The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Queen

Just Come Home Safely

"So, Link, you and Midna are...?" Kilm talked into a silence that seemed unbreakable as Link stared at the spot where Midna had stood moments before.

"I don't know. I don't know what we are." Link shook his head like he was coming out of a daze. The silence crept back in.

"What's The Light Realm like? Are the Zoras nice? What does the Zora's Domain look like?" The questions exploded out of Kilm like he could contain them no longer.

"See for yourself." Link smiled slightly as he closed his eyes. He pictured curved walls like the inside of a shell and water that filled a pool in the center of a circular room. A stream ran from the pool out into the light. The water was reflected on the blue and pink walls, dancing in the shadows with a calm and peaceful grace. Pillars rise close to the walls, like the spiked spine of a sea creature, the backbones of a fortress.

Link and Kilm landed with a splash in the center of the throne room. Link swam to the steps with a practiced ease, grabbing the floundering Kilm by the collar of his tunic.

"Link, you've found a new way to travel? How peculiar... What brings you here?" the young Zora prince asked with a slight incline of his head. He sat on a large throne that made him appear small and little. He was purple gray in color and decorated with gold jewelry. His eyes were green and were placed in a head that looked almost like that of a squid, tipped with an orange fin resembling a shell. Hanging from his neck was a hooked piece of pink coral attached to a gold chain.

"Prince Ralis," Link said, bowing so deep that the tip of his hat flopped in front of his face. Kilm followed suit after a moment of hesitation.

"Well? What is it?"

"An army of vile creatures are gathering around Hyrule Castle. The Twili warriors are prepared to help defend the castle tomorrow, but we aren't guaranteed to win without great loss of life... We need the help of the Zoras if we are to have any hope of living." Kilm in his best diplomatic tone, trying to communicate a sense of urgency and need. He was doing quite well considering this was his first time consciously in the Light Realm and questions nearly overfilled his mind.

"Hyrule?" The prince consulted the Zora standing next to him. "A few of our scouts have gone missing on their way to the castle." The advisor said something in the prince's ear. The prince shook his head viciously upon hearing it.

"It was a Twili who killed my mother and locked the Zoras in ice," the boy spoke softly and with great sadness, looking over his shoulder to the empty air behind him.

"Yes, Prince Ralis. We weren't in our right minds, controlled by one of our own, but I will not deny that it happened. That is why we must fight not. Not only to save Hyrule, but to begin the process of righting the wrongs our people caused." The prince looked over his shoulder at the empty air again.

"Mother likes... Would have liked you." He corrected himself with a small sigh. "The Zoras will help, but not for you. We will fight for the safety of Hyrule." The Zoras had agreed, the Twili would not be massacred in a strange land. Kilm began relaying battle plans, looking to Link in grim excitement. This was not the adventure to the Light Realm he had hoped for, but he was going to enjoy it all the same.

"Good luck," Link whispered, closing his eyes. He had other places to be and no time to waste.

Link walked through the shallow spring waters. He was still soaked down to the bone from the Zora palace. The water of this spring was ice cold, a sharp contrast to the sweltering heat in the air. Link shivered as his bare feet touched the dry ground. Red gravel stuck to his skin, blistering away some of the ice.

"Hello?" he called out, scanning the seemingly abandoned houses for signs of life and, more importantly, Epona.

"Hello Link," the shaman greeted him. The shaman was walking back from the graveyard. He wore a long white and purple robe, his sandaled feet just visible beneath the folds. His hair was long and thick, in many braids yet moving as if they were one.