Bard of the Wild (Chapter 24) (Patreon)

There were a lot more Lizalfos than I expected. They must be drawn to the moist and swampy landscape. 

It was fairly easy... 

Until they started using shock arrows. 

Why they had shock arrows, I don't fucking know, but they did. 

One hit the puddle next to me, then locked my joints just long enough for another to make contact. 

"Just pull it out." I frown. 

"I'm trying." Linkle states. 

"I'll heal it right after just- HNNG-" I grunt as a large yellowish arrow is plucked from my shoulder. 

ZZT- "FUCK!" She curses. 

A golden light explodes from my hand, coiling around my body as I close my eyes and take a deep breath. 

There's now a hole in my shirt, but the wound is sealed up. 

I can fix my clothes later with mending. 

Linkle rubs her fingers, a small frown on her face, I doubt she is actually hurting- because I healed myself and thus her as well- but she is probably being annoyed by the phantom pain of the little shock. 

"I fucking hate Lizalfos." I sigh. 

"Mhm." She agrees. 

"Are you alright?" Saria worries. 

I roll my shoulder. "A bit stiff now, but I'll manage. My healing is pretty potent." 

I get up off the rock I was sitting on. "So. How much farther to Zora's Domain?" 

"Probably about an hour or so." 

"Hey!" A voice behind us exclaims. 

We turn, seeing Purah quickly rush over. "I finally caught up!" 

Her hair looks a little sad, in its current state, frankly. 

"Ugh. I'm drenched." The woman scoffs, glaring up at the sky. 

"That's hot." I deadpan as I turn and begin walking. "About an hour you said? 

"Yep." Linkle nods. 

"Good." I mutter. "I don't know how many more lizards I can take." 

~~Linebreak~~

We trudge along a long bridge, rain pouring down upon us, I'm soaked to the bone. 

I hope I don't catch a cold or something. 

We eventually come to a large, well, town propped up on glowing pillars. 

There's a large fish-like statue perched up above the largest building here. Everything is made from materials that are shades of blue. I can see numerous crescent moons glowing across the buildings. 

This is... Beautiful, honestly. 

"Wow..." I whisper. 

We slowly walk forwards, some guards posted here giving us curious glances, hushed whispers passing between them. 

We pause in front of a large statue. 

"Mipha..." Linkle whispers. 

"She's gone, Linke." Purah sighs. 

"Yes... I-I know..." The blonde sighs as I place a hand on the girl's shoulder. 

She gives me a sad smile, eventually stepping around the statue. 

We walk forwards, towards the largest building, only to be stopped by two guards wielding spears.  

"The king is seeking no visitors at this time." They intone, giving us a cold, indifferent expression. 

I perk up at their rejection. Seeing as how we must be civilized while we are here that means on thing! 

Bard time. 

Linkle opens her mouth, judging by her irritation, about to say something scathing.  

I can fully understand. I'm cold, wet, probably going to get sick, and irritable... but I place a hand on her shoulder to stop her enraged tirade in its tracks. 

"Are you telling me that the king of your people isn't waiting for Linkle, Hero of Hyrule, the wielder of the master sword to arrive and purify the Calamity that has infested Vah Ruta?" I question with a small smile. "Because if he isn't, by all means, we could come back and leave Vah Ruta for the last Divine Beast we purify." 

"T-The master sword?!" One of the trident wielding fish people blink, taking in my appearance. "Wait... the hero of Hyrule was meant to be a girl..." 

I give him a raised eyebrow then slowly point to Linkle. 

"Oh..." 

"Wait- Arir... that sword- the hilt! It looks like what the king described!" The second mutters. 

You... are right Kiva!" The first whispers. "Quickly. Tell the king." 

A tall man struts forwards, his skin red and scaly, his head looks similar to that of a hammerhead shark, teeth sharp and jagged. He has piercing yellow eyes with slit pupils.  

He... Is not wearing pants... 

Nor are any of the Zora, now that I glance around. 

Huh... well, I suppose it's not like they have anything to hide. 

 "What is all the commotion?" he questions, gazing around to all of us.  

He bows his head slightly upon seeing us. "I apologize, my father is not seeking any visitors at the moment. It is getting quite late." 

