Mipha had been swimming for a good while and worry had begun to creep in.
The sun was already beginning to go down, and if darkness fell, things could get significantly more difficult.
The deep blue waters grew deeper the more light disappeared, and she had yet to spot any ships.
That was until, off in the distance, Mipha spotted the silhouette of large masts contrasting against the orange sky.
Now all she had to do was pray it was the Yiga's boat.
She swam over, making sure to keep a low profile, and ducking under the cover of waves every now and then.
Once they came into view, she could see that the massive white masts held the Yiga's highly ominous emblem. The bright red eye with the teardrop pointed upwards.
"Great," Mipha sighed to herself, "now how do I get on board."
As she analyzed the railings of the ship, she recalled a game that she often played with Sidon.
Whenever they'd go off to hunt for fish, they'd often challenge themselves to see who could jump the highest out of the water.
Sure, she could very easily leap higher than her younger brother, but she'd always let him win.
The zora swam forward until she was directly at the side of the ship, gauging how high she'd have to make her jump if she were to do this.
Her heart began racing again.
What if there were pirates on board? What if she made too much noise and attracted their attention? Where were they even keeping Zelda?
"No matter, I'm doing it..." Mipha told herself, taking a deep breath before diving underwater.
She swam downward a good distance and prepared to propel herself up.
It sort of helped to picture Revali, what position did he take when performing his gale?
Pretty soon, she was swimming as fast as her legs could push her, it was different to having a tail, that was for sure.
The water above her grew clearer and clearer until finally, she broke through the surface and was met with the salty sea air.
She made it up to the railing of the pirate ship before she began to fall back down into the water, unbeknownst to the Yiga that guarded one of the ship's doors.
"Why couldn't we have gone to the mainland with the rest of them? Why are we stuck here babysitting the princess, Rindo?!" One of them grumbled, crossing his arms.
The second Yiga sighed. "Oh, stop your complaining, I'm the one stuck with you all night."
Rindo let out a fairly dramatic gasp.
"How dare you-!"
There was the sound of a splash. Not an awfully loud one, but it was noticeable for sure, and enough to get the yiga to stop their pointless arguing for a moment.
"...that better not have been a supply crate, Kade," Rindo mused, somewhat worriedly.
"That splash was far too quiet to have been a crate," Kade huffed. "It's probably a lone dolphin of some kind, and-"
There was yet another splash, this one somewhat louder than the last.
The second Mipha made it back under the water, she sighed.
"I'm really going to blow my cover at this rate," she thought to herself.
Back on board, the Yiga were properly confused now.
"You sure that's a dolphin, Kade? Sounds a lot lighter than a dolphin to me," Rindo grumbled.
"Maybe it was a sea turtle then?" Kade answered, earning a highly annoyed sigh from his partner.
"Sea turtles don't jump out of the water! What kind of idiot, doesn't know that-!"
They were very abruptly interrupted by the sound of a thud as Mipha landed on the deck of the ship, startling the daylights out of Kade and Rindo.
Before either yiga could comprehend what was going on, she hammered them both in the head with her trident, knocking them both unconscious.
They both landed on the wood with a thud, one flat on his back and the other, more unfortunate one, flat on his face.
Mipha looked around. Thankfully, it seemed she'd eliminated her only adversaries on deck. However, there was no guarantee that'd last for long.
Swiftly, she crouched down beside the two fainted pirates and searched their pockets. Finally, she came across a set of brass keys.
"Thank Hylia," Mipha sighed, scrambling over to the door the yiga had been vehemently guarding and jamming the key into the hole.
Eventually, she heard a click, her cue to head in.
Thrusting open the door, she bolted down the hallway, walking past multiple rows of empty cells, wondering where on earth they were keeping the princess.
There was a faint smell of sea salt and mold that set the tone for the tiny, gloomy dungeon.
All of a sudden, Mipha heard the sound of muffled sobbing. It was coming from the far end of the hall.
No doubt those cries belonged to Zelda.
The zora slowly crept over to the cell, and eventually, the princess came into view. She sat in the corner, her body curled up in a vulnerable ball. Her face was buried in her knees, and Mipha could almost see her shaking.
Softly, as to not be startling, the zora called out to her.
"Zelda?" She asked, watching as the princess looked up immediately.
Her eyes were pink and puffy, and her nose and cheeks were a matching hue of red.
"M-Mipha?!" She exclaimed, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?!"
The zora princess swiftly rushed over to the cell's door, thrusting the brass key into the hole and heading inside.
"I swam here, we've all been looking for you. I'm so glad you're safe!" She replied, hurrying over and kneeling down on the rotted floor beside her.
Zelda enveloped her arms around her, pulling her close and letting out a shuddering sigh of relief.
Mipha embraced her back, patting her on the shoulder.
"We've wasted so much precious time..." the princess whimpered, not providing any context as to what she meant.
The zora furrowed her brow.
"Whatever do you mean?" She asked, slowly pulling away from her.
Zelda's eyes sparkled with tears, and she couldn't hold back another sniffle.
"Oh, Mipha, I've been so blind! The yiga murdered the zora princess and laid down one of our weapons next to her body. Our kingdom's feud has been nothing but a ploy by the Yiga to distract us from their thievery!" She exclaimed, stopping every now and then to take in sharp, distraught breaths.
Mipha could feel her blood run cold, and for a moment she even felt like fainting.
"H-how do you know this?" She asked, her own hands beginning to shake while Zelda continued to sob and sputter.
"Kogha...he told me..." she whimpered, wiping tears off her cheeks.
"Carelessly revealing his giant master plan? What on earth was he thinking?!" Mipha asked, once again placing her hand on the princess's shoulder.
Zelda took in a deep breath, trying her best to calm herself.
"Because..." she managed to mutter, "I'll be walking the plank soon; there's no use in me knowing if I'm dead at the bottom of the ocean."
Mipha could've sworn she was getting lightheaded. Zelda had every right to cry; she'd been wasting her energy on a lie for so long.
And so had she.
"Wait a moment..." Mipha thought to herself. "There still might be hope!"
Zelda sniffled again, wiping even more tears away. "But how?"
"The feud was staged by the Yiga; if I were to swim down there and tell this to the zora, I have no doubt in my mind that they'll be moved to help!" Mipha explained, gently lifting the princess's drooping face with her hand.
"Zelda, a while ago, I was told that my father was actually interested in speaking to you. I'd say that banding together against a common enemy is more than enough to patch the relationship between our kingdoms," she explained.
The princess let out another shuddering breath, but thankfully, it seemed Mipha's message was starting to register.
She looked up, her eyes still iridescent.
"R-really? You'd be willing to go down there?" Zelda asked.
Mipha nodded her head, "of course. And once I do, we'll find a way to free you."