Blood Moon: A Story Before the Calamity

Chapter 5

     Mipha, the Princess of the Zora, wielder of the Lightscale Trident. The Champion-to-be that knew Link best. The one that Link always turns to in times where he just couldn't handle it anymore. The one that never judged him, the one he felt the safest with.

     They met when Link was only 4 years old. Hylia, that was such a distant time into the past. A time where Link knew no suffering, no loneliness. When he was just another child. 

     Anyway, the only thing he could remember from their first meeting was how she was red, swam really fast, smelled like fish, and made his wounds disappear. But as time wore on, his impression of her began to change. Or rather, her impression of him began to change.

     Mipha started looking at him differently. Link was positive that she cried more than he did about the death of his sister and Mother, days apart, at 12. Her eyes lit up with pride when he showed her the Master Sword for the first time at 14, but there was a kind of sadness that he couldn't comprehend. In the visits in between, Mipha was always glad to see him, no matter how much he had changed. She was the one constant in his life, the one person that stuck by him, throughout his entire life.

     But there was something about her than made Link uneasy. He had seen the way she looked at him, how she got flustered, how she smiled timidly when he looked at her. 

     Link knew she fell for him.

    (I mean, it wasn't very well hidden, was it? Especially in AoC, I mean come on...)

     Link had wondered about this subject many times, turning it over and over in his head, arriving at and discarding conclusions. Was it wrong that he felt next to nothing for her? Yes, of course it was wrong. She had been there for him through all of his ups and downs... so it must be the good thing to do to be there for her once. But how do you fall in love with someone manually?

     Link found that this complicated their relationship. The simplicity of a simple childhood friendship was gone, replaced by an awkward half-love half-platonic cycle where Mipha was nicer and nicer to him as time passed and Link just became more and more stony.

     But this changes things, again. Now, they will not simply be childhood friends, they will be battle partners. Something Mipha did that never failed to amaze him was her healing power. She generated this glowing blue light from her hands, and it was like it sucks the pain right out of the wound, closing it, banishing it without a mark.

     Too bad that despite her healing power, she couldn't heal a shattered heart.

     Anyway, Link and Zelda paid the majestic Zora's Domain a visit. Out of all the towns in Hyrule, Zora's Domain had to be the most beautiful. The fish statue at the very top, perched, twisting, at the tip, watched over the Domain with a type of grace non-Zora cannot achieve. The entire building glowed with a serene blue light. The sound of waterfalls and the chirping of birds provided the most relaxing ambience one could ask for. The peace of Zora's Domain was different from Rito Village, and yet again different from Goron City.

     Zelda met Mipha at the top of the Veiled Falls. The sun was sparking on the water as Mipha watched her little brother Sidon struggle through the harsh currents. 

     "So Princess..." Mipha's voice was soft, gentle. "May I ask who the other chosen Champions are?"

     "Goron vigillance, Daruk. Rito confidence, Revali. Gerudo spirit, Urbosa. And also..."

     Zelda hesitated, folding her hands closer to her uncomfortably. "The Hylian with the sword that seals the darkness. Link."

     Mipha's entire attitude changed. It went from genuine curiosity to a heavy quiet, weighted with meaning. She turned away. "Oh..."

     She walked a few steps to the edge of the waterfall. Sidon's tiny head was bobbing up and down, his eyes confused and scared.

     "Sidon! Hurry and swim up here!" Mipha called.

     "Mipha!" Zelda's surprise showed in her voice. "Perhaps he's still too young to swim up this big waterfall." It was daunting simply to look down, even for Zelda who was seventeen. Sidon was still but a baby, how could he manage to make it up?

     Mipha walked to the edge and put her hand to her chest. "One day, Princess... I must leave him... to face my fate with Ruta." A mixture of pride and sadness echoed in her voice. Zelda couldn't help but wonder if she was really talking about Sidon at all.

     Flashing Zelda a kind smile, Mipha did a gracefull backflip and skitted down the waterfall, reminding Zelda of a dance. In the middle of her descent, she dove down, a fluidity in her movements, and landed with a splash. 

    "Join me. We'll go together so you can get a feel for it." Mipha said to her brother, a kind and understanding smile dancing around her lips. Sidon swam closer held on to Mipha tightly.

     "Let's go!"

     Mipha shot up like an arrow, riding the currents like she had been born for this. As she wove in and out of the water, Sidon looked astonished, the thrill setting in. 

     Mipha flipped out of the water, droplets in an arc behind her, landing on her feet neatly without so much as a stumble.

     She kneeled down and gently cupped Sidon's face with her hands. "Sweet Sidon..." He voice was filled with love. "Should fate ever part us, I'm counting on you to protect our beloved home from harm. Understood?"

     Sidon looked daunted, confused. However, he still nodded with conviction. It was clear how much he trusted his sister.

     "I believe in you." She, then, raised her index finger and smiled affectionately at Sidon. "Now, shall we try one more time?"

     Sidon grinned, his teeth flashing in the sun. They laughed, sharing a peaceful moment in the face of difficulty. This happiness was so fragile, Zelda was afraid to interrupt in the fears of breaking it.

     Zelda rather liked Mipha. She was gentle, considerate. She gave only the best of her to her people. Zelda liked to think she was a princess able to compare with Mipha, but she wasn't. Mipha was everything she couldn't be, and therefore, she had so much to learn from the Zora Princess.

     And Zelda would discover later, Mipha had her own fair share of pain. They would grow to be close, a sort of mutual understanding close, close in a way that even Urbosa and Zelda's relationship couldn't parallel. Mipha would be Zelda's first normal friend, the pair that giggled and squealed together, the pair that told each other all their secrets, in a very long time, and Zelda would be Mipha's. 

     Zelda was starting to be hopeful of the future. With the 17th birthday deadline looming over her head, she was pushed to the point of breaking. But now, with these amazing people fighting by her side, sharing her burden, protecting the land she loved, her spirits couldn't help but lift. Hyrule was in good hands. And if the final Champion accepts, Ganon was as good as dead.