Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Legend of Zelda/Nintendo

Shadowed Waters

1

Departure

"Okay, everything's all set," said a man with a silvery handlebar moustache and a receding hairline. He stood in a stately manner on the wooden dock, very out of place with his delicately pressed royal blue coattails blowing in the breeze. "Agitha, sweetie, are you ready?"

"Yes father," answered Agitha dully; she was seventeen now, why must he insist on still calling her sweetie? And in public too! She thought, eyeing her escort; a tall young man, clad in official leather uniform of the Hyrule guard. His broad shoulders and well-muscled torso distinct even through the thick fabric. The breeze ruffled his soft blonde hair.

Her father turned to her and smiled, weathered skin crinkling around his purple eyes; eyes that nearly exactly matched the shade of his daughter's. "I can't believe your so grown up, and leaving Castle Town!"

Not by choice, thought Agitha acidly, but she held her tongue and silently hugged her father goodbye. The guard had already gotten into the small wooden boat with her bags. Now it was Agitha's turn.

She took one last look up at the high whitewashed walls of Hyrule Castle, home of Princess Zelda. Or at least previous home; Zelda had not been back to the castle for years. Agitha knew it had something to do with the hostile takeover of the castle seven years ago, but the details were fuzzy.

Agitha was young when it happened, only ten years old. At that time she lived with her father in their garden of a house, but her father was rarely home. He worked in the castle, so Agitha spent most days playing with her golden bugs. Then one day, something very odd happened, a strange dark glass wall appeared all around the castle, and that night her father did not come home. She was very scared at first; hiding in the house for days, afraid to leave – where could she go? She didn't know anyone else in Castle Town. All Agitha knew was her golden bugs, but soon that was all she needed, she felt much safer with the odd glowing insects flying around her head.

Then one day a strange teenager clad in green came to her house, and upon seeing that she was there alone, asked what he could do to help. She asked him to find her more golden bugs. And he did just that. She, of course, paid him very well. Her father taught her to always be a lady.

Every time the boy came back with another bug, Agitha would find out little bits about his quest. She never asked him directly – she didn't want to be rude – but he would talk to… his shadow? That's what it always looked like at least – whenever he thought she wasn't looking.

Agitha found out a lot that way. She found out that an evil man had taken over the castle and taken control of the Princess, and that that boy in green was going to save her.

Then right after he delivered the last bug for her collection Agitha heard him say that it was time – time to fight Ganondorf. The next day her father came home, and things quickly went back to normal in their household, but not in the Castle, according to her father.

He told her that the green clad boy was there all the time, always talking with the Princess in hushed tones. Then one day, around two years ago he and the Princess left. Her father only heard rumors of the reason why; he heard that they were on a quest to find Twilight – whatever that was.

Now Agitha was being sent away like an unwanted pet. Her father claimed that the Town was spoiling her, and that she couldn't just pay to always get what she wanted. Agitha thought that was hardly true. Her father was very high up in the monarchy's staff - rupees were not an issue for their small family.

Agitha, however, had a growing suspicion that her removal from Castle Town had something to do with the fact that she was now seventeen and much adored by the young men of Castle Market. Agitha suppressed a smile at the thought as she climbed into the small boat.

"Goodbye father!" yelled Agitha, as the young guard pushed away from the dock. "I'll try not to get into too much trouble out on the pond with Hena!" She doubted that her father would detect the sarcasm lacing her voice. She loved her cousin Hena, whom she was going to stay the summer with, even though they weren't directly related, only distantly through marriage. Hena, however, was quite the opposite of Agitha. She was a tomboy country bumpkin all the way.

Agitha took one last look at her father as the guard paddled the boat away from the back dock. He looked so small set against the huge stone walls of Hyrule Castle. Maybe getting away will be nice, thought Agitha, a change of perspective, at least.

With that last thought she turned her back to the Castle, focusing on the huge, now open, cast iron gates which normally close off this portion of the reservoir. Beyond those lay a stone bridge, merely an outline in her vision in the hazy morning air. She knew that somewhere beyond that was a tunnel that led to the quick rapids of Upper Zora River and her new home for the season.

"My father paid you not to talk to me, didn't he?" asked Agitha, pushing a lock of blonde hair behind her long pointed Hylian ear. They were in the tunnel now, where darkness consumed all but their little boat that was lit by a lone torch.

The guard shifted uncomfortably, readjusting his grip on the oar.

"Well can you at least tell me something about where were going?" prodded Agitha, hoping to break the stoic young guard's silent demeanor. "I've never been out of the Town before." Agitha looked up at him, meeting his big blue eyes and batting her own long eyelashes.

"Well – er – You're going awfully close to Zora's Domain," said the guard, giving in to conversation.

Agitha crinkled her brow in confusion, "Why should that matter?"

"Haven't you heard?" said the guard in shock, to which Agitha just shook her head. "Ever since Her Highness, the Royal Princess, left the – er – others have been acting up."

"The others?"

"You know, the Gorons, Moblins, especially the Zoras. Although I've even heard of this monkey clan deep in the Faron Woods giving the villagers trouble."

Agitha swallowed, suddenly quite nervous about her destination, "What do you mean the Zoras have been acting up?"

