Offspring

Chapter 9: Collaboration

Moments following Murdoch's bold departure, Prince Sidon hurriedly separated himself from his nieces and began sprinting towards Link, who was standing in shocked paralysis on the edge of the dock. In the last hour or so, he had run all around the Domain in search of Link and his daughters, eventually finding them out at Veiled Falls. On top of that, he had run the long distance from the falls to the base of the dam on the other side of the entire valley, and he even carried Noelani up the stairs after her father had to reluctantly separate from her. Out of everyone in the family that day, the prince had attained the largest amount of exercise, but even so, he was not ready to be done yet.

As he stepped away from the frightened twins, he turned around to face them for a brief moment. "Mira, I need both of you to stay right here! I don't know how things may get!" He paused and turned to glance at her sister. "And...Lani?"

Mira felt Noelani tighten her grip on her hand as she was suddenly addressed by the prince. "Y...Yes, Uncle?"

He sighed. "...We might need you soon. Be ready."

A sinking feeling arose in Noelani's chest upon hearing her uncle's words. In a situation like this, there was only one thing she could possibly be needed for, and it honestly was not on her itinerary. She would do what she had to do, though, and if a dire scenario were to present itself to her...would she really have any other choice?

"...Okay." She whispered.

Following a quick nod of acknowledgement, Sidon turned back around and resumed his rush to meet Link at the dock. It was common knowledge that Zoras could swim much faster than they could run, so for every moment they spent on the dock, he and Link were rapidly losing ground on Murdoch. There was no time for discussion.

Link was stuck, motionless, on the edge of the dock as he stared out at the lake in horror. His first instinct after watching his son dive into the water had been to jump in after him, but, being the Hylian that he was, he would obviously stand no chance in catching him. Currently, all he could do was hope Murdoch would return with his heart still beating.

When Sidon came up behind him, however, he was presented with an alternative. The prince hopped into the lake the same way Murdoch had just seconds before, and when he did, he leaned forward a bit at the surface. Link watched him with heavy breaths.

"Hurry, Link, hop on! We can still catch him if we work together!" The prince hollered.

The hero did not hesitate. As soon as the prince provided him with this offer, he leapt hastily into the water. Sidon was positioned only a couple feet from the dock, so almost immediately after entering the lake, Link was aptly distanced to grab the prince's shoulders. Upon securing his grip on what was essentially his living jet-ski, he glanced behind him and took one final look at the twins. From what he could see, Noelani had her arm wrapped completely around that of her sister, and she was looking randomly off on the horizon. Mira, though, upon seeing him, waved her hand over her head.

He barely had time to wave back to her, however, before Sidon began prepping for departure. Something felt weird to him about separating from his daughters again, but obviously, this time would not be permanent. Of all the candidates likely to die this day, Link was...unfortunately...not at the top of the list. This thought remained stuck in his head as Sidon cleared his throat.

"Alright, Link, hang on. I don't know how much the girls have shown you in the last twenty-four hours, but I can assure you that speed-swimming is not exactly a smooth experience." He warned.