Live Your Own Story in Hyrule

The sky illuminates with canonfire which reflects on the water as Link, Revali, and Irina return to the ship. The last of the flying shadow beasts are slain and the crew cheers. They toss down a line and Link uses it to climb aboard, helped by Fred.

Irina dips her hands in the water and lifts them, as if asking the water to help them on the boat. After interlacing her arm with Revali's wing, the water bends to bring the two to the deck.

Once she ensures Revali is safe on the deck, Irina sees Kayo close and offers him a gentle smile. She watches everyone celebrate. “You have an amazing crew,” she grins.

Kayo was surveying the scene and checking on his crew. He turns to Irina and smiles to her, and says, “They are the best crew anyone could ask for. Loyal, hardworking, and aligned to a common mission.”

He walks closer to her and looks at her closely, then gestures to her armor, “This you are wearing… it seems to be Zora craft, though none I have seen before. And you appear to have some ability with water.” He looks up to the Hylian woman and asks with genuine curiosity, “Tell me, who are you, Irina?”

Irina watches the crew with a soft smile while Kayo speaks of them. Her expression shows she agrees with him.

Kayo's curiosity is met with her own. Irina looks at the captain with big eyes, maybe not expecting to wake his interest. “Me? I am just a barmaid, Your Highness. But I am lucky enough to be close to the Zora royal family. Well, the one in Hyrule,” she feels the need to clarify. “It is thanks to them that I have both my abilities and this armor.”

Kayo listens carefully to Irina as she gives her explanation. When she mentions the royal family, he looks to Mipha and asks Irina, “Is she your princess?” He offers a smile to her, then turns his attention back to Irina and her armor.

“Ancient protocol was that armor was gifted by royalty to their betrothed. Are you married to a Zora?” He smiles at the thought but is sincere and truly curious. “Unfortunately, we have lost many of our traditions here.”

Kala speaks up, having heard most of the conversation . “Our very culture has been consumed by the shadows.”

Irina turns to look at Mipha as well. “She is our princess. She is wise, strong, and kind. We are very lucky to have her.”

When asked about the armor, Irina smiles, chuckling a bit. “No, I am not married, Your Highness.”

Her smile is lost when she hears Kala. “It is very unfortunate, but we will do our best to help restore it. I know it is hard, but we must have hope.”

Kala looks out at the vast ocean and points to the lights, “Hope has returned. Now we must rid the land of anything that is attempting to dim the light.”

Mipha smiled meekly at the question asked of her. She wasn't expecting the answer Irina gave or more reasonably, she felt it wasn't deserved. Regardless, she maintained face and spoke up, "She wears it well. In the time I've spent with her, I haven't seen her turn away from any situation, no matter how difficult it was," she looked to Irina.

"I was also confused knowing she wasn't married, but I see it complements her abilities and can understand the utility in wearing it. For what we have faced, it necessitates having it." They were bitter words to swallow, but they were truthful. At the very least, they'd have to be the medicine she needs to overcome her ailing emotions.

Turning to look out over the ocean at the lights, she continues, "I have confidence that you all will accomplish this. The light has returned and I doubt it was mere chance that this happened. Even it has a compulsion to fight for its existence."

Irina doesn't know what to reply to Mipha's comments, also not feeling she deserves them. “Thank you for your kind words, Your Highness,” she replies with a respectful nod of her head.

A blank, confused stare follows Mipha's words about the armor. At first, Irina tilts her head and it looks like she is about say something but doesn’t. Her eyes move just enough to look at her own armor briefly before looking back at the Zora princess. But Mipha has moved on to a different topic—meaning that no answer is expected—and Irina does too.

Looking at the two shadow royals, Irina speaks again. “We need to get to the floating islands and retrieve our friend’s sword. We believe that blade is the key to restore the light, both here and in Hyrule.”

Link walks to Princess Mipha's side and beams proudly. He listens to the compliments and feels the need to add his own, “She embodies the spirit of nobility. The fact that she has fought by our side, and so effectively I might add, is inspiring to us all.”

He bows his head to Mipha and then looks back to Kayo and Irina. He points to the Zoran armor and says, “And yes, that is an impressive example of Zora craftsmanship. You must tell me where you acquired it because I want one, too.”

Kayo bows as well to Mipha to exhibit respect. “My… your subjects have such a deep admiration of you, your highness.”

He looks up to Link and says, “You, sir, are a curious Zora, unlike any I have known. Are you from a different place?”

Link grins and says, “Well, I must confess that I am not truly a Zora. I just appear to be one at the moment.

Kayo looks at Link confused but before he can ask he watches as the Hylian removes his mask and reveals his true form.

The Zora prince gasps as do the others on the ship.

“I see…” says the prince.

