mumbling under her breath...
"Daphnes...know I...you..."
"Do not...it!...DAPHNES!" Suddenly Zelda woke up looking much like Link had when he had his nightmare, sweaty and disoriented. Link quickly looked away to avoid giving the impression he had been watching her. Zelda couldn't bring herself to say anything for a while...
After how she tried to help me the other night...why the hell am I not trying to help her? Link gave it his best shot...
"What was Daphnes doing?" Zelda just held her face in her hands and cried...Link felt absolutely awful. Eventually Zelda calmed down enough to discuss the day's plans.
"Where...where are we going today, Link?"
"The old Seer wanted us to prove our resolve, so I want to start at the place I know you least want to go..." That did nothing to improve Zelda's mood.
"Zora's Domain..." she sighed as she shook her head.
"Why does it bother you so damn much?" Link curtly asked.
"Father brought me there...as a little girl, hoping a zora would teach me to swim. He tried to teach me...but I was swept downstream and very nearly drowned. A second zora saved my life, and I am deeply grateful to her; but I still have no desire to set foot in Zora's Domain again, even if I have to..." Suddenly her fear of water made a lot of sense...
"I...I'm sorry..." Link choked out. Zelda sighed again.
"If we want the Master Sword and the Seer's secret stone we must go to that minging Zora's Domain, like it or not...let us go, Link." The two packed their things and mounted "Coal" before setting off down Sahasra Slope to the west of Kakariko Village. The Seer's tent was no longer there when they reached the top of the hill...more problematic, though, were the five red bokoblins on horseback on the slope. Link and Zelda both pulled out their bows to snipe them off their steeds, but Zelda wound up being the one to hit all five bokoblins...her aim was improving by the day.
"You're a fantastic shot, Princess..." Zelda was too distraught to accept the compliment. After collecting the bokoblin's parts they continued down the slope and eventually reached the bottom, passing the west shore of the Lanayru Wetlands. Before too long they reached the Wetland Stable...or at least what remained of it; in their absence the stable had been razed to the ground and only a pile of timber and torn cloth remained.
"Oh I sure hope no one was in here when the Dark Prince showed up..." Zelda mused. Link continued to guide "Coal" north past Crenel Peak and eventually crossed the Thims Bridge...by now the sky had darkened dramatically and a powerful thunderstorm broke out. Zelda knew what this meant...
"CURSES! It will be too slippery to traverse the path to Zora's Domain with all this rain...not to mention you cannot traverse the path with a horse. We should find shelter, Link."
"C'mon, don't you just want to get this over with?"
"SHELTER, LINK!" Zelda was not in the mood for dealing with her fear of water that day. Link opted to simply surrender this battle and turned northwest instead of southeast after crossing the Thims; he soon found another stable – the Woodland Stable, still intact and operational. After paying for lodging and boarding "Coal", Link and Zelda laid in their respective beds until midnight; then Link went to Zelda's bed and attempted to apologize to her.
"Your Highness, I...I'm sorry...I've been a real jerk to you today, and you didn't deserve it." Zelda was still irritated and refused to answer Link, not even rolling over to face him.
This must be how it felt when I did this to her...it sucks. Link tried again.
"Would you like anything to eat, Zelda? I'm a really good cook." Zelda still did not roll over to face Link but did answer him.
"At (YAWN) this hour? Are you not supposed to be (YAAAWWWWNNNN) getting some sleep? And is it not still raining out?" Zelda was right...Link had been so focused on apologizing that he had failed to notice the violent pattering of rain against the stable walls. Link felt very defeated and began sulking back to his bed...
"Link?" Link turned around, at which point Zelda rolled to face him.
"Maybe we can make a rain check...until morning. I just want to sleep..." Link felt a little better.
"Alright. Thank you, Your Highness..."
"Just call me Zelda. I am no one's majesty as long as the Dark Prince is around. I certainly will (YAWN) not be yours even after he is gone...you have just done too much for me." The two were soon sawing logs...
Early The Next Day...
Before the sun had risen very far above the horizon, Link woke up before Zelda did, visited the nearby lake, and proceeded to go fishing, capturing four hyrule bass in short order; he then went to the stable's cooking pot, mixed the four bass with a single spicy pepper he had grabbed during his travels prior to meeting Zelda, and concocted some spicy pepper seafood. By the time Zelda was awake Link had somewhat rustically plated the dish for her.
"Eat up," he simply told her.
