Thud…
Thud…
Thud…

”FATHER!”

The oversized, obese Zora King looked at the platform in front of him. “Yes, Ruto?” “I refuse to believe this!” she screamed.

”Ruto, dear…”

”I will NOT agree to this! Never!”

The Zora princess stormed out of the throne room, and dove into the water. She swam to the bottom, and opened a door while swimming. Water did not gush in, for a barrier had been cast. She slammed the door behind her, and made sure whenever she moved she would make as much noise as possible.

She glared around her. The rooms were empty, save a few rooms which some of the inhabitants, namely, Zoras, were in. She made her way to a particular door. It wasn’t hard to miss, for it was decorated elaborately. She pushed open the door, and slammed it shut.

Ruto lay on her bed. Thoughts were swarming in her mind. Many things were in her mind. The letter… it lay unwanted at the farthest corner of the room.

Dear King Zora,

Let’s cut straight into the point instead of beating about the bush. I demand that the Zoras Sapphire be handed to me by tomorrow. I know what is going on in your domain! I know very well that although you have agreed to give me the spiritual stone of water, your daughter, Ruto, will not be willing to hand over her ‘keepsake’.

If you fail to persuade your daughter by tomorrow… That giant eyesore of a fish in the backwaters will die slowly. And I assure you that when I have enough power to do so, your domain will cease to exist…

Yours sincerely
Ganondorf

That was the contents of the letter. She had ripped it into half, and thrown it across the room. Her father, in hopes of explaining this whole thing to her, had shown her the letter earlier that day. He left before she could open it up, and missed the tearing part.

Ganondorf was an evil man. He wrote a letter, he wrote a letter instead of discussing the thing straight to her and her father. She knew his intentions. Sometimes writing in a letter makes things sound very scary, scarier than when you speak of it. That was Ganondorf’s intention- to intimidate them, force them to hand over the stone. And then, he would still eliminate them. It would be much better to prevent him from harming the whole of Hyrule by not obliging to his demands.

 She wanted to cry, but she couldn’t. Zoras didn’t have the gift to be able to cry. She was eagle-spread on her bed, looking at the ‘window’. The scenery outside was just water, with different kinds of fish swimming around.

To her, it was an everyday occurrence, but to the non-water people, it was a fabulous sight. She sighed. Things couldn’t get any worse.

But it could.

After a few days, she awoke to find herself lying on the bed, like usual. She looked around her. The letter was still on the floor, serving as a dreadful reminder of what Ruto had been disturbed by everyday since that day. Nothing had changed. The fish were not awake yet, for it was in the wee hours of the morning. She stretched, and got up.

Ruto walked out of her room. Everyday, she was the earliest riser, because she was used to doing so. Her duty was to feed Lord Jabu-Jabu every morning, afternoon, and evening. So it was just a normal day. Very ‘normal’.

She sleepily watched as Lord Jabu-Jabu ate the fish. But something went amiss. She was thinking of what would happen because of her stubbornness when she felt herself being sucked from the ground. Her feet made no contact with the ground, and she was in mid-air. She only had time to look behind her, and notice the giant fish’s mouth. It was open, it was sucking her in.

Before she could scream, she was inside, on the fish’s tongue. She got up. Yes, she had come in many times, but none in this fashion. And none of the visits included strange bubbles, octoroks, and electric jellyfish inside the guardian of the Zoras. Ganondorf had carried out his end of the deal, as he promised he would.

She was about to run out to inform her father about this when she, by chance, looked down, and noticed that her most precious possession, the Zoras Sapphire was gone. It had always been on the necklace, worn by Ruto. It had always been there, hanging at the end of the string she had found, shimmering in the light.

But now it wasn’t. Realization dawned on her. It must have dropped while she had been sucked in! She cursed herself, and turned around. Ganondorf would find it if she didn’t. The octoroks paid her no heed, for they were still sleeping. The bubbles floated around. She went through some sort of… DOOR!? When did fish develop doors in their insides!?

More jellyfish? She thought. There were strange holes, and strange stuff around in Jabu-Jabu. This had to be the weirdest thing she had ever seen in her life…

After a few hours, she got bored of exploring. At first, she found the idea of exploring deep into the fish exciting, but now, she found it boring, and even scary. Weird things kept floating by her, and she was all alone. She climbed up the wall, and found herself in the same center room, and she stood there, trying to think up a solution. And she thought of something. She took out an empty bottle, and scribbled a note and put it into the bottle. She tossed it into the hole, and it disappeared.

After a while, it happened. A boy walked in, the white ball of light following him. He wasn’t a Zora. He looked like a Hylian boy… She knew, because she had read books about the Hylians. Yes. She was sure he was! But upon looking at his clothes, which looked Kokiri-ish, she had doubts about him being a Hylian.

Much to her surprise, he walked up to her. “Who are you!?” she demanded. He looked a bit startled. “I’m Link. You sent a message in a bottle, and I found it.”

She felt embarrassed. “I didn’t send any message! What are you talking about!? What? My father sent you? Tell him I’m not going back until I find what I want! And you… get lost!” she said, and turned around, walking blindly forward. She forgot the hole was there, and fell into it, totally taken by surprise, and screamed.

A few seconds later, the boy landed behind her. “Didn’t I tell you to get lost!?” she huffed, placing her hands on her hips. “But… If you’re really so concerned about me, then I’ll let you carry me, but I’m not leaving until I find what I want!” she said, and sat down.

She hadn’t expected him to really carry her, which was what he did exactly. She watched as he moved around with ease, battling the monsters, like he’d done it before. She couldn’t help but admire the way he fought. Then, all respect for him was lost as he left her alone.

She fumed internally. How could he!? And when he got out, looking bedraggled and bruised, she scolded him. And then he continued carrying her.