Irina smiles proudly when Link talks about Mipha. All the compliments are well deserved, and she hopes the princess accepts them.

Her smile grows when Link asks about the armor, nodding politely and a bit nervously, bringing her hands behind her back--not speaking as the conversation moves to Link's appearance. She grins a bit seeing the crew's reaction to Link's transformation.

"But something keeps bugging me... I used the Master Sword to end the Flood and recede the waters... I went with Princess Zelda and her guards to return it to its pedestal in the Temple of Time. The Door of Time were sealed shut before the flood, and only opened after she used her Sage magic to open it up so I could return it with her since we didn't have the Spiritual Stones or the other two keys. So how was it the Master Sword got taken and brought here in the first place after the Door of Time was closed?"

Mipha could understand Kala's sentiments, even if she may have been slightly disheartened at hearing her words. Still, she would hold out hope regarding the opportunity that might very well present itself.

"Evil has a way of overwhelming and corrupting what are considered sacred places. Each of the temples in the land served significance to its people in some form and Ganondorf invaded each one. The Master Sword, despite its power, I can imagine can be affected in similar fashion. However, unlike the temples, it bears a unique sentience that may have contributed to its disappearance. It may have ended up here due to fear or protection or something else," she offered her thoughts on the matter.

"That is what I think, at any rate."

Maintaining her hold on her trident, she turns away from the group to look towards the islands once again. It doesn't appear they're very active, which begs the question of where the others are. Were they successful? Why haven't they returned?

She'd placed a hand to her chest in a self-soothing manner to calm her heart, nearly sinking into the thought that they might very well be in trouble. Naturally, she lowered her eyes from the island feeling troubled. Yet, what was sadness was quickly turned into befuddlement. "What is happening in the water?"

She returned to the group. "Something has happened in the sea. It's filled with streams of light!"

_Gatu runs over and looks downwards to see what Mipha sees._
"Something important must have fallen into the water after what the others did over on the Floating Island. It's hard to tell, but... I think they went down to retrieve it. I think I see a craft of some sort down there, near the farthest stream of light over there." _Gatu said, pointing it out to Mipha if she hasn't spotted it._

"They went down? Are you certain?" Mipha inquired, her voice elevating as she'd stepped closer over the edge to take a look at where Gatu was looking. She couldn't quite make it out in the same way, but it didn't matter. They could very well be in danger. "But the waters... I thought--" She shook her head. "Nevermind, that. I'm going to go after them." She hastened towards the cliff that Link jumped from before. Looking over the ledge, she studied where the guiding light was leading towards. Without further hesitation she dove off the ledge and slipped through through the surface of the sea as smoothly as a knife through butter.

"Be careful Mipha!" _Gatu said after her, wishing her all the luck as she leap and dove down to see what's going on._

Kala crosses her arms and mutters something under her breath... something about "she is going to get herself killed" and "spoiled princess".

She walks to the edge then turns and gives Gatu a sharp look. "Well, are you coming or not?"

Revali came gliding in from above, circling over the area before coming to a landing. He didn't want to run into any issues on his way down. "Hey!" He calls out in greeting. "Me and Red have finally returned. We're coming to pick you guys up and fly you back to a boat out there. Seems a lot has happened and it'll be too hard to explain. Best way I can put it - A whale of light is tugging the boat." He shrugs.

"Don't ask me more, I just got there and got yelled at by Mipha."

Red comes landing soon after Blue and stretches a bit. "We've been doing a lot of flying..." He states. "But yeah, what the Blue guy says is correct. All the others are okay, though. That we know of, at least." He confirmed.

"If you all are ready, just say the word and we can carry you back. No need to get into the water."

Kala was about to jump into the water, maybe grabbing Gatu with or without his permission, but she stops when she sees the two figures on the horizon. She points and then runs to them as they land. "Boat?" She asks confused.

She stares out at murky water and frowns, then turns to the birds. Then the other thing he said clicks in her mind, "Whale... of light? What?" She looks more confused now. "Are they in danger? The people on the boat?"

Revali sighs, lifting his wing to his head to hold it briefly. "Yes, a boat. Whale of light. You heard it right. No one is in danger, thankfully. I'm not making any guarantees, I don't know anything about these waters, so they might not stay that way. But, for now, folks are fine. In fact, a lot of the crew looked like you," he pointed to Kala.

"We should probably get going before we lose sight of the boat. I don't think that whale is intent on stopping anytime soon."

Red grumbled, "I'll pick up from where he left off. There's a boat that's currently manned with a crew. Some of them look like you. Whatever happened on that island there is also responsible for the light in the water. We think they're headed towards its source." He eyes Blue. "It really wasn't that much to describe..."

He then returns his attention to Kala. "But if we stay here, they're probably going to get further away and I don't really want to be stuck here, so can we start flying off?" He thumb points in the general direction of were the boat is.

