Boring Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the legend of Zelda characters; this is just based on fun and for reading pleasure

**Author’s Note** I know there are a lot of people out there who simply despise Princess Ruto from the Legend of Zelda, for whatever reason. I completely understand why you may hate her, but in this short saga I’m making an attempt to write something about her and actually try and make her likable, if that’s even possible.

Zoras Domain. Such a beautiful flourishing place, filled with such vast amounts of mystery and magic no one could possibly comprehend how deeply she loved her home. Ruto stood at the top of the waterfall, watching its crystal clear waters flow around her feet and fall in an array of mist to the pool of water below. She stood solemnly; admiring the place she had lived in all her life, and felt pride overwhelm her.

Although she was the sage of water and guardian of the Water Temple in Lake Hylia, she would not allow herself to remain in the sacred realm. As a Zora, she was bound to the water because it was like a life force for her, something that kept her spirits high and body moist and clean. Water purified her soul, and made her feel complete. Thus, she would never sacrifice anything to part with her own element, even if it meant being unable to remain in the sacred realm with the other sages.

As a child, she loved Zoras Domain, and since she was the princess she had access to all areas of her watery home. The other Zoras knew her well, and respected her, because of who she was and because of her ever-demanding ways. Ruto got whatever her heart desired, except one thing: Link. She felt a strange sense of dishearten, to know he never loved her as she loved him. To make matters worse for her, she had given him her most precious possession: the Zoras Sapphire. The Zoras Sapphire was not merely a precious stone it had sentimental value. When she gave it to Link, it was her way of telling him how much the sapphire meant to her, and she was giving him her heart.

“I knew he never felt that way about me. I was stupid to be so naïve and make myself believe he ever did in the first place. Now I no longer have the Zoras Sapphire, and I didn’t keep the promise I made to my mother about giving it to the man I would marry…”

Ruto said quietly, her eyes falling upon the smooth walls of Zoras Domain, watching the water reflect on them and cast a shimmering aqua blue glow. She wanted to cry, but no tears came. Crying over someone like Link would be childish, or so she tried to tell herself. She still had her father and Zoras Domain. Even if Link wasn’t meant to be her husband after all that had happened, she didn’t dislike him for the way he felt. Her people were in his debt, because he had saved Zoras Domain by breaking the curse set on the Water Temple, and risking his life to save her – when she was an adult, and even as a child.

“Life is too short to be mourning over my losses – even if I lost someone I felt I loved…”

The Zora princess murmured, as her eyes shifted away from gazing below. Ruto turned and walked down the short water-filled tunnel that led to the throne room. Upon entering, she looked at her father, who was sitting on the high ledge, which she supposed was the Zora version of a throne. Water flowed from another tunnel behind the ledge, and fell down it gracefully in a short little waterfall. The Zora King was rather large and heavy, and he looked more like an overweight fish than like a Zora. After all, most Zoras except him were very thin and had elegant looking fins and beautiful dark eyes. Ruto respected her father very much, but she couldn’t help but believe he was almost ridiculous looking because all he did was just sit in the same spot all-day and everyday.

“Ah Ruto! At last you’ve gotten over Link. Its about time, I was beginning to get worried about you…”

King Zora said, as his large bulging fishy eyes looked down at his daughter since he couldn’t actually move his head in her direction. Ruto sighed in exasperation, and then kicked up a spray of water with one of her webbed feet. She hated how he worried about her all the time that was all he did: worry. Nothing else, except worry and sit around. Ruto was beginning to get fed up with it. Since Zoras Domain finally unthawed after being frozen for seven years, nothing else exciting happened.

“Father,”

Ruto said, her voice hinting slight agitation.

“Please don’t intrude into my relationships, its not like Link was my boyfriend or anything. And PLEASE don’t worry all the time about me, I’m a grown Zora and I can take care of myself!”

“Well if you insist then…”

King Zora replied bitterly, as if her feelings of being intruded on were not justified enough by his constant questioning about how she was doing.

“But I am your father after all, so it’s my duty to look out for you, even if you are grown up now.”

Ruto shook her head. He would never leave her alone. All her life her father always thought a male Zoras duty, if he was a father, was to look after his child – it didn’t seem to matter to him how old she was or what she was. Zoras mated only twice during their entire lives, so it was of importance to the entire species that at least one of their children survived to adulthood. Ruto knew this, and that her father was just trying to make sure she was healthy and happy for when it would be time for her to find a suitable mate and bear a child of her own.

Before she got over Link, Ruto once seriously thought he would be her chosen mate and they would be deeply in love. It was never meant to be, also because they were separate species too: Link being a Hylian, and she being a Zora. That would have been her golden opportunity to chose her husband, but since the opportunity proved to fail, her father would chose her suitor and she would be forced to marry him. King Zora already had his eye on a young male Zora named Misu, whom he was sure would be the perfect one to help Ruto conceive a child. However, Ruto wasn’t interested in Misu, and thought he was terribly boring and not adventurous in the least. Not only that, but she wasn’t interested in settling down and being forced to bear children. King Zora only wanted her to marry him because he had such gorgeous fins and was in excellent breeding condition.

“Yes you are my father,”

Ruto acknowledged, feeling her patience wear thin – and she had such little patience to begin with.

“However, I don’t need you controlling my life! I want to chose whom I marry, I want to go off on my own adventures and discover hidden things about Lake Hylia. I don’t feel ready to settle down just yet, I need more time to do what I’ve always wanted to do.”

King Zora’s large eyes blinked once, and he wriggled his feet with disgust before scoffing at her words.

“I am not controlling your life, I am merely making sure you carry out your duties as Princess of the Zoras. You were supposed to give the Zoras Sapphire to the man you wanted to marry, that was your chance to choose your husband, and you knew the risk of being rejected. Now I will choose a suitor for you, and you can make this as easy or hard as you want, but either way you will have to marry a Zora! I think Misu would be the perfect mate for you, after all his family’s genes prove to have beautiful coloration and Misu is a champion diver in our diving competition…”


“I don’t care what he looks like or who he or you thinks he is, I will NOT marry Misu! He’s the most arrogant, self-centered and narcissistic Zora I have ever met. I would rather stay single for the rest of my life then have him as my mate!”

Ruto said angrily turned her back on her father; tired of always showing respect to someone who was now disrespecting her by trying to pair her with someone she despised so much for so many reasons. If she couldn’t have Link, she wanted to be with someone who at least made her feel like Link made her feel. Misu was anything but that – although he was a champion diver and he did have wonderful skin and fins, he was a coward in the face of danger, and hid that by bragging about being better at diving than everyone else.

Without speaking again to her father, Ruto stomped out of the throne room and down the steps leading to the main area of Zoras domain. As she walked along a high ledge overlooking the water and the waterfall on the other side, she turned a corner leading toward the shop and didn’t see Misu coming in her direction. The two Zoras nearly collided with one another, and when Ruto recognized who it was, she seethed further in her anger and stopped dead in her tracks.

“Well, well, well…its so pleasant to see you, princess…”

Misu said, looking at her with his dark almost black colored eyes. He was a very tall Zora, with large fins growing from each arm that shimmered under the glow reflected off the cavernous walls of Zoras Domain. His hands and feet were wide and thickly webbed, which made him very well equipped for swimming and faster than most Zoras in the water. A long fish like tail grew from the back of his head, which unlike most Zoras, was covered with gold colored scales instead of the normal aqua green.

Just the sight of him made Ruto’s stomach wrench, and her eyes narrowed in fury while she held her head high and stood tall and proud, ignoring the misleading smile he wore on his lips.

“You can wipe that smile off your face Misu.”

Ruto said coldly, feeling her long fingers fold into her palms as her hands clenched and shook with rage. Before she could say anything more, Misu already responded.

“What’s wrong princess?”

He said with icy politeness, his deep smooth voice echoing off the walls. The male Zora folded his arms across his chest calmly and looked at her intently, as though pretending he didn’t notice her anger towards him.

“You should be thrilled, after all, your father told me he is going to announce our engagement very shortly. I thought you admired a Zora who could dive deeper than any whale, and swim faster than all the others. Consider it something for both of us to look forward to…”

“I’m not looking forward to it, and I’m not marrying you!”

Ruto shouted, as her fins and gills flared at him. She knew he was only marrying her to gain the status of Prince of the Zoras, and because almost all the Zoras in Zoras Domain spoke of her as being the most beautiful Zora in all of Hyrule. Misu didn’t even flinch at her defiance, which forced Ruto to elaborate on how much she disliked the whole idea.

