•Chapter 20•
Sunday, June 9th, 2013
I didn't want to think about Link's question. I wanted to believe I was safe with him. Was there anywhere safer?
We decided to search for Ruto at Lake Hylia. Apparently, the last time Link had gone looking for her, he had found a note from her at Lake Hylia. Maybe we'd find another one.
We walked along the shore of Lake Hylia. It was practically drained. There was an island in the middle with a single, dead tree.
I put my hand over my eyes to shield them from the sun. "I don't see anything....."
"Neither do I." Navi murmured.
"I do." Link said, suddenly.
"What?" I turned to him and saw that he was looking at an old house on the shore of the Lake. And old man was hobbling towards us, dragging a chest behind him. "Who?"
Link ran over to help with the trunk. He took it from the old man and led the old man over. The closer he got, the stranger he looked. His face reminded me of a goat's with out the horns. He was hunched over and in blue and white robes.
"Um, this is Lake Hylia's marine biologist: Dr. Mizumi." Link grunted as he put the trunk down.
"Hello!" Navi and I said in unison.
"Hello. It's quite an honor to meet the Hero of Time and his beautiful companions." Dr. Mizumi wheezed.
"Oh, thank you!" Navi said.
"You're too kind." I added.
"You're a very lucky young man." Dr. Mizumi turned to Link.
Link snorted. Then he noticed us glaring at him. "Yeah. It's a picnic." He cleared his throat and looked at the trunk. He nudged it with his foot. "What's in the trunk?"
"Ah. I was told to give it to the Hero of Time. By Princess Ruto." The doctor explained. "She said you'll need these for the water temple."
Link knelt down and opened it. "It's clothes and boots." He said, clearly confused.
"There's a note!" I said. I picked it up and read,
"'My dearest Link, these are water tunics. I packed one extra in case you destroyed one as I expect you to do. The boots are iron-toed. They make you sink in water. Which won't be a problem if you're wearing the water tunics. Their magic makes you able to breath under water and be able to resist the pressure of deep depths. The entrance to the water temple is under the island in Lake Hylia. The Serenade of Water will transport you to the island if you should ever need that. I wrote the song below.
~Ruto'"
I looked up. "So yeah."
"How's Navi supposed to breath?" Link asked.
I pointed a finger at Navi and focused on my magic. I imagined bubbles. Suddenly, Navi was in a bubble of air. "That's how."
"Thank you, Dr. Mizumi." Link shook his hand.
"I'm glad to help. If you need anything let me know. Food? Water? Shelter? Please do not hesitate to ask."
"Thank you so much!" I said.
Dr. Mizumi smiled and huddled back to his house.
I turned to Link. "Okay. Let's change into these tunics." I reached into the trunk and pulled out a blue tunic. It would probably be like the red tunic: too big. I pulled off my dress even though Link was standing right there.
"Zelda!" Link cried, covering his eyes and turning away.
"I honestly don't care." I smirked, pulling the blue cloth over my head. I tightened the belt around my waist. It fit better than the fire tunic anyway. I kept the brown boots, that had come with my dress, on.
I glanced over at Link. He was just pulling it over his head. Why did he always wear that white turtleneck underneath? Link added the iron boots to the assemble and put his other boots in his infinite pouch.
"Okay. Let's go fight some fish." I pulled out my sword and began walking to the water's edge.
Behind me came an "ACK!" followed by a thud!
Link had taken a face-plant in those boots.
I bursted out laughing. Even Navi gave a few giggles.
Link pulled himself off the ground. "Ha ha. Yeah. That was just hilarious." He muttered.
He trudged along to the water, his legs being strongly pulled down by the iron shoes.
"Goddesses, I hope you aren't going to be this slow the entire time." I said, smiling.
"Shut up. I'm working on it."
"Yeah, Zelda. How terribly insensitive." Navi giggled.
I laughed.
"Yeah yeah. Keep laughing. Just wait until we fight the monster." He muttered.
I laughed and touched the water with the toe of my boot. I hissed. "It's so cold!!"
"Now who's laughing?" Link asked with a smug smile as he stepped up next to me.
Then he took another face-plant into the water.
"Still me." I said then, unable to contain my laughter, laughed until I cried and so did Navi.
"I better....help 'im out!" I said in between laughter. I leaned forward, grabbed one of his arms, and pulled him up. He spat out water.
"Thanks, doll face." He said sarcastically. "C'mon."
He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the water, deeper and deeper until Link was just barely standing and I was treading water.
"There's a drop-off." Link said, peering into the water.
"What?!" I hated drop-offs. I just hated swimming in bodies of water, that weren't pools, in general. Everything about it freaked me out. Lakes too. Something brushed me leg. "Link! Something touched me!"
"That was my hand. Sorry."
