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Zora’s Fountain in the late afternoon was always a pleasant sight for any traveller passing by. High above in sapphire skies, the sun shone down and illuminated everything that grew or existed there, giving the ground and the few bare trees a golden glow that would have marvelled even the most stoic, depressing philistine. The calm, placid waters glinted with countless golden reflections, as if modestly returning the favour that the brightness above was bestowing upon them. Not that water could be modest, mind you – it wasn’t that sort of substance.
And, if all of this wasn’t enough to impress anyone who happened upon the great spring, then the giant whale floating in the middle of it would probably boggle their mind. A huge, great mass of grey flesh, it bobbed, silently, close to the edge of the great pool like some sort of island landmark. Apart from the mighty tail, which churned the water behind it with even the tiniest movement, the only indication of its existence as a living being was the blinking of its green eyes. For this was the mighty Jabu-Jabu, ponderous enough to be worshipped, if the Zora people didn’t worship him already.
Next to Jabu-Jabu, just behind his great left fin, a fallen tree jutted out of the water, grey and diseased like the rib bone of some obscene animal. None of that, however, concerned the figures that were now pulling themselves from the water, helping each other up as they crawled across the damp bark. One of these figures happened to be a young boy, clothed in a green tunic and pointed hat, the latter sadly doing nothing to keep his dripping blond hair out of his eyes. As he sat cross-legged upon the tree and examined the many cuts and gashes to his arms and face, the shield and sword upon his back glistened with the water that slid off.
The other figure, however, wasn’t exactly human. All the basic proportions of a young human girl were there, indeed, but that’s where the similarity ended and the wild differences began. Her skin, or should we say, scales, glinted like a thousand smooth, minute pebbles in the sunlight. Hair was oddly absent, but a smooth, flat protrusion held a similar function, while small fins adorned her upper limbs.
She was Princess Ruto of the Zora people, and the young swordsman, who was now muttering curses under his breath as he pulled stingers from his arms, was called Link. Both had just survived a madcap adventure inside the enormous whale that shares their pool, involving a shining blue stone, a lot of angry sea creatures and a giant parasitic monster. Neither of them had been happy about that last bit, which had obviously given the young hero some trouble…
“Ouch… stupid – cch – stings,” Link muttered angrily as he plucked at another red sore on his arm, wincing at the pain that shot through him. The only response he got from the affected area was yet another drop of blood, which welled up from some wound invisible against the swelling.
Ruto leant over his shoulder, examining the other numerous cuts that adorned his body. The creature responsible had been a Barinade, an enormous parasitic anemone that Link had fought some time ago. The main trouble hadn’t come from the electric bots which it had shot from its tentacles, nor from when the huge hulk of flesh had uprooted itself and physically chased after him, but from the retinue of titanic jellyfish that clamped onto its soft body to protect it. It was these, with their batteries of stinging tentacles, which had given him the most bother, and as Ruto noted the multiple red patches of skin into which the stings had buried themselves, a look of concern passed over her face.
“Do you want any help with those?” she enquired, placing one delicate hand upon his shoulder. His tunic was still wet, and carried a layer of mucus from the unfortunate encounter with several giant worms. But Link only shook his head insistently. “I’ll be fine,” he grumbled, still picking at his arm, which continued to draw forth blood at every touch.
The young swordsman inwardly cursed his misfortune. Perhaps a few days or nights ago, the Princess Zelda had asked a monumental task of him – find and collect the Spiritual Stones from across the land, for the safety of the kingdom. To be honest, he had not really understood what this had meant – when Zelda implored him to look through the window, and he had observed the strange, armoured foreigner kneeling to the king, he didn’t see anything more than a man who looked like he could win every single bar fight he got into, not someone trying to take over the entire world. But the princess had sounded so frightened, as if convinced of his terrible purpose, and her eyes had gazed upon him so imploringly, he had to concede. Collecting magical stones – that had seemed a simple enough task.