“I refuse to be wed to someone who possesses such intolerable arrogance! Your not marrying me because you love me, your just marrying me because you want to breed with me so I can bear you the son you’ve always wanted and continue your stupid family line. Find someone else for that, because I’ve got my whole life ahead of me and I don’t need someone like you to be a part of it!”

Misu looked at her in surprise, but said nothing, apparently taken aback by her sudden explosion of anger. As cold and arrogant as he made himself look, that really wasn’t what his intentions were. From his point of view, he had no choice either because King Zora had chosen him and he was obligated to marry her even if he didn’t want to. The strange part was, that he actually had a secret fondness for the princess. Misu had taken a liking to her demanding and fiery temper. Although he had made it plain to some he did want a son, he never even imagined Ruto knew about that, which made him embarrassed. Before he could say anything, Ruto turned away from him and swiftly departed.

It wasn’t long until Ruto found she needed to cool her temper somewhere, and the only place she could think of was in the water. Soon, she was floating gracefully in her watery realm, watching bubbles float around her and rise to the surface. Only in Zoras Domain was the water it’s freshest and purest. Ruto’s gills moved back and forth in an endless rhythm, while absorbing the water into her body and circulating it to provide oxygen. She floated for a long while, in an area not occupied by anyone so she could be by herself. She felt so lonely and misunderstood, when really she wasn’t as misunderstood as she made herself to be.

She would never understand Misu, or why he acted so hotheaded toward her all the time. She could barely tolerate talking to him, let alone being his future wife. The thought made her cringe, yet she heard something from within her tell her to give him a chance. Her explosion on her father was uncalled for after all, and the only way she could make up for it was going along with his plans. Although she disliked it very much, she thought about it more and decided since it was the Zora heritage; she would have to accept it. Even so, she wouldn’t let Misu win this battle: if he was going to marry her, then he would have to deal with what being her husband brought with it.

Days passed since Ruto’s outburst, and she shortly found herself making a formal apology to her father. King Zora eyed her maliciously, though it softened once she spoke while standing before him in the throne room. Ruto’s voice quavered every so often as she fought for both composure and her words, while trying to stifle the sheer torment she felt within about being forced to marry.

“I-I was wrong father, please forgive me for what I said. I will do as you ask and marry Misu, it was what mother would have wanted me to do – to grow up and marry a strong Zora like myself. From now on, I will try and contain my emotions better.”

When she finished, she looked at him pleadingly as King Zora said nothing, the room filled with an awkward silence. Ruto listened to the sound of water falling from the waterfall in the background, and tried to keep herself calm. At first she thought her father would never speak to her again, however hidden relief washed over her when he slowly nodded his head once, and said solemnly.

“Very well, you are forgiven. It’s about time you learned why you should act like a proper Zora Princess instead of some wild uncontrolled vagabond. Your wedding will take place tomorrow as planned, and I want no further objection from you from now on. I am merely doing what is in your best interests, my dear princess.”

Ruto nodded rigidly, her face expressionless, before turning as respectfully as she could and walking out of the throne room. She hated being humble with anyone, especially her father, but she had no choice – she had lost this battle. Defeat was a bitter thing to taste, and she still felt constant unhappiness over her situation. No longer could she gripe about Link denying her, for she now had more important things to worry about. She would be married to Misu tomorrow, and that was all there was to be said.

As she walked aimlessly through the long passageways of Zoras Domain until finally coming to the main area, she noticed Misu standing at the top of the waterfall, preparing himself to leap off its edge. Ruto sighed with discontent, but seated herself on the high ledge with her feet dangling over the side to watch. She saw Misu gaze for a moment at the water below, while positioning his body in an elegant pose. Then, he leapt off and performed three graceful back flips in mid air before resounding into the water with a splash.

Ruto watched casually as the other Zoras clapped politely until Misu surfaced near the bottom of the waterfall. To her surprise, he was looking straight at her and watching her with his ebony colored eyes. His face was solemn, but she sensed a hint of interest being directed toward her. Ruto closed her eyes and looked away casually, trying to make it look as though she hadn’t been watching him but something else. The Zora princess didn’t want him to gain any more satisfaction from their pre-arranged marriage, and if she showed she had been watching him it would only make him all the more arrogant, or so she thought.

She opened one eye and looked cautiously where Misu had been, and she saw he wasn’t looking at her anymore but instead was swimming to a small rocky platform in the middle of the water. Ruto watched him as he stood dripping wet, alone, until he seated himself on the edge of the platform with his legs dangling in the water. His back was to her, so she couldn’t see his expression, but she began to get the feeling Misu was kind of a loner among their people. The male Zora wasn’t known for being overly talkative, and his only attention bringer came from his apparent talent at diving and swimming. She wondered why her father wanted to pair her with someone so opposite of her personality, but maybe there was a hidden side to him she was unaware of? It seemed impossible, but once she thought about it she didn’t know him as well as she thought.

The next day came, and the sun rose beautifully, casting its bright rays over the land of Hyrule. Although it was a gorgeous sight, no light entered Zora’s domain so it was nearly impossible to tell what time of day it was unless you looked at the entrance to see if it were dark or light. Princess Ruto awoke from within her private chambers hidden near the back of Zoras Domain. Her “bed” was basically a deep pool of water in the ground that had a depth of several meters. The skin of a Zora is very sensitive and dries up over a period of time, and to keep it in pristine condition she slept underwater.

When Princess Ruto surfaced, she saw three male Zora servants standing in wait to prepare her for her wedding ceremony. She got out of the water and was escorted in silence to a mat lying on the other end of her room, where they laid her down and gave her a soothing back massage to calm her spirits. After, two female Zora servants arrived and began to apply jewelry and set a beautiful tiara of ivory white pearls on her head. They sharpened her fingernails, and rubbed sweet smelling oil over her body, which was supposed to arouse her husband to be and give him courage and strength to make their wedding night successful. In Zora culture, the wedding night was a time for the newlyweds to bond with one another, which meant after the ceremony she would be forced to spend the whole evening alone with Misu. Ruto also knew that there was a sub-reason for why they had to be alone – it was also a time when some Zoras mated, and her father was surely going to enforce that no one disturb them.

Since Zoras didn’t wear clothes, they covered themselves with jewelry for their weddings. When Ruto was finally ready, bracelets dangled from her wrists and ankles, and she wore a beautiful gold triforce around her neck on a silver chain. Her face was solemn, which was far from what one would normally expect to have on their wedding day – but then again, Ruto wasn’t very happy about being forced to marry. As her tenants escorted her from her room, she noticed Zoras Domain looked empty, and knew it was because almost everyone was supposed to attend her royal wedding.

Princess Ruto soon found herself at the very top of the waterfall inside Zoras Domain, and waiting for her near its edge was Misu. As she walked toward him, she noticed something different about him – something she never thought she would admit to herself. Misu stood tall, his broad muscled chest becoming more apparent to her, as well as his strong looking arms and legs. Worn around his neck was a triforce necklace like her own, but the silver chain was thicker and less feminine looking. That was the only piece of jewelry that he wore, but even without much decoration he looked rather handsome.

A crowd of almost all the Zoras in Zoras Domain filled the tunnel and spilled into the throne room, all of which were standing in neat rows and leaving an aisle up the center for her to walk down. Males, females and even younger Zoras stood patiently waiting and when she came into view they turned and stared at her, their dark eyes glimmering under the pale blue glow of the light reflected off the waters they stood in. It was then Ruto saw her tenants leave and she was left to walk alone, to the waterfall where she would meet her husband to be.

Ruto looked at the throne and saw her father sitting proudly, in the same place, but he was dressed up more than usual. A crown made of gold and covered in sapphires was on his head, and he wore a white cape lined with silver. He no longer swung his short pathetic legs from the ledge he sat on, but remained still, and was surrounded by other members of the Zora royal family. King Zora looked at her but said nothing, watching in revered silence as Ruto proceeded down the aisle. She walked as slowly as she could, feeling the water lap around her feet and the silence that followed her.

Once she arrived at the waterfall, she noticed Misu did not change his expression, but remained as solemn as she was, barely batting an eyelid. They stood beside one another as a Zora priest read their vows. Misu responded quietly, accepting, but when it came time for Ruto to respond, a long silence followed. Ruto almost didn’t hear what was being asked of her since it all felt so unreal and unfair, but once she noticed Misu shift uncomfortable, she finally responded with a quick “yes” which allowed the priest Zora to close the ceremony.

