Princess Ruto stood in the middle of a big room, with pulsating, organic walls and a floor that felt somewhat squishy beneath their feet.
"Stop following me," she insisted. "I already told you I'm not getting out of here before I found the stone my mom gave to me."
"Look, princess..." Akane sighed. "Your mother is worried about you. And it is not safe just to walk around a whale's stomach like this... especially not with all those monsters around."
"I'll be fine..." Ruto huffed. "I've been walking around Lord Jabu-Jabu's stomach since I've been a little child. I know what I'm doing."
"Well, I suppose that stone you're seeking is the very same Spiritual Stone we're looking for... so what do you say we'll go and look for it together?" Navi suggested.
"What do you think I am?" Ruto grumbled. "A weak, defenseless princess? Now go and leave me alooooo..."
While speaking that last sentence, Ruto wanted to turn around to leave, but she didn't see the weird hole in the ground, that somehow looked like a whirlpool of organic tissue.
"WHAAAAAAAH!"
Link crouched down next to the hole and looked inside. "Wow, sounds like she had fun going down there... shall we go after her?"
"I suppose," Akane sighed. "But I really, really need a vacation after all of this..."
It turned out to be not such a wild ride as Link had expected. They only got sucked through that small 'whirlpool' and fell through the ceiling of a room that was beneath the previous one.
The ground was as soft and bouncy as everywhere in the inside of the whale, so the impact from the fall wasn't very hurtful.
Ruto was standing next to them as they got to their feet. "You again?" she muttered. "You just can't take a no, can you?" She sighed. "Look, I'm fine, really. And I really appreciate the help, but..."
"But you're too proud to accept any sort of help, is that right?" Akane assumed.
"Well, ye... I mean, ummm, what are you talking abo... err, that is... I guess I really could use some help." Another sigh. "Well, I guess us Zoras are just not used to accept help from outsiders..."
"And what about your so-called 'bodyguard' we met at Zora River?" Akane asked. "He was a Hylian, as far as I could see..."
"Well, yes, but that was different. I mean, he's my bro... Um, I mean: He's a very good friend of the family. So, um... can we just go now?"
"Of course!" Link smirked. "Lead the way, Your Fishy-ness!"
"Stop that!" she snapped, already acting grumpy again. "And do you really expect a princess like me to go first? If you really want to escort me, then..." She smirked. "You may as well carry me."
"W-w-what?" Link thought he misheard.
"I mean it," the Zora girl said firmly. "I've been searching for my mother's stone the whole day long, and my feet are starting to hurt. So, if you want to help me find it, you better do as I say."
"Just do it, Link," Akane whispered. "I bet Her Grumpiness won't put a single foot out of this room if we don't play along."
"All right..." Link mumbled in defeat. "But I really hope Zelda appreciates everything I'm going through because of her stupid stones..."
And after Link took Ruto on his back, piggyback-style, she nodded with a satisfied smile. "Yes, that's better." She gestured at the nearest exit. "Over there! I think I still haven't looked in that cavern for my stone."
'That's why I prefer hanging around with girls like Ukyo and Saria...' Link thought to himself as he carried Ruto towards the exit. 'They're not as pushy as this spoiled princess...'
----
In the middle of the forest, the final tunes of a beautiful melody echoed through the thicket.
Saria put her ocarina down from her mouth and sighed. It wasn't as new as the Fairy Ocarina she had given Link as a present, but it could still produce beautiful music.
"Link..." she mumbled to herself. "Why did you have to leave the forest...?" True, she missed Ukyo and Tatl as well, but... the disappearance of the blonde boy somehow made her feel even more sad.
"Hey, don't worry!" her green-glowing fairy Sprite tried cheering her up. "I'm pretty sure they will come back some day. I mean, they just have some business to do at this 'Castle' - whatever that is - and they will come back. Right?"
"I suppose..." Saria sighed. She really appreciated her fairy companion's encouragement, but she just couldn't feel uneasy about the whole situation... Just why did she feel like there was more behind this? That Link and her... just weren't meant to be together?
She clutched her ocarina to her chest. "Link... and Ukyo, too. Wherever you are right now... and whatever you are doing. This melody is for you... and I hope it will bring you good luck."