"I don't know the specifics, Miss, but I do know that some funny stuff has been happening at Lake Hylia. Hylians go there… and then they don't come back. The Zoras have control over the lake and the surrounding waters… and they refuse to give us any information on what's been happening to those poor people. I mean, you can do the math, can't you?"

Agitha didn't answer right away. She had never heard of the Zora's doing anything bad to the Hylians. Sure they were a little proud, but as far as Agitha knew they were a peaceful race. But then again, Agitha had tended to live in her own little bubble.

"Be careful out here, Miss," said the guard as he paddled the small boat out of the tunnel. "Ahh that's much better," said the guard, obviously glad to be out of the rock hewn passage.

Agitha blinked at the bright sunlight, letting her eyes adjust before trying to take in her surroundings. They had arrived at what looked like a crossroad in the river. To the left was a cross-hatch gate topped by a hut, which she knew to be owned by her much older cousin Iza, Hena's older sister. To the left was Zora's Domain, a land bridge created a natural pathway between the two sides of the river over the waterway entry to the Zora's home. An involuntary shiver worked its way through Agitha's body as she looked up the river.

The guard had gone slightly rigid as he paddled their way across the river. They paddled over to the opposite bank and onto the shore underneath a tall outcropping of rock with an odd holed stone on it. The guard jumped out into the shallow water and pulled the boat onto the shore. He grabbed Agitha's bags and held out a hand to help her out of the boat.

"I trust you know the way from here, Miss."

"I do, thank you…" she trailed off realizing that she never found the young guard's name.

"Colin, Miss," said the teen, "My name's Colin."

"Well, thank you Colin," said Agitha with a smile. And with that she picked up her bags and walked away from the boat and up the incline towards the Fishing Hole.

Agitha probably would have missed the entrance to the Fishing Hole if it had not been for the weathered wooden sign threatening to fall over in front of it. The entrance was just a door in the mountainside, how or why they managed to install a door in a rock wall was beyond Agitha, but she didn't question it.

She pushed open the door, unsure of what she would find on the other side. To Agitha's surprise the enclosed space was quite large. There was a peaceful pond surrounded be feathery purple-leafed trees. A rough rock outcropping formed an archway in the middle of the pond. With the bright sunlight reflecting off the water, it really did look quite beautiful, much different than the hustle and bustle of the market.

Agitha made her way over to Hena's house and storefront, stepping lightly onto the wrap-around porch and knocking on Hena's front door.

"No need to knock," came a muffled voice from somewhere behind the door, "Come on in."

Agitha slowly opened the door and poked her head inside, "Hello?"

"Agi!" yelled Hena as she ran to the door and sweeped up Agitha into an all-encompassing hug. "I haven't seen you since you were little! How have you been?"

"I've missed you Hena," said Agitha to her cousin as she took in her, now older appearance. Hena was in her twenties now, but her look was the same as ever. Her curly brown hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, hidden under a canvas fishing hat. Her eyes were a shade of indigo, not quite as purple as Agitha's, but close, and her nearly flawless tan skin was only blemished by a dark beauty mark under her right eye. She wore a red shirt underneath overalls and tall fisherman boots. "I've been great Hena, really. How about you?"

"That's good to hear," said Hena with a smile, "As for myself…" she paused as her smile faltered a little, "Well, I'm doing good, but the business… not so good. People are afraid to come up here with all the rumors about the Zoras floating around."

Agitha felt her eyes widen slightly and she said in a quiet voice, "Are they true? The rumors, that is?"

"Oh Agi, you would really buy into that bull?" asked Hena laughing. Agitha felt herself redden a bit. "I don't believe the stories one bit. In all my time living up here, I haven't had one problem with the Zoras. They keep to themselves, I keep to myself. Mutual ignorance, that's what I like to think of it as."

"So you think it's safe to be here?" asked Agitha, trying to sound more confident than she actually was.

Hena laughed, "Agi there's a whole lot worse out there than Zoras, believe you me. You didn't venture out much during the reign of Twilight, did you? Well, I was here the whole time and those Twili beasts, now those were scary stuff. Fortunately this teen dressed all in green showed up and fought the monsters away. Haven't seen hide nor hair of one since. Not even a single Moblin raid since that boy came. If those were still out, I'd say worry, but the Zoras are not a problem. Trust me."

Agitha felt better after Hena's spiel. Hena then led her through a door behind the counter of the storefront that led to a small living area with a roughly hewn wood table and chairs. There was a hearth in one corner with a pot full of delicious smelling stew bubbling over it.

"Reekfish," said Hena when she noticed Agitha eyeing the brew, "Smells absolutely disgusting raw, but cooked – there's nothing like it. And I mean that in a good way," she laughed. "My room is right here," she motioned to a door next to her. "And your room's through there," she added, pointing to a door across the room.

Agitha looked around and frowned noticing the distinct lack of another door. "Umm, Hena… where's the bathroom?"

"You mean the outhouse? Out back of course, although you have to use the front door to get out though… kind of bad planning on the carpenter's part, but I mean who's complaining? They made it cheap for Dad because his great-great-grandfather was friends with Mutoh, the founder of the company, or something like that…"

Agitha had already zoned out of the babble by that point. No bathroom? This was going to be a long summer…