Then it came time for the couple to dive off the waterfall together, as though symbolizing diving into their new life. Ruto sighed as Misu took one of her hands in his, and they stepped forward to the edge of the waterfall. Both of them took a deep breath in unison, feeling each other’s tension grow. Then, without further delay, they jumped. Together they tilted their bodies forward, to land face first in the water. No fancy tricks were performed; it was just one straight dive down. Ruto felt as though the dive instead symbolized her heart and life plummeting, and hurtling into the watery abyss.

They landed with a splash, but instead of surfacing, Ruto swam straight for the underwater exit that led to Lake Hylia, where they would spend the remainder of the day and evening together. Misu followed, still holding onto her hand in escort, as they silently went through the passage and exited Zoras Domain.

When they surfaced in the lake, their hands fell away and they swam for the shore. Ruto walked hurriedly onto the grass, trying to hold back the frustration she felt. She didn’t feel happy being married to Misu, even if he was handsome, she just felt all the more depressed over her circumstances. Misu said nothing, and gave her no indication as to how he felt and she didn’t feel like asking. Instead of remaining with her, he coldly walked away and started across the bridge, heading toward the small island in the middle of the lake with a single tree on it. Ruto let him go, because she didn’t desire his presence anyway.

Ruto remained by herself for the remainder of the day. Only once did she get up and enter the lake, and that was so she could catch a fish to have for lunch. She had to eat, even if she had very little to no appetite. Ruto spent most of the time contemplating her life, wondering why she allowed her father to get away with forcing her to be married. Marriage was supposed to be about love, Ruto thought, but hers was based purely on satisfying her people and for reproduction. She wished so much that she could love Misu as much as she had loved Link, but she just wasn’t sure how…

During the day she watched Misu, whom was white figure standing on the small island in the middle of the lake. He stood under the tree, from what she saw, and would sometimes move occasionally but not very much. However, she was very far away. For a while she thought he was being his arrogant self, never speaking to her because he thought he was too good for her, and she wouldn’t let him win her second battle. As the sun set, Ruto angrily walked across the bridges to the small island in the middle of the lake where he was, feeling her gills flaring once more.

As she approached, he still didn’t look in her direction, which made her all the more upset. Hastily Ruto walked toward him and stood in front of him, blocking his view of the lake. The dim glow of the sun surrounded her, as she stood glaring at him while a frown crossed her lips. It was then he had no choice but to acknowledge her presence, his dark eyes shifting to look at her face. When he spoke, his voice was as cold as ever, but sounded strangely gentle.

“Ah…princess Ruto…I mean- my wife. What’s wrong now? I see you think of me as not being worthy for you, and maybe I’m not but still…neither of us had a choice in this.”

“You seem to have changed your mind quickly. Whatever happened to that smug smile you wore just the other day?”

Ruto questioned irritably, her eyes narrowing. She watched Misu pause for a moment, which only made her further annoyed. Now he was being indecisive with her, she hated that. Then carefully, he said while looking at her as though pleading with his eyes to not start an all out quarrel over something so pointless.

“Nothing…its just I never expected to be married so soon…”

Ruto rolled her eyes. Did he ever think she felt the same way? He didn’t even make an effort to ask how she felt about it. Instead, he let her suffer in her anger all day without bothering to check on her. How inconsiderate. Not like she needed to depend on any male Zora anyway, she was almost better off alone. Reluctantly, she felt her anger leave her and she was only left with emptiness.

“Princess, I know this seems like an inappropriate time, but…”

“But what?”

Ruto asked, but this time kept her voice from sounding so sharp and angry. She noticed Misu’s face turn a hint of red, as though he was feeling embarrassed by what he was about to say to her.

“I-I don’t ever mean to come off sounding arrogant. I hope that if you ever want to get to know me in this marriage, that you will somehow come to like me…because I…. think of you as being very attractive, and I have taken quite a liking to you, even before we got married. I just never told you, because I knew you would only scoff at me and send me away by saying you thought I was merely trying to give you false flattery.”

Ruto stared at him in disbelief, her mouth gaping slightly, and she quickly shut it while trying to hide her shock. However, she wouldn’t be swayed into believing him so easily, but had taken an interest. Patiently, she waited for him to say something else, and an awkward silence ensued. She watched the expression on his face, as he struggled to say more, until the words came as calmly and carefully as ever.

“I’m sorry for not asking how you felt about being married to me, but after a while I’ve thought about it, and I feel terrible for not staying with you during the day and leaving you to come to me. I…I hope I can make up for it tonight by showing you how I feel.”

“Tonight?”

Ruto questioned blankly, and noticed his face was turning even redder. Misu looked away, his eyes scanning the lake as though pondering how to say what he needed to say, until he looked back at her. Then, his voice softened and he said quietly.

“Yes tonight…are you not familiar with what happens on a traditional Zora wedding night? What I mean to say is…tonight is the night we are supposed to express our love from merely words to making it physical. I know you haven’t said you love me and vice versa, but your father-“

Oh no. Ruto knew what that meant. Her father must have told Misu what he wanted him to do to her on their wedding night. Yet again her father was prying into her personal life. Who did King Zora think he was? Ruto sighed deeply and said in understanding as to relieve him of his awkwardness.

“Oh…yes…my father. Of course, I should have known he would tell you to mate with me tonight as a way of permanently sealing what plans he has for me.”

Then she paused, as Misu looked at the ground, before she continued.

“Very well then. I have no control over my life now, my father controls everything or so it seems. Its not your fault and I don’t blame you, you did your duty because you had to, although I am surprised to find you actually like me. “

“Its not like I want to do this to you either, you know…”

Misu said, taking in a deep breath as they seated themselves on the grass.

“But if you want, you can refuse and I’ll just tell your father you weren’t feeling well or something and it will have to wait.”

Ruto shook her head, and moved closer to him, as her way of telling him all he needed to know. Her voice softened ever so slightly, yet she still felt as though she was being forced anyway, even if Misu was being kind enough to do something so noble for her.

“It is inevitable as a couple that we must do this sometime, so we’d better make it now to get it over with.”

Secretly, Misu was relieved she agreed to mating now instead of later, it would have been better to release the tension they felt between each other instead of letting it grow more intense. He brushed one of his hands against her face, feeling her smooth skin, and thought she might get to like him though this inevitable process, which required both of them to do their part. As he was leaning forward to kiss her, a sudden splash startled them both to looking out at the lake. The sun had fully set, and the moon rose in the sky in its full form and reflected on the lake’s surface.

They watched tensely. It was no ordinary splash, it made a deafening sound that was too loud to ignore. Ruto got to her feet and scanned the lake. At first she saw nothing, but soon a dark shape surfaced, and a massive jagged fin appeared for a moment before sinking beneath the surface.

“What was that?”

Misu asked worriedly, as Ruto shook her head without responding. She didn’t know. For a moment there was silence, until the fin appeared for a second time, revealing part of a long back of some sort of water dwelling creature hiding beneath the water’s surface. The fin along its back was jagged and sharp, the color of shiny hard metallic silver that reflected under the moon’s pale glow. The back was very long, and when it went under a massive whale-shaped tail shot up and slapped the surface, its flukes hitting it hard and sending a tidal waved towards them. Ruto screamed as Misu scrambled to his feet and a rush of water hit them and threw them back a few meters.
Ruto quickly recovered, and found herself sprawled out on the ground next to Misu, and she quickly got to her feet to see what sort of creature was in Lake Hylia. A large ripple was left from where the tail went under, and silence followed. It didn’t last. Moments later the creature thrust its enormous head out of the water, followed by a deafening roar which shook the island the Zoras were stranded on. It was some sort of sea serpent, and it raised its head high into the sky, revealing a long snake like body covered with plate-like blue scales that shimmered in the night. Its head was massive, and on either side near where it connected to its neck were huge slits that flared out, revealing a massive shiny silver colored fan that extended around its neck and flapped angrily. The creature was indeed serpent like, for it had a snake shaped body and head, and glowing green eyes.

Ruto screamed as the creature opened its mouth and emitted another thunderous roar into the night sky. A forked tongue stuck out while it gave a deep sounding hiss, and revealed its razor sharp numerous inward-projecting teeth. Then, the creature’s head lowered slightly and turned to Ruto and Misu. The sea serpents eyes flashed as it then suddenly plunged back into the lake, sending another massive tidal wave hurtling towards them.

“Let’s get out of here!”

