"So..." Ranko said. "This Jabu-Jabu-thing... what's wrong with it?"
They had all settled down on the stone seats within the throne room. The water from Zora's Spring came flowing from behind them and gently splashed against their backsides, while it was flowing down along their legs.
King Zora and Ruto seemed shocked about Ranko's choice of words. "Mind your mouth now, child," the king stuttered, while Ruto looked more like she was impressed by Ranko's boldness. "Lord Jabu-Jabu isn't a 'thing'... he's the protector of the Zora and all the water that is flowing through Hyrule. As a Zora, you should know that." He shook his round head. "I wonder how that father of yours could raise you without teaching you those fundamental things..."
Nodoka coughed. "Well, Genma has always been... slack, regarding the education of our child." She threw the winged bear that was sitting on the dry platform within the room an icy glare.
'Mr. Moosh' just raised his usual sign: 'I'm just a cute winged bear...'
"Well, about Lord Jabu-Jabu..." Ruto started to explain. "You know, I'm his caretaker, and I've noticed an unusual behavior with him for several days now. He was always getting irritable whenever someone approached him. I could only calm him down by giving him his food."
"All of this started to happen after Ganondorf, the king of the Gerudo tribe, has visited our kingdom." King Zora wailed. "He ordered me to hand over our most sacred artifact to him, the Zora Sapphire... otherwise the consequences would be dire. Of course, I had to refuse - the royal family of Hyrule has assigned us with the safekeeping of this precious gem countless generations ago. Also, it has become an integrated part of our society..."
"Okay, I get it why you couldn't just hand it over," Ranko nodded. "But what I don't understand is why you came to get me, Mom. What can I do in such a situation?"
Nodoka continued to explain: "Well, after my anticipation that Ganondorf has planted a curse upon Lord Jabu-Jabu, I went to the fairy spring behind his domain and asked the Great Fairy that is living there for guidance. And she gave me some sort of prophecy as an answer:
'Soon, the child of destiny will arrive, his fate fiercely entangled with that of the Zora princess... This child will tame the beast of the water and bring back peace to the kingdom of the waves.'"
"Wait a minute..." Ranko intervened. "And you just thought I would be that child? Is that it?"
"What else should we believe?" the king asked. "As only I and your mother knew of your existence, we were pondering about the possibility that you might be the one the fairy spoke of. After all, you are the child of the Zora queen, and the half-sister of Ruto."
Ranko looked grimly at her mother. "I hate to say this, Mom... but somehow, this all sounds to me like you're using this prophecy as an excuse to see me again."
"E-excuse me...?" Nodoka stuttered. Never before had she expected her child to react like this.
"I think you're misjudging your mother, young one," the king said sternly. "As much as she is overjoyed to see you again and we are glad that we finally managed to announce you as Ruto's elder sister, we still had to consider every last possibility. Surely you understand this, right?"
"Well... yeah, I guess so..." Ranko mumbled.
Ruto seemed a bit sad that Ranko seemed to resist her place within Zora society like this, but she supportively put an arm around her older sister's shoulder. "Don't worry, Ranko! Mom told me that you're very strong, and that you could help us. I mean, it can't hurt to try, right?" She smiled. "And if this 'destined child' turns out to be someone else, well... at least you can tell yourself you did your best."
"I suppose..." the other girl sighed. "All right... let's take a look at your 'protector'... then we'll see what we can do. But I seriously wonder what someone like me can do to calm down a whacked out tuna fish like this..."
"Child!" the king scolded. "What did I tell you about disrespecting Lord Jabu-Jabu?"
Nodoka just sighed and Ruto giggled. She could really get used to her new sister...
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(Posted Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:22)
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