Sadly, by morning, Link couldn't stay. He had to keep to the task set by the Princesses Zelda and Reyna and find the last Spiritual Stone. He remembers back in the Bottom of the Well when Reyna appeared. She said the last stone is located up the river and by the waterfall, so that's exactly where Link is going.

The girls, Peyton, Naomi, Valerie, Carol, and Malon, really wanted to accompany Link up the river, but the adults turned down the suggestion in an instant. They all needed time to recover from what happened the previous day, so it makes sense as to why none of their parents let them go to the realm of the Zoras. Link was disappointed at first, but had to wrangle his courage and step out of the village with his only company being Navi.

The first thing that went through Link's head was how much of a maze the river was. Well, maybe not a maze, but more of an obstacle course. Link has to jump across the river multiple times and hop across ledges. At some points, he needs to snag a nearby cucco to glide over bigger gaps. The only other person who seems to have known what they were doing is the Magic Beans Guy.

He had a... weird personality. He tried to sell Link some magic beans that he was munching on, but Link refused after saying he was in a hurry. Munch, munch, munch, "You sure you don't want some magic beans? They aren't selling very well... only ten Rupees!"

"No, sorry! I have to reach the top of the river. It's urgent!" Link scratches the back of his head with a forced smile across his face. He backs away slowly and starts walking away before he could be offered something else by the strange man.

After jumping over more gaps and getting his brown boots soaked to the rim, Link finally reaches the giant waterfall at the start of the river. There is a platform on the ground that has the Triforce symbol on it. Link pulls out his Ocarina and plays the Princess' Lullaby. Right across from him, the middle of the waterfall opens up and reveals a tunnel. Link hops into it and enters Zora's Domain.

It really is a beautiful sight to see. Unlike Goron City, this place has more elegance and isn't attempting to boil Link alive. There is a giant pool of water in the center, the liquid itself being so clear that Link can see straight to the bottom. The stone path makes an echoing sound as he walks along it. There is a huge waterfall spilling into the pool on his left as the path branches to the right. Also in the water are these blue and white fish people. They are all way taller than Link and have fins on their arms along with gills on their necks.

"Excuse me..." Link walks up to a tall fish lady and looks down, putting his hands behind his back. "Uh, do you know where I could find the Spiritual Stone that's here?"

Link knows that question was pretty idiotic, but what else was he supposed to say? He becomes relieved when the lady smiles, kneeling down to his height and points to the staircase a bit further down. "I'm not sure about any Spiritual Stone, but King Zora should be able to help you."

The Kokiri child smiles and thanks the Zora before heading up the stairs and into the throne room. It's really pretty with sparking water on the floor and a small platform in the center. King Zora, who just looks like a plump fish with a red robe on, sits in the middle of the tall platform on the far wall. Link walks up to the smaller platform in the middle of the room and introduces himself, "Hello, King Zora, my name is Link and I'm from Kokiri Forest. I was wondering if-"

"Oh, a Hylian child? Please, come back some other time. My daughter is missing and I am very busy at the moment." The king's voice is deep and drawn out to sound like he's trying not to start sobbing.

Frustrated, Link exits the throne room to the left. His daughter is missing? Of course she is. Link just needs the last stone so that he can help save the world, nothing too concerning. Why can nothing just be simple and easy? "Excuse me, but what are you doing up here?"

Link brings himself out of his thoughts and looks at the Zora who said that. He didn't even notice that he wandered into a place that he's never seen before. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize where I was going."

"It's okay. Do you want to play a game?" the Zora offers. "All you have to do is dive down and collect the blue Rupees that I drop in the time limit. If you're able to do it, then I'll give you a scale from the Zoras!"

Link looks ahead of him and his eyes widen when he realizes that he made his way over to the top of the giant waterfall in Zora's Domain. "Woah. Yeah, I'll do it!"

"Okay, I'm going to drop five blue Rupees. Collect them in twenty seconds." The Zora seems very pleased that someone wants to play her game. Link hands her the money and she tosses them into the water below them. Once they sink to the bottom, the Zora yells, "Start!" and Link jumps, diving down the waterfall.

He grabs two of the Rupees on his first entry into the water, and he is able to spot the other three. Coming back up for air, Link dives back down and snags the rest of the money. Playing around in the water of Kokiri Forest has finally paid off. After he collects the last one, Link kicks back to the surface and holds up the gems for the Zora to see.

"Excellent, that was a really graceful dive! Here's the scale, catch!" The Zora throws something else down the waterfall and Link has to swim over to it before it gets too deep in the water.