But he hadn’t been prepared for what was to come. Would a young boy, having just stumbled from the forest and sneaked his way into a castle, really expect caves, traps, monsters and the like? Definetley not, he decided with a shudder, recalling the Dodongo’s Cavern and the fight with the alpha male. That thing had been big enough to swallow him whole, and had indeed attempted to do so several times. But thanks to a combination of skill, quick thinking and a lot of high-grade explosives, that thing was now a mere fossil in the lava beds of Death Mountain, slowly stewing on the inside.
A sharp pain in his arm told him he had succeded in his aim. He locked at the red sore, and noticed something long, black and almost hair-thin poking up from his skin – one of the many stings the Barinade had subjected him to. He took the black stinger between thumb and forefinger and, hissing in pain, he drew it out and tossed it away into the water. It later made an interesting snack for a passing fish.
Oh, yes, and speaking of stones… he looked over at Ruto, but he ignored the worried arch of her eyebrows and focused on his original goal – a trio of deep blue sapphires set in a gold backing, hanging from a chain round her neck. He knew exactly what it was – it was the Spiritual Stone that he had been hunting round the mighty Jabu-Jabu’s guts for, and had to suffer carrying the princess around on his back just to get a glimpse of. It swung in the breeze, sparkling in the sun as if teasing him, beautiful in its mere…
“Hold still,” Ruto was saying, “you’ve got one near your eye.”
Link snapped out of his little dream just in time to yelp as Ruto drew an even longer sting from his face, accompanied by a small drop of blood. The Zora princess held it up between her fingers and raised one eyebrow, a smirk on her lips.
Link rubbed his face tenderly. “Ow,” he chided.
She giggled, and punched him playfully on the arm. “Wimp,” she teased.
Link shook his head, even though a smile had formed. Why did she act like this around him? When he first met her, she had come off as a haughty, aloof and temperamental figure, clinging on to her royal background. She had lost her rag at him when he had mentioned her father, and refused to have anything to do with him other than a snide parting remark. A second later, she had fallen through some sort of cavity in the mucus-lined floor, leaving him to jump after her. One short conversation later and he had been forced into hauling her around in search of the stone, which happened to be a gift from her mother. Ever since then, she had acted like a completely different princess, making jokes with him, swapping stories, even repeatedly trying to steal his hat. She stopped, however, the moment the worst case of hat-hair was revealed, but it only served to fuel more jibes.
With a sharp tug, he pulled out the last sting from his knee (very painful) and flung it carelessly aside, where it became a monument for a race of intelligent water ants. He stood up, adjusting his belt, and cast another glace at Ruto.
She was gazing up at him, and for the first time he noticed how very pretty she seemed. Just like the rest of her, her face was slim and delicate, and her eyes were like two azure beacons shining out. They seemed to be calling out to him, imploring him to ask something. There was a slight smile on her face.
“Are you okay?” he asked, quietly. It was the only thing he could think to say right now – being kidnapped by an oversized octopus, held hostage by a giant anemone and being carried through a whale’s stomach definitely should have done something to faze her.
To his surprise, she stood up, facing him. “I’m fine,” she said, frankly. “You were very brave.”
“It’s no trouble,” Link tried, but she suddenly stepped closer, cutting him off.
“You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to keep me safe,” Ruto continued, “and I wanted to thank you!” And at this, she giggled.
Link gulped, and tried not to let his cheeks turn red. “You don’t have to…” he began.
“I do,” said Ruto, and suddenly she was very close to him, so close he could see every pearl-white scale and feel her breath on his cheek. “Princesses always thank their rescuers.”
Link’s right foot began to twitch. It was sending messages up the entire course of his body, screaming at his shaking, confused brain to act and listen to it. Run, Link, it seemed to be yelling. Get your pasty little backside out of here while you still can, and take that spiritual stone thingy with you! And, for a brief moment, his mind seemed inclined to listen to those frantic commands, to take control of his shaking legs and force him to-
She lent in closer.