"How deep is it?!" I said as I began to splash around.
"Zelda, calm down."
"Don't tell me to calm down!"
"I'm about to sink you down to the bottom of the lake. You will be able to breathe because of the tunic. Okay?"
"Link don't you-" the water silenced me. Link had jumped off the edge and because of the boots, had begun to sink to the bottom, pulling me by the leg with him.
My skirt billowed up around me. I didn't even care. I just wanted to escape. I was holding in air as long as possible. Finally, we hit the murky bottom.
My lungs were screaming for air. I kicked and shoved Link. "MMM!!"
"Zelda, breath!" Link's voice sounded weird under water. Wait, how was he talking?
Link squeezed my cheeks together, forcing me to let the little air I had left out. I began to cough and gag. Under water. Here I was, coughing under water.
"What the hell?!" I gagged.
"See?" Link was smiling. He was holding me by the waist to keep me from floating upwards. "Told you it worked!"
I smacked him. I could tell it didn't hurt him but he got the message. "I swear to the goddesses, if you ever do that again......."
"Okay, I'm sorry."
I crossed my arms. I must've looked pretty funny, with my hair flowing around my head, my skirt flowing around my waist, my arms crossed, and the serious expression on my face. Link was trying hard not to laugh.
He pulled me towards him and buried his face in my stomach. He was giggling.
~•~
The Water Temple was a hole in the side of the island.....on the bottom.
Inside, it was a smoothed, stone tunnel that ended in a dead end with only one way to go: up.
Link kneeled down and pulled off the boots. He put them in his pouch, the magic going to work of course. He began to float up to towards an opening in the ceiling. I went up with him.
When my head broke the surface of the water, I greedily gasped for air. Real oxygen felt so much better to breath.
I reached for a nearby ledge and pulled myself up. Another stone hallway was in front of me. It ended in a door.
Link flopped next to me. "It's so exhausting to walk in those shoes." He panted.
"I have a weird feeling about this temple." I muttered.
"Me too." Navi said a she popped her bubble to breath real air. "I sense another living organism. And it's not a monster."
"Yeah me too."
Link looked at us. "What are you two rambling about?"
"Don't you sense it?" I shivered and crossed my arms.
"No. How can you?"
"I don't know."
"Maybe that's part of your magic." Navi suggested. Navi had been really nice to me for the past half hour. I guess there was just something about seeing one of your friends fall on their face that just brings two bickering girls together.
"Figures." Link muttered as he pulled himself up. "I'm stuck with two 'magic' girls."
"Could be worse." I said.
I walked down the hallway, Link following close behind. I reached for the door handle then froze.
"The presence is on the other side. Someone else is down here." I whispered.
Link pulled out the Master Sword and nodded. I quickly slammed open the door to the room beyond. My eyes traveled to the figure in the center of the room. I gasped.
It looked like a teenage female whatever that was. It must've been a zora. She had a humanoid shape almost but had webbed toes and fingers. Flippers were sticking out of her lower arms and thighs. Her head was bald and sort of arrow shaped. She had pointed ears that also seemed webbed with ruby earrings. Despite all this, she was pretty. The thing that shocked me most though, was the fact that she was naked. If she wasn't human in some parts, she made up for that with human girl....parts.
"Ruto?" Link asked, putting his sword away.
"That's Ruto?!" I gasped.
"My, how you've.." Link gulped, "grown."
"Hello, Link." She smiled seductively. I hated her instantly. "You're certainly persistent. I knew I made the right choice in choosing you for my husband, my darling fiancé.
"Excuse me?" Link asked. He was pale suddenly.
"Link, what's she talking about?"
"Link, don't you remember?" Ruto asked. "We are engaged."
"The Zora's- oh damn!" Link closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Link?" I asked.
"I'm going to go ahead." Ruto said. "There's a monster ahead. As my people are in trouble, it's my responsibility. Try not to follow. I can handle it."
"Like you handled Jabu-Jabu?" Navi asked sarcastically.
"I see you still have that.......fairy." Ruto said fairy like she was gonna use a worse term than "fairy".
"Yeah. She's a catch." Link did not say it with sarcasm.
"I-I see. Who's the blonde?"
I glanced up at Link. "Might as well tell her. I mean, Ganondorf knows so there's no harm."
"May I present, Princess Zelda of Hyrule." Link said.
Ruto's eyes widened. She fell into a bow. "Your majesty. I'm honored."
"But, aren't you royalty too?"
"Of a species and a tribe. You're my ruler as my tribe dwells in your country."
"Oh, um, you can-you can rise."
"It's such an honor." She rose. "Since you're back, well, hope will return." She turned and opened the door behind her and disappeared behind it.
When the door slammed shut, I turned to Link.
"What the hell? You're engaged?"
Link cringed. "Um, it was an accident."
