The sea felt so lovely that day. The warm waves lapped against her scales and rushed through her amphibious skin, giving her the sensation of breathing in the wonderful ocean. Being connected to the water, Shaylia’s mind was full of tension. Perhaps she was just wound up from their concert. It had been a show full of little mistakes. First, Tarin’s guitar string broke; the A string, so they were unable to do Ballad of the Windfish. Then, their keyboardist, Jappan broke a flipper, making his playing very choppy. And the speakers wouldn’t play at the right volume. Their sound check sounded good, but for the duration of the concert, it went from high to low, constantly feeding back. Well, the stage was over a hundred years old…
Shaylia popped up out of the water, swimming in dolphin-fashion, letting go of her thoughts and becoming Zora. A sense of release washed over her and made her proud of her heritage. The sounds of the waves against a distant shore, the gulls crying overhead as they fished for scallops in the kelp beds, seals barking on the cove rocks and the far-off gentle whirring of a motorboat filled the air. Shaylia stopped swimming and lazily floated on her back, watching clouds roll by. Sound travels faster underwater, Shaylia knew. The motor was approaching, which worried her. Zora poachers weren’t numerous these days, but there was always that danger. Armed with hookshots and gaffs, the Zora’s had no chance. Shaylia looked around and saw a boat fast advancing on her.
A woman with a fiery mane stood on the bow of the boat, bow and arrows poised to shoot. Shaylia dove underwater, but not quickly enough. The arrow embedded itself into her back, and pulled her towards the boat. Seeing a rope attached to the offending projectile, it gave Shaylia an idea. She was able to extend her tentacle-like hair to great lengths, and, like her great-grandsire, send electric shocks through them. Her hair climbed up the rope that was draining her life and energy and grabbed hold of the woman. Grinning maliciously, and shouting an ancient Zoran curse, Shaylia killed the pirate with a huge blast of electricity. She fell limply into the ocean, smelling of burnt meat.
Another arrow whizzed through the air and into Shaylia. She repeated the process of killing her attackers and they kept shooting, some missing, but many finding their target. Soon, after picking up a pirate and tossing her onto nearby deadly sharp rocks, Shaylia passed out. She was thoroughly drained.
She awoke to a quiet bubbling noise. Shaylia shook her head, sending shocks of pain and visions of stars through her mind. Best not do that again. As soon as her head cleared slightly and the world came back to her, replacing the inky blackness, she noted that she was in a strange and dirty little tank. The glass was green and coated with thick, stagnant algae. Fish bones and dead shellblades littered the floor. Even underwater, the stink of dead fish was bad. Through the green haze Shaylia was able to make out a woman standing there. She was dressed in loose red pants and a top akin to a bikini top. Jewelry dripped from every inch of bare skin, and the rings on her lips clinked together as she spoke.
“Now with the Zoran keys, we will finally enter the Great Bay Temple, and discover the secret of the Dragon Cloud,” she sneered, her dirty eyes glinting with the greed inbred into every pirate. “And then, once we have the weapon of legend, we’ll conquer Zora’s Cove.”
“Keys?…” Shaylia asked weakly. The woman must have been good at reading lips, for Shaylia made almost no noise at all.
“Yes, your eggs. The Masked One told my ancestor long ago that Zora eggs were the only way we could ever enter the temple. Well, now that we have them…” That being said, she left the Zora to die.
Eggs? Shaylia hadn’t been carrying eggs. Unless…She looked down, and saw that her stomach was caved-in and had a large, ill-stitched gash in it. So that was why she had been feeling so sick. Shaylia cried, first with happiness that she was a mother, and then realized that the pirates would destroy the eggs. Her babies. And with her in such poor condition…
“It can’t end like this,” Shaylia said to herself. “My people cannot be killed. It will upset the balance…And I’ll never get out…” Then her mind grasped onto one insane hope: that someone would save her. She envisioned the Green Boy of legend, the same one who saved Mikau and Lulu so long ago, coming in, slashing pirates and rescuing her. But it was impossible. He disappeared. While she held onto the belief that maybe the Zoras would help her, days passed and she weakened. Fish bones were crunchy, but offered no nourishment to her empty belly. Shaylia would not give in, but hope looked dimmer each time she opened her eyes.
