Zelda blinked a few times. She was lying on the wet grass between the springs, seemingly safe for now. The ChuChus were nowhere to be seen.
"Ah, so you have awakened, princess of destiny," a calm voice spoke up.
Zelda raised her head... and looked at the biggest bird she had ever seen in her life. It was an owl, almost as big as a (mature) Dodongo, with long feathers over its eyes, which looked like eyebrows. An aura of peace and wisdom seemed to surround it.
"I am glad to see that you are fine," the owl went on. "I rarely decide to interfere as bluntly like this, but I had no choice. You really should be more careful, princess. Being taken by surprise by a bunch of ChuChus is NOT the way we'd like to see our future queen die."
Zela stared at the owl in amazement. "You... you talk?"
The owl chuckled. "Yes, indeed, my dear! But I get that reaction pretty often... allow me to introduce myself. I am Kaepora Gaebora, known as the Wise Owl."
The princess shook her head. "I've never seen a talking bird before..."
"Oh? Then I suppose you should look into the spring behind you... but be careful not to fall in again!"
Zelda turned around, then hesitated a bit. Something was wrong about the way her body moved... but she decided to ignore that for now and looked into the waters of the spring she had fallen into.
She gasped in surprise, when instead of her reflection, she saw the face of a huge bird staring back at her, almost as big as Kaepora Gaebora himself.
"I'm... I am..."
The owl nodded. "Yes, you are! The magic of Jusenkyo has affected you like any other who has fallen into one of the springs. This particular spring is known as the 'Spring of Drowned Hawk', so naturally, it turned you into a hawk. But do not fret... there are ways of turning you back to normal."
"I can't believe this..." Zelda groaned as she looked down at her avian body. "But why... why am I so big? And how can I talk? And my feathers... they are all white! That's not normal for a hawk, is it?"
"That has to do with the magical abilities every female descendant of the royal family of Hyrule is born with... but also because of something else. You know what happened after Ganondorf touched the Triforce after invading the Sacred Realm, right?"
And the owl pointed his beak at her body, at a place that was covered with her wings when she didn't spread them.
An image of three triangles was visible on her white feathers... and one of them was shining in a bright light.
"The... the Triforce of Wisdom?" she whispered.
Kaepora Gaebora nodded. "Yes, its powers helped you regain your capability of speech in this form, and that's not all of it. You know how your magic helps you to disguise you as a Sheikah?"
Zelda didn't even ask how the owl knew of this. "Yes, I can change the color of my eyes and increase my strength and agility..."
"Correct, and now that Jusenkyo's magic flows through your body as well, the three magical forces in your body have merged with each other, making it possible for you to change forms without the need of cold or hot water. I must admit I never foresaw any of this when I watched you and young Link from the distance, but..."
"You know Link?" Zelda asked in surprise.
"Him and his young, female friend," the wise owl nodded, recalling his encounter with Ukyo. "And I know that your trust in them is more than justified... we can expect great things from them in the near future. It was a wise decision that you agreed to help them from this point on."
"Do you know where they are right now?" the female hawk asked.
"Yes, they are heading for Death Mountain, to save the Gorons from Ganondorf's clutches. And they are not alone... they have allies that accompany them, in addition to their trusty fairies. A mighty Goron warrior... a renegade Gerudo who is determined to fight even against her own people if it means to defeat Ganondorf... and the elder Zora princess."
"The Zoras!" Zelda suddenly shouted. "I have to get to them... something terrible happened at Zora's Domain! I promised Ruto..."
"Calm down, my dear! The Zoras are still encased in their icy prison, but their life is not in danger. They can still be saved. However, their elder princess, Ranko, is in danger, as are the Gorons of Death Mountain. Before the sun is setting again, an undead creature named Volvagia will devour them alive, if they are not saved in time. However, the most urgent problem is that Princess Ranko - who is also known as Ranma in her male, human birth form - is cursed by one of the Gerudo witches. Whenever Ranma gets close to the Fire Temple, where Volvagia resides, he will turn back into his Zora form. And you know that Zoras can't survive in that dreadful heat, right?"
"This Ranma..." Zelda asked hesitantly. "Does he have a Jusenkyo curse as well?"
"Yes, but that is not the curse that has to be lifted. But your powers of light, combined with the Triforce of Wisdom, should be able to free him from the witch's spell, allowing him to enter the temple and help his friends to free the Gorons."
"And... if I don't go?" Zelda asked.
The owl sighed. "Then he will try to enter the temple again and again, no matter if means that his life is in danger or not. He has made a promise to the young Goron named Ryoga... and honor is the most important thing to that young man. He tends to be... rather stubborn, I'm afraid."
"But if I tell him that his family is in danger... he would turn back and come to Zora's Domain as quickly as he can, right?"
"I don't know that. Maybe his promise to his friend will be more important once he hears that the Zoras won't die as quickly as the Gorons... or maybe his family is so important to him that he even puts his honor aside. But you still have to get to him, because of the spell of the witch."
"I see..." Zelda nodded. "Well, I promised Ruto that I would tell her sister what happened to her and the other Zoras... and even though I know that she is still in the Water Temple, I know she would want the same. If Ranma wants to help save the Gorons or if he wants to help his family first is up to him, still I have to go to him."
"And make haste," the owl said. "Very soon, they will be entering the crater again, and then the spell will once again turn him back into a Zora."
"But... but how can I get there in time?" Zelda wanted to know.
Kaepora Gaebora chuckled. "My dear... use your wings!"
"My... my wings?" Zelda stuttered, having forgotten for a while that she was now in the form of a big hawk. "Of... of course. I shall leave right away."
"Good choice, princess! I wish you good luck, and may the goddesses be with you. I will continue to watch over you..."
"Thank you, Wise Owl!" Zelda replied, then she spread her wings. Experimentally flapping them up and down, she sighed. "This is really something I will have to get used to..." she murmured. But a few tries later, she actually took off and flew a few circles over the springs of Jusenkyo, before heading towards the peak of Death Mountain, which was still surrounded by a circle of fire.
In the Chamber of the Sages, Rauru opened his eyes and sighed.
"Well, did you talk to her?" the green-haired girl that was standing next to him asked.
The sage of Light nodded. "Yes, I projected my spiritual self close to her just in time. If I knew that she was going through Jusenkyo..." He shrugged. "Well, at least she can control it better than any other victims of that place. And it will help her to get to Death Mountain in time."
Saria gasped. "You mean she actually got cursed?"
And Rauru told the small Sage of the Forest everything that happened.
Saria blinked. "If she fell into another spring first, why didn't she get cursed then?"
"It was one of the few springs of Jusenkyo that wasn't cursed... still, if the Chuchu had drowned her in there..." He shuddered. "Well, I'm very glad that did not happen. Still, while she didn't realize it, she nearly DID drown back then, and that was enough for the magics of Jusenkyo to create a new cursed spring. Now every time someone falls into that spring, he or she will be turned into a young, female Hylian by the curse."
Saria pondered. "A young, female Hylian...?"
Her thoughts wandered back to Link. She recalled the moment after he and Ukyo saved her from Ganon's phantom. She clearly remembered his sad face when she told him that they were of two different worlds. To be honest, it nearly broke her heart as well after she found out that he was Hylian, even though she learned about it much, much earlier in her life.
"If I could be with you, Link..." she murmured. "Would you want me?"
"I'm sorry, did you say something, child?" Rauru muttered absent-mindedly.
Saria shook her head. "It's... it's nothing."
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(Posted Sat, 20 Oct 2007 13:55)
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