The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time

Water Temple

"My dear, sweet Ruto..." the Zora king lamented as he peered off to the island with the lone tree, in the middle of a shrunken Lake Hylia.

The blue fire worked perfectly on King Zora, instantly warming him and nursing him back to health. He and Link left together from Zora's Domain, for Link knew the frozen-over oasis was no place for a Zora, and if the king remained, he would surely freeze again. So, he escorted the king across all of Hyrule to Lake Hylia with him and Epona, so he could survive in the warm waters while Link helped Ruto break the curse from the Water Temple.

"You will get her back..." the king said, almost pleading, "you've rescued her before."

Link knew that this time, Ruto would not be coming back with him. Keen on not breaking the king's heart, Link conjured up something to say.

"Your daughter was one of the bravest girls I met when I was a kid..." Link meant what he said; no one would be as unphased as she had been inside Lord Jabu-Jabu if they were in the belly of a great fish. "...and now she's a grown woman, gone to try and break the frozen curse on Zora's Domain... She doesn't need rescuing, she needs help," Link finished as he looked towards the island the king was staring at. That must have been where the Water Temple lay.

"It was something unnatural..." the king stated, "when Zora's Domain froze... It was not gradual like the weather; it wasn't even overnight like a cold spell. No... it was instant."

"Instant..." Link repeated. The evil in the temples had only been acting up recently. "So, everything was normal before that?"

"Well, if you don't count the turnover of the Hyrulean throne to Ganondorf..." the king began. "During the Gerudo Rebellion, we Zora sat neutral. Our only pledge to the Kingdom of Hyrule was our fresh water supply, and that remained the same after the dust of the rebellion settled."

Link stood in silence, digesting this information.

"The last thing I remember seeing before being frozen... was Ruto."

"Hey King, I'm..." Link wanted to address the elephant in the room. It had not come up between them up to this point. "I know this may be too little too late, but... I'm sorry for taking the Zora Sapphire without marrying Ruto. I know that is the Zora tradition."

"We may have sat neutral during the rebellion, but rest assured, Link, there would have been no royal wedding during such a time of turmoil..." the king said, "but tell me, where did you disappear to for all those years?"

Link couldn't tell whether there was a hint of accusation in the king's voice... "I guess you could say I... got caught up in it."

King Zora nodded his head. "We all did, Link... we all did."

With the air cleared between Link and his would-be father-in-law, Link set out to the Water Temple, removing the pelt he had made in the Zora River valley, and swimming across an abbreviated distance due to the low water level of the once vast lake. Clearly, this was due to the lack of water flowing down Zora River from Zora's Domain. The water was cool on Link's body as he really worked to tread the water with all of his equipment. But soon enough, he reached the clayey shore of the island.

The expansive round island had bundles of wild grass swaying in the breeze in its center... and in the middle of it was a signature hexagonal slab, boasting an engraving of six drops of water pointed radially outward from the center. The lone tree sat adjacent to it, jutting up out of the moist soil and leaning outward over the southern shore.

Suddenly, Link decided this might mean something, and he walked over there to investigate. Sure enough, there was a dark grey stone wall retaining the land on the shore from a deep drop-off into the water. Jumping into the water on that side, Link could now see this structure was a façade, adorned with artistically intriguing curvy, almost spiral-patterned carvings, similar to the Zoratic writing in Ruto's note.