“Um, I-” Link began, but never got to finish that sentence before a pair of soft lips caught his. His eyes widened as something in his brain fizzled off, and every muscle in his body froze in place, solidly refusing to obey his screaming mind. Heated blood suddenly began rushing at top speed to his rapidly drying cheeks, forcing a blush out of him, and his heart suddenly began to beat fast and loud, every thud very audible within his ears.
He blinked, unable to come to terms what had just happened, and was indeed still happening to him. Ruto was kissing him. Kissing! Back in the forest, where he’d grown up for most of his life, all the Korkiri boys who were his playmates had talked of kissing as a laughing matter, as something to joke about, and made up horrifying tales of the thousand diseases you could “catch” from it. Link never believed any of those stories, but the day Mido joined in with the tales was the day poor Makar began to suffer from night terrors.
Link now understood exactly why he never believed his friends.
Floating silently in his pool, the great Jabu-Jabu swivelled one of his green eyes around, following the motions of a passing bird that was swooping over the lake. He watched it flutter away, and then caught sight of the little spectacle upon the dead tree. It would be nice to think that the mighty whale thought something along the lines of “Oh, how cute. I think I’ll lay a blessing on those two.” But, sadly, whales don’t really have the capacity for that sort of thinking, and besides, he was bored, in a whale sort of way. So he watched, merely because it was the most interesting thing he had found that day.
Link let the sensation wash over him. Ruto’s lips were pressed against his, her eyes were closed, and the rest of her body was slowly sliding closer. Something took hold of him, made him wrap his arms around her and draw her close, made him close his eyes. For a few brief seconds, he was in a little pool of bliss.
A sudden sensation across his lips made him jump – Ruto had brought her tongue across his mouth, throwing a new, tingling pleasure into the mix. He broke away, gasping a little, and opened his eyes, staring into hers.
“Where’d you learn that?” he asked. Ruto merely giggled, and kissed him again. This time, Link was much more receptive, bringing his own tongue sliding across hers. She tasted good, he decided vaguely, and both began to explore each other’s mouths. A moan escaped from Ruto, and she pressed herself closer to him.
They remained like this for some time, and then broke the kiss for air, gasping, excitement and pleasure shivering through them. Ruto looked expectantly at Link, a smile etched on her face.
“Thank you for you reward, Princess,” Link said, out of breath.
“No trouble, good sir,” said Ruto. She leaned in close, but to his ear this time, and whispered something in Link’s ear that made his heart jump.
“Marry me.”
Jabu-Jabu rolled his ponderous eyes. Just because you’re a whale, doesn’t mean you can’t have some common sense, and one of those things common sense gave was never to trust a marriage proposal from someone who was below 18 years of age (or, in his case, 50 years).
“Wait, what?!” Link blurted out, a fresh new blush creeping over his face. No-one told me anything about marriage!
Ruto merely took a step back and brought her hands behind her neck, unfastening the chain that her precious heirloom hung from. Slowly, she unwound the chain and let the stone dangle from her free hand. As the young swordsman watched her actions, utterly bewildered, a small smile formed on her lips again.
“The sapphire… it’s more of an engagement ring, actually,” she explained, and for the first time, Link noticed, she was blushing too. “My mother said only… to give it the man who I’ll marry.”
“That’s… new to me,” Link mused. Giving away priceless stones as a sign of marriage! The people he met every day just got stranger and stranger, it seemed. None of them, however, compared to the Goron people, who spent most of their time either curled up into balls or eating rock, of all things. Living up in the mountains had given a carefree lifestyle that had made him feel rather uncomfortable, what with all the big smiles and pats on the back.
“Father does try hard, but he never seems to find the right suitor for me,” Ruto continued, with a laugh. “He’s completely hopeless at making decisions!”
Link laughed along with her – he knew, somehow, that the fat lug who was probably moping in the throne room right now could never arrange a marriage. The laugh stopped, however, when Ruto suddenly stepped closer again, locking gazes with him.
“I’m going to make the decision for him now,” she whispered, taking one of his hands in her own. “Will you accept my proposal?”
