Zonai Descendant : A Zelda BotW Story

Chapter Two

It was nighttime in the Faron Forest, and a bright canopy of stars lit up the indigo sky with a silvery light. A warm breeze wove through the palm trees that surrounded me as I drew closer to my destination.

I was walking silently through the dim forest, heading towards Dracozu Lake. It was the best place to pick bananas, and there was a small patch of voltfruit and wildberry plants that was rumored to have been brought over by the Zonai who inhabited the Gerudo Desert 10,000 years ago.

I crept across the forest floor, barely making a sound. It was unlikely that anybody except a member of the Zonai would be in the Faron Forest, especially at night, but it was important that I stayed on my guard. If any member of another race appeared, I was to climb the nearest tree and hide.

As the tall rock that jutted out of Dracozu Lake was starting to become visible in the distance, I stopped being stealthy and picked up speed, running toward the pool of water that was usually warm from the sunlight that shone down onto it during the daytime. I would climb the rock to get the magnificent view of Faron Forest, then gather the fruit and head back.

When I reached the surface of Dracozu Lake, I dove in, feeling the warm water around me. I came back to the surface and began swimming towards the rock in the center. I was about halfway there when I saw something in the water.

A slight sparkle showed, like a gem reflecting the moonlight. It was silvery and bright, and shock jolted my mind.

It must be a diamond!

I plunged under the water, reaching out to the supposed gem. My hand hit it, and I winced in pain.

Stupid Maya! It was just a blade!

I pulled my hand back from what I could now see was just an old, rotting piece of iron that still had a bit of shine to it. Disappointment clouded my mind, and I saw blood from my hand cloud the water around me.

I began swimming to the top of the water, but I felt a tug at my ankle. I looked down, and saw a thick green vine tied around my foot, holding me to the bottom of the lake.

Horror clouded my senses as I pulled and tugged at the vine, desperately reaching for the surface. My lungs screamed for air, and I choked on the murky underwater of the lake.

I'm going to die!

My eyes started to close slowly as my body shut down. My fear was blotted out by a feeling of tiredness as the world around me began to go black.

Farosh, save me...

I felt myself floating upward suddenly as light finally shone through the darkness. I gasped in lungfuls of wonderful, clean air and looked around.

Am I in the Spirit Realm?

I scanned the scene, but I was still floating in the water of Dracozu Lake. I felt my arm being tugged at and sat stunned in the water as I was dragged onto the shore.

I collapsed on the sandy beach, my muscles screaming in pain and my senses clouded from confusion and shock. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I saw the legs of someone kneeling on the ground beside me.

"-you okay?" I caught pieces of the stranger's sentences. "-can you hear..."

As I caught hold of my swirling mind, I saw the sand beside me, and realized that it was soaked with blood.

"Oh, Hylia," The stranger said, apparently realizing the blood as well.

Shock jolted through me. Hylia? My mind started whirling again. Goddess Hylia? Is this person a Hylian!?

I took a deep breath and sat up, looking at the stranger. He was a Hylian, for sure, with deep blue eyes and golden hair. He wore a soaking wet blue shirt with patterns on it, and tan trousers.

"Are you okay?" The Hylian reached out his hand to me. Cautiously, I reached up to grab it, and winced in pain when my hand touched his. I pulled away and looked at the open, bleeding gash across my hand that must have come from the blade I had mistaken for a diamond.

Stupid.

"That's a pretty bad cut," The strange Hylian grabbed my other, unwounded hand and pulled me up from the sand. I wobbled, then regained my balance.

The Hylian put his hand on my shoulder. "What's your name?"

"I..." It occurred to me that I was doing something completely against everything I had been taught my whole life. Talking to this Hylian may expose my tribe, potentially endangering them to the whole of Hyrule's attacks. I could destroy my entire race forever.

But this Hylian seemed different from the descriptions that my grandmother, the Zonai elder, had given me. He was not small-minded, violent, or stupid. Nor was he ugly, not even close. And he didn't seem like the type of person that would want to destroy a race.

"Maya," I quietly replied. "My name is Maya."