"Why...ta, Link..." She tucked into her breakfast. Zelda's eating habits were always somewhat refined, the princess not being one to shovel food into her mouth like Link did, and it took her a while to finish her plate, Link anxiously waiting the whole time for her critique of his cooking. She eventually turned to Link with a very serious expression on her face...
"Hmmm...it is a bit dry...needs more heat...needs more salt...there was a bone in my fish..." Link was feeling awful. Zelda's expression suddenly changed into a beaming smile, and she laughed.
"I was just kidding, Link! The fish was great...I would definitely like a little more pepper next time, though. I like my food very spicy." Link felt a lot better.
"Thank you, Zelda."
"Now...should we attempt to reach Zora's Domain?" Link agreed to it, and the two set off on foot to Zora's Domain. As they walked southeast from the Woodland Stable Zelda came to conversing with Link.
"Link...I am sorry how I treated you yesterday."
"I deserved it...I was a jerk yesterday. Insisting we go to the one spot in Hyrule where you are least comfortable..."
"It needs to get done sooner or later...you are right, we should just get it done right off the bat. Just...please do not laugh at me if I do anything mental to stay out of Zora River." The two kept walking for a few more hours, eventually reaching the sandbanks near Trilby Plain...
"Zelda?" The Princess turned to speak to Link as they were walking along.
"Yes?"
"What...what happened to your father? Did the Plague get him too?" Zelda looked away in pain...
"You don't have to tell me if it's that damn painful." Zelda swallowed, then began to speak.
"Father...after mother died and the Dark Prince began spreading the Plague...the Dark Prince tried to infect me too. When I resisted the Plague...he tried to impale me on his halberd. Father...father took the blow...instead..."
"How did the Dark Prince even get into the castle to steal that damn stone?!" Zelda seemed very hesitant to answer that question...
"And where the hell was your brother when that happened?! Shouldn't he have come with you?! What kind of brother wouldn't protect his sister during a time like this?!" Zelda couldn't take it anymore and began balling. Link decided not to grill her any further and simply continued walking towards Zora's Domain. Eventually they reached the path towards the domain...a short rock wall in the midst of the road prevented any horses from traversing the domain, just as Zelda had said.
"Why didn't they remove this damn wall centuries ago..." Link mused in irritation. The two climbed the wall and continued their trek to Zora's Domain. They soon thereafter crossed Inogo Bridge, a magnificent pearlescent blue bridge, one of several within the domain, and continued up a hill until they reached a stretch of the trail requiring that they cross the Zora River – still in flood stage - on a large rock...twice in a row. Link handled the first crossing with ease...Zelda was extremely nervous and eventually froze in the middle, just staring terrified into the rapidly flowing water. Link eventually returned to the rock and carried her across.
"Link...thank you."
"Don't mention it. Now for the second crossing..." While crossing the second rock, however, the pair were ambushed by an octorok, an octopus like monster that spits rocks at passing pedestrians. Link quickly threw Zelda to the other side of the crossing and was then struck by the octorok, plunging him into the Zora River. Even with his swimming skills Link was struggling to keep his head above the raging floodwaters and was dragged downstream...
"LINK!" Zelda yelled out. With no regard for her own safety she hastened back across the two rocky crossings and down the hill, where she eventually found Link clinging for dear life to a rock face near the Inogo Bridge...Zelda quickly grabbed Link and, with all the strength she had, pulled him back ashore. The two hylians, exhausted and traumatized by the ordeal, collapsed for several minutes, breathing heavily.
"Link, I...I am sorry! This is all my fault!"
"No, that stupid octorok bears all the guilt! Let's go off it before it does this to anyone else." A few minutes later Zelda shot the octorok with an arrow, immediately killing it. With the octorok out of commission the pair crossed the two crossings again and continued uphill, soon finding themselves in Tabahl Woods. To save time Link and Zelda cut across an open field nearby instead of following the path strictly, after which they found themselves in some rocky caves near the Bank of Wishes; they were soon accosted by a small flock of electric keese, bat-like monsters with just one eye and with electricity coursing through their bodies, but Link and Zelda quickly shot them down with their bows, gathering the deceased keese's wings before they continued onward. Eventually they found an artificial stone overhang near the Oren Bridge, one which even included an abandoned cooking pot (which Link quickly lighted a fire beneath), and opted to spend the night there...
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP! STOP! STOOOOPPPPP!" Link hollered out early in the morning, shattering the tranquil quiet imposed by the Zora River's gentle flow. Zelda jumped awake and quickly turned towards Link.