Ruto yelled and as the wave came both Zoras turn and ran as fast as they could, and started across the first bridge. As they ran, Ruto looked to her right and saw the creature swimming toward them from underneath the water, the metallic colored fins along its back gliding at the surface. Then when they were over half way across, its massive head shot out from the water and it roared before plunging down upon the bridge. The Zoras barely made it across before it smashed the bridge apart with a single blow that sent wooden planks flying in every direction.

Ruto and Misu kept running, and the serpent quickly submerged itself and followed in close pursuit. As the started crossing the second bridge, Ruto sensed it was preparing for an attack, and just as they neared the safety of land, the serpent reared out of the water once more, its green eyes flashing and gills flared. Ruto had to resist looking at it, because if she did she knew she would be too petrified to move. The creature’s sharp teeth glistened, as its forked tongue smelled the air while its head plunged down towards them a second time, taking out the center of the bridge.

Both Zoras felt the bridge give way from beneath them as they plunged into the lake. The sudden shock at first stunned Ruto from moving, but she felt Misu swiftly take her hand and drag her harshly – heading toward the underwater passage into Zoras Domain. The serpent was right behind them, and Ruto hadn’t realized how large it was until she saw it from beneath the surface. It was at least 100 feet long and moved silently through the water, the fan around its neck flaring to full view as its mouth opened wide as though it would swallow them both whole.

Misu’s swimming abilities proved useful, as he kicked his legs as hard as he could and propelled himself faster and faster, his gills moving quickly in fear while holding on to Ruto tightly. The Zora princess was amazed by his composure, but once she heard the creature give a sounding roar from within the water, she did her part to help him and propelled herself as fast as she could through the water. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, and her gills flapped in fear as the creature neared and was about to lunge at them. However, at the last second the two flew inside the passageway, and the serpent’s head crashed into it, but was too large to fit through. The creature gave a roar that was deafening even underwater, and bared its teeth as the two Zoras swam to the safety of Zoras Domain.

Ruto and Misu tore into Zoras Domain, feeling the warmer waters of their home relax them and sooth the trauma they just endured on their wedding night. They surfaced quickly, taking in deep shaky breaths of air before looking at each other in pure horrification. Ruto’s purple eyes scanned the underwater tunnel carefully, just to make sure the creature couldn’t follow them. She knew she was being a bit over-cautious, because the monster was by far too large to fit into the small tunnel. They had barely escaped with their lives.

The other Zoras in the area looked at them in surprise, because they weren’t allowed to return until dawn. It was evident by their constant staring that they never expected the couple to be finished bonding so soon, but little did they know of the danger that awaited in Lake Hylia, which had sent Ruto and Misu on a premature departure. Ruto quickly became afraid that an unsuspecting Zora might leave for Lake Hylia to catch fish or visit the water temple, which made her sputter warningly.

“By my orders, no Zora is to enter Lake Hylia!”

Immediately afterward, whispers echoed through the area as Ruto and Misu swam to dry land and climbed out of the water. Misu’s dark eyes fell on her, as though checking her over to make sure she wasn’t harmed. Ruto’s eyes met his and they gazed at one another for a moment. The Zora princess realized Misu had saved her from being eaten by the serpent thing, and had used his speed and agility to tow her through the water. She used to think he was a coward, but it donned on her that he could have been one by swimming away to save himself. Instead, he cared enough about her safety to take her with him just in the nick of time. As to not let her emotions get the better of her at such an awkward time, she broke their gaze and said calmly to him.

“Thank you, for saving me. If it hadn’t been for your help I don’t think I would be standing here right now.”

Misu smiled slightly, though looked a bit disappointed she had looked away from him when saying that. Ruto noticed he was even calmer than she was, which made her feel like she was the coward instead of him. Although he wasn’t nervous, he looked troubled and said urgently.

“We must go and tell your father what happened.”

Ruto nodded, and thought it was a pretty obvious thing to do, considering the sea serpent was over 100 feet long and tried to eat unsuspecting Zoras. She shook her head in slight annoyance, wondering if he thought she was the type who panicked so much she couldn’t think straight. Even if he did, he gave his life to save her, so he deserved more patience and less of her temper. Together they ran up the steps leading to the throne room, where rather expectedly her father was seated, still wearing his fine clothes and crown. The Zora King’s legs swung lazily as usual, but when he saw the two barge in he stopped suddenly, and appeared so startled he didn’t even blink.

“Why have you returned so soon? It is tradition that you remain together, alone, until sunrise!”

King Zora said in shock, staring at them as they approached the platform in front of his ledge and stood together. Misu was the first to speak, and addressed the king with utmost respect, which caused Ruto to sigh because she remembered what her father had tried to get her poor new husband to mate with her, and it would have occurred if they hadn’t been nearly killed by a vicious lake dwelling monster.

“My King, we were attacked by some sort of massive water serpent, which nearly killed us. The only way we could escape with our lives was by returning to Zoras Domain. The water serpent was too large to enter the underwater passage.”

“It just suddenly appeared,”

Ruto began shortly after he finished, while watching her father’s face turn from hinted anger into pure fear. The king’s eyes widened and his fish-shaped mouth gaped slightly, which made his fear look even more noticeable as she continued.

“I don’t know where it came from, but it attacked without reason. There was something unnatural about it, because it definitely wasn’t a large fish or even a dragon because it had a more snake-like appearance to it.”

After she finished, a long silence filled the room, which made Ruto uneasy. Her father’s shock seemed to wear off just slightly, but still he seemed fearful beyond words. Misu and Ruto waited patiently for a response, but still he sat there in silence, until Ruto became so irritated she finally snapped.

“A ferocious sea monster has attacked us and at this moment occupies Lake Hylia, and if anyone enters the lake they will surely be eaten! Can’t you say something? I mean, we could have been killed!”

King Zora looked at her as though finally snapped out of his strange silence. Princess Ruto shook her head in exasperation, while Misu sighed, obviously never being able to understand his new wife’s changing moods. Finally, King Zora spoke gravely, but he said something neither Zora were expecting to hear.

“I should have been expecting this to happen…”

Misu’s eyes widened slightly as Ruto frowned, however both remained silent as he continued to speak.

“Long ago, and after the three goddesses made our world, the first evil sprung forth. It came in the form of a sea serpent, and lived in Lake Hylia where it would devour anything that dared to approach the lake’s waters. Our people had once called the water in Lake Hylia home, and when the Sea Serpent appeared the Zoras of ancient time were driven to a water filled cavern – Zoras Domain – in order to survive. They lived there for some time, but longed to return to Lake Hylia, where our people had originated from after millennia of evolution from the fish that dwelled there.”

Ruto was astounded to learn this about her people, because she thought they had always lived in Zoras Domain. She also wondered why no one knew about the sea serpent ever being there in the first place, but her question would soon be answered as King Zora continued.

“Then one day, a Zora grew tired of living in Zoras Domain, and created a powerful weapon to slay the serpent with. The brave Zora then dug an underwater passage from Zoras Domain to Lake Hylia, to make traveling between the two areas faster. Once the Zora finished, the Zora went to the Lake and fought a long strenuous battle, but prevailed using the sacred slaying weapon. The sea creature soon after disappeared inside an underwater cavern, and was doomed to sleep for another millennia. All records of its existence was eventually lost, but not forgotten, secretly passed down in the Zora royal family because the Zora who killed the water dwelling serpent was a descendant of the royal family.”

Misu gasped in disbelief, and Ruto wondered if it were possible to defeat the sea serpent a second time. Lake Hylia was an important resource for their people, and if they couldn’t have access to it, there would be many problems as a result. The first being the fact that they would starve because their main source of fish was caught in Lake Hylia, and it was pretty much the only lake for thousands of miles. It was also a main water source in Hyrule, and provided a vast majority of its drinking water. Ruto responded hastily, not hesitating to inquire.

“Well someone has got to do something and fast, we can’t survive off the fish in here forever. That monster is dangerous, and could kill many of our people of they ever got desperate enough to try and venture out into the lake to catch fish. What happened to the weapon used to slay the serpent?”

“It was lost long ago. When the Zora hero used it, it became lodged within the Serpent’s back and lost when the monster disappeared. It could be anywhere in the lake, or even in the Serpent’s lair.”

King Zora responded, but added in.

“Yes though, someone must go and destroy that creature, or at least see what it is up to-“
“I will go.”

Misu said, which made King Zora and Ruto look at him in surprise. The male straightened and glanced sharply from one to the other, his eyes not blinking once, and a look of complete seriousness crossing his face. When neither of them said anything, he took in a deep breath and continued.

