Chapter Text
He’s not particularly sure what he’d expected to happen, honestly. He’d thought the fish a comically small meal compared to the enormous, crowned whale in the spring, certainly. He knew the princess had apparently gone inside the whale, too. He just hadn’t followed up the thought rescue the princess from within the belly of a whale with its logical conclusion to go inside the whale.
He’s been inside the Great Deku Tree, and now he’s inside Lord Jabu-Jabu; Link supposes he should be grateful he didn’t have to go inside the King Dodongo.
The air is hot, and wet; each breath feels like breathing in the steam over a pot of soup. Except it stinks, too. On top of the boiling-lungs feeling is the nose-burning scent of stomach acid and rancid fish. Link could have done without learning that particular combination of smells, thank you very much.
Navi flits nervously about his head before diving under his hat. She stomps lightly around on his head. She darts out into the air, then back under his hat again. And again. She doesn’t say anything, but Link bets she’s enjoying the humidity and the smell about as much as he is.
He’s trying really hard not to think about the squishy tongue under his boots, or the pool before him that looks like water but most certainly is not. He finds the princess but she refuses to leave, walking off to fall through a weird, writhing, pulsing red hole in the ground. He really, really, really doesn’t want to follow her; really doesn’t want to know what that... thing will feel like. He feels Navi peek out from under his hat, probably wondering why he’s hesitating, and then feels her shake as she makes a noise of disgust. Bolstered somewhat by their shared revulsion, Link breathes the putrid air as deeply as he dares, and jumps.
It’s not as bad as he expected; it’s worse. The flabby, muscle-y tissue sucks him down, warm and clammy and undulating around him tightly to spit him out to fall a distance to land painfully next to the princess. Link wants to curl himself into a ball and never move again, but that would mean staying here, and the princess is yelling at him for following her, regardless.
She "gives him the honour" of carrying her. It means they’ll get out of here faster, so he doesn't protest. Thankfully, while her skin is a strange combination of rough and smooth, it's only a little slimy, so carrying her doesn’t bother him. Plus, he can make her hold down those stupid weighted switches, even if she yells at him for it.
As he goes along, clearing out parasites and killing monsters Lord Jabu-Jabu probably ate like he did Link, he tries not to dwell on the fact that he’s in the mouth, the throat, the lungs, the belly of a big whale. He’s covered in all sorts of horrible bodily fluids and he can’t decide what’s the worst part of it all. The smells, definitely, with textures coming a close second. The acidity bites his nose and Link, on several occasions, very nearly makes it worse when the revulsion overwhelms him and he almost adds his own bile to the mix. The slimy mucous coating everything, the pools of saliva and goodness knows what else, the squishy, rough texture under his boots and then his hands when he has to roll or climb; Link worries he’ll never be able to get himself or his clothes clean after this.
When they find Princess Ruto’s lost precious stone he nearly cries to discover it’s the Spiritual Stone he’s looking for, because that means they can leave now, right? And then he nearly cries again when she and the stone are replaced with a Big Octo. Once that’s dead and Link is sufficiently covered in green and blue monster goo, Link sits on the dry-ish space before the muscle-door, and tries not to throw up or start crying or both.
Sitting there, trying to breathe, Link decides these big open spaces are the worst; the sounds of a living body echo the loudest in them. Heart beating, lungs breathing, stomach gurgling, muscles spasming, fluids sloshing; it all comes together in a horrible sort of music. He shudders. Link wants to ditch Princess Ruto and leave. The Zora king might try to sit on him for leaving his daughter behind, but he'd have to catch Link first, so that's not really an issue. He’ll hide in the reverent echoes of Saria’s song in the Lost Woods and never leave. He’s got two of the Spiritual Stones; Ganondorf can have the third and it won’t do him any good. Problem solved! Hyrule saved!
As though sensing Link’s panicky thoughts, Navi flits out to sit on his shoulder. She gives his cheek a consoling pat-pat. He shudders another deep breath. Touches fingertips, palm flat, to his chin, then pulls it out in a downward arc in her direction to show his gratitude. Navi leaps into the air, tingling chimes of encouragement. With another bracing breath, Link moves on. And actually, he decides a few minutes later, those big electric sponge things things are the worst because Link has to climb on them.