"Link, wake up!" she called out. Link was coherent enough to snap out of his dream, but still looked very fatigued and sweaty.
"Link...this is the second time this has happened in less than a week. Are you alright?!" Link sighed, clearly feeling very uncomfortable about telling Zelda the source of these wretched nightmares...eventually he opted to tell her.
"It's...it's an awful memory from my childhood...the reason I have been alone so long..." Zelda hesitated to ask him the contents of his dream...
"You're looking like you want to know what that damn memory is, so I'll tell you...fourteen years ago my family was ripped away from me. My mother, father, sister Aryll...all murdered by cursed burglars. I only lived on because I played dead...little seven year old me could not pay the rent, so I was forced out of my own home to live a life alone, bitterly alone, with only my wits for company...when I was young I had aspirations of being a hero; frankly I couldn't care less about justice anymore. I just don't want to die alone..." Zelda was stunned.
"Link, I...I..."
"Zelda...I just want a family. I don't want to die alone...that's what I want out of you. And it's the one thing – the one damn thing! - I bet you're not comfortable giving me because every single time I've tried to start a family with someone she's taken off..."
"Link...I PROMISE you I will help you find the bird of your dreams when this is all over...I just do not know if I am the woman you are looking for. I have only known you for less than two weeks..." Link looked visibly pained...
Not again...! Eventually he just got up and reluctantly resumed walking towards Zora's Domain, and Zelda followed him. They ascended up a small mountain to Luto's Crossing, a large pearlescent blue bridge, before reaching Ruto Mountain. They approached the top of Ruto Mountain before descending the peak to reach a long bridge leading to Zora's Domain. Zora's Domain consists of numerous winding pearlescent blue pathways around a massive statue of a fish in the center; also in the center are shops, the throne room, and sleeping quarters for the zora (who typically sleep communally in water).
The zora themselves are a lightly clad aquatic humanoid race with fins on their arms and legs and with what resembles a tail fin extending out of the back of their heads. They tend to be countershaded, with the front half of their body being pale and the back being brightly colored blue, green, red, or black. When they finished crossing the bridge Link and Zelda encountered two tense looking guards – one black, the other blue – wielding zora spears. They immediately realized the two had business with the Queen...
"I am sorry, but Zora's Domain is in crisis right now and we are not accepting requests for the Queen at this time!" Zelda promptly removed her hood...the two guards stared in shock.
"P-P-Princess Zelda! Forgive me, Your Majesty, this way, this way!" They promptly escorted Link and Zelda up the stairs to the throne room. When Link and Zelda reached the throne room they found a red female zora on the throne, wearing a blue sash and armed with a magnificent lightscale trident...she was deep in agitated thought.
"Your Majesty!" Zelda exclaimed as she curtsied to the Zora Queen. She was pleasantly surprised by her visitor...
"Lady Zelda! Oh it has been so many years since you have set foot in our fair domain! Please, please, what is your business here?"
"Well...I have found the Hero destined to save Hyrule, so we are seeking the pieces of the Map to the Lost Woods so as to retrieve the Sword That Seals The Darkness..." The Zora Queen took a closer look at Link...
"Hm? You look a touch...ill tempered to be the Hero...I've had several hundred years to learn to read people, you know, Princess..." Link bit his tongue.
"You should see him in action, Mipha! He has saved my life many times already, and he is an incredible warrior!" Mipha leaned back on her throne.
"Very well...your arrival is most fortuitous, Princess and 'Hero'. Zora's Domain is under grave threat from a terrifying creature we have come to call 'Leviasaur'. It is a hideous serpentine abomination that is devouring all our domain's fish [which the Zora depend on for their food and their livelihood] and has even consumed some of my own people...I tried to fight it alone and barely escaped with my life. If this young man really is the 'Hero' then this creature should be no match for him...IF your 'Hero' can defeat the Leviasaur we'll give you our piece of the map. Deal, young man?" Link nodded in agreement.
"So be it...the Leviasaur is currently dwelling in Reservoir Lake, to the east of our Domain. In addition to eating our fish it is also recklessly damaging the dam holding the reservoir in place...if left unchecked it will destroy the dam and create a massive flood that will wipe out many hylians downstream. Let us hurry and destroy it." With that Mipha rose from her throne and hurried towards the Reservoir Lake with Link, Zelda, and a small band of skilled Zora soldiers in hot pursuit. When they reached the top of the dam they at first saw nothing unusual...