“After all, I am the champion diver, and known for being the quickest swimming Zora in these waters. Being fast is one of the best advantages to have against that creature, and I will watch it and see what its up to.”

“But you could get hurt or even killed! Why not let me go-“

Ruto started, but Misu interrupted, although his voice sounded calm and gentle towards her when he spoke.

“No, you are the princess and your people need you here. I am not of royal blood, and it is my duty to protect the heir to the throne – my wife. Your highness, I request this on behalf of all the innocent Zoras here. Its better to pick someone who would volunteer, than someone who is reluctant.”

King Zora nodded, as Ruto looked helplessly at Misu. Was he really that foolish? The serpent would surely harm him, or worse…but then a strange feeling crept over her, a feeling she never felt about anyone else before. She actually felt worried for him; almost afraid something would happen if he ventured out alone…

“Very well…”

King Zora said, looking down at Misu almost skeptically, but seeming to know there was no one else who would be brave enough to do what he was doing. Even if the young male was a fool, he was definitely brave.

“Your swiftness will hopefully prove useful, but do not remain in the sea serpents presence too long…”

“But father!”

Ruto cried out desperately, and looked at King Zora as though begging him to deny Misu’s passage into Lake Hylia. Misu looked at her and said nothing, watching Ruto plead her case.

“He must not leave! I saw that creature with my own eyes, and it truly frightened me! That thing will devour him whole, he doesn’t have anything to defend himself with either!”

King Zora looked at her in surprise, and Ruto realized her father had figured out something about her: she was actually starting to care for Misu. Fortunately, he never said anything about it, which gave Ruto a hidden feeling of relief. Instead, he dismissed her gravely, sensing there was no other solution.

“My dear, we have no other option. This creature will eventually destroy us all if we don’t figure out a way to stop it. Even within the safety of Zoras Domain, we will not survive for very long. Our food supply will run dry, and we will starve. Misu must go, it is the only way.”

Ruto could have said more, but there was no point. Misu was already determined enough as it was, and she couldn’t convince him of otherwise because he would think himself as being a coward. Reluctantly, she stepped down from the platform and turned and walked off without bothering to say anything more to Misu or her father. Anger welled up within her, but this time she would keep it to herself. Why couldn’t they let her go? She figured it was some sort of “male only” thing, and that they thought a female couldn’t complete the task and be just as brave. This infuriated her, because she wanted to get out of the normal routine of her boring life and do something exciting and dangerous. Since her father had forced her to marry, she figured he owed her the courtesy of having this one chance to prove her worth. Not anymore – it had been given to Misu, and he would take all the glory. She would be the quiet wife at his side, docile as ever and her only role would be mating with him and bearing his children. The very idea disgusted her.

As Ruto walked she soon felt a cold firm hand grab her arm, stopping her in place. She turned and was surprised to find it was Misu, and he was staring at her with an icy hard gaze that pierced into her very core. For once, she felt truly nervous, and her temper cooled on the spot, turning into mere bitterness. Misu quickly let go of her, knowing she wouldn’t leave, and spoke quietly.

“Look princess, even if we don’t get along, you’re still my wife and as your husband my duty is to insure your safety. No respectable Zora male would allow his mate to just go off and put herself at risk like that, especially since a vicious Zora-eating sea serpent is waiting to devour anyone who enters Lake Hylia. You’re not as swift as I am, and you would surely be eaten. I am not just doing this for you; it’s for our people too. I didn’t volunteer because I think only a male could do this, its because there is no one else who can.”

Ruto looked into his eyes, and saw he was sincere. His mouth was a straight line, yet she had a feeling he was keeping his emotions within him. She gazed at his tall body, noting his toned arms and legs, his wide smooth chest, beautiful gold scales and deep dark enchanting eyes. He had graceful delicate fins on each arm, which were better shaped and thinner than hers were, allowing him to move faster and easier through the water. As much as Ruto hated admitting it, he was right. His body was in better condition for such a task, and she still couldn’t get the thought of his handsome appearance out of her mind.

“I don’t like having to stand idly by while my husband goes off on some wild escapade to spy on a killer sea serpent…”

“No more than I like the thought of my wife going off to certain danger, and cause me to become an untimely widower on the day of our wedding.”

Misu responded intensely, and Ruto took note that he was yet again right. If she went out there, it would practically be suicide. Their only chance rested with him, or seemed to at least, and as much as it worried her there was no other option. Finally, she finally relented, and said softly.

“Your right…I guess….”

Misu smiled warmly and stepped closer to her, so that they were face to face and she could feel his warm breath, and he caught the smell of her incising oil that had been coated all over her body. Their faces were nearly touching as the two Zoras looked into each other’s eyes, not daring to blink, and watching as though star struck. Misu loved the way princess Ruto put up a fight with practically everything he said or did, and he enjoyed how she would cause conflict but in a good sort of way that proved she had a mind of her own and a fiery untamable spirit.

As for Ruto, she began to sense Misu’s look was changing, which had been from happiness to almost a sense of pleasure. Then she noticed his eyes almost appeared glazed over, and she knew exactly what that look meant. He wanted to…but no, not right now, she begged silently in her mind. They had missed that opportunity and it was too late now. Her fears were confirmed when she noticed his gold scales were nearly glowing, which were signs that he wanted to mate right then and there.

Misu quickly saw through Ruto and managed to snap out of what he almost thought he would have done. The male Zora shifted uncomfortably, and then turned away, quickly moving toward the water. The other Zoras watched them casually, but knew when they needed a moment of privacy to sort things out. Ruto felt embarrassed, because she hadn’t intended to make him want her at that moment. It wasn’t that she thought he should feel that way about her, in fact she was completely shocked and sort of upset, but she hid it as to not make him feel more awkward. She watched Misu for a moment, until he turned around and whispered quietly, his voice shaking slightly.

“I-I’m sorry, please forgive me, that wasn’t an appropriate thing to do at a time like this…”

Ruto sighed, but knew it wasn’t his fault. Many male Zoras who did not to bond with their chosen female on their wedding night experienced problems like that. The males would often experience sudden and uncontrollable impulses, at any given time, and already it was starting to occur in her husband. Ruto wasn’t sure what to do about it, because she just didn’t feel ready, and it was at her husband’s expense. She watched, her thoughts overrun by turmoil, as he dove into the water and disappeared down the passageway. Ruto didn’t say good-bye to him, because he seemed to feel as though he wasn’t deserving of her speaking to him. Ruto secretly prayed he would return alive because even though they were forced to wed, after she got to know him better and actually love him, maybe she would bear him the son he wanted after all.

Ruto stood and waited on the ledge overlooking Zoras Domain, her mind racing. Misu left just moments ago, and she felt greatly fearful for him. She stood still in wait, but quickly found herself pacing nervously back and forth. Tension was rising in Zoras Domain, and she knew her people were beginning to suspect something was wrong. Ruto then stopped pacing and tried to make it look as though nothing was bothering her, but her fear reflected clearly on her face.

The minutes slowly went by, and she began to wonder what was keeping Misu. How long could it take to get a quick look at what the creature was up to? Although it made her grow more worried, she thought maybe he was just taking his time and really being careful to check things out thoroughly. So she waited…

Time passed, and he still hadn’t returned. Ruto feared the worst, and she looked wildly about, wondering what she should do. She could stay in Zoras Domain and continue waiting and fill her thoughts that nothing had gone wrong, or she could go to Lake Hylia despite the obvious risks and check things out herself. Ruto hesitated for a moment, but the second she pictured Misu and the water serpent, she found herself diving into the water. Ruto propelled herself swiftly and entered the underwater passage.

When she arrived at the exit into Lake Hylia, she remained cautiously inside the doorway of the passage in case the water serpent was near. Ruto felt her fins quiver in anxiety, as she silently looked outward, fearing the worst. A touch of relief swept over her when she saw the serpent was nowhere to be seen, and Misu at the bottom of the middle of the lake near the water temple. It was difficult for her to see what he was doing at such a distance, but he appeared to be staring at the ground intently, as though something were there. Ruto was about to leave the passage and approach to get a closer look, when suddenly it appeared.

Her heart nearly stopped, when the massive serpent appeared as though out of nowhere, but it came so swiftly from around the side of the island in the middle of the lake that Ruto barely had a chance to realize it was there. The creature made not a sound this time, which scared her, but glided silently along – heading toward Misu. Its blue scales reflected dimly under the pale light of the moon, and the only reason she could see it was there was because the night was fading and the sky was much lighter than before. In panic, she felt her throat vibrate, not even realizing she was screaming underwater. She felt her body lunge forward and she swam as fast as she could toward Misu, but she didn’t make it in time.

