Sheik sneezed. "Excuse me..." she mumbled.
Queen Nodoka smiled. "That's okay! We rarely get any visitors these days, especially not so well-spoken, polite young men like yourself."
Despite the cold, Zelda started to sweat underneath her costume. 'Hopefully they won't recognize me,' she thought. 'Ganondorf's eyes and ears are everywhere... I can't allow him to find me.'
But at least the Zoras believed her to be a boy. That calmed her down a bit.
"Tell us where you came from, boy," King Zora gurgled. "I always thought all Sheikah were extinct, ever since Ganondorf attacked the kingdom and killed the king."
"Well, that's not completely true," Sheik said. "A few of us are staying in hiding..."
"Ah, and you can't tell us where they are because Ganon's myrmidons might find you," King Zora nodded, misinterpreting the youngster's nervousness. "I see. But at least make yourself at home within Zora's Domain. I can say with pride that Ganondorf hasn't managed to conquer our kingdom just yet."
"That's because he never made any attempt to attack us, dear!" Nodoka smiled at her husband. "Both you and I know that our best fighters wouldn't stand a chance against his army of Gerudo and undead."
The king coughed. "Um, well..."
Noticing that this matter made the king of the fish-folk uncomfortable, Sheik quickly changed the subject: "I thank you for your hospitality, Your Highness, but I have been wondering... it is somewhat unusual for Zora's River to be this cold at this time of the year, isn't it?"
The queen sighed. "That's too true! It started just a few days ago, shortly after my... my oldest daughter left for a journey around Hyrule. All of a sudden, the weather changed and the air around Zora's Domain started to get more and more chilly. Even the warm waters of our spring don't warm up any more."
"That's true," Princess Ruto nodded. "Even our protector, the great Lord Jabu-Jabu, has gone into hibernation. Something like that never happened before! I am afraid that something horrible is going on..."
"My child, we don't even know the reason for this phenomenon," her father protested. "Maybe winter just decided to come a bit early this year..."
"Father, I am no fool! I can't believe that this cold snap is of natural origin. You know what happened to the water of Lake Hylia, right?"
Now Sheik was alarmed. "Why? What is wrong with the lake?"
"The water level of the lake..." Ruto said in a worried tone of voice as she faced the young Sheikah. "It's dropping by the hour. I noticed it this morning, when I went for my morning swim... since the waters of the spring were still way to chilly. The island in the middle of the lake looks like a hill more than ever."
Sheik tried not to make the panic she was feeling obvious. She knew pretty well what was hidden within the depths of Lake Hylia. "Can you... can you show me? I'd like to see this for myself..."
Ruto looked at her parents in surprise, then she shrugged. "Sure, why not? You have nothing against it, right, mother?"
"No, of course not!" Nodoka shook her head. "You can always take the magic warp in the middle of our cavern pond... it leads directly to Lake Hylia."
"Great! C'mon Sheik, let's go!"
Nodoka smiled as she saw the eagerness of her spunky daughter. She was always cheering up when she was with people of her own age, which didn't treat her like royalty all the time, and as she noticed earlier, this Sheik certainly seemed to be a polite young man.
She watched how her daughter was leading the Sheikah to the pond. "You can swim, can you?"
"Um... of course I can!"
"Great, then hold your breath..."
And the two youngsters dove into the pond and vanished through the underwater portal.
She sighed. "Aaah, to be young again..."
"You still look like a young woman, my dear!" King Zora told his wife with a smile.
Nodoka giggled and turned a deeper shade of blue. "Aw, you flatterer..."
She then sneezed and shivered. "Oh no, is it getting colder?"
"Let's hope not," the king said with a frown.
"YOUR HIGHNESS! YOUR HIGHNESS!" One of the Zora guards came running into the throne room.
"Calm down boy, now what is the matter?" the king asked.
The guard panted. "Your Highness... something terrible happened! The spring... Zora's Spring..."
"What's wrong with the spring?" Nodoka asked. She had a bad feeling about this...
"My Queen... it's frozen solid! Completely frozen! All of it!"
King and queen both gasped in shock. "But... but what about Lord Jabu-Jabu..." muttered the king weakly.
"He has vanished underneath the thick ice, my king!" the Zora explained. "Your Highness, I don't know what we should do... the ice is spreading and it's getting colder by the minute... if this keeps up, we'll..."
"AAAAAAAHHH!" the king suddenly screamed.
"Honey!" Nodoka said in alarm. "What's wrong?"
The king winced. "My... my feet..."
Nodoka gasped when she looked down at the water that was flowing around her husband's resting place. It was coming from the spring... and just like the guard had said, it was spreading.
By now, King Zora's feet and lower torso were already encased with ice.
And it was coming their way...
"Husband!" she shouted. "Stand up! Or the ice will..."
"I... I can't do it, love..." the king murmured. His voice was getting more and more panicked. "I'M STUCK!!"
Then the ice reached the feet of Nodoka and the guard. The moment she felt the bite of coldness touch her legs, shee tried to run, but she was frozen to the spot right away. The guard next to her seemed to have similar problems.
"My Queen!" he shouted. "Oh no, what... what's happening?"
And then they could hear loud yells coming from the main cavern:
"THE WATERFALL! THE WATERFALL IS FREEZING!"
