//------------------------------// // The Release // Story: Silent Song // by SonicFan117DASH //------------------------------// Cold. Alone. Isolated. Miserable. Starving. Misunderstood. What had he done to deserve this? Within the deepest pits of the dark caverns that served as the palace dungeons, one lone figure took up the only occupied cell. The figure was humanoid in build but that was the only similarity. He was a creature known as a Zora. Instead of hair, the back of his head extended into a caudal structure ending with a horizontal tail fin, making his head alone resemble an aquatic mammal. On his elbows and hips, there were small ulnar fins. On the sides of his torso were pairs of gills, signifying that he was a water-breather. He had dark blue scales that covered most of his body with indigo spots on his fins, a snow-white underbelly, and bright green eyes. Unlike human eyes, his eyes were more animalistic and looked like they came from a deadly predator. However, despite that, behind the intimidating exterior, his eyes gave off there was the look of an amiable soul if one were to look deeply enough. Though the water was calm and gave off a sense of peace, he felt anything but peaceful. He stared down at his hands, the luminescence of the luminous stones and diamonds that made up the pairs of shackles attached to his wrists and ankles gave off an eerie glow that filled the dark cell with an even gloomier atmosphere. For the last two weeks, he had been down here. Two weeks of rotting in captivity for a crime that he considered was rightly justified. Despite his good intentions, it was still a violation of the law and he had to bear the consequences. Although reluctant, he couldn’t deny the logic behind it. Had he informed a guard or anyone else rather than take matters into his own hands then he wouldn’t be in here, but by the time they would take action, it would have been too late. It made him think, was it really worth it? Probably. Ugh, the things he did for love... But sweet merciful Mipha! They could at least provide some decent grub as compensation for his troubles. He swore, if he had to force down one more slimy sneaky river snail, he’d no sooner eat his own flipper-like feet first. He would kill for a voltfin trout right about now. He shook his head in defeat with an exhausted sigh. The justice system can be so cold sometimes. Speaking of cold, the familiar sound of keys clinking against each other filled the corridors of the dungeon block. As much as he wanted to deny it, the prisoner knew he had to face his demons someday. And this one was anything but friendly. “Hey! Get up! It’s time to go, you lazy bass!” No matter how much he felt he’d rather stay in the cell until plankton inhabited his corpse than go with the guard that had yelled at him, the prisoner knew he had no choice. He rose from the floor and slowly paddled to the bars of the cell, the shackle chains rattling all the while. He lifted his head to glare at the guard on the other side of the bars. The Zora had dark green scales with a grey underbelly. His eyes were a red-orange and had protruding razor-sharp teeth that only made him much more intimidating. The bars of the cell slid to the side and without warning the guard grabbed the prisoner’s arm and yanked him out and into the corridor. “MOVE!” He felt his temper flare but resisted the urge to snap back, lest he makes his situation worse. But by Nayru, if he had his way, that guard, who’s named happens to be Leucas, would be hung from his gills and forced to breathe polluted air from the surface. That thought brought a sinister grin to his lips but was brought out of his daydreaming from a prick from Leucas’ silverscale spear. “KEEP MOVING!! The king doesn’t tolerate latecomers!” Now the prisoner wished he would take one of those disgusting snails Leucas fed him a see how HE liked it. *** Upon exiting the cave leading to the dungeons the two Zoras came out to a small cavern teeming with algae. They ignored the green substance and walked up a small slope leading out of the water. Upon surfacing, the prisoner felt a sudden rush of dizziness and had to take a moment to reorient himself as the transaction from feeling weightless underwater to feeling pulled down by gravity threw him off-guard. As he placed his hands on his knees and his lungs caught some fresh air, two voices in front of him made him feel embarrassed about how silly he must have looked. “Heh. No matter how many times it happens he never gets used to it. Always good for a laugh, eh, Isurus?” “Quite so, Sphyrna. It seems almost every time we see the boy trouble follows him wherever he goes. Makes guard duty that much more eventful.” The prisoner looked up to see two other Zora guards, one on either side of a tunnel entrance leading away from the dungeons. They both wore standard Zora guard armor on their heads, chests, shoulders, and forearms. On the right of the tunnel was Sphyrna, a female Zora with pale blue scales and a dull gray underbelly. Although they were currently sheathed, she carried a Zora sword and silver shield. Unlike most Zoras her head was flat and wide with her yellow eyes being on either side of her head, making her have to turn her head in order to see what was directly in front of her. To the prisoner, it was almost comedic, if she wasn’t so tall and muscular. To the left was a shorter and slimmer Zora, Isurus. He had bright blue scales and a cyan underbelly. He carried in his right hand a standard Zora spear and a silver bow attached to his bandolier, a quiver of bows tied to the back of his waist to go with it. His head was more pointy and every other feature of his body, including each individual scale, gave off a streamlined