She raised the instrument to her lips and began playing 'Saria's Song' anew.
----
Ukyo tumbled down on the small ledge that was sticking out of Death Mountain's cliff and panted heavily. Climbing up here just to meet a fairy turned out to be very hard work. Not only did she have to dodge all those falling boulders in the canyon, no, she still had to climb this almost vertical wall.
"Careful," Tatl said. "You're not a Skullwalltula, you know?"
"I know..." Ukyo grumbled. "But I STILL can do this!"
After she and Ryoga had left Dodongo's Cave, they had met Darunia. The leader of the Gorons was very happy that they actually managed to beat a Dodongo King, and as promised, he gave them the Goron's Ruby. As a sign of his appreciation, he told Ukyo about a powerful fairy that was supposed to live on top of Death Mountain... perhaps her powers would be a great help on her way back to Castle Hyrule. Also, he had offered her to become 'Sworn Brothers' with him, an honor that he would normally only offer male heroes. But as Ukyo was somewhat of a tomboy...
Politely, Ukyo had declined. But she was intrigued... she had never met a Great Fairy, and climbing the biggest mountain of Hyrule sounded like a nice challenge. They could always deliver the Spiritual Stone to Princess Zelda some time later.
Ryoga, on the other hand, had decided to stay back with his mentor... he was still his student, and Darunia had promised to teach him the final battle move, an ancient secret of the Gorons... a technique that was supposed to draw upon the user's emotions and turn them into a powerful blast of power.
Ryoga had sworn to himself that he was going to master this technique... and once he had finished his training, he would go back to the Castle as Akane's bodyguard. Ukyo had wished him luck and started climbing the mountain by herself.
But by now she wished she had just ignored Darunia's tale and started her journey back to the castle town... she could have easily stayed the night in Kakariko.
"Stupid Ukyo..." she scolded herself. "Do you always have to prove to yourself that you're the best?"
"Well, we can always give up and go back," Tatl suggested.
Ukyo was just considering doing just that, when suddenly, she heard something in her mind.
"That song..." she whispered. "I've heard it before. Can it be... Saria?"
She remembered the time she had heard the song for the first time...
----
Saria giggled as Link played along on her second ocarina. "That sounds so beautiful," she said.
"Seriously," Ukyo nodded as she sat next to her friend. "You can play so nice music, Saria!"
The green-haired girl smiled. "Thank you... but I think Link did pretty good as well, for his first time."
Link grinned bashfully as he returned the instrument to his friend. "Well, I had a good teacher..."
"Now, this song isn't just like any other songs," Saria explained to her two friends. "I can use it to communicate with everything in the forest... The trees... the flowers... the animals... and even with fairies, Dekus and Kokiri when they're not nearby. As long as they know this song, I can talk to them any time..."
"Wow," Link said in awe. "That sounds pretty mysterious, dont'cha think?"
Saria giggled. "I guess so... I still can't explain why this song has powers like this. But, you know... ever since I came up with this melody, I realized that I can see through the eyes of every single creature that is living within the Lost Woods."
"Well then, let's hope the song will do the same thing for us," Ukyo smirked. "Whenever the three of us will be separated, this song will help us to find each other... and to talk to each other."
Link thought about it. "Well, I really don't want to get separated from you two at all... but if something like that ever happens, yeah, then I think it would be great."
"Yes.." Saria replied. "That's what I want as well. Always being able to know that the two of you are doing fine..."
"Then it's a promise," Ukyo said and stretched out her hand. After a small moment of hesitation, the other two forest kids put their own hands on it and silently made their vow never to forget each other.
----
"Is something wrong, Ukyo?" Tatl asked in worry as she hovered in front of her friend's face.
"I... don't know," Ukyo said and shook her head. "For a moment, I thought I heard something... stay quiet for a while, okay?"
"Um... okay, if you say so..." The fairy landed next to her companion with a confused look on her face.
Ukyo closed her eyes, concentrated and tried remembering the tune of the song.
'Saria,' she thought. 'Are you there?'
After a moment, she believed to hear the rustling of the forest leaves, as the wind blew through them, and the sounds of the forest animals.
And a familiar voice as well...
'Ukyo?'
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(Posted Mon, 15 Jan 2007 12:21)
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