Nodoka stopped struggling against the ice that slowly started to encase her whole body... and sent a quick prayer up to heaven, where she hoped that Nayru would listen to her...
"Well, this is it!" Ruto said when she and Sheik stepped out of the water. "Lake Hylia... or what's left of it!"
Sheik stared at the tiny puddle of water which Lake Hylia had become. It was still more water than would fit into the royal fountain back in Hyrule Castle, but according to Ruto's words, that wouldn't last.
She looked over to where the island was rising out of the water, by now a steep hill. In the middle of the waters, she could make out what she hoped would never be visible from the dry land surrounding the lake.
"The Water Temple..." she muttered. "They are uncovering the Water Temple..."
Ruto stared at her in surprise. "You know about the Water Temple? But... but that's supposed to be a secret that only the Zora and the royal family of Hyrule should know about."
Sheik cleared her throat. "Well, I, um..."
"Ah, I get it!" Ruto then said. "As the protectors of the royal family, you Sheikah must know about that as well... sorry, I forgot that for a moment."
"Um, that's okay!" Sheik said. "But whoever could be responsible for that?"
"Ganondorf?" Ruto asked with fear in her voice.
Sheik contemplated that, but quickly shook her head. If it was Ganondorf, she would be able to feel the evil energies of his magic. "No, this is the work of some other creature... but, to do such a thing, this creature must be within..."
Ruto gasped. "Within the Water Temple! Oh no, if that is true, then..."
"We must tell your parents, princess!" Sheik said in a strained voice. "Quickly!"
"Y-yeah, you're right!" Ruto nodded. "Come, we must go back through the portal..."
But when they reached the portal, the water level has already dropped beneath the opening. And the opening itself...
"Wh-wh-what?" the Zora princess stuttered as she pushed against the solid obstacle that was in their way. "It's... it's frozen solid... how could that be...?"
"I should have known!" Sheik grumbled. "I've been a fool... the cold that your kingdom suffered from was unnatural, of course! And it was caused by the very same creature which caused the water level of the lake to drop. And now, Zora's Domain is completely..."
"NO!!" Ruto screamed as she hit the frozen entrance to her home with her fists. "No, that can't be true! Mom! Dad!"
Sheik closed her eyes. "I'm sorry..." she whispered.
And when Ruto broke down with sobs, all she could do was to reassuringly put an arm around her.
Suddenly, she sobbing stopped. "Sheik..." Ruto said in a quiet voice.
"Y-yes?"
Ruto turned around her head. Her face was still stained with tears, but her eyes were looking at the Sheikah with resolution. "I'm going to go into the Water Temple... I'm going to find out just who is responsible for this!"
"But princess..." Sheik protested. "Just think about it... it's going to be dangerous! Too dangerous for you to go by yourself!"
"I know!" Suddenly, the princess looked very sad. "But as everyone else is trapped within the ice, I... I just have to do it, you see? Besides... there's something I'd like to ask of you. Could you do me a favor?"
"What favor?" Sheik asked.
Ruto looked at her pleadingly. "Could you... could you go back and see if really all Zoras are trapped? I know it's a long way from here to Zora River on foot, but still... And if you happen to come across my older sister Ranko, please... please tell her what happened... and where I am. I'm sure she will... she will come to help me when she hears that." She smiled. "She always comes when I'm in trouble... I know she will do it again."
Seeing that nothing she said would make the princess' determination crumble, Sheik nodded. "I promise! I swear it with my life that I will tell her as soon as I see her."
'That's not the only person I will tell...' Sheik thought. 'If the Water Temple is in danger... the Water Sage will be as well, whoever it is. Link and Ukyo... they must learn about what is happening here.'
"Thank you! Thank you for everything, Sheik!" Ruto said as she slowly stepped into the deeper water. "And if we don't see each other again... I hope that you'll find more of your people! Good luck!" And she dove into the water.
"Good luck..." Sheik murmured. "Princess of the Zora!" She sighed. "Being a princess means that you have to make difficult decisions sometimes... I know that all too well! Let's just hope that your own kingdom still can be saved... I failed to save mine!"
And with these words, Sheik pulled out a Deku Nut, threw it to the ground...
And vanished in a bright flash.
Deep within Zora's Domain, the remaining Zoras which had tried to escape the freezing cold were trapped just in front of the cavern's exit. They shuddered as the ice slowly covered all of their bodies.
"It's... it's so cold..." a young girl muttered just as the ice crept up her legs.
Within the throne room, the two forms of King Zora and Queen Nodoka were completely covered with a thick coating of cursed, red ice.
"It's so... hot..." the Zora princess groaned while strong arms were carrying her through the crater of Death Mountain.
"Now hang on there, Ranma!" Ryoga shouted. "Just a couple more steps, and we're back in Goron City! Don't you give up on me now! I know you're stronger than that! Don't you dare and die when we still have a score to settle!"
He winced. 'If he only knew...' he thought. 'If Ranma only knew what sacrifice I'm making... if he only knew what it was like to lose your entire race to... a megalomaniac madman!'
Ranko panted heavily while her bodily fluids were slowly pouring out of her skin and evaporated in the searing heat of the volcano.
"Mom..." she muttered in a feverish voice. "Sis..."
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(Posted Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:39)
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