I nod, staring down at the armour in my hands. Mipha… made this? Then… why give it to me? Putting the thought out of my mind, I turn to leave, curtseying towards the king of the Zora.

Heading down to the plaza, I see Sidon and Muzu arguing, the small, manta-like Zora utterly unwilling to listen to reason. I walk over to join them. Muzu huffs as he looks at me.

“Hmph. You came all the way here, but it was in vain. I have no desire to speak to you.”

Sidon butts in. “Listen well, Muzu. There is something you need to know. She who stands here… the woman called Linka… is the one whom my sister, Mipha, had feelings for. I was only a child then, so I did not know it myself at the time. But it is so.  I grew up hearing my father tell stories, some of which were about my sister’s undying love for a Hylian named Link. That person is now the woman standing before us.”

Muzu splutters. “What?! No…You cannot fool me with such a fanciful lie. Not this Zora! How could Lady Mipha possibly have feelings for a Hylian like… her?! The facts are clear! She… remembers nothing! Even when… she… looks upon Princess Mipha’s statue…”

“It is the truth, Muzu. Though you never knew it, Linka was ever in Mipha’s heart.” Sidon gestures. I stare up at the statue, and my eyes widen. A memory!  I reel, and my mind takes over…

I’m sitting on the spout at the tip of Vah Ruta’s trunk, the elephantine Divine Beast, Mipha beside me, the small, sweet-tempered Zora princess holding her hands to a cut on my right forearm. Gentle, cool blue light glows between her palms, as the small gash in my arm heals steadily.

“I was thinking… this reminds me of the time we first met. You were just a reckless child… always getting yourself hurt at every turn. Every time, I would heal you… Just as I’m doing right now. I thought it was funny, how, being a Hylian, you looked grown-up so much faster than I did.”

She breaks eye-contact for a moment, a shy, tender smile on her lips. “I was… I was always willing to heal your wounds… even back then.”

The light fades as the cut disappears, the skin unmarked, as if it had never been there. I admire the view, sitting there with Mipha, as the sunset lights sky with brilliant orange.

She speaks softly, and I can feel her body heat beside me.

“So if this Calamity Ganon does, in fact, return, what can we really do? We don’t really seem to know much about what we’ll be up against. But know this, that no matter how difficult this battle might get… if you- if anyone ever tries to do you harm…then I will heal you. No matter when, or how bad the wound… I hope you know… that I will always protect you. Once this whole thing is over… maybe things can go back to how they used to be when we were young… you know… Perhaps we could spend some time together.”

I fidget. I’ve been trying to build up the courage to tell Mipha something. To share a secret with her that no-one knows.

“Mipha… I…I need to tell you something… it’s been eating away at me for years, but… I think of you as someone very dear to me. This is something I’ve never told anyone. Not even my father… can… can I trust you to keep it a secret, and not laugh at me?”

Mipha’s wide amber eyes look straight back into mine.

“Of course… I would never share something personal with another… I’m here for you whatever is on your mind…”

I take a deep breath, let it out, and, looking out at the sunset, I say softly, “Mipha… I… I want to be a girl…”

Silence. I swallow, and then continue. “I’ve known for years that I wasn’t happy, but I never knew why… meeting you, and Princess Zelda, and Urbosa… it took a bit longer, but I finally realised it…”

The silence is broken by… a sniffle. A sniffle??

I turn to look, and my eyes widen. The Zora princess… is… crying?!

“Oh, you’ve been in distress for so long! You’ve been carrying such a burden on your own, too… let me help you, please! I’m so happy that you were able to open up to me. Would you like me to help you pick out some clothes? Oh, but we should also deal with getting you some accessories, too!”

My eyes focus again, and I shake my head. Sidon asks, concerned, “what is the matter, Linka? Are you unwell?”

I try to catch my breath, feeling lightheaded. Muzu narrows his eyes. “You are quivering like a hatchling… whatever is the matter?”

I stare at the statue. “M-Mipha… I remember…”

Muzu squawks, “What?! Do not mistake me for a fool, Hylian! There is NO WAY you remembered her just now, when it is most convenient! In any case, without any solid proof, I cannot possibly take you at your word! If you have any such proof, now is the time to show it! Do so, and… I… I shall tell you how to get those shock arrows! Yes, as well as anything else you wish to know.”

Sidon sighs, and I produce the Zora armour, and, ducking into the inn and paying for a room, I change quickly. The armour fits perfectly, with a finned tail that forms a skirt, complete with elegant elbow-length gloves made of shimmering scales that match the delicate silverwork of the rest of the armour.

Emerging from the inn, I fold my wet clothes away, to deal with when I’m somewhere dry. Sidon stares, a wide smile on his sharky face. I run a hand over the figure-hugging outfit.

The Zora prince points. “Look, Muzu! Simply take a look at what Linka is wearing!”