Her eyes stared in horror as the creature then emitted a deafening roar, its green eyes flashing, before it moved in to attack. Misu looked up just in time to see it coming, and dashed away seconds before the serpent plunged its head into the rocky bottom of the lake. Rocks flew everywhere in the water, and the creature made a large crater in the ground as it instantly moved its head out of the rocks and bared its teeth at the male Zora.

Ruto soon became with in better sight range of her husband, and when he saw her there he cried out to her desperately.

“Ruto! Get out of here!”

The moment he became distracted by Ruto’s presence, the serpent lunged in to attack once more. The creature flew toward Misu at lightning speed, but Misu sensed it was coming and yet again evaded its attack. Ruto knew he would have no chance of fighting the creature, and his only hope was to escape. Misu swam through the water, his fins flared and flapping quickly as he drove his body toward Ruto as fast as he could. Meanwhile, the sea serpent moved around to face him and roared again, locking on to the Zora’s position in the water with its glowing eyes. Ruto quickly turned and swam toward the passage, not daring to look back and hoping Misu was following.

Suddenly, something strange happened that neither Zora was expecting. The serpent sent out a pulsating sonar wave through the water that directly hit Misu. Ruto turned upon hearing the deafening sound, and nearly fainted when she saw Misu floating listlessly in the water. His eyes were open and staring into hers, though it was almost a blank look – he had been stunned. The male Zora’s body sunk to the bottom of the lake, and the look of sheer horror on his face was frozen in place. Ruto screamed in terror and turned swiftly around, her gills flaring in anger as she moved forward to go and help her fallen mate.

Just as it seemed she would get to him, the water serpent’s long blue-scaled body quickly moved in front and blocked her path. Ruto backed away, and saw the serpent turn its head around to face her, and heard it give off a deadly hiss. She managed to gather her wits in time to push upward from the lakes rocky bottom as the serpent snapped its jaws and violently thrust its head forward, nearly clipping her feet. Ruto aimed at the surface, hoping to swim over the creature’s back and get on the other side before it could turn its large body around in time.

She felt her back brush the surface of the water, and dove down again. The sea serpent had since moved off, but she feared it would come as quickly as it had before. Ruto desperately tried to reach Misu, who was lying at the bottom unconscious, however the serpent was far too quick. Ruto quickly caught sight of it coming straight toward her, and back tracked, turning around swiftly and racing to get to the underwater passage. She had to dodge around the creature several times as its huge jaws snapped at her while she clawed through the water fearfully, almost thinking she wouldn’t make it.

The second Ruto approached the underwater passage; she listened quickly and heard a rush of movement in the water, feeling the sea serpent plunging toward her again. However, she was almost there, if she could make it just a few more feet…but it was too dangerous. Ruto darted out of the way, kicking wildly in the water and turning on her back to watch in shock as the sea serpent collided into the stone overtop of the passage way and unleashed another of its deafening roars. The impact caused the stone entrance way to crumble, and the moment the creature managed to remove its head from it, large chunks of rock crumbled near the top of the structure and fell onto the lake’s floor – as well as in front of the passageway.

Trapped. Ruto’s mouth gaped in fear as she swam for shore, her last hope for survival. The sea serpent followed in close pursuit, but much to her relief it veered away when the water became too shallow for it to get any closer. Ruto didn’t even have to look back to feel its glowing green eyes locking on to her, and knew what was coming. A pulsating sonar wave shot through the water, but Ruto dodged away from the blast, as she had been listening intently and was well aware the creature could try to stun her like it did Misu. The wave echoed through the water and bounced off surrounding objects, barely missing the Zora Princess as she staggered to the shore and fell on top of the grass. Ruto looked behind her and watched the water’s surface while crawling weakly away, not daring to stop until she was at a safe distance.

Not surprisingly, the water serpent flew from to the water in a fit of rage soon after, its long snake-like body projecting upward into the sky like it had when Ruto and Misu first saw it. Water dripped from the creature’s scaly body like a small waterfall as the monster flared the fan around its neck slightly, its silver color flashing under the morning sun that was rising over the horizon. The creature then turned its head toward Ruto and gave an angry hiss, sticking out its forked tongue for a moment until it quickly plunged back into the water and disappeared underneath the surface.

Minutes passed, and Ruto waited tensely, still lying on the ground in fear. The water rippled from the place where the sea serpent was, but when the ripples died off Ruto yet again found herself by Lake Hylia’s shore. She scanned the water carefully, and knew there was no way out now – she was trapped here. The only other way back to Zoras Domain was by crossing Hyrule field, which would take hours. She gazed into the water and knew somewhere – beneath its clear depths – Misu was lying unconscious. To make matters worse, since the passageway was sealed off, no clean water could enter Zoras Domain.

The tunnel acted as an underwater circulation and filtration system, allowing old water to flow out and new water to flow in from the lake. It also allowed the water from the waterfall in Zoras Domain to empty into the lake, and without the passage from Zoras Domain into the lake, the watery cavern would eventually flood. Ruto figured in ancient times the cavern had since evolved greatly to rely on the passage between the lake and Zoras Domain, and without it, her home would be destroyed and become filled entirely by water. It wouldn’t be a terrible problem since the Zoras could dwell both on land and in water just fine, but if the cavern became completely filled some of Hyrule’s ancient artifacts and scrolls hidden in Zoras Domain would be destroyed, and along with it part of Hyrule’s history. There would also be nowhere for the water to empty into except outside into the river, but eventually the river would flood and cause damage everywhere. Something had to be done – and quickly.

Hesitantly, Ruto quietly slipped back into the water, and immediately swam behind a half submerged pillar. Silently the Zora princess peered out from behind the pillar, and instantly saw the massive shimmering blue-scaled serpent slinking calmly with its snake like movements toward Misu. Ruto’s heart beat faster in her chest, fearing the worst for her husband. Much to her pained relief though, he appeared alive in the same place at the bottom of the lake, though was still paralyzed and unconscious. She figured the sonar blast had been so powerful it at first stunned him before knocking him out moments later. She didn’t know what to do – she could get the creature’s attention again, but she would accomplish nothing except being chased down and eaten. Or, she could watch Misu get eaten. Ruto didn’t move, and couldn’t look any longer. She shut her eyes tightly; begging that the moment when creature would kill Misu would never come.

Surprisingly, it never did come. Ruto listened in fear, waiting to hear another roar emitted from the creature, and in response her husband’s cries of terror as the creature ripped at his flesh. Nothing. She waited, yet still nothing happened. For a moment, she wondered why, but when she slowly opened her eyes she saw the serpent flick Misu off the ground with its snout so he floated listlessly in the water. Why was it doing that? Ruto wondered silently, but remained still as to not give herself away. The serpent then swam toward him and slowly opened its powerful jaws, allowing Misu’s nearly lifeless body to float gently into the very front part of its teeth. The creature didn’t seem to want to eat Misu just yet, but instead gently held onto him in its mouth while it moved across the lake to the back area, disappearing into the water’s aqua depths.

Ruto was stunned. She had thought the water serpent would eat her husband right then and there, but instead it was taking him somewhere as though saving him for later – or for some other reason. Ruto kicked off from her hiding spot and followed the serpent’s trail, but remained at a distance as to not make her presence known. When she reached the rocky edge of the island in the middle of the lake, she hid behind a large protruding boulder from the island’s side and peered around it.

At the back part of the lake was a rocky wall under the water where a massive cave-like entrance hole was exposed. Huge boulders were on the lake’s bottom just underneath it, and Ruto could make nothing out from inside. She thought it led somewhere, and watched the serpent silently swim inside the hole and disappear into the darkness. It must have been the place the creature emerged from after its millennia of sleeping, and it broke through and now used it as its lair. Ruto wondered where it was going, and why it took Misu with it. There had to be some sort of hidden reason behind that, because it was an unusual thing to find a Zora eating serpent not killing its prey, bur sparing it for later instead. A strange warning feeling crept over Ruto, and she suspected the water serpent knew she was the male Zora’s mate, and it was luring her into its lair by taking him alive with it.
Ruto waited, fearing the serpent would soon return, but as the sun grew higher in the sky above the serpent did not come out. Ruto was struggling within herself on whether to follow it or stay back – she did have no weapons after all, and she had no idea what awaited her inside the serpent’s lair if she dared to enter. Ruto frowned in deep thought but it didn’t take her long to realize the creature had Misu, and he was still alive – hopefully. If she waited for much longer, the serpent could kill him anyway, but for some reason she doubted it would just yet…and she didn’t know why she thought that, it was just her intuition telling her he would be kept alive…for now.