Link swallowed, hard. Marriage… at his age? He couldn’t get married now, he had errands to run, people to rescue and a princess to deliver those Spiritual Stones to! He couldn’t stop being a hero and get married to a girl from a race of… of… fish people! There was no way he was ready make such a big commitment!
But then something in the back of his mind slapped the rest of it. Think it over, it hissed. You need that last Spiritual Stone, don’t you?! You are NOT going back empty-handed, soldier! And besides, you really like her, don’t you? Look at those pretty little eyes and tell me you haven’t fallen for her. Go on, I dare you.
Shut it, snapped the rest of his brain. But it couldn’t argue. During the kiss, something had stirred in his heart, and was now fluttering about like a butterfly that had just come from the chrysalis and was extremely happy about life, nipping at every fibre of his nerves. He couldn’t tell what it was, but it felt… good. As if it had been there all along.
He looked her back in the eyes. Those stunningly beautiful eyes. He gulped nervously, hoping to high heaven that he wasn’t beginning to sweat right now, and took a deep breath. This was it, the do or die moment…
“Yes,” he said, with a small choke in his voice. “Yes, I do.”
He had half expected for Ruto to scream with delight and crush him in a tight hug, or suddenly burst into joyous tears. But instead, the princess smiled gently, releasing her grip on his hand to trail up to his shoulder. The boy hero smiled back, and as they both leaned in for another kiss, he finally realised what that fluttery feeling was.
It was love. It couldn’t be anything else.
As their tongues danced in a passionate waltz, and their lips softly rubbed against each other, Ruto slowly slipped the Spiritual Stone into the palm of Link’s free hand, for his other one had found a home around her waist. The second he felt the cold gem touch his skin, Link closed his fingers around it, while Ruto placed her now empty hand upon his other shoulder and pulled him closer, pressing her body flush against his. Both could feel each other’s hearts hammering against their ribs, and sheer euphoria flooded their minds and left them swimming in a world of their own. A small tear of love slipped from Ruto’s eye and slid down her cheek, and without missing a beat Link raised one hand and wiped it away.
It took great willpower for the two to part from the kiss, but they managed, slowly. For a few moments, they stood utterly still, breathing heavily and blushing furiously. Then Ruto slowly leaned over to Link’s ear again, and whispered gently.
“Don’t tell my father…”
Eyes closed and heart pounding, Link took in every word and clung onto it as if it were made of the most precious stone. A few seconds later, he felt the Zora princess’s hands slide off his body, and heard her dainty footsteps upon the bark of the tree, fading as she walked slowly, reluctantly, away from him. A brief pause filled the area with silence.
Then – a jocular laugh, a splash, and he was alone, standing on a dead tree in Zora’s Fountain and completely dry.
He opened his eyes. The afternoon light suddenly seemed much brighter, the colours of everything around him bolder and more defined. Blinking, he looked down at the stone in his hand, the Zora’s Sapphire, still on its chain, and realised just what had happened.
Firstly, he had just experienced his first kiss. Secondly, he had got himself engaged to a very cute princess. And last, but not least at all, he had attained his original goal of getting the stone. Now he must head back to Hyrule Castle, and deliver all the stones to Zelda, as he had promised.
But he wouldn’t do that just yet. He’d hang out in Zora’s Domain for a while, perhaps endure the sudden rigors of being a public celebrity to a race of fish men, and even join in the party that they might just throw. Maybe they threw parties as good as the Gorons!
With a sigh, he slid the sapphire off its chain, discarding the golden line into the water, where it drifted away on the minute current. Clutching the stone close to his chest, he gazed upwards at the sky, the memory of that last kiss still fresh in his mind and spinning round in his head.
Had he a story to tell Mido, when he got home.
Pocketing the sapphire, he turned round on the branch, and caught sight of Jabu-Jabu, the great whale, staring at him with one great green eye. The boy hero couldn’t be sure, but a twinkle of amusement seemed to be dancing in the emerald iris.
“What are you laughing at?” he demanded.
The whale responded by opening his mouth slightly in a toothy grin. Link took one glance down at the clear water of the fountain, and realised with horror that he’d have to swim again.