"S-Sir! The blonde claims to be the hero of legend!" 

"Sidon?" Linkle whispers. 

The tall man pauses, looking over Linkle with more scrutiny as she pulls her cloth face mask down slightly. "Wait... Linkle?!" 

"It- it has been so long!" The girl smiles brightly. "The last time I saw you, you barely even reached my knee!" 

"It- It really is you!" He breathes. "This is wonderful! Please come inside, friend. My father will want to meet all of you." 

He flashes us a toothy grin, his teeth seem to sparkle.  

"Oh, my apologies, I don't seem to have gotten your names!" He begins. 

"Oh. This is Aurum. My boyfriend." Linkle brings me into a one-armed hug. 

"It pleases me to see that you have found happiness like I have." Sidon smiles. 

Linkle gestures over her shoulder to Purah. "That's Purah. She looks pretty good for being over one hundred and thirty." 

"Stop mentioning my age, Linkle... it's quite rude. You're not that much younger than me." The woman pouts. 

"And this is Saria." Linkle places her hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. 

"A pleasure to meet you, sir." The Kokiri smiles. 

"Wonderful! Simply wonderful! Please follow me." The fishman beams. 

A thought occurs... 

A Zelda Zora reincarnate fanfiction where the main character learns fishman karate from one piece?! 

... 

I shake my head and begin walking forwards as our group is led through the massive palace. 

I sort of miss the times where things were simpler. Where my greatest worry was 'oh no. My favorite livestreamer was sick today and now I have nothing to do!' 

But... honestly? I wouldn't trade this chaos for the world! 

We eventually come to an absolutely gigantic figure well over fifteen feet tall. He is also sitting down, so this probably isn't even his full height. He appears to be some sort of whale Zora. 

Now that I look around, the Zora people seem to all take inspiration from a certain species. 

Sidon is a hammerhead shark. That man over there is a stingray, and the king is a whale. 

I wonder if the Rito people follow the same sort of deal. 

"Father!" Sidon calls up to the large whale man. 

"Sidon..." he rumbles. "Who are these people- wait..." 

His eyes seem to grow wide. "The master sword?!" 

"Father, Linkle has returned!" 

"Ah... I see... with your change of apparel, I almost didn't recognize you... Hylian Champion, Linkle... it is good to see you alive and well." 

"It was touch and go for a while." The girl admits. 

"I had heard a terrible rumor that you had fallen in battle. But it fills me with relief that it appears this wasn't the case." 

"Ah..." Linkle winces. "The thing is, King Dorephan... that rumor was the truth. I have been dead for the past one hundred years or so." 

"..." 

"I see..." He eventually rumbles.  

He closes his eyes for a moment. 

"Linkle... I doubt not that you have endured a great many trials... Still, I must ask you to hear my plea... Zora's Domain is in danger of vanishing because of Divine Beast Vah Ruta... I shall do you the curtesy of speaking bluntly. We, the Zora People, are incapable of stopping this beast. Will you lend us your strength." 

Linkle goes to say something, but then the flat-headed stingray looking Zora quickly exclaims. "What?!" 

"King Dorephan, my liege! Please do not speak so! To ask a Hylian to help. Why, the very thought of it curls my fins!" 

My eyebrow twitches slightly,  Linkle puts on a forced smile, Purah facepalms and lets out a soul crushing sigh, and Saria's expression falls slightly. 

Muzu. I expected more of you." The king booms. "How can you still protest?" 

"Muzu! It is rude to speak like that to your king and his guests! These four are here because I invited them! They are guests of Zora royalty! With such incessant rainfall, we have no choice but to rely on these four! You know as well as I that Vah Ruta freezes anyone who comes close!" 

"Freezes?!" Saria blinks. "Vah Ruta shouldn't be able to freeze. Its true ability was to create and manipulate water!" 

"See! They are clearly out of their depth." The elderly advisor exclaims. "They do not know what they are dealing with! Just like they did one hundred years ago! They abused the power of the ancient civilization and turned Hyrule into what it is today!" 