A few times, he had left her alone, and each time she had scolded him for being an irresponsible person. “Princess… I left you alone outside because there are dangerous things inside!” he replied weakly, after the last scolding, for he was unable to take the insults when he had been preventing her from looking into the eyes of danger itself.

And then, when he entered a room, she noticed it. “That’s it! Throw me up there!” she squealed in delight. He did so, and she ran forward, and picked up the Zoras Sapphire.

”Now, I can go home. You, bring me home! I have no need to remain in this place any longer!” she commanded. Link took a few steps towards the platform.

And bad luck reared its ugly head once more. The platform she was on was moving. She gasped. It was moving upwards. Link disappeared from her sight, the only thing that he left behind was his shocked expression, and a giant octopus took his place. “What’s this!? Eeeeeaaaaaaggh!!! A giant octopus!?”

The last thing she remembered before blacking out was the octopus ramming her into the wall, and the platform moving down, with the octopus, but she remained in that room.

”Ruto…”

She looked around her. Everywhere was water. Two unlit torches stood in the room, and a door with bars on it was before her. She could see very clearly. And a figure appeared before her, blocking out the door. That was an adult Zora, with a striking resemblance to herself. She blinked.

”Ruto…”

It said again. She blinked again. “Who’re you?”

The figure closed its eyes, and opened them again. It grasped her hands, and held them with both of her hands.


”I am you, and you, I. “

”How can you be me? I’m not an adult!”

”Yes, I am you. Anyway… look behind you…”

Ruto did exactly as what her ‘other self’ said. She saw a man, a Hylian, standing there, wielding a sword and a shield. His tunic was blue, or was that an effect of the water? His boots looked like the bottom of it had iron attached to it. He looked like…

”Link!? But how is this even possible!?”

Then ‘her other self’ placed the Zoras Sapphire into her hands. “Keep it, use it well…”

She woke up. The dream… it was only a dream… but she had a funny feeling that it meant something, something concerning her and Link’s future. She saw Link. He was still a child, fighting against a giant thing, which reminded her of the thing in her nightmare the night before.

He got hit a lot. And in the end, he finished the thing off. He gasped for air, as the tentacle released its grasp on his neck. Then, he picked up something shaped like a heart, and walked towards her.

”What took you so long!?” she then noticed how scared she sounded.

“I wasn’t scared, just lonely, that’s all! Lonely!” she said, blushing, trying to cover up her fear. Then, both of them were outside, in the water.

She was looking into the eyes of her new-found friend, and standing on the log. He opened his eyes, and looked into hers for a while before realizing what was going on. With a yelp, he fell backwards into the water.

She jumped into the water, and swam up to him. “You… You were pretty cool out there. Just a little… Anyway. You helped me out. Thanks, anyway. So, what help can I be of to you?”

He blinked for a while, considering something. “Er… ah…uh…” he stuttered. She smirked. “I know what you want. This is the Zoras Engagement Ring. Also known as the Zoras Sapphire. I’ll give it to you. TAKE CARE OF IT!” she barked.

Link jumped at her sudden outburst. “It’s my most precious possession!” she added. Then she swam on her back for awhile, and then raised her hands. The spiritual stone appeared in Link’s hand. Without another word, he left.

Then, she really considered her actions. What the hell!? Did he even know what she meant!? If he didn’t… She gasped. What kind of trouble had she created for herself!? What if he never came back to look for her!? And it was true.

Many days passed, but he didn’t return. She gave up on waiting. Maybe he was too tired and impatient to understand what she meant then, but if she ever saw him in the future, she promised herself, she would take her time to explain what she meant, even if it meant she had to look like a complete fool to be the only known female in the Zora Kingdom ever making the first move.

Chapter Two   We finally meet again!

Days passed, months passed. Finally, after seven long years, something drastic happened, which changed the life of Ruto, and not for the better.

Ruto sat at the edge of the water. She hadn’t forgotten about that fateful day, seven long years ago. It seemed like only yesterday that he had saved her, accepted the Zoras Sapphire, and left, not to be seen for these seven years.

The Zora princess sighed. The memory was still livid in her mind. The part that was unforgettable was that dream… It was etched clearly into her mind. She had been having the same dream over and over for a month now. It had to mean something! But what?

That was her question for that whole month. She closed her eyes, and slid into the soft, cooling water. Below the water surface, she enjoyed it most. She was right about to head for her room when it happened, all too fast for her to register it in her mind.

”AAAAUUUGGH!”

She looked behind her. The water was strangely murky all of a sudden. It had grown deathly cold. Ruto wanted to shout, but her shout was drowned out by the sudden commotion. All the Zoras flung open their doors. Ruto floated in the water, unable to see anything. In fact, none of them could see anything.

The water grew turbulent. Wave upon wave of icy water crashed down on the heads of the Zoras, which had managed to grope their way to the surface, forcing them back down into the water. Ruto was amongst them.

Inside the water, it was like a sandstorm, only that there was no sand. The currents were as strong as the river that led to Hyrule castle, sweeping them all aside. Ruto shouted just to alleviate some of her fear and anger.

She pushed the Zoras aside, and managed to surface, just to be pushed back down by another strong tide of the same, murky water. She swallowed some of the water by accident. It tasted salty and bitter at the same time. The laughter that sounded through the domain was strange to hear from underwater.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t recognize that laughter. That peal of laughter could have woken any stone… Ganondorf… He had come to fulfill his end of the deal, yet again. ‘And I assure you that when I have enough power to do so, your domain will cease to exist…’ The words echoed through her mind.

She managed to surface again. This time, before being pushed back down, she noticed that the water was freezing over. She started to panic. Being trapped in ice, encased just like a display… No! She didn’t want that to happen.