Life in Zora's Domain

Chapter 127 - Sowing Seeds

Summary: Life goes on but with hints at future developments.

It was morning at the Royal Ancient Tech Lab, but as Dr. Purah tried to concentrate on her research, Robbie was getting on her nerves. He kept going back and forth to shelves and retrieving documents, all the while talking to himself. Finally, she had had enough and needed to speak up.

"What are you muttering about, Robbie?" said Purah as Robbie retrieved yet another manuscript from a shelf.

"Was I speaking? Oh, don't mind me, Dr. Purah," said Robbie. "It's Her Majesty. She wants me to provide her with a report on the Great Calamity and everything we did to defend ourselves, including our research, and where we stand today compared to then. Unfortunately, the Calamity happened before Tabs were available to us. So, we recorded all the information on manuscripts, which are time-consuming to go through. I've been pulling several of them now."

"I can help if you need me, though it sounds routine," said Purah. "Lapha is arriving later, and she can help too. Did Her Majesty say why she wanted you to do that?"

"No, but it must be because she fears something similar will happen," said Robbie. "I can think of no other reason."

"Indeed! Well, what is the state of our defense?" said Purah.

"We still have the Divine Beasts and Champions to pilot them," said Robbie. "And your rune for making them resistant to malice corruption proved invaluable."

Robbie paused for a moment.

"Though I'm not sure I should technically call that your rune, Dr. Purah. It came from a future 'you' that doesn't exist anymore," said Robbie.

"It was still me," said Purah, waving away the objection. "But that's not the point. The point is, it worked. Go on, please."

"Queen Zelda or her older daughter has the sealing power from the Goddess," said Robbie. "And Link still holds the sword that seals the darkness. Link is older now, but I understand he still keeps himself fit and combat-ready. And besides all of that, we have the benefit of North Hyrule's help. So, while I need to gather specifics and write a proper report, in short, I think we are in good shape."

"Hmm," said Purah. "I wonder. Link said we underestimated the cleverness of the attack the first time. We should be careful not to overlook anything."

Meanwhile, it was a hot sunny morning on the North Hyrule seacoast, but the brisk breeze off the water made it quite pleasant. Large blue-green waves rolled toward shore, ending with a thunderous crash and the rush of water onto the white sandy beach. Seabirds on spindly legs scurried away, then followed the receding water, hunting for food the wave may have exposed. Young Link stood drying himself off on the beach and watching his wife, Tila, and sister-in-law, Faray, play in the surf with his daughter Tara. Tara was laughing, riding the waves in, then swimming back out for the next one, accompanied by Tila and Faray. Two Zora guards named Kleo and Iona stood by Link and watched them play.

"Your daughter is certainly full of energy," said Iona.

"That she is! I finally gave up and had to come ashore," laughed Link. "I couldn't keep up with her. But they're all still having fun."

"None of us ever fully grows up when it comes to playing in the water," said Kleo. "And we all love coming to the coast here where the waves are so much fun."

"Can we get you anything, Link?" asked Iona.

"No, I'm fine, Iona, thanks," said Link. "Is everything back to normal here now?"

"Oh, you mean the alert?" said Iona. "Yes, it's over, and nothing much happened here in the end. But we heard your mother played an important role in your defense, retrieving a legendary artifact from the Akkala Sea on her own. That was very brave of her."