Ralalta nodded in reply to Lily's agreement of her idea. "Okay...I'll meet you up ahead," she said, and watched as Lily turned and continued down the road. She could feel Zarek turn and follow the mage.

She took a few steps off the path and stood on the grassy riverbank for a moment. She hesitated for no particular reason, letting thoughts run through her head. After a few seconds, she shook them off and looked into the water.

She took a running start, just for fun, and dived into the river with a small splash. She sliced through the water with ease, and began swimming right away. The water around her charged her thirsty cells with an energy like lightning, and hydrated her body instantly. She felt the relief she had badly needed buzz through her veins like a wildfire. It was both cold and blazing hot at the same time. She realized then how much she really belonged in water.

After a few moments of simple swimming downstream, she felt completely refreshed and recharged. Her body coursed with energy again, her throat ceased burning, and she felt like she was made of liquid, or at least connected to it. The shock eventually subsided, and she appeared to be rehabilitated, with a pleasant smile stuck on her face.

In general, it was like being shocked back to life with a liquid lightning bolt.

Ralalta cut through the blue water like a sword, made ever sharper by the supporting current. She used a simple, dolphin-like swim common to most Zoras for swift motion. Her body flowed like one with the current, as if she had become part of the water itself. Using almost no energy at all, she leisurely slipped through the water like a goddess. This was her world, her domain. This was where she ruled with an iron fist-- er...fin, and she knew no one could take away her sense of absolute freedom as she glided silently through the drink like an owl flying among the trees.

The river was surprisingly clean and very un-murky. The cobalt blue water was pure and virtually unpolluted. It made Ralalta wonder, especially since the closest village-- the one they had just left behind --wasn't the cleanest one she had ever seen. What was it that kept the water so clean? Even the mud and rocks on the riverbed looked tidy, as if someone who was very good at organizing had just placed them there to improve the waterscape. The river was almost as perfect as the ones she had swum all her life in Hyrule. She doubted there were any Zoras around to keep the river so clean, but it did make her wonder.

She began to think about her mother-- how she had swam with her mother all over Zora's Domain as a child. That was the only time she had ever thought about adventure in her early years...her mother even suggested they travel the world someday, together. After she had died, though, her life had definitely become void from there. Looking back at her childhood, and even more recent years, all she could remember was a dull and gray lifestyle, dotted here and there by unpleasant memories. Maybe this was why she was so prone to seeking excitement-- the world seemed so colorless otherwise. It was like a firework exploded somewhere inside her every time her heart beat faster with anxiety, excitement, pleasure, anticipation...anything.

She felt something cold and solid rise above her, high in the air, and remain suspended there for a while. Was it some sort of meter implanted deep inside her subconscious, there to alert her of memories long past? Or was it a sign that she should break her thoughts and return to the real world? Of course it was the latter, as she realized with a jolt that lavender-haired mages and green-haired warriors in need of ressurecting and scruffy-looking nice people still existed, and her current affairs were tied up with all of them.

She sucked in her last gulp of delicious water and rose from the depths of the blue, poking her head out of the water. She looked around for a moment and took in her surroundings, in an attempt to get her bearings. She looked and saw Lily still walking down the road, way too far off for Ralalta to be comfortable. She could feel the cold mass drop down to ground level again, as if her meter was telling her that everything was still there, regardless of her time in the river. She knew it was Zarek, of course, but why not be a meter? Maybe he was that kind of person in life, the kind that tests people's true intentions until no one is really sure of anything.

She sighed, and realized her time in the water had come to an end. If she went any farther, the river would carry her off-course and she would most likely never see any of them again.

With a reawakened and fully re-energized heart, Ralalta stood up and crawled onto the river bank once again. The sun above her felt like nothing more than a warm blanket wrapped around her shoulders; it was both comforting and relieving.

She hauled herself up the steep riverbank, with a sheen of wet still clinging to her scales. It brought out her iridesence to full-max as the sun shone upon her. Whirling colors danced brightly across her skin as she brought herself up onto the same ground as the path, water dripping behind her.

She took a few steps, looked up, and realized with great surprise that Baltazar was but a few yards away from her. He was riding on a great bear, carrying Zarek's body along for the ride. It looked something like a circus act, and Ralalta was dumbfounded enough by it all to do naught but stand there, on the side of the path. Down the road, she heard Lily call out to Baltazar as he rode into the yard of a very odd-looking cottage. This must be, if nothing else, the home of the magic-maker Baltazar had mentioned.

She took a few more wet steps onto the road and said, meekly, "Baltazar..."

Drops splashed from her body onto the road like sparkling fragments of glass from a broken windowpane, which wasn't a bad metaphor for how Ralalta was feeling at the moment. Not that she felt tired or sick or hot, the water had definitely cured all that, but she did feel confused. Where did she fit in in all this? Why exactly was she here? And most importantly...