Ukyo walked along the flooded corridor, her spatula the only thing that was weighing her down. It was very weird how she was able to breathe even though she was under water. She looked over to Link, who, despite wearing the heavy iron boots, seemed to have no trouble walking along the slick floor.
Behind them, Shampoo followed. If the Gerudo warrior was uncomfortable under water, she certainly didn't show it. As she didn't have quite the weight as Ukyo and Link, she had decided to swim instead of walking along the bottom. Her athletic body allowed her to easily swim through all the flooded corridors, shafts and rooms they were coming through. And even though she was used to fight on dry land, she was nevertheless able to fight off all the underwater monsters that approached them.
Ranko was swimming around them all the time. Her mouth opened and bubbles came out. "Don't fall behind, you slowpokes!" she said in a strangely blurred voice. "Who knows what that creep's gonna do to Ruto while we're dawdling."
'Easy for you to say, Miss Fish Fins,' Ukyo thought, wishing that like a Zora, she could communicate under water like that. Instead, she, Link and Shampoo were forced to resort to gestures. Such as now, when she showed the impatient Zora princess a rude gesture with her middle finger.
Ranko frowned and stuck out her tongue, then she twirled around like an elegant dancer and swum ahead, once again. They barely had to fight any underwater enemies, as Ranko took nearly all of them out by herself.
Ruto sighed with relief when the manacles fell to the ground. She massaged her wrists and thanked Nayru that she had such slender hands. It took her some time to get free from her bounds, and it wasn't pleasant at all when the sharp-edged manacles had rubbed against her delicate skin, but if that's what she had to bear to get out of here, so be it. She as just glad that black weirdo hadn't come back to check on her for some time now.
She silently walked across the wet floor of the chamber she had been imprisoned in and when she reached the door at the other side of the room, she put her ear on it. She couldn't hear anything, so she carefully opened it.
Dark Link was nowhere to be seen.
"Sorry for just leaving like that, creep!" she mumbled to herself. "But I've got work to do!"
She ran along the corridor and dove into the water-filled shaft at its end.
Ukyo gasped as her head broke through the surface in the central room of the Water Temple. Around her, Link, Shampoo and Ranko appeared as well. The two fairies came flying out of the water and shook droplets from their wings.
"Ooooh, I hate this!" Tatl whined. "Don't tell me we have to go down there again..."
"How many times do we have to get through this stupid room, anyway?" Ukyo grumbled. "I mean, who designed this temple? And what for? If it's to confuse us, I'd say they did a good job."
"I haven't been here before," Ranko shrugged. "But Mom once told me that the temple already was at the bottom of the lake when her current husband - the king - was a young child. So the Zora don't know much about the temple either, only that it is a sanctuary of Nayru they have to protect."
"Well, if we don't hurry, there won't be a lake left," Link pointed out. "So... any idea where we should go next?"
"I would take a look at the map," Ukyo frowned. "But I'm worrying that it might become unreadable when we take it out in the water..."
"Well, we found a key at the end of that last room," Link said. "So I'd say we go look for a locked door."
"Sword-boy really needs to stop being so quick-witted," Shampoo said sarcastically.
So their arduous search throughout the temple continued. After they found their third key, Ukyo lost track of time. How long have they been down here? Half an hour? One hour? Three hours?
Right now, they were going along another corridor at the bottom of the temple. It made a sharp turn and ended in yet another room.
"So, what now?" Ranko gurgled. "Shall we go back... or do you wanna try going up there?" She looked up the broad shaft above their heads.
Shampoo and Ukyo looked at each other, and together, they gestured upwards.
Link sighed and was about to remove the iron boots from his feet, when he looked upwards as well... and was surprised when he saw the sleek shape that was coming down from above.
It was the most beautiful Zora girl he had ever seen in his life. True, Ranko wasn't too bad, either... but knowing that she really was a boy kinda made him overlook that fact.
It was weird... this was the first time Link was physically attracted to a female. Before, he barely felt anything but friendship. Ukyo, Akane and Malon were good buddies. Shampoo and Zelda were just nice people she really didn't know that well. Saria... well, she was his best friend... at least that was what he told himself.
But this girl - no, woman - really caused a reaction in his teenage body he had never experienced before. Even under water, he started to sweat, and couldn't keep his eyes off her curves. Of course, he didn't know that his adult hormones were to blame.
True, she was a Zora, which meant she was half fish, but strangely, that fact didn't bother him at all. He was even more surprised when he finally looked up at her face and recognized her.
'Ruto?' he wondered.
A wide smile had appeared on the younger Zora princess' face. "BIG SIS!" she shouted when she saw Ranko. "You came to rescue me?"
Ranko smirked. "Sure thing, little sis! You never doubted that, did you?"
"Nope!" Ruto grinned. "I know I have the best sister/brother in all of Hyrule!" And then the two shapely, wet, naked bodies hugged each other.
Ukyo blinked when she took a look at Link. Why was there blood coming out of his nose? That certainly didn't look healthy... and in the water, it definitely looked gross, so she quickly looked back to the reunited sisters.
Ruto then looked to the others. "Shampoo! You came, too? You... I don't know you... and..." She gasped. "Link? Is that you, Link? I can't believe it! After all these years!"
She smiled. "You do recognize me, right? That's right, it's me, Ruto, your fiancee! Oh, it was cruel of you to keep me waiting seven long years... but I forgive you!" And she swam over to Link and hugged him as tightly as her sister.
"Mmmmmbbbrrrr..." Link mumbled from in-between a pair of soft globes. "Ggllllbrrllllll..."
"Huh? Did you say something, love?" Ruto asked. She giggled. "Oh, silly me! You Hylians can't talk under water, right? But still, I'm happy that you remembered the promise we gave to each other so many years ago..."
Ranko coughed (which caused a few bubbles that were rising to the surface). "Um, I hate to burst your bubble, sis..." Ukyo groaned at the pun. "But this really isn't the time for romances."
"That's right!" Ruto nodded as she let go off Link, who let out a gasp of relief. "We have to do something against those monsters. If the curse isn't lifted, Zora's Domain will be frozen forever, and Lake Hylia will be dry in a couple of days... if not hours."
"Well, we already freed Mom and your Dad," Ranko told her. "But you're right, we need to kill that monster who's responsible for this. Did you see it?"
"No," Ruto said. "I just saw the man who commanded it... and, he looks just like Link."
Link would have blinked in surprise, but right now, he had problems of a different kind to deal with (which was, loss of blood).
"Like Link?" Ranko wondered. "Are you sure? I mean, there was this scary voice which talked to us through a black cloud... and there were these red eyes... but are you sure?"
"Well, he is black," Ruto explained. "His clothes, his skin and his sword. Only his eyes were red... red as blood." She shuddered. "And that horrible scar on his chest... it was frightening. And..." She looked at Link with wide eyes. "He said you KILLED him, Link! Can you believe that?"
Realizing that Link wasn't able to reply, Ranko gestured upwards with her thumb. "Maybe we should find a drier place where we can include the others in this conversation," she said.
"Oops, you're right, I completely forgot. Sorry, sis!"
She then swam up to her 'fiance'. "Come, Linky-poo! I'll help you." And she grabbed him around his chest and dragged him upwards as she swam up the shaft. Link tried to ignore how her breasts were being pushed into his back...
Shampoo shrugged and swam after her, while Ranko reached around Ukyo's waist and pulled her along.
Dark Link picked up the manacles that were lying on the floor. He smirked. "And so, the game has begun..."
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(Posted Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:57)
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