Daddy's Got You

The Gerudo pirate swung her scimitars relentlessly. Unaffected by the knowledge her combatant was only a child, she made vicious strikes with only one goal in mind: stop this impertinent intruder from taking the treasure she and her sisters had gone out of their way to steal.

Young Link parried the onslaught and tried to return the attacks, but the pirate's reflexes were staggering. Relentlessly, she dealt blow after blow and sprang back before he could retaliate. Even arrows and Deku Nuts availed him naught, for she would block every projectile by crossing her swords in an X before her face. The time was ticking away, and Link was ever conscious of the looming moon overhead, growing larger and larger in its imminent threat to crush the land beneath. Perhaps this battle could be brought to a quicker conclusion as someone else. He broke combat and donned the Zora mask. The twisting agony of transformation ripped through him as he changed form. Once securely settled into the former body of Mikau the Zora Guitarist, the pain subsided.

All but one pain, descending heavily on his heart. Link had learned by now that donning one of the enchanted masks changed more than his body. As a Scrub infiltrating the Deku Palace of the southern swamp, he'd felt himself not an intruder, but rather at home. As the proud Goron warrior Darmani, he'd felt his anguish over the plight of the mountain-dwelling Gorons drastically increased. From the first moment he assumed the identity of Mikau, he'd felt a deepened loathing for the Gerudo pirates and a desperate need to retrieve what they had stolen.

Now in battle, he found his resolve to best his pirate combatant had been strengthened. Every kick, slash and energy shield he assaulted her with was a genuine, heartfelt attempt to remove her from his path to the precious quarry waiting behind the next door. After a short time under this fire, she fell to her knees and accepted defeat.

"Don't think it ends here," she sneered defiantly before vanishing in a bright flash. He proceeded, unconcerned with her warning. Let her or her sisters come after him again. It didn't matter; he would beat them back a dozen times over before retreating from their fortress without what he sought.

Beyond the next door was a large aquarium. Inside wriggled a school of skullfish, and at the bottom beckoned a lone, spotted blue egg. One of Lulu's eggs!

Link had to become himself again temporarily to hookshot into the tank, but upon resuming Mikau's form and sinking into the water, his intense concern for the egg at the bottom resumed. A wave of magic energy emanated from him to shatter the bony fish before his feet touched the bottom. There, he carefully scooped up the soft, fragile egg and deposited it into the sanctity of one of his glass bottles. Before resurfacing, he clutched it to his chest for a moment and then stowed it safely away.

He was one step closer to ensuring the eggs hatched, and ensuring Lulu that their children would live on.