New Horizons - A Skyward Sword Aftermath Story

9 - The Zora's Domain

Standing atop a large sand dune, the two grew mesmerised by the saphire waves that crashed against the soft white sand. It was enchanting to hear the hasty wind blow, which carried the water along. To smell the salty sea air was a strange sensation, but it was oddly refreshing. Zelda stared up at a flock of unfamiliar, small grey and white birds that created a melody from their repeated cawing. They magestically twisted and turned in the air, and even sometimes hovered using the strong gusts.

Link spoke up.
"Shall we walk down to the-"
He turned to face his friend mid-sentence, to find that she was gone.
"Zelda?"

Without him even noticing, the girl had began sprinting down to the beach below. The boy chased after her.
"Hey! Wait up!"

In the blink of an eye, Zelda threw off her boots, rolled up her trousers and paddled around in the cool, clear water.
"Wow! We really have spent thousands of years missing out on things like this?!"

Link eventually caught up, and watched her dance around from the dry sand.
"Come on!" his friend called out. "Aren't you going to join in?! The water's really nice!"
The boy laughed and shook his head. He'd look silly to splash around in the water like that.
"No, I'm good."
"Why not?! It's not everyday you get to come to somewhere like this. You should enjoy it!"

He folded his arms and smiled politely again. "No, really, I'm fine- HEY!"
Zelda slowly waded through the water up to him, and before he could react, she playfully splashed him.
"Hey! What's that for?!" He complained. "I've only just dried off from our near-death experience earlier!"

Ignoring his nagging, the girl smiled at her friend devilishly. Without saying a word, she splashed him again.
"Stop that!" He growled.

His friend giggled and continued to throw more handfuls of water in his direction. She stepped further away, so she could still bombard him with attacks of water, while there was no way he could reach her.
"Make me!"
Link let out an irritated sigh, but couldn't keep up the act any longer; his lips curled into a smirk. Throwing off his boots, he ran after her.

Both being rather competitive people, it felt as if the ground was rumbling from how hard they were splashing the water. Like a giant water fountain, water came falling down everywhere. It didn't take long for the two to be completely soaked once again.

Eventually, Zelda admitted defeat, resting her hands on her knees. She laughed in between heaving breaths. Link wiped the water droplets from the ends of his soaked hair. His clothes clung to him once again.

Looking at the other, the boy noticed she too was drenched from head to toe. As she looked at him, her eyes were curtained by her dripping wet bangs. He stepped closer to her, and slowly swept them to the side with his finger. The coldness of the water rouged her cheeks and the tips of her ears, beads of salt water glistened on her skin. Even as she stood there drenched, she was still the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

He felt himself slowly leaning forwards, but this time, he didn't even fight it. He gently cupped her cold cheek, and pulled in closer. He could taste the saltiness of the sea water on her lips, but the softness of them was too addictive. The girl held onto his arms, while also feeling herself fall deeper into the moment. She noticed that, in moments like this, she finally felt... safe. There was something about him being so close to her, and feeling his warmth around her, that felt so magical.

All of a sudden, Link pulled away. He furrowed his eyebrows as he stared past his friend. Zelda tilted her head in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
"I... Feel like we're being watched."
He muttered.

Upon turning around to also look, Zelda gasped in shock, as she watched a peculiar blueish figure slowly emerge from a cave in the distance. Squinting her eyes, she still could make out that the mysterious shape appeared to have similar anatomy to a human: a head, two arms, and two legs.