"Do you even hear yourself?!" I snap. "Divine beast or no. Calamity Ganon would have broken free of its prison and run rampant through Hyrule. It is not our fault the beast adapted to the strategy used so long ago! How can you insult the woman who has died to protect this kingdom?! What have you done?! Frankly we don't need your help. We came here to put a stop to divine beast Vah Ruta from flooding the entirety of Hyrule and we are going to do so with or without you." 

"We have already cleansed the taint from one of the divine beasts... the one that was never unearthed from underneath the Lost Woods. This one holding a vile creature from the first calamity." 

"We are at a point of no return." I continue. "Golden bokoblins are beginning to appear. Who knows how long it'll be before other enemies appear in that same golden shade! We cannot allow stupid prejudice to infest our interactions. We MUST fight together to have any hope of beating back the Calamity!" 

"Golden... bokoblins?!" The king whispers. 

"It's true." Linkle nods. "We only managed to kill it by ambushing it with an ancient arrow. If we had fought it in a true battle, I have no doubt that it likely would have killed all of us." 

"This is... worrisome." Dorephan frowns as he closes his eyes. 

After a moment, he speaks again. "Hylian Champion... your Sheikah friend is correct... Hyrule is at its deciding moment. A tipping point. We must quickly solve the issue of Vah Ruta before it becomes too late." 

A loud trumpeting noise seems to vibrate the very building under our feet. 

"Listen... the divine beast is crying out once again..." 

Another noise seems to follow the first as we gaze towards an open gap in the wall. This entire area is sort of like a large pavilion. The roof supported by large pillars, but no walls in sight. 

"Vah Ruta has nearly filled the eastern reservoir." The king lowly rumbles. "As a Zora. Air and water are as one. So you would not think this is so critical of a problem... however, if the reservoir breaks, the rubble carried alongside the rapids will likely destroy the entirety of the Zora Domain... and any settlements downstream... many lives will be lost. Zora... and Hylian." 

"Yes! And we're going to stop it before it comes to that!" Linkle declares resolutely. 

"Your princess, Zelda, often studied the divine beasts..." Dorephan speaks. 

"I remember." Linkle nods quietly. 

"According to her research, the orbs located on Vah Ruta's shoulders are the mechanisms that control the water it generates. However it requires electricity to function properly. They are currently without charge. Thus, the divine beast appears to be unable to stifle or turn off the flow of water." 

Sidon speaks up. "Seggin, who is quite shock resistant for a Zora managed to strike one of these orbs with a shock arrow, and sure enough it slowed the water for a little bit! It is our best guess that since we did not strike it with enough electricity all at once, the water returned full-force not that much later!" 

"Sadly... Seggin was quite injured by his attempt." Sidon continues. "That's why we decided that we needed a Hylian to assist us!" 

"We need to gain access to the divine beast so Purah can purge the calamity from its systems." Linkle declares. 

"I see." The king mutters. "Yes. If we can reclaim Divine Beast Vah Ruta... it may yet prove useful in sealing Calamity Ganon once and for all!" 

"Once it stops rampaging, you could easily climb inside of it, Linkle." Sidon exclaims. "Let us appease Vah Ruta together!" 

"Thank you, Linkle... we are truly in your debt." The king rumbles. "Here... as a show of faith... I shall give you the Zora Armor. With it, you may ascend waterfalls much like a zora. It should prove useful in your quest to calm the ire of Vah Ruta." 

"King Dorephan! Surely you do not intend to give these outsiders the Zora Armor!" The annoying stingray shouts. "Countless generations of Zora princesses have gifted that armor to the one they have sworn to marry! Princess Mipha made that with her own hands! It's far too important to entrust to some shady Hylians." 

"She may be a champion, but Mipha held no such relationship with any of them! So why should they receive such an honor?! This is too much, my liege! I do not understand it one bit!" The advisor promptly stomps away. 

A long sigh escapes the king as the old man leaves our sight. "Muzu... is not easily swayed once his mind is set." 

"You must understand." He continues. "He was in charge of educating my dear daughter... Naturally, she means a lot to him... just as she meant the world to us... Ever since we lost her to the Calamity, he has grown to despise the Hylian people. I hope you can forgive his rudeness." 