The Zora princess then remembered Misu had been looking at something with interest before the water serpent moved in and attacked. It had to have been something on the Lake’s floor, because he was looking downward as though reading something written in the ground. Ruto quickly turned back toward the temple and sunk deeper into the water until she made it to the Lake’s floor, and walked toward the spot where she thought Misu last stood. The huge crater left from the serpent’s attack remained ever visible, but as she explored the underwater crater she noticed something glimmer on its edge. Quickly Ruto approached to see what it was, and her eyes immediately fell upon a rusted silver tablet with words engraved on it dug deep into the rocky floor. At first she thought she wouldn’t be able to read what it said because it was so corroded, but after carefully examining it, the tablet read:

“In the deep, beware the creature whose eyes glow of emeralds…”

That was obvious, Ruto thought but read on.

“To vanquish the evil that inhabits these waters, use the sacred weapon of the three pointed triforces: power, wisdom and courage. Beware darkness, and the creature’s gaze which shall freeze the innocent with its evil…”

Ruto knew all of that already, except the part about the weapon. What kind of weapon was it anyway? A sword? A mace? Or maybe even some sort of power beyond her comprehension? What did the three triforces have to do with it? She wondered to herself, and decided the only way to find out was by entering the water serpent’s lair. She swam to the surface and looked about before noticing a man – the man who owned the fishing pond at the corner of the lake – standing outside the entrance shaking with fright. When he noticed Ruto floating tensely in the water, he cried out in shocked amazement.

“You! Fish person…Zora…what on Earth was that creature? It looked like some sort of water dwelling snake. Now THAT’S something I’d love to catch, if only I had a larger fishing rod…and maybe a weapon of some sort…and bravery…”

Ruto shook her head before rolling her eyes and responding bluntly. How foolish was that man anyway? If he had looked hard enough into the waters and saw the horror the serpent instilled in her and her people, he wouldn’t be so careless with his words.

“No I don’t think you would – or should – want to catch a creature like that. I would advise you to stay away from Lake Hylia for a while unless you want to become its next meal.”

The fisherman scratched his curly brown haired head, watching the Zora curiously until questioning bitterly.

“Stay away from Lake Hylia? What about my business! If that creature is dangerous and hanging around here, it will scare away my customers, and I already have so few that if I lose the ones I have left I’ll go out of business! To make things worse my hair is well…never mind.”

Ruto glared at him, wondering what on earth his last statement had to do with the water serpent being in Lake Hylia. Without speaking further to him, she dove under the water and swam for the entrance of the Serpent’s lair.

When Ruto arrived at the large open hole inside the rocky back of Lake Hylia, she swam in front of it and peered inside. It was so dark inside she still couldn’t see anything, even when she was up close. She hesitated once more, almost expecting the serpent to suddenly emerge and attack her, but minutes passed and nothing happened. The Zora princess absorbed more water into her gills, trying to keep herself calm by filtrating it though her at a faster rate. She couldn’t allow herself to panic now, not when she had to enter the lair of the serpent and find Misu. Her husband’s life was in her hands, and even though they were forced to wed one another, losing him so quickly without really getting to know him seemed unthinkable.

Finally feeling ready, Ruto swam forward and into the underwater cave. Darkness enveloped her, but once her eyes managed to adjust to the lack of light, she realized the cave only looked dark from the outside. The light from the shining sun outside bounced off the floor of the lake and into the cave. As a result, the water seemed to glow a mysterious light blue color, providing enough light for her to find her way around. Instead of rocks covering the floor of the underwater cave, it was covered by smooth white sand, untarnished by any animal tracks. There were no fish in the cave – no signs of life.

Ruto swam onward, warily looking around. The cave seemed to lead deep under the water, even below Lake Hylia’s floor. The entrance way was a wide, empty and circular in shape, with nothing in it except the smooth white sand covering the bottom. She swam to the floor of the underwater cave and felt her feet touch the smooth sand, its tiny white grains lightly brushing against the bottom of her webbed feet. As Ruto slowly walked to the back part of the entrance, she looked behind her and saw her feet were making clear webbed tracks in the sand. Ruto decided to use that as a marker in case she got lost or disoriented, as a way of helping her find her way out.

In front of her was a smaller rugged entrance on the floor of the cave, but was still big enough for the water serpent to slip through. Ruto went through the passage into another area of the cave. The second area was slightly smaller, and not as round. Instead Ruto noticed strange eel like creatures lying still on the sandy floor. She stopped and watched them carefully – the creatures almost appeared to be half buried in the sand, and were blackish blue color. There were three of them in all, and they barely moved, except the occasional flick of their tails.

She approached cautiously, seeing the exit was on the other side of the room. However, as she moved slowly passed the first eel on the floor, it suddenly stirred and rose up from the sand. Ruto looked upward at it, knowing the creature must have felt her movements in the water and since became aware of her presence. Tiny rows of sharp pointed teeth projected from its upward facing mouth, and its yellow empty looking fish-like eyes stared at her as it swam steadily faster in the water. Before long the eel-like creature was circling around her, is long thin body moving quickly from side to side. Along its back was a short wavy dark blue fin that extended partially around the tip of its tail.

Ruto braced herself, reading for an attack at any moment. She watched the eel-like creature carefully as it moved behind her, and then turned around just in time when the eel swam swiftly forward, its jaw opening and eyes flashing in sudden instinct to attack. Since she had no weapon, she had to use her hands and feet to protect her. As the eel aimed to bite her arm, Ruto swung her other arm forward and felt her fist collide into the creature’s side. The eel withered from her blow, and fell sideways in the water while its body floated slightly toward the sandy bottom. Before it could recover though, Ruto kicked it with one foot and then smashed it into the floor with the other, holding it in place as it struggled pathetically until slowly vanishing in an array of bubbles.

The Zora princess was surprised she could defend herself so well without any weapons, but decided not to let it overcome her just yet. Quickly she moved toward the other eel-like creature, and before it could even rise out of the sand for an attack she hurtled herself upon it and grabbed it around its neck and then tore away at its flesh with her webbed hands. She hated killing something so savagely, but there was no other option – she had to protect herself. The creature struggled profusely, but soon became limp and also disappeared.

Suddenly, Ruto felt something strike her in her back, and she fell face forward onto the sandy floor. She turned her head and saw from the corner of her eyes the third eel-like creature circling around her angrily, its jaws opening and closing in excitement. She hadn’t been bitten, but the eel thing had rammed into her pretty hard. Ruto winced as a sharp pain shot through her, but managed to get to her feet, and moved her arms and fins in front of her face to shield it by crossing them. The creature moved to ram her again with its body, and swiftly swam through the water directly toward her. When it got into range, Ruto’s fins flared sharply and she thrust her arms away from her face, and struck the surprised eel-like creature with them. The fins on her arms had flared so intensely that the edges actually cut through the eel’s skin like a knife, causing its light red colored blood to spill into the water.

The eel creature swam awkwardly through the water, sinking deep but desperately trying to keep swimming. Red jagged slashes were gouged into the creature’s side from Ruto’s blow. It had been weakened, but wasn’t dead. Instead, it turned suddenly and surprised Ruto, who thought it would die quickly after. The eel-like creature suddenly swam as fast as lightning toward her and Ruto thrashed at it with her arms, only to no avail. The eel managed to wind its way around her and sunk its sharp teeth into her shoulder.

She cried out in pain, but managed to contain herself enough to slash at the creature once more. Her blow managed to finally finish it off, but blood steadily flowed from her wounded shoulder and into the water. Ruto put one of her hands over her injury and applied pressure to stop the bleeding. Eventually the blood stopped flowing enough for her to continue, but she felt a jab of pain every time she moved her shoulder.

“I hope I don’t encounter any more of those creatures…”

Ruto said quietly to herself as she made her way across to the end of the room and saw the entrance to the next area had a fairly large dip in it, heading deeper into the earth. She couldn’t see the bottom very well, which made her decide to swim below slowly just in case some other unpleasant monster was waiting to meet her in ambush. The rocky walls around the sandy dip were very jagged, so she moved slowly and carefully as to not hit one of the sharp rocks.