appearance, indicating that he was a fast mover. Another interesting fact was that his eyes were large and pitch black, with no sign of an iris or pupil to be seen. “Alright, stow it you two,” Leucas ordered! “His majesty is expecting him as soon as possible so follow behind us to cut off any escape route should the prisoner decide to run!” The two guards stood to attention and shouted, “YES, SIR!” Once the prisoner recomposed himself he waited until Leucas walked ahead and then followed him into the tunnel. He heard the other two guards follow behind them as instructed. The group walked in an uncomfortable silence with the only sounds being their footsteps and the occasional drop of water falling to the ground. Before long, the rocky cavern floor gave way to smooth stone and brickwork. The tunnel as a whole turned into a hallway before leading into a larger hallway ending with a large stone door to the right. Two more Zora guards, each with black scales and wielding silver longswords, awaited them. The four Zoras walked up to the stone door before Leucas signaled them to halt. “What is the holdup, sir,” asked Isurus? “You know what,” Sphyrna replied. “Need to make a good entrance with a prisoner in tow.” “Precisely,” Leucas confirmed with a toothy grin. The prisoner internally groaned in despair. They couldn’t possibly mean...? Isurus holstered his spear and both he and Sphyrna each roughly grasped the prisoners’ arms. Yep, they did mean that. At first the prisoner struggled but the two guards were much stronger than him and were able to hold him in place. While that happened, Leucas pulled something out of a satchel he had been holding. Two somethings. The prisoner saw what they were and redoubled his efforts to pull himself away. He knew it was pointless but he wouldn’t let himself look weak in front of his tormentors. Leucas just chuckled. Isurus and Sphyrna held the prisoner still as Leucas proceeded to attach an additional pair of shackles on him. One shackle was much bigger than the other, for it was meant to clasp around a Zora’s chest while the smaller cuffed their tail fin. Leucas wasn’t finished yet. He then wrapped the prisoner’s face with a muzzle made of leather straps, silver locks, and three large luminous stones covering his mouth. Once Leucas was done he stepped back and took a moment to admire his handiwork, ignoring the hateful glare the prisoner was giving him. [Artwork Coming Soon] “Fine piece of work.” With the prisoner secured Leucas turned around to nod at the guards in front of them and they nodded back. They turned and opened the heavy doors, revealing a courtroom on the other side. The sounds of conversation amongst the roughly three dozen Zoras occupying the room quickly dying down into a tense silence. Leucas walked into the room and Isurus and Sphyrna followed, dragging the hapless prisoner with them. Though he preferred to keep his head down the prisoner couldn’t help but admire the architecture of the room. The entire courtroom was made out of a variety of stones and jewels. The silvery stone pillars lining the center aisle and leading to the other side of the room stretched up high into the ceiling. The two rows of seats on either side of the aisle glistening like diamonds. It was big enough to fit the entire population of Zoras at once with room to spare. Today, thankfully for the prisoner, only one-third of the populace was attending. It actually doubled as the throne room, which made sense since the current king was much too big to move on his own to a separate room. Speaking of whom, the Zora King himself, Carcharodon, sat upon his throne atop a short stairway. He was the biggest Zora the prisoner had ever seen or known. Ten times the size of regular Zoras, his obsidian black scales, silver underbelly, overly muscular arms, and gold eyes gave him the impression of an unstoppable force. Those same eyes were watching the prisoner, as well as every other soul in the room. On the wall behind him were two small waterfalls on either side of the throne. The water poured into a small moat surrounding the throne, dotted with lily pads and fleet-lotus seeds. The prisoner felt his stomach lurch when he saw a few sneaky river snails slithering around the moat. As the guards dragged the prisoner towards the throne, he could hear some of the other Zoras whisper to each other. ”That boy is nothing but trouble...” “How he’s still allowed to live here is a mystery...” “Quarreling with the royal vizier was bad enough but collaborating himself with those mangy beasts?! Unacceptable!” “Do you think King Carcharodon will finally banish him?” “I don’t care if his actions were justified or not, such a crime cannot go unpunished...” “I say they should just feed him to the squids...” “What do you suppose his mother thinks?” That question enraged him and he jerked his head to try and find the one who dared to ask such a question. Any Zora he managed to make eye contact with quickly turned their head away and held their tongue. He honestly couldn’t blame them; this wasn’t the first time he had gotten into trouble with the law. That doesn’t give them the right to disgrace his family... Speak of the Devil... There was one Zora who stood out amongst the crowd, one whom the prisoner was not ready to face yet. Pink scales, pale rose underbelly, and baby blue eyes. Her snout-like forehead had a more rounded shape like a porpoise compared to the pointy shapes of sharks on other Zoras. She rose from her seat to get a better look at the prisoner, who looked and felt ashamed when they locked gazes. I’m so sorry... Mama. It was his mother, Cirratum. Cirratum gave her son a half disappointed, half saddened look as the guards dragged him past her and up to the