"Prepare yourself, Link!" Mipha exclaimed. "The Leviasaur is a master of ambush, waiting patiently to take unsuspecting prey at or near the water surface...it otherwise dwells too deep for a hylian to reach it. Climb on my back and I'll bring you within range of the beast..." Link climbed onto Mipha's back and the Zora Queen swam impressively quickly into the lake. It did not take long for the Leviasaur – a monstrous white serpentine creature with a pointed head, huge scales on its entire body except its head, and numerous tiny clawed legs that would never support its weight outside of water – to appear from the depths, attempting to engulf both Hero and Queen in a single bite...
"Hold on, Hero!" Mipha called out as she rapidly swam away from the beast. The Leviasaur gave chase...Link was quick to notice the lack of scaly armor on the beast's head and began firing arrows at its cranium, dealing some damage and causing it to emit pained shrieks every time it was struck. Eventually, though, Link ran out of arrows...and resorted to bolder strategy.
"Bring me closer!" Link called out to Mipha.
"Are you mad?!" the increasingly tired Queen barked back.
"Trust my judgment, your majesty!" The Queen began circling closer to the Leviasaur, which repeatedly snapped at the duo. When it eventually tired...
"Throw me! NOW!" Mipha threw Link at the Leviasaur and he drove his royal broadsword straight into the beast's head, causing it to utter a shrill, agonized roar and begin swimming wildly, attempting to buck him off, even diving underwater in its attempt to dislodge the Hero and his blade; but Link held on for dear life, slowing driving the sword deeper and deeper into the beast's head. Eventually it dove underwater for an extended period with Link still attached...everyone was horrified.
"LINK!" Zelda cried out. Suddenly a brilliant purple explosion burst out from below the water surface...when it subsided Zelda could just make out a male human figure swimming laboriously at the water surface...
"MIPHA, LOOK!" Mipha quickly swam out into the lake without taking a second look and retrieved an exhausted Link, bringing him back to the dam. Everyone present burst into enthusiastic applause at his performance.
"You did it, Link!" Zelda told him. Link looked very embarrassed from all the attention...
The Next Day...
After Link had dried off and taken the night to rest, he and Zelda were summoned before Mipha's court. A veritable mob of zora surrounded Link as he ascended the stairs, praising him for his heroics and causing him to blush beet red.
I killed a scary monster...so what? I'm still the same miserable person...
"Link, Hero..." Mipha began, "you have proven beyond doubt that you are the Hero of Legend reborn. Please...take our piece of the map. More than two thousand years ago Zelda's ancestress gave us this map...she told us to hold onto it until the next Hero appeared to save Hyrule. Once you acquire the other three pieces, you should be able to retrieve the Master Sword...your birthright..." Link robotically bowed.
"Thank you...Your Highness..." Mipha was quick to notice Link was not thrilled at his grand role in Hyrule's story of survival.
"What is it, Hero? Don't you want to be part of Hyrule's history? To save Hyrule from the Demon King and the Plague?" Link was very unwilling to answer her.
"Very well...we Zora will support you every step of the way. We'll even escort you out of our domain...we'll be ready when the day comes to storm Hyrule Castle and overthrow the Dark Prince. Guards...bring me the secret stone." The guards soon returned with a blue secret stone; Mipha held it against her left hand, at which point a gold glove materialized to hold it against her wrist. Mipha then held her left hand up, causing spectacular waves to form on the Zora River...her subjects bowed in amazement, as did Zelda. Not Link, though...this did not seem to impress him.
"Are you upset because you lost your weapon, Hero? Please...take my lightscale trident. It is a magnificent weapon and will serve you well until you are able to acquire the Master Sword." Link curtly swiped the trident from the Queen without so much as a thank you...she looked irritated. Before too much longer the crowd dispersed and Link, Zelda, and a half dozen skilled zora warriors began retracing the path out of the domain. As they walked Zelda had a question for Link.
"Link...you seemed very rude to the Zora Queen today. What was up?"
"Crowds, Zelda...I hate crowds. Always have. Living alone for so many years, being accustomed to the silence, sometimes barely seeing another living person for a month or more...makes the din of a crowd an unbearable thing."
"Anything I can do to help?"
"Not really...guess if I'm going to play the 'Hero' I'll just have to grin and bear it. If I can even do that much..." Zelda felt a great deal of pity for Link...
Poor Link...I cannot blame him, really. I used to find crowds uncomfortable myself...the party eventually stopped near Oren Bridge to sleep.