The grumpy old Zora runs his beady eyes up and down. “Hmm? You really think that changing your clothes is going…to…make me… Eh?!  What in the… that is the Zora armour from before! Lady Mipha made that by hand… and yet it fits you perfectly! What is the meaning of this?!”

Sidon huffs. “Now you understand, do you not? Now you know who my sister’s heart belonged to, and who she made this special armour for. The fact that this armour fits Linka perfectly should be proof enough that Mipha made it for her and her alone! You have always disliked Hylians, even before the Great Calamity. That is why Mipha never told you. Now that you know… you must promise to help her save us all, Muzu. Please… tell us where we can find the shock arrows we need. Knowing you, I bet you have already figured it out.”

Muzu turns his gaze from Sidon to me. “Hmph. I would never have imagined she would make that special armour for one such as her…”

 He gazes up at the statue, before turning back to me. “I do not approve of asking for help from a Hylian, but I suppose it is our only option at this point. I am a proud Zora. That means I must take responsibility for my unwarranted behaviour toward you. As promised, I shall tell you where you can collect as many shock arrows as you need.”

He points upwards with a gnarled finger.

“That tall mountain over yonder… it is called Ploymus Mountain, and there you will also find Shatterback Point. A terrifying creature has made its home up there. This awful beast shoots volley after volley of shock arrows. Even a single shaft could be fatal to a Zora.”

Sidon’s eyes brighten. “Aha! You must mean that Lynel! He’s a man-beast, that one! He does indeed wield shock arrows. That certainly is one way to collect them quickly. He’s vicious, to be sure. But I am certain that Linka will rise to the challenge.”

Muzu purses his broad, flat mouth. “In order to appease the Divine Beast, I estimate that you will need… at least twenty shock arrows. Do you think you can gather that many?”

I nod. “I’ll make my way up there and grab as many as I can. Thank you, Muzu.”

Sidon rolls his shoulders, encouragingly fist-pumping. “Linka, I’ll be waiting for you at East Reservoir Lake, right by the Divine Beast. When you are ready, come join me there!”

I nod, and curtsey. “As you command, your highness.”

“Wonderful! Together, we shall stop that Divine Beast’s onslaught!” the prince sprints off, and I prepare myself, pausing to watch the rain sluice off my new armour. The water just rolls off, and I smile. Mipha’s armour is warm and lined with soft material, making the cold of my trip here a thing of the past. I can’t wait to thank her when I see her again.

While the prince rushes off to get ready, I head to Ploymus Mountain, diving into the water and swimming towards the waterfall.  Let’s give this a try…

As I reach the foot of the waterfall, I feel a surge of energy, and, with a swift flick of my legs, I butterfly up, into the downrushing water, effortlessly scaling it, my body as dry and warm as it was before I dived in. Mipha’s handmade Zora armour is amazing!

At the top, I launch into the air and plunge back into the flowing water, heading straight for the second waterfall. Yet another ascent after that, and I land on top of the Ploymus Mountain peak. Creeping around the rise, I spot the red-maned Lynel, patrolling its territory. Drawing my bow, I nock an arrow.

The Lynel pauses, and I can see it sniffing the air. Its huge form is a little diffuse thanks to the rain, but I draw the string back, crouched behind a boulder. I’m only going to get one chance at this…

Darting out, I bring Revali’s bow up, and let my arrow fly. As soon as the string snaps back, the single arrow I’d loosed multiplies, splitting into three. The trio of arrows slam home, and the Lynel roars in pain and anger, rearing and lashing the air with its front hooves. Drawing again, I let fly, peppering the monster with shafts as it prepares to charge me.

When it does, I duck to one side and the Lynel’s snarl cuts short as it crashes into the rock I’d hidden behind earlier. I draw the Master Sword and begin hacking at its back legs, trying to bring it down as it  tries to cave my skull in with a fearsome back-kick from both rear hooves.

Finally, after I make a reckless leap and land on the Lynel’s back, somehow avoiding swings from its crude sword and plunge the blade of the Master Sword through its back, the point sticking out of its chest as it sags, going limp and poofing into smoke, leaving behind its weapons… and several bundles of arrows, each one tipped with a head made of strange yellow metal, shaped into two prongs. When I touch one, I get a nasty static charge that stings my fingertip badly.

“Ouch! These must be shock arrows, alright… one, two, three… ten, eleven…… eighteen, nineteen… twenty! Alright, that’s the minimum! I think it should be enough, as long as I pick my shots carefully. Maybe Revali’s bow works on these, too?”

I stash the arrows and head back to the waterfall, throwing myself off the peak and gliding, looking for the figure of the Zora prince, at the Eastern Reservoir, the massive, bottomless lake below a deep, dark blue. I don’t want to imagine how long it would take to reach the deepest point.

Sighing, I alight near the prince, looking out at the rain-shrouded bulk of the elephantine Divine Beast. “Wait for me, Mipha. Just a little longer, and I‘ll save you…”