BOTW: The Lonely Knight

Zora's Domain

"Ah. So you must be the Hylian that Sidon brought here, correct?" the monarch asked.

Link nodded.

"You did well to come all the way up here! I am King Dorephan, ruler of the Zora. Now then, take your hood off, so that I may see your face."

Link removed his hood. The king's face lit up as he saw it.

"That face... I have seen it before... And that object on your waist, it is Sheikah Slate, isn't it?" he asked.

Link nodded once again. Dorephan smiled.

"Then... It is you, Link, the Hylian champion!"

"The Hylian Champion? You can't mean THE Link? THAT Champion?!" Sidon said in shock, "So that's why your name was so familiar, what a fateful coincidence that we should cross paths!"

"I cannot believe it. That I'd live to see my daughter's closest friend once again. We have met many times before you know. Ah... So many memories, my mind is flowing with nostalgia, my friend. We had heard rumors that you had fallen in combat, but thank the goddess they were untrue."

Link cocked his head in confusion. "We have met before?" he asked.

"... Come again?" the king said confusedly, "You do not recognize me at all? But surely you must remember my precious daughter Mipha, yes?"

"Who is Mipha?"

Dorephan stared him, completely in shock: "I cannot believe it... Have you truly forgotten my dear Mipha as well? You were both so close, yet you do not remember her? Look at this place. These walls, the statue outside. Does gazing upon it all not jog any memory of her?"

Link stood in confused silence, not knowing how to answer.

Sidon suddenly interrupted: "Father... I do not believe discussing my sister is helping matters at the moment. Link seems confused.."

"Oh?" the king remarked, "Yes, of course. But first, it is worth noting how remarkable it is that Sidon brought a Champion here without realizing it! Link, I doubt not you have endured a great many trials. Still, I must ask you to hear my plea."

"Very well." Link answered.

"Now then. Hero... I must inform you that Zora' Domain is in danger of vanishing because of Divine Beast Vah Ruta. I shall do you the courtesy of speaking bluntly. We are powerless to stop it. Will you lend us your strength?"

"What?!" the green scaled Zora called out. "King Dorephan! My liege! Please do not speak so! To ask a Hylian for help... The very thought of it curls my fins!"

"Muzu, I expected more of you. How can you protest now?"

"Muzu!" Sidon reprimanded, "It is rude to speak that way to your king and his guest. Link is here because I invited him! With such unprecedented rain, we have no choice but to rely on the aid of a trustworthy Hylian. We have discussed this many times before. In times like this, our survival must come before our personal biases."

"Indeed!" the king added in, "Link is a Champion through and through. As things now stand, Zora's Domain... Nay! Perhaps all of Hyrule is doomed to be swallowed by the sea. This is bigger than all of us my friend. Zoras and Hylians must put aside their differences and band together."

"Have you forgotten already, my king?!" Muzu retorted, "We cannot trust these lowly Hylians! A hundred years ago, they abused the power of an ancient civilization and turned Hyrule into what it is now! And that is not the least of it!"

He sighed, before saying in a sad tone: "It is their fault that Lady Mipha was lost to us...

Link lowered his head a bit, understanding where he was coming from. Part of the blame did fall on him for what had transpired a century before. Though he did not know who this Mipha girl was, he felt as though he was to blame for what happened.