A Tale of Two Princesses

Chapter 3 - Reclaiming Rudania

Chapter 3 - Reclaiming Rudania

Summary: Link travels to Goron City to wrest Divine Beast Rudania from Ganon's control. Mipha thinks about Link from Zora's Domain and plans to accompany him in the future.

It was late afternoon in Zora's Domain, and little Sidon reached out to his sister. He didn't know what else to do. She had started acting sad. Had he done something wrong?

Mipha saw him reach for her. She smiled, knelt, and picked him up. Then she hugged him and kissed him.

"I'm fine, Sidon, really," said Mipha. "I just miss my friend, that's all. But I have you to play with now. And a hug makes me feel better."

Mipha had been looking for things to occupy her mind and avoid worrying about Link since he had left first thing that morning.

She thought that spending time with Ruta would help, so she had swum out to Ruta after Link left. She had checked Ruta thoroughly to make sure she was in perfect working order, then moved Ruta to a nearby mountain top with a clear view of Hyrule Castle. That was an excellent spot for Ruta, she thought, as she positioned Ruta in place and activated her targeting mechanism. She aimed Ruta where Link would battle Ganon when the time came. But that only made her think of Link again.

Afterward, she had returned home and taken Sidon swimming. He was at such a cute age, and always eager to play! She used their playtime in the water to work on improving his swimming skills, but at the same time making it fun for him, doing things like playing tag. She would swim slowly enough to give him a chance to catch her, but fast enough to make it a challenge.

Besides having fun, she knew she had to help her busy father raise Sidon. Their mother was gone, and so she had to be like a mother to him as well as a sister. And his affection for her showed. He would run to her when she came home, excited to see her and say her name. It was so cute how he said it, stretching out the first syllable. It sounded like "meee fa." That and his sweet, eager expression made her laugh as she gave him a big hug. Then, if there were time, they would go off and play together.

If Link were there, sometimes the three of them would do something together like swim or go on a picnic at Veiled Falls. Link loved playing with Sidon, playfully tickling him or hiding behind a tree while she took Sidon's hand and searched for him. Sometimes she would hide, and Link would take Sidon's hand and look for her. Sidon would laugh with delight when he found her. And Sidon loved it when Link joined them in the water for a three-way game of tag because he could always catch Link and win. It was when the three of them were together that she could see another side of Link, his love of children. The fierce warrior who could slay a Lynel was like a little kid himself when he played with Sidon. He would make a wonderful father, she thought. It was when it was getting close to Sidon's sleep time, and they took him home so she and Link could have some time alone together that Sidon would start to pout. He didn't like to share her with Link! But he got over it.

So, playing with Sidon had occupied her thoughts for a while, but in the end, she started thinking about Link again.

She wondered where he must be by now, and how he would cope with whatever monstrosity Ganon had in store for him inside Rudania. And the more she thought about that, the more distracted and worried she became.

Whatever was inside Rudania had defeated the mighty Daruk, the biggest Champion of them all. Daruk was the easy-going type, friendly, comfortable just being himself and doing his duty. He didn't need to strut or put-on airs like Revali. But Daruk was a strong and a formidable fighter. So, whatever had the power to defeat Daruk was a very dangerous adversary indeed.

She thought all the remaining Divine Beast enemies Link needed to overcome might well be stronger than the one they had just defeated. Daruk, Urbosa, and Revali were all highly skilled warriors, and the best their people had to offer. Overcoming any of them would be no easy task. Yet all had fallen to the creatures Ganon had created.