He changes his mind again. No, actually, this towering electrical spinning parasite is the worst. If Link thought hitting jellyfish with his sword stung, this thing looks, sounds, and feels like lightning. And it’s covered in jellyfish. Even better because he’s soaking wet after this whole adventure and Link would really like to pass out, please. Navi says it’s an anemone, but Link can’t see anything flowery about the monster at all.
Oh, no, this, this is the worst: the monster erupts in massive, foul, green boils before exploding in a shower of puss and flesh and green blood all over him. Link just. Link stands there. In the middle of the gore.
The blue portal of unknown origins unfolds off to the side. Link pulls himself together enough to move. Mechanically, he collects the blood-red, life-force infused gem, shuddering at the slime on it. Thankfully, the magic flows into him quickly; Link is left sore and tired but energized, and in need of a couple years of sleep, really.
He makes his way over to the portal stiffly, muscles cooperating but only just. He’s surprised to see Princess Ruto waiting for him. Link hadn’t forgotten about her, really, but he maybe forgot to worry about her after another round of gross things and monsters.
“You... You’re late! What took you so long? You’re useless!” she complains. Link would make a face at her in disbelief, if he could figure out how his facial muscles even work again; he can’t feel half of it. His lack of expression seems to get the point across, anyway: Princess Ruto crosses her arms and pouts, face turning a darker blue. “I was just lonely, that’s all... Just a little! I was scared... A little! Just a little!”
Link shakes his head and steps into the portal. He might have wondered if her weird attitude were a Zora thing, if the others he’d met hadn’t been so normal. She actually reminds him a little of Mido.
And then they’re in the spring and she startles him off the tree. He’s not even mad; the cool, clean, clear water does a lot to soothe his nerves, if not really cleaning him much. Getting clean is gonna take a lot of effort.
She startles him again, appearing in front of him in a small splash. “You!” she giggles and smiles needle teeth at him. “You looked cool...cooler than I thought you would, anyway... Just a little!” Link says nothing, just treads water with her, wondering what happens now. “Well, anyway, you saved me, so I guess I’ll reward you. What do you wish? Just tell me...”
Link kicks his feet faster to free his hands to draw the shape of the stone.
“You mean the Spiritual Stone of Water, Zora's Sapphire, don't you?” There’s a sort of wistfulness in her tone as she says, “My mother gave it to me.” It sounds like an old hurt, one that makes Link wonder if that’s what the Great Deku Tree’s death will feel like, years from now. “She told me I should give it only to the man who will be my husband,” she continues, voice growing gradually more amused until she’s grinning an alarming amount of teeth around the punchline: “You might call it the Zora’s Engagement Ring!”
Link’s face is tingling, like it’s waking up; he can feel it do something. He hopes it displays his confusion, but he can’t be sure. The princess only laughs at her own joke.
“Alright! I’ll give you my most precious possession: Zora’s Sapphire!”
She swims backwards as the world seems to dim, magic coagulating in the air as Princess Ruto summons it to her. Finally, the gold-wrapped sapphire descends to dance gently in Link’s cupped hands.
“I don’t know what she means by engagement ring, either,” Navi chimes, “but you’ve done it! You’ve found the third Spiritual Stone!” She twirls in a happy aerial celebratory dance. “You should hurry back to Princess Zelda!”
Link focuses on the space between his hands, on the magic in his veins and the magic in the artifact. He closes his hands around it and feels that magic shift to take up space beside the other two, somewhere beside his heart and yet physically nowhere. He’s getting the hang of that.
The world regains its brightness in a blinding flash. Princess Ruto’s voice sounds muffled and echoey when she says, “Don’t tell my father...” When Link can see again, she’s nowhere in sight.
He swims off to the island and sits in the shallow water there, just breathing.
Three Spiritual Stones. What was after that?
Link can’t remember, so instead the answer is now a bath, laundry, and a nap, with food somewhere in there, too.
The fate of the world can wait that long.