raised pedestal in front of King Carcharodon’s throne. Leucas stepped aside and watched with sadistic mirth as Sphyrna and Isurus roughly tossed the prisoner onto the pedestal. A tiny, nearly inaudible squeak of pain escaped his lips as he landed. “STAND BEFORE YOUR KING, CRIMINAL,” Leucas shouted! The prisoner was slow to rise. Two weeks without proper nutrition rendered him weak and the shackles still attached to his wrists made it much more difficult to stand up. Not to mention the pedestal was carved from pure marble which, added to landing on some of his shackles, ensured some fresh bruising. His limbs were shaking the entire time and felt humiliated but he knew he had to stand up. When he did eventually rise to his full height he bowed his head in respect and resignation to his king. The room was quiet for a few minutes before the crowd began to grow impatient and soon raised their voices, demanding each and every possible punishment upon the accused. Cirratum looked close to tears as she listened to the crowd’s horrible suggestions of what to do to her precious child. Some of the more boundless Zoras even began to bombard her poor boy with fish heads, clamshells, even shards of various minerals. Sphyrna, Isurus, or any other guards in the room made no attempt to calm the crowd for they found the boy’s pain just as enjoyable as Leucas did. ”SILENCE!!!” That bellowing command, with enough force to shake the earth, caused the palace to rock on its’ foundation and silenced every living creature for miles around. As the echos died down not a single Zora in the courtroom protested and obediently calmed down. King Carcharodon, who had leaned forward to put more force behind his voice, settled back into his throne and eyed the prisoner in front of him. To the boy’s credit, he didn’t even flinch; he stood as still as a rock. An awkward silence followed the king’s shout, which was soon broken when the severed pincher of a bright-eyed crab slid down off the boy’s head and splashed into the moat below. The prisoner then raised his head and looked up into the eyes of his king. The old saying goes that the eyes are the windows into the soul. In those eyes, the king could see misery, pain, anger, sorrow, and regret. The king felt a twinge of sympathy for the boy but he knew he had a job to do. He looked down to his left and nodded to a crimson and yellow Zora wearing spectacles. The Zora nodded back and turned towards the boy. ”Mr. Ecco Henrialico Orcinus,” the royal vizier addressed the prisoner, “You stand accused of conspiracy to commit treason against the royal family, attempted thievery of protected, sacred Zora artifacts, and first degree...” 2 1/2 Hours Later... Outside on the front steps of the palace the prisoner, allegedly named “Ecco”, stood with Leucas, Sphyrna, and Isurus surrounding him. The guards were angry. “What was his majesty thinking?! Sentencing you to so-called “community service” when you should be out in the badlands shoveling sperm whale manure,” Isurus shouted! “Yeah,” agreed Sphyrna. “Not to mention that’s just a cover title to the actual punishment. And it’s not even a punishment!” Leucas was no less displeased. “Being set free out of sympathy would have been bad enough, but having to better our relationship with those humans by attending one of their schools for adolescents? Absolutely outrageous!” Ecco remained silent and glared daggers at his shackles. He didn’t show it but he was just as upset as his escort/tormentors. It had been two and a half long hours of tedious talking over the severity of his crimes, the many available punishments being offered and denied, the circumstances that would require said punishments being laid out, and too much more. Ecco never understood politics so he couldn’t even remember the first half of the first hour to save his life. He did, however, pay attention when King Carcharodon finally sentenced him: To leave Zora’s Domain and improve the relationship between humans and Zoras. Ecco found himself longing for his dungeon cell, or possibly being ostracized by his mother, now more than anything else. It was at that moment the royal vizier, Taurus, stepped forth from the palace doors to address the three complaining guards and their charge. “As much as I personally loathe our King’s decision we have no choice but to comply with his demands.” “Taurus,” began Leucas, “With all due respect, how does this achieve anything? Our truce with the humans is on edge as it is and they don’t have time to worry about this troublemaker.” “They won’t have to Lieutenant Leucas, for you and Privates Sphyrna and Isurus are going with them.” ”WHAT?!” “EXCUSE ME?!” “SAY WHAT?!” Leucas recomposed himself and asked, “What do you mean, ‘We’re going with them’? And for that matter, who else is ‘them’?” Taurus maintained his calm demeanor despite three voices screaming at him at once and replied, “The answer to your first question is quite simple, really. You three have had the most experience in handling delinquents like Mr. Orcinus, and from what I hear from Captain Megalodon he knows better than to pick a fight with any of you.” Ecco internally shuddered and subconsciously rubbed his left arm, as best as possible to do so with shackles on his wrists, when he heard that. He could remember very well the only time when he tried to fight back against the three guards. From what he could overhear from the healers, at least what snippets he could hear when he was barely conscious, he very nearly required an amputation in order to survive the first night... “To answer your second question,” Taurus continued, “The king and I have decided that separation from his only remaining family would not work well for Mr. Orcinus’ mental state. So