She approached the edge, placing one foot in front of her and one foot behind her, and then slid gracefully down the sandy slope, remembering to keep her balance as to not fall and roll down it. Once she reached the bottom of the slope, she warily looked around and noticed she had just entered a long tunnel that led so far down she couldn’t see the end of it. The tunnel was long and rounded at the tope, like a half circle dome made of rock above her. Ruto cautiously proceeded down the tunnel, noting how high up the ceiling was in comparison to its narrow width. The waters in the tunnel had become strangely colder, which sent shivers up Ruto’s arms and back.

It took a while for her to reach the end of the tunnel, but once she did she came into yet another room. The next room had an extremely high rocky dome ceiling, and at the very top the rocks turned into jagged stalactites that pointed downward like the tip of an arrow. Ruto felt more intense shivers the moment she entered the room, and had a feeling she wasn’t alone inside it. She felt her fins prickle in anxiety as she continued to examine what was before her. The floor was still covered by smooth undisturbed white sand, and it appeared nothing other than the water serpent had passed through it in millennia.

Still, even if it appeared she were alone, Ruto’s feeling warned her she wasn’t. Dare she go further? Her purple eyes scanned the room one more time, but still it didn’t seem anything was there! Maybe she was just being irrational, maybe the whole water serpent thing had gotten to her mind and she was becoming overly paranoid, Ruto thought to herself. Or…maybe there was something waiting for her if she walked another step…something dangerous. She had already come so far though, and there was no way she would turn back now.

Without further hesitation, Ruto finally stepped inside the large domed room. The second she did, she felt the ground begin to shake. Ruto stared, her eyes widening bigger every second, as a massive long eel like creature rose from beneath the sand. It had been concealed so well that she didn’t even see it was there, but could only sense its presence in the room somewhere. The eel looked like a mass projection of the smaller ones she had fought earlier, and its body spanned almost the whole length of the room. The eel-like creature uncurled itself from within the sand, which caused the white sand to stir and cloud the water slightly. Ruto saw its large yellow eyes stare at her in a transfixed state, as it lifted its head from the sandy floor and then swiftly set its body in motion.
The eel thing rose from the sandy floor, moving from side to side like a snake, however slightly slower and with a more fish like appearance to it. Ruto saw its powerful teeth flash as the creature exposed them, and she felt foolish to think she had seen the last of those pesky eel-like monsters. The one she was about to face now appeared to be the mother of them all, which made Ruto take more water harshly into her gills. She would have to fight it; there was no other choice. It wasn’t as scary looking or as powerful as the water serpent, but its uncanny relation to the water serpent made Ruto cringe.

The Zora princess bravely moved inside the room, where upon the eel-like creature opened its wide jaws and swam toward her. The eel’s tail moved swiftly, propelling its body effortlessly in the water, as it moved in and snapped at her with its teeth. Ruto barely dodged out of the way in time, and felt the top of the creature’s head graze her left flank. Ruto’s mouth gaped in shock, but she kept moving, determined to keep the creature on its fins for as long as she could. Blood leaked from her wound in her shoulder, and that was what probably awakened the creature. The eel could taste the blood in the water, and after a long hibernation decided to attack its first victim. Ruto thought she had stopped the bleeding, but the mark must have been deep, leaving a jagged cut in her skin.

Ruto moved toward the rocky wall of the room and swam along it in a wide circle, as the eel followed closely behind, but wasn’t fast enough to catch up to her. Once the creature managed to lunge its head suddenly forward, but it was just as the round wall narrowed slightly, which nearly caused the creature to crash into it. Ruto kept swimming, her legs kicking powerfully through the water as her mind cleared to come up with a plan – any plan. The eel was very careless in how it handled its long fish-like body, which gave Ruto an idea.

Mustering her speed, Ruto moved even faster through the water, which forced the eel to wriggle its body from side to side quicker in order to keep up. If her plan was going to work, she would have to do it soon or else she would get too tired to continue swimming so fast. Ruto swam to the bottom of the room and then touched the floor with her feet. She looked quickly behind her and saw eel had pointed its nose down toward the sand where she stood, aiming to slam its massive body into her and crush her with its weight. Just as the creature came within range, Ruto darted off the bottom of the room with a thrust of her feet. The creature was going too fast and didn’t have enough time to pull up, which cased it to slam head first into the sand. A large cloud of sand filled the entire room, and hung in the water.

Ruto swam swiftly to the top of the dome and waited there patiently, not making any effort to give away her location just yet. The eel wriggled its body angrily before slashing away the sand with its head. It wasn’t a very smart thing that was for sure, Ruto thought as a smirk crossed her lips for a moment but faded when the creature regained its senses. The eel circled the room, blinded by the cloud of sand that it had disturbed by crashing into the floor. Its body moved as fast as it could, completing a full circle near the wall of the room until Ruto decided it was the right moment.

She flared her fins as far from her body as possible, so the aqua colored gem-like scales that dotted them flashed because of the glow from the light blue water. The eel soon caught sight of her location despite the sand, and in a fit of rage it swam upward at a slight angle. Ruto saw it emerge from below, and watched its jaws open and close in anger while its yellow eyes locked onto her with sheer determination. Upon seeing her come closer into view, the eel swam even faster, and the moment it seemed it would get to Ruto, the clever Zora princess shifted to her left and moved down to the sandy bottom.

The second after she managed to get out of the eel’s path, the monster was too surprised to find she was no longer there to stop. In desperation it attempted to turn its body around, but that only caused more harm than good. Ruto was well aware of the sharp pointed stalactites that hung from the roof of the room, and she had positioned herself just in front of them. By causing the creature to crash into the sandy floor and stir up sand into the water, she had blinded it from seeing the stalactites hanging above, and its only clear vision would be her flashing fins as a way of distracting it and angering it to come to her.

When Ruto moved out of its way, the eel twisted so far on its side that it slammed into the stalactites. Blood poured into the water as the stalactites pierced through the monster’s flesh, stabbing though all over its body. The eel-like creature wriggled vainly, but its body soon went limp as its weight caused the stalactites to break apart and crumble. Ruto swam as fast as she could to the exit on the other side as the eel’s massive heavy body fell from the ceiling and landed on the sandy floor with a harsh thud that echoed though the cavernous walls.

She had made it into the passageway, and turned to see if the eel was still alive. It lay unmoving, and its head was near the doorway of the exit and turned toward her. The creature’s yellow eyes didn’t shift, and depicted a blank empty look. Blood slowly seeped from the gouges in its flesh where the stalactites had pierced through. Ruto had killed it, despite all the odd against her. The Zora princess stood watching it for a while, feeling distinctly proud but also catching her breath. Swimming so fast had tired her, but she had to keep going. Time was running out for Misu and her people. The water serpent had to be destroyed, and another reason being if the Zoras could no longer go to the Water Temple to worship the water spirits, the temple would lose its power and evil would fill the lake like it had seven years ago. As the sage of water and guardian of the Water Temple, Ruto had no choice but to complete her task by vanquishing the evil serpent once and for all.

Ruto continued down yet another passageway, but this one was wider. The rocks above seemed to flatten out and become smooth and reflective, which allowed the light to bounce off brighter and reveal more ahead. Ruto noticed the pathway separated into two different rooms. The entrance for one on the right was obviously too small for the water serpent to slip through, and was just wide enough for her. As for the one on the left, the rocks around its doorway became greatly sharp and jagged, but the room appeared to be enormously wide and long, spanning into the watery depths. Ruto was unsure which path to take, and was leaning more toward the entrance on the left when a bright flashing light caught her eye.

The light illuminated from the room on the right, streaking brightly through its doorway and nearly blinding her. Ruto’s purple eyes shone as her pupils contracted while adjusting to the sudden light that seemingly came from nowhere. The light was so beautiful and bright, she felt convinced to first venture into the room on the right first. Slowly Ruto walked toward the entranceway and managed to fit through.

In the middle of the room on a rocky platform was a large wooden chest. The walls were made of pure crystallized rock, which bounced light from all ends of the small square shaped room and created an amazingly bright light that reflected pale rainbow colors. Ruto was astounded when she looked up at the ceiling and saw it was made of glass, which reflected her in it. Yet the chest in the middle also captivated her. What was inside? Slowly she moved toward it and stepped onto the platform. There was no sand in this room, and the floor was made of a hard smooth black rock.

Cautiously, Ruto stood in front of the chest and relaxed her tensed body. There was something special inside, and she felt she would need whatever it was to help her on her mission. The Zora princess grasped the lid of the chest on either side, and slowly she lifted it open, and became blinded yet again by a golden light. What was inside took her breath away.