"An accident? How does that happen?! Were you drunk?"
"Um, no. You see, well, I needed the Zora's Sapphire and apparently it's a zora tradition that the princess gives the stone to the man she will marry."
"Did she do it on purpose?"
"Probably...not..."
"Probably." Navi confirmed. "She totally had a crush on him."
"Okay then. Can I come to the wedding?"
"I'm not marrying her." Link said
"Then what are you going to do?"
"I don't know, I'll break up with her."
I smirked. "Heartbreaker."
"I can't believe you got mad at her even though she said you were her hope."
"I wasn't mad at her. And why am I her hope?"
"You're everyone's hope. Everyone is saying that when the Hero of Time finds the legendary Princess Zelda, peace will return to Hyrule. I don't know why. They say that a mysterious power gets passed down through the line of girls in the royal family. I guess that contributes to the whole hope thing."
"Oh."
For some reason, that made me feel.....weird.
Suddenly, something slammed against the door with a loud bang!
"Ruto!" I gasped.
~•~
I opened the door and dashed into the square room, Link following closely.
The room had spikes around the bottom of the wall and a huge square pool of water in the center that took up about 60% of the room. Four small, square platforms were in the pool.
"Ruto?" I called.
"Zelda." Navi breathed. "Look."
I turned and sucked in my breath. There was a pool of blood by the door. "My goddesses."
Link walked over to the edge.
"Link." I warned.
He hopped across to one of the platforms.
I followed him to the edge and peered into the water. Something about it bothered me. "Link, there's something
wrong with this water. Can't you sense it?"
"Yeah." Navi said quietly. "There's......something. I don't know what it is."
"I don't sense anything." Link peered into the water.
I hopped over to him. "Yeah, I wouldn't touch it."
Suddenly, something splashed behind us. We both turned. Nothing was there. Again, something splashed behind us. We both turned and looked. Nothing.
"Link?"
"Next time we hear it, you turn and I don't in case it pops up again."
"Gotcha."
Splash!
I turned. And screamed.
It was like a tentacle made completely out of water. There was some sort of eye at the base of it.
"Morpha." Navi gasped.
"What?!"
"There are legends. And her name is Morpha."
"Any legends on how to kill it?"
"The only thing I know is her name. She might not even be hostile."
As quick as lightning, another tentacle shot out of the water and wrapped around Link, picking him and up and spinning him around.
"Link!" I cried as Link yelled.
Morpha let go of him, sending him flying into the wall. The spikes were pointing towards me, not upwards so Link slid down and landed on the smooth parts.
"Behind you!" Link yelled suddenly.
Morpha grabbed me from behind and spun me in circles over and over and over again. I was about to vomit. Then she released me, sending me hurtling into the water. I hit the bottom gently. I scrambled out and onto a platform.
I pulled out my sword. Link was distracting Morpha by shooting his hookshot into her several times.
I put my sword away and grabbed my bow. I had a sword sheath on my hip and my bow and quiver on my back.
I shot an arrow at the eye. The arrow was too weak. It sunk into it but the water slowed it so it didn't hit the eye.
"Link! Try for the eye!"
Link nodded and shot the hookshot at the eye. It latched onto it and pulled it out. I shot an arrow at it. It hit and it squealed somehow. It squirted out a black oily substance at Link and hopped back into the water.
"Ack!" Link was so startled to have oil all over his face, he backed into the water.
I sucked in my breath. Then Morpha lunged for me. I moved out of the way at the last second. Link climbed up to to the platform next to me.
"I have a plan." I pulled out my sword. "Hookshot the eye."
Link did so and pulled the eye towards us. I lunged with my sword. I plunged the blade deep into the eye and didn't pull away even though it was pushing against me. Black oil was squirting all over me but I resisted. Finally, it burst into dust and with a poof! all the water disappeared from the room.
"Yeah!" I held up my hand for Link to high-five it.
"What are you doing?"
"It's called a high-five. You slap it."
Link slowly clapped his hand against mine.
"WHOO!" I laughed as the blue light shot up in front of us.
"C'mon." Link walked into the light and I followed.
~•~
I was standing in the Chamber of Sages. This time, we were facing the blue platform: the one for the water sage.
Blue light shot out of it and who floated out? Ruto.
"Hello, Link. You have awakened me as the water sage. Congratulations. Take this medallion as a symbol of my eternal gratitude...and love."
The blue medallion floated down and into Link's hand. "Thank you, Ruto."
"We can't get married just yet. When this is all over, maybe. Remember, I'm watching over you." She winked and Link laughed.
"I'll miss you, Ruto."
"Never say goodbye, Link. No goodbye is permanent. So, why say it?"
Link smiled. "Then, see you later."
"Link, good luck. You have her on your side. You have hope."