in a matter of coincidence, we have asked Mrs. Cirratum to accompany her son to not only aid in your monitoring over him, but also use her status as a teacher to land a job at the very school he will be attending. The king felt it would be an added bonus to have a knowledgeable Zora teach humans about us to give them a better understanding of our race and hopefully lessen the risk of prejudice and misunderstanding in the future.” Upon hearing his mother’s name and course of action, Ecco gasped and looked up at Taurus as if he had just given her a death sentence. “I know what you would have to say-“ “He doesn’t say anything,” muttered Isurus. “-about the arrangement, young Orcinus, but the king’s words are final. Now, you and your mother have two months before the humans’ school year begins so I suggest you go home and pack your belongings. You two will be gone for a long time.” Orcinus slumped his head and shoulders in defeat. “Now,” Taurus concluded, “His Majesty should be just about finished filling your mother in on the arrangements. Once she exits the palace doors you are free to leave.” Not a moment later and the palace doors swung open and out stepped Cirratum bearing an exhausted yet highly relieved expression on her face. Isurus begrudgingly removed the muzzle and shackles from Ecco, who immediately began rubbing the soreness out of his wrists and other limbs. Seeing her baby free of his bindings Cirratum wasted no time rushing to her son and embracing him in a tight hug, unknowingly pinning his head to her bosom. Mother and son both squeezed each other and let a few tears loose despite so many pairs of eyes watching them. After a moment they broke from their hug and Cirratum took her son’s hand. “Come on sweetie, let’s go home.” Orcinus didn’t show any protest and walked home with his mother hand in hand, three grumbling guards and one stoic royal advisor left in their wake. Meanwhile, In Canterlot City... Celestia was anything if not a patient woman. Ever since graduating college she, and eventually, Luna, her younger sister, made it her goal to provide the best means of education for their students and make a name for themselves and their school. As luck would have it, Celestia and Luna have been given the honor of being the principal and vice-principal of Canterlot High School, respectively, which was located close to their homes. After settling in and getting to know all the teachers, the two sisters thought they could take on anything in order to ensure a bright future for each and every one of their students. So imagine Celestia and Luna’s surprise when they received a message, in the form of an old-fashioned scroll smelling of sea salt, informing them that a new student would be coming to their school, but not just any student. They were to become the first school body to have a Zora enrolled! When Celestia and Luna first heard of the discovery of another sentient species living on Earth, they had mixed reactions, to say the least. Luna had found herself rather wary of the water-bound humanoids, mainly because their physical appearance made them intimidating and they were considered dangerous if provoked. Celestia, on the other hand, was excited at the news. Humans were not the only self-aware beings in existence after all. That’s not to say the first contact between both species was pleasant. Long story short: a misunderstanding caused a roughly 3-week war before the leading bodies of either species decided that enough blood had been spilled and agreed to handle the conflict politically. Afterward, after signing a truce to share common grounds in exchange for resources, Zoras were essentially integrated into society, the families of those who were lost in the fighting were compensated, and no conflict between either species arose. That whole ordeal was more or less than a decade ago and considered old news, but recently rumors began to spread amongst coastal cities that the Zoras hoped to improve their truce by forming settlements inland and allowing young Zoras into local education programs. Some of the more paranoid and tactless superintendents across the nation outright refused the idea out of fear of prejudice or violence from the Zoras. Others declined out of fear for the Zoras because there were people who wouldn’t let bygones be bygones and were sure to give any individual Zora plenty of grief, or worse. The rest were conflicted as they couldn’t find any good reason to accept any Zora students and not suffer an unfortunate consequence. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna’s supervisors were the first school district so far to fully allow Zora enrollment, and Canterlot High School was to be the first school in the nation to receive one. And best of all, Celestia was beyond ecstatic when she read in the scroll, and again in a letter from her supervisor confirming it, that a Zora teacher would be coming as well! Now, not only would interaction between humans and Zoras be more routine, the humans would finally be able to properly learn about their aquatic neighbors and eventually come to a better understanding of them. Vice Principal Luna was reluctant and didn’t share her sisters’ enthusiasm. When she voiced her concerns to Celestia, she was told the scroll and letter also mentioned an escort of well-disciplined guards, handpicked by King Carcharodon himself, would guarantee the Zora’s best behavior. Luna still wasn’t entirely convinced but the mention of a guard escort put her mind at ease and she followed along with the arrangements. The Freshman Fair would commence in two months and preparations needed attending to. If there would be Zoras coming to their school, they were going to be as welcoming as possible.