Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and all of it's characters are the property of Nintendo. I do not, in any way, own, nor claim to own, any of the trademarked characters or content used for this fan-fiction. This is a fan-made story written for entertainment purposes only. No copyright violations intended. (Of course, you already knew all this, but I have to say it anyway just to avoid trouble from any instigators out there who have nothing better to do with their time than to go around and falsely accuse fan-fiction writers of committing copyright violations.)

Mipha's Beloved
A fan's adaptation of a side-story from Breath of the Wild

"Recall the Champion of Ruta's wrath,
before she walked her chosen path.
Mipha's kindness was known to all,
which is why the princess came to call."

~Ballad of Champion Mipha, Composed by Kass

Chapter 1
My Empty Home

The rain falls steadily upon the mountaintops as I make my way back to Hateno Village with my latest catch in my bag: a sizable Hyrule bass impaled with an arrow. This weather isn't exactly the best for climbing in, but it's been more than a week since I've last been out this way and I do enjoy the view, so I don't mind taking the little extra stretch.

Standing atop Ebon Mountain, I look out to the sea. The weather doesn't really make for the best view, but the sight of the water gives me a sense of nostalgia for my childhood days spent splashing in the waters of Lanayru with my closest friends.

Not that I remember those days very well... That's kinda the problem with being an amnesiac. But being around the water does still invoke a sense of familiarity, at least. And so I like to try and imagine myself living back in those days again and hope to awaken some more of these lost memories that I feel so nostalgic for.

Turning around, I resume my hike back to Hateno. It's just a short trip. I then take notice of a man standing all the way out here near a pond on the mountaintop, which I find odd. It's not often you see another Hylian out in the rain like this. Especially not so far from the path! It seems somewhat suspicious...

I should find out what's up with this unusual character. He could be lost. Or worse; he could be a disguised member of the Yiga Clan causing trouble...

I approach with caution, keeping a firm grip on my weapon in case I need to draw it suddenly. There's no telling what kind of lunatic this guy could be. Hyrule has a lot of lunatics. I should know that better than anyone by now.

"Hey," I greet him casually, not allowing my suspicion to show to keep him off guard in case he might be dangerous. You can't be too careful.

"Huh? Wha_?" he says as he snaps out of his thoughts at the sound of my greeting. It appears he was beginning to doze off. "Oh, hey, kid," he says to me. "You here to meet your soulmate too?"

I raise a brow in confusion. "Huh?"

Meet my soulmate? What is he talking about?

He merely laughs at my response. "Hey, don't be shy. I'm here for the same reason, after all," he replies, as if trying to reassure me there's no need to be embarrassed while pointing down at the pond he stands beside. "Why else would anyone come all the way out here? To be honest, though, I've been waiting for a pretty long time, and...well... Nobody's shown up yet. I thought this was the 'sweetheart's pond' everyone talks about, but maybe I'm in the wrong place?"

The 'sweetheart's pond'..?

I take another look at the pond he is talking about and notice that it's shaped very much like a heart. But with a short wall of stone zigzagging through the middle, making it more like a broken heart.

Oh, that's right! I think I heard something like this before...

There's an old legend about a heart-shaped pond said to exist in Hyrule. It is believed by some that any couple who meets at that pond is destined to find eternal love together.

Okay, I think I get it now. This fellow believes this pond to be the one from the legend and is waiting out here in hopes that some single woman will come by and he'll find a soulmate in her.

"Where's that special someone I've been waiting for?" he continues to vent, seemingly growing discouraged. "Is this a sign? Should I put myself out there more?"

I am skeptical about the legend, or that this pond is even the one he thinks it is. "Try another pond," is all I can think to say to him at the moment.

"Hmm. Hmmmmm..." he mutters, as if taking my words into deep consideration. "You really think that'll help?"

I guess he may be more serious about this than I thought...

I'm not exactly what you'd call an expert on this sort of thing, but I feel as if I should offer this poor guy some sort of actual advice. Meeting a nice woman to settle down with is obviously pretty important to him, but that's not likely going to happen via his current approach.

"Not really..." I admit, taking back my sarcastic remark and trying to think of something more meaningful to say. "I mean; you can't just expect some pond to find a soulmate for you. You'll have to put in some effort of your own and always strive to be the best version of yourself if you expect someone to consider you as her ideal match. Surely some woman out there will come to notice and appreciate you for what you're really worth if you just openly and honestly express yourself, not trying to hide your true self, but always seek to improve who you are when necessary. Just... Believe in yourself!"

I'm not quite the best with words, so that may have been rather abrupt, but I hope I said the right thing that can make a real difference for this man...

"Are you trying to cheer me up? Because don't worry about me!" he replies, perking up just fine. "My mom always said, 'You can do anything you put your mind to, Mimos'."

'Mimos', huh? So that's his name, I guess.