"I understand." Linkle bows her head slightly. "But... your treasured gift... please... keep it to remember her." 

"Aurum and myself do not need it. We can leap off the surface of the water as if it were merely ground... we will be able to reach Vah Ruta easily enough." 

"I see... that... is not something you were able to do one hundred years ago..." The king blinks. "In fact, I remember Mipha being forced to save you numerous times as tried to navigate the lands around Zora's Domain." 

A small blush appears on Linkle's face. "W-Well... I've been trying to grow stronger." 

"Ahhh right. Impa told me you were like a stone when it came to water." I huff, causing the girl to glare at me cutely. 

"Very well." The king speaks. "Sidon. I trust that you will be able to assist them." 

"I will not let you down, father!" 

"Alright, Linkle! Firstly, we must acquire shock arrows!" Sidon beams. "And I know just the place! A Lynel has moved into Polymus mountain! It has an entire quiver of shock arrows!" 

"I can call lightning down from the sky... do we really even need Shock Arrows?" I point out. 

"..." 

"..." 

"I see!" He smiles, giving us a thumbs up, his teeth glinting slightly as he shoots us all a smile. "Very well! We shall move onto the next step of our plan!" 

~~Linebreak~~

"Well. That is quite impressive." I note, gazing out over an expansive pool of water. 

A large mechanical elephant seems to rest in the distance four nearly endless streams of water coming from its body as it shoots numerous spouts up into the air with its trunk. 

I can see large glowing red spots in the darkness. 

"I just need to hit those red lights, right?" I question Sidon. 

"That's right!" He nods.  

"I see." I hum as I raise a hand. 

SNAP 

The sky booms and a streak of lightning arcs down from the sky, it makes contact with one of the lights, causing it to become a bright yellow. 

The divine beast lets out an enraged trumpet. 

The water of the pool slightly vibrating and shaking. 

A few moments later a second appears then a third. 

With another snap, the fourth and final light begins to glow a dull yellow. 

 Abruptly everything stops. 

The torrents of water flowing from the sides of the divine beast slow... then they eventually stop. 

The elephant's trunk splashes down into the water, and the entire thing stops moving entirely. 

"The water spouting from Vah Ruta has slowed down!" Sidon exclaims. 

The water churns as the large elephant seems to float upwards. 

I can see a door slowly crack open on its side, now above the water level. A platform seems to fold out, allowing us inside the divine beast... 

After we get over there, at least. 

"Come on!" Sidon declares. "I can carry you over." 

"Carry Purah." I decide as I reach down and grab Saria under my arm. 

"Eep-" the girl squeaks, but then in the next moment I am moving forwards at high speeds. Ripples and splashes are left in my wake as Linkle quickly matches- and even surpasses my speed, coming to a stop atop the new little platform that sits just above the water. 

I land atop it, sitting Saria down. 

"It's been quite some time since I've been on Vah Ruta..." Linkle hums. "Though it doesn't seem long because those one hundred years passed in the blink of an eye. 

"I as well." Saria agrees as she glances around, taking in the form of Vah Ruta more closely. "You all did a surprising job in restoring the divine beast. It looks close to as it did just after it was first finished... but what I can't wrap my head around is the ice... it shouldn't be able to make ice." 

"It's likely Calamity Ganon had something to do with that." I frown. 

"I see..." The girl whispers. "So, it's not an ability of the Divine Beast... but the power of the evil within." 

"It seems that way." Linkle agrees as she crosses her arms. 

Sidon finally arrives with Purah on his back. The woman steps off, looking around the outside of the divine beast and letting out a low hum.  

"Well... shall we go in?" She asks after a moment of observation, her eyes glowing. 

"First. What are we walking into, knowledge lady?" 

"Well. First off, it seems that the ooze of malice has infested the divine beast itself. There's a lot of little 'points' around that need to be cleansed. Luckily, a little stab with your master sword should do the trick. Next, we need to just flat out turn the divine beast off. We can do that through going to a number of terminals across the divine beast." 

Purah walks over, placing her Sheikah slate on a large glowing raised platform. 

A map of the divine beast seems to get downloaded into her slate, causing her to let out a low hum as she looks over it. 

