Chapter Text
A tiny figure leaped from Vah Ruta’s back, and Sidon rose from where he sat on the bed at the East Reservoir Lake. He’d been watching pensively since he’d helped Link get inside, growing tenser with each roar and movement of the Beast’s trunk, but now Sidon was puzzled. Vah Ruta was still relentlessly spraying water, obscuring any hints he could garner from the approaching Champion, so he hurried towards Link’s flying silhouette. Sidon called out, “Link! Have you succee-”
Link dropped a few metres above the end of the shimmering dock, striking it with his claymore upon landing, knocking Sidon backwards off his feet. He sat frozen as Link looked up at him from his crouched position, blue eyes staring directly at Sidon as his head moved jerkily side-to-side in a manner Sidon had never seen a Hylian move before. As the Zora prince, Sidon was trained in combat, and his hand went instinctively to the sword strapped to his side, but the only real foes he’d practised against were the monsters he’d encountered in his search for a Hylian, so he scrambled to his feet instead, knowing that it would be foolish to presume that he could hold his own against the whirlwind that was Link’s swordsmanship despite his diminutive size.
Sidon raised his hands—whether to placate or defend he was unsure—as Link advanced, backing him down the dock. “Link, it is me! Please, I do not wish to fight,” he said, desperation strangling his tone.
Link showed no sign of acknowledgment, and Sidon flipped into the water, Link’s sword slicing through the air where he’d been a moment before. He made to swim beneath the dock, but a freezing block of ice rose beneath him, lifting him by his stomach from the water. The ice stuck to his scales as he wriggled off the edge, only to be caught by another block of ice, the rise of each punctuated by Link swiping the Sheikah Slate through the air. Sidon had no idea that Link wielded such powers, and his panic grew as another block of ice materialised, Link smoothly stepping on to it so that it lifted him to be level with Sidon. As Link charged, Sidon leapt for the lake again, but was prevented once more; the block of ice that had been between them shattered.
With Link upon him, Sidon was forced to retaliate, baring his teeth. Instead of jumping away from Link, he lunged for him just as Link swung again, the claymore cutting into Sidon’s arm before both went tumbling from the icy platform, causing a large splash. Even underwater in Sidon’s grasp, Link continued to move his head twitchily in a circular pattern, and Sidon followed his eyes around for a trace of recognition. He saw none.
Now at a significant disadvantage even with his Zora armour on, Link struggled with surprising strength, spinning with force at Sidon, stunning him with a solid smack against his face. Sidon let go in surprise, and Link swam immediately to clamber back on to the dock, but Sidon caught up easily and wrapped his uninjured arm around Link’s waist, using his weight to drag them both to the bottom of the lake. Blood floated in a trail after them as they sank, Link clawing uselessly in the direction of the surface as, Sidon assumed, he began to run out of oxygen. Ignoring Link’s increasingly frantic kicking and scratching, as well as the throbbing of the gash on his upper arm, Sidon stared at the steady rippling of the surface above where the rain still pelted his people’s home.
Eventually, Link became lax in Sidon’s grip, his arms floating limply and his head finally stilling. Sidon kicked up to the surface, dragging Link with him, and shoved Link up on to dock before him, then pulled himself up. He knew that Hylians would die if they were without air for too long, so he held his hand warily in front of Link’s mouth to check if he was breathing, standing back as soon as he felt Link exhale. Crumpled on the floor beneath him, Link looked so small. The claymore he had been wielding clinked gently against the luminous stone of the dock, and Sidon dragged it out of the water, amazed that Link was able to even hold, never mind manoeuvre, it with such ease. He hid it carefully beneath the bed, keeping an eye on Link’s prone form. Next, he rolled Link on to his stomach, jumping back when he coughed up some water, thankfully stilling after a few seconds, and removed his bow, quiver, and the Sheikah Slate from the various straps across his body, stowing them beneath the bed with the claymore. On second thought, however, Sidon attached the Slate to his own belt; it was not so easily replaceable as the other equipment.
What was he to do now? The shock was subsiding, and Sidon felt the same dread he’d been feeling for the past few weeks crawl back into his stomach. Perhaps the most capable Hylian for the task of saving the Domain and the rest of Hyrule from the impending flood had inexplicably turned on him, and he could already imagine the disappointment on his father’s face and Muzu’s self-satisfied scoff if he were to return. Still, Sidon couldn’t bring himself to feel angry at Link. He had seemed so unlike the solemn, brave knight Sidon had trailed after in the Zora River. Steeling himself, Sidon decided that he would bring Link to safety, if only out of duty to his sister. He scooped the Champion into his arms, wincing at his cut, and turned to begin the descent of the staircase back to the Domain.