"Woah, it's the silver scale of the Zoras. Now you should be able to dive deeper and hold your breath for longer," Navi explains, having heard of the scale before.

The scale is encased in a blue orb, and when Link opens it, the scale shines and absorbs itself into his left arm. The inside of his forearm is now littered with barely visible scales. Link looks around the water and sees a deeper spot a bit ahead of him. "Let's test it out."

Navi hides under Link's hat as he swims over and dives down into the deep part of the pool. He touches the bottom and is about to go back up, but he turns in the water and sees a dark, peculiar looking tunnel. Knowing he still has time before he needs air, Link kicks and swims over to the tunnel. It feels like he's under there for a long time, but he finally sees the end of the passage and floats to the surface. Gasping for breath, Link doesn't even realize where he is because he is too busy coughing up water.

"Link, look! It's Lake Hylia. I've only heard stories about it." Navi seems to squeal in delight at looking at all the crystal blue water around them.

Link finally settles his lungs enough to look at his surroundings. The biggest body of water before he went to Zora's Domain that he's ever seen was the small pools at Kokiri Forest. This massive lake makes those pools look like a puddle. "Woah... the Great Deku Tree could fit in here."

"I think five Great Deku Trees could fit in here," Navi comments, earning a chuckle and an agreeing nod from Link.

The boy in green clears his throat one more time from holding his breath for so long. Suddenly, a Zora pops his head out of the water and turns to Link. "Hylian, you alright? I saw you struggling and thought you were drowning."

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. I've just never held my breath for that long before." Link tries to wave off how painful his lungs feel and gives the Zora a confident smile.

"Well... if you say so." The Zora doesn't seem fully convinced, but decides not to push the boy too much. He reaches behind him and pulls out a bottle, and hands it to Link. "Here, I think this is yours. I think you dropped it. Be careful out there!"

Once the Zora swims away, Link looks at Navi with a confused expression. Without saying anything to each other, Link opens the bottle and finds a note written inside. "It says: I was feeding Jabu Jabu when he suddenly swallowed me! I hope this letter finds its way to the King of the Zoras, my father, in time to come save me!"

"It looks like it was written in a hurry. I think we should take this to the King of the Zoras." Navi feels like there is something off about the letter, but she can't quite put her little finger on it. If the princess really was swallowed by this Jabu Jabu thing, then it's best to hurry and give this to her father.

"That means..." Link looks below him and stares worriedly at the tunnel that leads back to Zora's Domain. "My poor breathing pipe."

"It's the fastest way back, otherwise I would help guide you to the river." Navi knows this is the only way back to Zora's Domain. If they go by foot, they might not make it in time to save the princess.

Link knows it too, which is why he takes a big breath and dives head first back into the passageway. The current is against him this time, but somehow he manages to make it back to Zora's Domain right before he passes out. As much as he wants to rest once he breaks the surface of the water, Link swims to land and sprints up the stairs.

He passes a bunch of Zoras along the way, but none of them pay him too much mind. This allows him to go straight to King Zora and give him the bottle. "Uh, your highness...?"

"The Hylian again? I told you, please leave me be. I am in the middle of a crisis!" King Zora doesn't even notice that Link is holding out a bottle for him to take, too busy wallowing in self pity.

Completely annoyed, Link stomps his foot on the stone platform and rips the note out of the bottle. "HEY! I'M HERE TO GIVE THIS TO YOU, AND YOU'RE GONNA TAKE IT NOW!"

A moment of silence resonates in the hall, and some of the Zoras who were walking around peek their heads in the room to see what's happening. Navi is the one to break the ice, "Wow, Link. Yelling at royalty."

"I'm sorry, but it's a letter from your daughter!" Link gives the paper to King Zora. He takes a moment to read it, the tension in the room thick from the silence.

Finally, the king lowers the note from his eyes and squints at the Hylian. "My apologies, Hylian child. I have been so worried about my daughter that I never imagined you would have such important information to tell me. Please, since you were able to locate her note, I ask you to locate her and tame the glorious Jabu Jabu!"

Ten years later, the king scoots over to the right. Okay, it doesn't actually take ten years, but Link almost dies of impatience because it takes the king three whole minutes to move three inches. He thinks it's payback for yelling at him in front of his people, but to Link this is unfair torture. When he finally makes enough room for Link to get past him, the Hylian runs up the ramp and walks through the tunnel to the other side.

Navi finds a sign that says: Zora's Fountain. "Hmm, hey Link, what do you think the whole deal is with Jabu Jabu? I mean, the Zoras make this thing out to be a living thing, so what do you..."