Kala crosses her arms. This wasn't exactly helpful dialogue, and she doesn't seem to enjoy small talk.

She immediately quips as soon as Red finishes, “Look, take these two…” she points at Gatu and Impa. “I can manage. A few sea serpents don't frighten me. Just try not to get eaten out there. I don't know what your kind tastes like but I am sure our local species would find you all delicious.”

She seems suddenly agitated and impatient to get to that boat. With that brief monologue, she jumps into the water with her spear. She disappears into the sea mist, practically flying across the surface of the water.

"I don't want to find that out. This is exactly why I want to fly away from here and eventually, out of here entirely." Red slouched a bit, thinking about being some sort of sea serpent snack. He took off and grabbed up Gatu, leaving Blue to pick up Impa. "N-not without helping out. I mean, we did sort of make an agreement and I'd hate to be the one to break that..."

"I'm in peak form and I take very good care of myself, so I would assume my taste would be sublime. But, I'm not about to be anyone's snack. I work far too hard just to become some mince meat for a sea serpent out here. Should it come to pass that I am unfortunately eaten, I will make sure the sea serpent that did it will have the worst stomach pains of its life every step of the way." Revali flies over to grab up Impa. "Alright, just hold on and we'll get back to the boat in no time."

"Let's head out. The faster we can go snag that orb of light that fell off the island, the faster we can hopefully stabilize BOTH realms." _Gatu replies, willing to head down and rejoin the others. The sooner they get the Master Sword out of the Twilight Realm, the faster it can stabilize._

Kagetora moves quickly through the edge of the fog, intercepting the small girl and her dog before they can get any closer. He drops to a knee just long enough to steady her, guiding both back with firm but careful hands.

“Stay with the others,” he says, voice calm but urgent. “Do not approach the fog under any circumstance.”

Rising immediately, his gaze looks around the village. He tracks the spreading fog, the panicked movement, the flashes of light where people vanish into it. “This is the same phenomenon reported in Castle Town,” he calls out to those nearby. "Everybody, fall back now! Move to higher ground and keep distance between yourselves and the fog!”
He pauses only briefly, weighing the situation—then the decision is made.

He turns toward the direction of the road leading out of Kakariko, expression resolute. “I need to inform the castle,” he says, more to those who can hear than anyone in particular. “The Princess must know at once.”

Without hesitation, he breaks into motion, moving swiftly and silently along the outer edges of the village, leaving the evacuation in capable hands. He needs to carry the warning now.

Kanali watches Kagetora and hears him. He checks on the man he just helped one last time, then says, "Sorry, I must go. Please keep people away from the fog."

He jumps into the air and takes flight, catching up to Kagetora. "Sir!" he calls out from above. "Sir!. There is a similar fog near the castle. I can help you get the message to the castle if you want."

heads for the stairs leading up to the gate to Death Mountain with his burden. >_<; As they make it up the first flight and turn toward the north exit, the old man glances down worriedly and sees the spreading fog rising up to the ledge they just surmounted. >.>; "J-just leave me, we won't make it--" "Save it!" John snaps, tightening his grip on the man's arm. They stumble forward together, walking a deadly tightrope between going too slow and losing even more time by pushing too hard and falling down. Fortunately, the higher the fog goes, the more space it has to spread out in, so it moves outward slower...but it's definitely creeping along the ground behind them now.

In fact, it's also coming from their right. >.>; John watches tendrils form along the second set of stairs, cutting them off. Well, just have to hope they can hold their breath and withstand a little--

"Up here!" The gate guard kneels on the ledge on the left side of the stairs, holding his arms out urgently. o_o John quickly leans the old man against the wall, then crouches down and wraps his arms around his thighs. With a grunt of effort, he lifts the man upward. The guard grabs hold of the old man's arms and pulls from above. With the weight partially relieved, John switches hold and grabs the old man's feet, pushing him the rest of the way up just as the fog closes in around him.

After a tense moment of blindly following the wall to mount the stairs with eyes closed and breath held, John turns around and chances a peek. -xo The fog appears to be paused in its ascent, coming no higher than midway up the stairs. Whatever was releasing it must be running out. John exhales and trudges over to the old man and the guard. "Whew...that was a close one."

The old man doesn't look around. "He should've saved himself," he says sorrowfully. "He had so much life still ahead of him." v_v

John gives a short-breathed guffaw. "Hey, I think I'm gonna be okay. Stop moaning." X)

The guard peers cautiously over the ledge. "He just...disappeared. I can see the ground below us through the fog, but I can't see _him_. It's like it _dissolved_ him." o.o;

John furrows his brow. "Hey, I'm over here! Behind you!" John goes to put a hand on the guard's shoulder -- and it passes right through. o.o;