Exterminate the Hinox

Meryl was alone at the entrance of Zora's Domain, making extra arrows for herself and the troop for the extermination of the Hinox. As she worked, she remembered her words to Prince Sidon from earlier.

Minutes ago

"Your Majesty, if I may point out, even when it's slain, it'll just come back to life at the next blood moon and eat your people's fish again."

The royal Zora exhaled as he nodded. "You are right, Miss Meryl, it will. Then all we will be doing is putting it down for the time being and start over again."

"That may not have to be the case, sire. Perhaps, instead of just killing the ugly creature on the spot, we could drive it somewhere away from the fishing spots and destroy it there. I mean, if it's going to come back from the dead, it should be somewhere else at least. …What does Your Excellency think?"

"Hmm… yes, yes, that may work!" he approved. "It's most definitely worth a try."

Now

"I hope I am right. Still, I feel like a lunatic the more I think about it, goin' with," she murmured to herself before she held her incomplete arrow horizontally to make sure the shaft was completely straight. "Well, I did offer… and I do trust the prince."

Remembering his pose earlier, she was looking forward to seeing him in action. He did look like he had the makings of a warrior. He certainly had a heart and courage similar to Link's.

Seeing the reawakened Hylian knight in battle was definitely going to be something to see as well. An image of Link and Sidon standing side by side in battle flashed in her mind before a smaller, female Zora took the latter's place with a trident…

"What was Princess Mipha like in battle? How did she and Link fight together? Prince Sidon said his sister and Link got along so well."

Prince Sidon, Torfeau and a few other Zora warriors, Sir Link and Meryl were all set up. However, they had to split up in different directions: The Zoras had to take the long way by swimming from Ruto Lake to the Bank of Wishes while the Hylians used the shorter route by swimming up Veiled Falls.

Link had his Zora armor to wondrously swim up with Meryl holding onto his back, the latter most amazed from actually going up a waterfall.

They glided to the meeting place, waiting for the Zoras who found them on a cliff. They all looked over to see a slumbering giant behemoth.

It was even uglier than Meryl had heard they were. And its stench! The troop could smell it even from a safe distance.

"Ugh, I know pigs more hygienic than that lummox," she whispered in disgust to her friends who softly laughed and concurred.

They went over the strategy. First, they had to lure the Hinox away from Ralis Pond and other Zora fishing spots before slaying it so it would only return from the grave somewhere no one fishes or inhabits.

Link with his paraglider will lure it away and the Zora warriors follow. They would have the fight beyond the pond where it could eat away from civilization, otherwise it would come back to the waters for fish since monsters actually did eat despite being Ganon's automatons.

When everyone was clear on the plan, they set it in motion. The Hylian champion woke the massive fat slob from its nap, making it pursue him, taking no notice of his comrades at all.

Once he had it at the right spot, Sidon ran in to stand beside Link, the other Zoras flanking it. As for Meryl, she found a place where she could be of help from a distance and without being in the way.

First, she had its eye in her sights with her bow and arrow ready and making a bullseye on the oversized oaf's bright eye, making it squeal in pain as it sat and tried to will for it recover.

Frankly, Meryl couldn't help covering her laugh at the way it fussed a bit like a child before she got to witness both champions taking it down.

Link's skill with weaponry was tremendous. His swordsmanship was of the same grace that went down in legend from his time. The same was with Sidon, just as unafraid.

Torfeau and the others were not to be sold short, poking at it with their spears and blades. The Hinox was surrounded and outclassed for it barely had time to react to make an attack because it kept getting blinded and attacked relentlessly.

It did manage to try to land a fist on the prince whom Link saved by lunging to push him out of the way, the appendage harming neither of the heroes to everyone else's relief.

They quickly looked sharp and finished the job, the Hinox gone… until the next blood moon which thankfully wouldn't rise for a while.

The Zoras hollered their victory chant, Sidon shaking Link's hand as he did in the throne room, Meryl sitting down with her left wrist on her bent knee as she quietly relished their celebration.

She didn't care she didn't do much, a problem was solved thanks to Link's help as usual. He certainly was the miracle hero Hyrule had waited for.

She met up with them on the ground level, congratulating them all.

"You all displayed awesome courage, especially you, Prince Sidon and Sir Link. I've never seen such teamwork."

Link silently laughed humbly which made Meryl glad to see how modest her people's resurrected champion was. The royal grinned as he nodded in agreement, his left hand on the swordsman's right shoulder. "It surely was a marvelous thrill to work alongside you, Link. We owe you another thanks."

The Zoras and Meryl bid Link farewell for now. The red-haired Hylian folded her arms as she thought she might as well say her final good-bye to everyone here.

However, something caught her eye in the distance. "Say, do I see a large blue stone slate over there? It looks like the one at the Domain."

"That is one ten Zora monuments across the Lanayru region," Sidon gladly answered. "Did you not read the one in our Domain. It's actually a copy of the one from out here."

"No, sire, I didn't," she informed sadly. "A Zora elder was over there and Rivan the guard warned me to stay away from all of the Zora elderly."

"Ah, yes," the prince understood, he and the others looking away awkwardly at the thought of their elders' thoughts towards Hylians. "That was Jiahto you saw. He's our people's historian. He's been wanting someone to visit and read the ten monuments to collect the information for a book he's been wanting to write. He'd do it himself, but his fins and legs aren't what they used to be."

"And no one else has been able to see the monuments for him?"

"Everyone in the Domain has had their problems, and some of them are frightened from the monster sightings, mostly the Lynels and the Hinoxes."

That was too bad. Visiting those monuments sounded like fun to Meryl, though she doubted this Jiahto would want a Hylian to read anything of his.

Suddenly, she started to feel hot for some reason. Funny, she felt cool enough before. Then she found herself sitting on a rock, looking attenuated to the Zoras.

"Miss Meryl, what is wrong, my friend?"

"I… don't know, Majesty. I'm not usually like this." All she knew was, she didn't feel like herself.

The prince had a look of concern as he quietly stood beside her to get a better look. As he scrutinized the little woman, he could see she didn't just look weary. She looked like the light was fading from within her.

Her eyes widened to his slight astonishment before she whispered in serious worry with a shaking voice, "Everything looks… blurry, and I feel hot."

Now Sidon knew what was wrong. She was ill. Swimming up the waterfall with Link and staying in her wet clothes all this time was taking its toll on her health.

"Miss Meryl, I think your soaked garbs are making you sick."

"I think you're right," she nodded, speaking slowly. She winced from the fever giving her a headache which made her dizzy.

"Quick, return to the Domain and have the doctor prepared for a Hylian patient," Sidon calmly but quickly ordered.