The fairy did not finish her question, as it's answered when they round the corner and come face to face with a giant fish. It's a bit creepy looking with its white skin and blue scales, fins, and giant purple eyes. It has a red cloak on its back and the same colored crown on its head. Link gulps and walks up to the altar where the fish's head rests. "U-uh King Jabu Jabu? I was sent to help you out, so can you just open wide? I have to, uh, you have to eat me."

Nothing happens, and Link sighs in defeat. Navi lands on his shoulder and thinks for a few moments. "There has to be a way. How did the princess say she was eaten?"

"By feeding him, right?" Link suddenly gets an idea and looks around the water of the fountain. He is patient this time and manages to catch a decently sized fish in his now empty bottle. He walks back onto the stone and drops the fish down, making it flop on the land helplessly. It's a sad sight, but before Link can do anything about it, Jabu Jabu opens his mouth and inhales. Link feels his feet leaving the ground and he screams as the wind carries him past the giant teeth.

"Ugh... Link?" Navi gets to her knees before realizing she's lying in a pile of slime. "Agh, gross! Fish saliva."

Link groans and sits up, shaking his head and looking around the area. He gets to his feet and feels the yellowish liquid roll off his back, making him shiver. Behind him is a row of sharp teeth, closed and twice the size of Link himself. He sighs and walks forward, thinking that it's best if he hurries and finds the princess before anything drastic happens. "Let's go Nav- WOAH!"

Two purple octopus things pop out of the slime and shoot rocks out of their tube-like noses. Link jumps to the side just in time to dodge the rocks, and quickly runs past them before they could reload and shoot him again.

The next room has a huge hole in the middle, so Link stays pressed against the pink wall until he gets to the next door. This is definitely the back of the throat that leads to the stomach because this "room" is huge. It has five different pits in the floor that Link guesses are pipes to the lungs, gills, stomach, and other areas of the fish's body. Would this fish have lungs? It seems to breathe air, so maybe it does. Anyway, the thing about this room that makes Link gasp is the small female Zora turning around with a hand over her mouth and a hint of surprise in her purple eyes.

"Excuse me, but who are you?!" Link is shocked at her tone, expecting her voice to be calm and quieter like the Princesses of Hyrule he met. However, this princess seems rude, loud, and a bit annoying. "Of course you know me. I'm Ruto, Princess of the Zoras."

"I'm Link. Your father sent me to come escort you out of here. You sent a letter in a bottle and it traveled to Lake Hylia, which I found and-"

"Wait one moment. A letter in a bottle? I have no idea what you're talking about!" Ruto yells angrily, thinking that Link most likely made that up.

"But-" Ruto cuts Link off once again.

"My father is looking for me? I don't care!" Ruto crosses her arms and turns around stiffly. "You, get out of here. Understand?!"

"Hold on, you don't remember writing a letter at all? Then how did we end up with it? It was signed by you and everything!" Navi tries to figure out the big question of the conversation, but Ruto isn't listening anymore. She starts walking away, but falls through a pit after a few steps.

Ruto screams as she falls, and Link tries to run and save her. She falls too quickly and Link takes a deep breath before jumping down after her. He lands on top of Ruto, making her fall back to the ground. She whines in rage and picks herself up, stomping as she turns to glare down at Link. "Are you really that set on following me? I told you to go away!"

"You fell down the throat of a fish! Forget your father, I want to make sure you make it out of here!" Link genuinely says, which makes Ruto change her demeanor. She looks down and folds her hands behind her back.

"I'm okay, I've been doing this since I was little." Ruto tries to make herself seem strong given their situation. "This time, I was feeding him and he swallowed my precious stone. It's a gift from my mother, so I really want it back."

"I understand. I don't have a mother, but I can see why a gift from one would be important. I'll help you find it and get out of here." Link smiles and offers his hand out to the princess after he stands up.

"R-really?" Ruto feels her face heat up a bit, but she shakes her head and crosses her arms, completely ignoring Link's hand. "Alright, then I will give you the honor of carrying me! You fell on my back which made my leg bend in a weird angle, so it's your job to carry me to the stone."

"What?!" Link complains, but watches as Ruto sits down and he knows he isn't getting out of this. "Ugh, fine." He picks her up bridal style and finds her surprisingly light. After taking a few steps, he asks, "So, you said you had no idea what we were talking about with the letter in the bottle. You really didn't write anything?"

"No, and even if I did, you said it was found in the lake right? If anything, you would have found it in Zora's Fountain or by my father's throne," Ruto points out. Link and Navi look at each other nervously, and they start to think there is more to this story than they know.