"Anyway, what about you?" he asks me, as if he considers me to be the one in need of advice. "Putting your faith in some silly legend won't make the ladies come calling!"

"Huh?" I stand somewhat confused by his remark. "Wait_ What makes you think I'm out here because of some legend?"

"Heh heh. It's pretty obvious to me!" he laughs, as if assuming I'm just trying to hide my embarrassment. "You must be pretty hungry for love yourself if you'd come all the way out here in this kind of weather!"

"What?! No! I_" I begin to say, but then quickly decide that I have more important things to do than waste my breath trying to explain myself to someone I don't even know. "Oh, never mind... Good luck on your search..." I say as I turn to leave.

He just laughs and waves me off. "Yeah, and you on yours, buddy!" he teases, still convinced that I'm just as desperate to meet a girl as he is, but too ashamed to admit it for myself.

Meh. Whatever. I just shrug and continue on my way with no concern of what he says. I really couldn't care less what people think. Nor about finding my soulmate.

After all...

How can you hope to find someone who's been lost by death?

I make my way back through Hateno Village and to my house there, which I had purchased not long ago. I was told that the place had been vacant for years and was planned to be demolished, but having no place of my own, I saw this as a good opportunity and offered to buy it instead. Bolson, the man in charge of the demolition, had agreed to let me buy the place at a discount price of only 3,000 rupees in exchange for a large haul of wood, which I managed to provide, and so everything worked out well. He was even kind enough to provide me with a free weapon mount as a bonus!

Having only one main room and a loft, it's not a very big place, but that's all that's necessary for me, as I don't quite live there like any ordinary home-owner would. My quest prevents me from truly making anyplace my home, as I spend most of my days traveling through the wilderness on my journey to free the Divine Beasts, and so this small house of mine is mainly just a place where I can rest my head and store my extra supplies in between travels, which is just what I was looking for.

As I arrive, I notice Bolson and his employee Karson still sitting vacantly on my lawn beneath the tree even in this rainy weather, which they've been doing ever since I told them I'd buy the place when they were about to demolish it (Yeah, it's pretty weird)... I notice Bolson seems to be eating a plate of fruitcake as he sits. Wouldn't that be a form of cannibalism in his case?

In all honesty, one of the reasons I had thought that buying this house would be a good idea is because of the way it's located in such a desolate corner of the village where I thought I'd get plenty of privacy. But I somehow overlooked the possibility that the carpenters would still be there loitering in front of it...

Every

Single

Day.

I can understand them taking a break on the lawn back during the time when I had asked them to cancel the demolition to let me buy the house and they were waiting for the wood that I had promised to gather... But why are they still sitting around even after I've bought and payed for the place and have moved in?! They do eventually go away at night...only to come right on back to spend the entire day sitting on my lawn again the very next morning! Where's the logic in that?!

Sure, it does make it convenient to find them whenever I need something built for me, but I sure would have thought that they'd have moved on and gotten back to their regular carpentry a long time ago instead of sitting on my lawn all day each and every day! And even when I do hire them to build something, they always seem to finish the job in record time...only to sit back down on my lawn again the instant the work is complete and continue to spend the rest of the day there!

Seriously, don't these guys have anything better to do with their time? I mean; they sent Hudson, the third member of their crew, off to Alkala to start a new branch of the company, and he's now out there trying to build an entire new village single-handed from the ground up, and he's been struggling to find any acceptable help because of Bolson's weird rule that no one is allowed to work for the company unless their name ends in "-son". So even if they don't have any work to do around here at the moment, wouldn't it make more sense if they'd be out there in Alkala helping him build instead of sitting around here on their lazy butts all day?

And even if they really do have to sit around vacantly all the time -which I doubt- why must it be on my lawn?

As I head in, I walk by as quickly as possible and avoid all eye-contact with them. If I don't need to hire them for anything, then I'd much rather not have to interact. If I did, Bolson would probably just start showing me that ridiculous signature dance of his again, anyway.

Yeesh! The very idea of that torturous image makes me want to disinfect my poor eyes...

While it's true that they're good carpenters, and they do seem to be quite generous, but I'd be lying if I claimed not to find them creepy in any way. When I had hired them to build my house a door, I made sure to install the lock myself after they left for the night so that I'd know they can't get in while I'm not around (or worse; while I am here and asleep), since they obviously spend way more time here on my property than I ever could.

I often find myself thoroughly searching my house for any possible hidden cameras that they could have secretly installed in here for whatever creepy reason. I don't think they'd have access to that sort of technology, but then again, there is a tech lab right here in Hateno. I'm not taking any chances with these weirdos.

I hastily close and lock the door behind me upon entering. After glancing around the room once again for anything that could possibly conceal a hidden camera, I remove my wet clothes and hang them to dry after determining it safe to undress.

