Beauty In The Water | A Mipha and Revali Fanfiction

This Means War

Yunobo sat at the back of he and Daruk's fishing boat, trembling with fear.

For the last fifteen minutes or so, they'd watched, frozen in place, as an ominous gray fin circled them, its owner feasting away on the pound of fish that had been dumped into the water.

Daruk was keeping a very close eye on it, making sure it didn't veer too close to the boat.

"Yunobo, how much fish do we have left?" He asked, turning around and being greeted with an empty barrel.

"That was the l-last of it," the nervous goron replied, tipping the barrel over slightly so Daruk could see its nonexistent contents.

"Well then," Daruk began again, "let's just hope and pray that we've stalled this shark long enough before..."

"Sir!" Yunobo yelped, pointing a shaky finger towards the water.

Upon turning around, they both saw that the giant fin was beginning to swim away, and fast too.

"It's already leaving?!" Yunobo exclaimed again, standing up and heading to the front of the boat with Daruk to watch as the Great Gray darted away.

"It's not leaving on its own, I don't think...it appears to me that it's being lured away..." Daruk mused, his gaze remaining strong on the shark.

"But by who?" Yunobo squeaked, shivering in his boots.

Daruk didn't respond; he didn't have to.

Whoever was luring the Great Gray away clearly didn't have well-meaning intentions.

All the two gorons could do, was watch hopelessly as their target disappeared off into the evening.

***

The oracle and Mipha followed the dolphins happily guiding them to Zora's Domain.

Truthfully speaking, Mipha was glad to have her tail again. While legs were good on the land, nothing beat effortlessly gliding through the water with fins.

Slowly but surely, the drab and stalky coral that made up the outskirts slowly began to give way to actual structures, houses and buildings, and the two zora knew they'd finally reached home.

The bright crystal-like palace sparkled ahead of them, and Mipha realized just how much she missed home.

"There it is, up ahead," the oracle mused, "now come, we ought to hurry."

Without missing a beat, they swam until they reached the castle's front gates, guarded by two zora guards suited up with helmets and light armor. Their facial expressions were shocked when they saw Mipha.

"Princess! And the oracle!" One of the guards exclaimed, swimming over to her. "You're back?!"

"Greetings Finbar, happy to see you've returned to your duties," the princess smiled. "We're here to meet with my father; something has...occurred."

The blue-scaled zora nodded his head in understanding.

"Well then, let us proceed. Right this way!" He said, motioning for his fellow guard to grant them entry.

Within an instant, the heavy, crystal gates opened, emitting a loud creak as they slowly granted entry for Mipha and the oracle.

"Thank you again," Mipha told the dolphins, who squeaked their replies and sped off into the distance; presumably to continue their game.

The group swam in, and it wasn't long before they reached the throne room. Finbar swam ahead of them to make the announcement of their arrival.

"Your royal highness! Your daughter, princess Mipha has returned, along with the oracle!" He proclaimed.

King Dorephan, who's attention had been on Sidon in the corner of the room very quickly redirected onto his daughter below him.

The little zora prince let out a cheerful noise and rushed over to his sister, enveloping her in the tightest hug she'd likely ever received from him.

Mipha squeezed her brother back. Out of all the things she'd missed, she'd longed to see Sidon again most of all.

"Mipha?" King Dorephan asked, leaning forward slightly to get a closer look. "Is that really you? You've got your tail again!"

Gently letting go of the embrace she had Sidon in, the zora princess dipped her head.

"Indeed, father. It is all thanks to the oracle. I have returned because I have some...news," she confessed, earning a somewhat concerned look from her father.

The king nodded his head. "Whatever it is, Mipha, do tell me."

The princess took in a deep breath through her gills, trying her hardest to calm down. Her small hands had begun to shake with worry.

"It has to do with the princess of Hyrule..." she stated, holding her breath as she awaited a response.

The room grew almost deathly quiet.

"Did those mongrels return to their savage ways?!" King Dorephan shouted; his thunderous voice filled with utmost disdain.

"No, father! We've been lied to!" Mipha answered him. "This whole time-consuming feud has been nothing but meaningless!"

Almost immediately, the zora king paused, and it seemed that everyone else in the room, besides the oracle of course, did too.

Dorephan furrowed his brow, his expression reading of utter disbelief and confusion.

"Whatever do you mean, my dear?" He asked, after an uncomfortably long quiet.

The zora princess cleared her throat, trying her hardest to maintain her composure.

She recounted all of what Zelda had confessed to her; the fact that their kingdoms had no reason to be arguing because the entire ordeal had been a sham.

"And even worse," she explained. "The whole thing was orchestrated by the yiga clan."

If the first pause hadn't been agonizing, then this second one was.

Finbar and the other zora guards in the room were frozen at their posts, little Sidon's giant, tender eyes were wide with alarm, and most of all King Dorephan looked more infuriated than Mipha had ever seen him.

"You mean... those pirates who've sailed in our waters for years?" The king asked, his voice heavy with rage.

"They're the reason our food supply has been dwindling as well. They were the ones who brought the Great Gray here; that shark would never have made it back into our ocean had it not been lured here," Mipha said.

In a fit of boiling hot anger, King Dorephan slammed his hand against the armrest of his throne, creating a deafening boom that rippled throughout the room and bounded off the crystal walls.

"Those conniving scoundrels!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, once again rattling the room.

"We've wasted so much time, so much energy, and so much emotion over a lie. They've...they've slain my sister and caused unflinching prejudice among our people!" The king yelled, redirecting his attention to his daughter below him.

"Mipha, I am so sorry; round up the troops. The yiga's actions are a declaration of war."