"I shall join you!" Sindon declares as he begins to climb up onto the platform. 

Abruptly the entire divine beasts shakes. I am forced to reach out and catch Saria as she's about to be hurled from the edge of the divine beast. 

We are carried up into the sky as the beast seems to float higher and higher in the water. 

Sidon was hurled from the platform as Vah Ruta begins to move yet again. 

"I suppose I must leave it to you!" He calls up. "Be careful heroes!" 

He quickly swims away as ice blocks begin to form around the outside of the divine beast, shooting after him. 

"It... It really does use ice." Saria whispers, glancing towards the spiked shards of ice and large cubes. 

They begin to quickly fly inwards, causing us all to turn around and rush inside. 

Ice crashes against the metallic shell of Vah Ruta as it seemingly tries to kill us. 

A long breath leaves my lips. 

"You are here." 

We all freeze. 

"I must say that I am happy to see this day finally arrive... now Ruta can be free of Ganon's control." 

"Mipha?!" Linkle gasps looking around the room. 

"Yes... I have waited for this day for quite some time, Linkle... oh... and Purah is here as well... you have aged well." The ghostly and ethereal voice echoes out around us. "But... this is not the time to chat. Vah Ruta needs to be purified as soon as possible." 

"Alright." Linkle nods.  

As they are talking, I walk over to a large pile of black sludge and slash a large glowing eye that snaps open within it.  

The ooze seems to shriek and bubble as in the next moment it seems to disappear in a black puff of smoke that I make sure to not inhale. 

"If we have to do a bunch of Puzzles... and Purah, if you feel like not using that power of mine. Do me a favor and shoot me in the head and put me out of my puzzle-based misery." I call out. 

"..." 

"Or how bout this, If she refuses to do the puzzles I'll just punch her." Linkle states. 

"Good idea, Linkle." I give her a thumbs up. 

"Mnn." Purah pouts. "I wanted to take a look around at Vah Ruta's inner workings." 

"You can take a look after we've kicked Calamity Ganon out." I deadpan. 

~~Linebreak~~

The ancient machinery around us groans and moans, water splashes underfoot as the entire floor seems to be submerged in an inch or two of water. 

"Alright... the second I try to unlock that... it's going to appear." Purah declares. "Prepare yourselves." 

I draw my sword. 

"This will be dangerous." Vivi speaks quietly. "It's a foe I'm unsure that we are necessarily prepared for... it's hard to estimate these things, I just know that its sheer evil and malice are suffocating." 

Linkle draws the master sword, the blade glinting and brightly glowing in the presence of evil, much like my own. 

"Alright... the second it forms, I'm gonna haste us. Then, Linkle, I'll be casting Bladestorm and using that one speed spell to hurl us at the enemy." 

"Alright." She nods. 

"The floor being covered in water like this makes it so I don't really want to use lightning, so I'll refrain." 

"Can... you even use it inside like this?" 

"I can." I nod once. 

"O-Okay?" Linkle mutters. 

"I'll try and restrain it with vine." Saria declares. 

"I'll just shoot it, I guess." Purah shrugs as she walks towards the pedestal.  

She carefully places her slate upon the slab, then leaps back as there's a pulse of purple energy. 

My grip tightens as blue energy seems to swish past us, spiraling and condensing into a large ball in the center of the room. 

With a sudden flash a... thing appears. 

It has a mane of fiery red hair and purplish gooey flesh, Sheikah technology seems to be infused into its very being, it floats above the ground, one arm replaced with a blocky device that produces a long spear made entirely of blue light. 

A sole eye rests in its mask, a white pupil with numerous purple, blue and black rings that seem to grow outwards in waves, head twitching slightly. 

It swishes its spear outwards slowly, the two inches of water on the floor freezing as the guardian weapon's tip brushes against it. I shift my stance slightly. 

"Haste..." I whisper. "Bladestorm." 

As I shift the way I'm holding my sword, numerous copies of it seems to trail after it in the air. 

Everything slows down as Linkle, myself, Saria, and Purah are all affected by the magic of Haste. 

A low breath leaves my lips, eyes trailing its form, looking for some sort of weakness or target. 

Then... 

Movement.