I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised at the totally weird behavior of these kooky carpenters; I've met a LOT of weirdos on my travels. You've got the local Sheikah scientist who is over a hundred years old but with the appearance and behavior of a small child; another from Alkala standing some three feet tall and in love with his ancient oven (much to the nerve of his jealous wife, who is some fifty years younger than him); there's that hotel clerk who says it's her dream to own a collection of 100 crickets; some elderly painter who's claims to have spent his entire life traveling the world in search of beauty to capture in his art...yet all his paintings still look like they've been made by a five-year-old; there's that legion of bloodthirsty assassins out to kill me who have an inexplicable obsession with bananas; oh, and don't even get me started on those creepy Great Fairies! Yeesh! Living nightmare material right there! I can see why people eventually stopped coming by their springs to offer them rupees.

There are also those kinds of weirdos who scream aloud in panic and/or look at you funny whenever they see you walking around town in your underwear. I really don't get what their problem is. It's not like I've got some sort of skin condition or anything! Though I notice it only seems to be human races that react this way, so I've learned that it's best to just always stay clothed around other humans. They can be so strange sometimes...

I've also encountered people who get confusingly offended whenever I stand atop the counters of their shops or when I smash their pots. You know, just minding my own business like any regular person would do.

Like, seriously; if you've got such a problem with other people wanting to break your pots, maybe you should keep them in a better protected area or put up a 'DO NOT BREAK' sign instead of just leaving them out inside your unlocked house for a random trespasser to come in and smash! I mean; naturally, any innocent traveler who decides to let themselves into your house without permission and sees your pots laying out in the open like that is immediately going to assume that they're there for them to break! It's just common sense! Don't blame me if you were too reckless to properly secure your belongings better! It's your own fault for being so misleading!

Yup. It's like I said earlier; Hyrule has a lot of lunatics. I'm just glad I'm not one of them.

After getting out of my wet clothes, I set the fish I caught today down on the table to be prepared to cook later. I take another look around my little house. It's just as I left it after my last short stay here: desolate and neglected...

Yes; quite neglected.

Truthfully, the place looks more like an empty storage house than an actual home, and considering the way I use it, I suppose it could be called just that. There is only one thing in here that is truly eye-catching; my most prized possession: the regal trident displayed on the weapon mount hanging on the wall.

It's not just any regal trident; it's the one and only Lightscale Trident, which I could never dare take into battle. I know it may sound silly to have such a powerful weapon and never want to use it in combat like it was made for, but I couldn't bear to get even the smallest scratch on it.

I look upon it fondly. I notice that it has collected a little bit of dust since my last stay here. This won't do! I take it down from the wall and delicately wipe it with a cloth.

Of course, it's no surprise at all that it would collect dust; this whole place is dusty! I really don't have the time to stay and keep this house tidy like any good home-owner should, but I'm not too concerned with the condition of my house right now when my quest is such a high priority...

But I am concerned about the condition of the Lightscale Trident. A treasure this precious must never be allowed to suffer neglect.

Having thoroughly removed every last speck of dust I could find, I then proceed to wipe the dust from the weapon mount it belongs on; it wouldn't do to set something so precious on a dusty mount! Once the weapon mount is also clean, I gently set the cherished trident back on its place on the wall. It looks so out of place on such a modest weapon mount and really should be displayed someplace far more grand, but this is unfortunately the best that I can give it right now.

I stare with both admiration and heartbreak at the sacred trident on my wall. The sight of it always fills me with mixed emotions. I reach out and tenderly stroke my fingers across it's surface.

A sigh of regret and sadness passes through my lips as I think about the one whom the Lightscale Trident had belonged to...

As did my very heart.

"Mipha..."

Thanks for reading! So I had actually started this story a long time ago, before I had even finished playing Breath of the Wild, but I've been working on it very slowly, since TriSpirit, another Legend of Zelda fanfic I'm working on, has been a higher priority, plus I also wanted to match the dialogue in this story to the actual game's as best as possible, but it's been kind of hard to find the references to the NPCs' lines that I'm looking for on the internet (especially since so many playthroughs on YouTube prefer to skip NPC dialogue altogether!), but now that I've started a second playthrough of the game of my own in Master Mode, I've been able to take notes and write down the dialogue as I go, so I've finally been able to get this story going!

This will be sort of a retelling of Zora's Quest in BotW (which was easily the best part in the story, in my opinion), but with many original memories added and new stages of character development. And as you can see from reading this chapter; there will be quite a bit of humor involved as well. A lot of it will be poking fun at the odd behavior of the denizens of Hyrule, or at some of the strange cases of logic behind the Legend of Zelda series in general. (Who doesn't like the craziness that is video game logic?) Reviews are always welcome, but I do respectfully ask that you please refrain from making any vulgar remarks and/or using profanity. Thank you.