A/N: Author's Notes in Profile
Exiled King
Chapter 1
Blood, Tears, and the Sand
7 Years After Ganondorf's Sealing
The light peered over the horizon, marking the true beginning of the day. The chill of night receded as the rays pressed against the Gerudo women in the fortress' main courtyard. The fortress was quiet, only the breeze and sand against the stone walls.
Dozens of girls and women entered the wide court. Their eyes were varying shades of gold, one or two sets of blue eyes staring out from the crowd. Each of these eyes swept the space in anticipation.
Priel watched each and every one of them. It was terrible what she would have to do to one who was once seen as a hero. Though that wasn't what bothered her, it was the fact that the traitor was her best friend. She closed her eyes momentarily to steel her feelings. When they opened, she saw the woman. One woman, dressed in an all-black uniform, flanked by guards, strode out of the fortress. With short hair and a day-old gash on her face, her best friend approached in a steady and deliberate stride.
Priel stared into her eyes and gold stared back. They both knew the task at hand. Aveil even gave her a small smirk of acknowledgment. There were a million things that could mean, but Priel just settled on one. Aveil found it justified that she was the one to end this. Without a hint of warmth, Priel nodded to her.
"You didn't have to be the one to do this, Priel." The condemned woman said.
"And you didn't have to murder the Sage of Spirit." Priel countered, quickly. "It's an obligation for our history." She finished with a flattened tone.
Priel waited for a response. Rather, she needed a response. Her eyes threatened to break the stare that Aveil was giving her.
"Will you be eating something nice tonight?" Aveil asked, her lips curving into a tight smile. "Kill me like it's your duty and then go about your day?"`
Aveil could always do that to her. Get under her skin. She was doing it again, but Priel would not bite. "It's not that simple. Though I guess to you it always has been. Holding onto your hatred for so many years -"
"It was deserved hatred!" A new voice yelled.
The Gerudo audience started to murmur.
Priel frowned when she spotted the boy who spoke, no more than seven years old. He had cropped hair and was the only male in the crowd.
"Korin," Aveil whispered, eyes softening momentarily. Priel caught the exchange, feeling all the worst for it. Aveil's vulnerability didn't last, as she quickly composed herself.
"Korin!" A panicked high pitched cry came from the crowd. Another child, though a few years older than the boy found her way to Korin and grabbed his hand, but he slipped away from her grip.
"Leave me alone, Ailla! This needs to stop. She needs to stop." Korin snapped.
"As per our law, death is imminent." Priel said, hands tightening even as she took position behind Aveil. "However, you may speak your final words."
"I am the law," He cut in firmly. "And I say that this is over. She can go." If the situation weren't so serious, Priel might have chuckled at his act at authority. How long had he been practicing that?
The Gerudo looked at one another. Korin was heir and their future king, but right now he was just one of them. He had no power.
Priel stared coolly at Korin. "Highness, allow me to ask you a question."
He glared at her but nodded.
"Why do you defend her actions?"
He relaxed, opening his fists and letting his hands fall back to his sides. "Because she hasn't done anything wrong. It was Nabooru's fault that Ailla and I don't have a father. She betrayed Ganondorf. She betrayed all of us, including you. My mother just wanted to make things right."
"She wanted to make things right for whom? For your family?" Priel asked, waiting for Korin's nod before continuing. "As a future King and as Gerudo you should know that we are all family. We are one tribe. We are one people. What sort of family allows its members to kill each other off whenever it pleases them?"
He cringed. Then after a moment of silence he pointed out, "What about what you're doing?"
"If we allow things like that to happen without repercussion, we are no more than barbaric savages, as the Hylians claim us to be. If we do not adhere to our laws because someone – even someone of your authority, Highness – deems it unnecessary in a particular case, we dissolve into chaos."
Korin shook his head. "You didn't answer my question," He pressed.
"Very well." Priel turned to look at Aveil, maintaining a steady calm. "I am given the authority to carry out this task by the very law your mother was under the illusion that she was upholding. 'Betrayal cannot be tolerated-" Priel recited, "-and if one Gerudo betrays another, it can only result in the traitor's death.'"
"You wouldn't say no to my father."
"Because your father wouldn't ask for mercy. No matter who she was, he would see it carried out."
"You're wrong."
"Priel." Aveil stared at her friend, before she inclined her head forward baring her neck.
Priel's eyes widened.
"Unfortunately Korin, I cannot debate ethics until you lose the energy to argue. I understand this is going to be hard for you to see, but it is time we uphold the law."
Priel unsheathed her two scimitars in the blink of an eye.
Aveil gazed into the sky, muttering to herself at the very end.
A fountain of blood gushed free from her as the scimitar was brought to the tender flesh of her neck cutting through cartilage and vocal folds. A choked gasp as Aveil's life spilled away from her.
Korin fell to his knees and screamed at the sky.
"I did not wish this, but it is done." Priel said. "I have done this because it is just." She gave one last look at her fallen friend, before marching away.
Korin stayed. The others left to do their daily activities. How could things go so wrong? Why couldn't he stop Priel?
A girl's voice drew his attention from the darkening courtyard. "You need to eat something, Korin. You've been here for hours."
Korin turned around to see his sister. He gritted his teeth and glared at her. "And why are you so calm about it? Huh?"
Ailla met his anger with a soft expression. "And how would you feel if I was also screaming and crying? Would that make you feel better, or worse?"
He turned back to Aveil's body.
"They want to move her body, but they're waiting for you to leave." Ailla informed him.
"Let them wait!" He said, feeling hot tears building and threatening to spill over. He held them back, his vision blurring, and his face beginning to burn. "Just go."
"She had her reasons for doing what she did," Ailla said walking, over to her mother and kneeling beside the pooling blood to get a better look at her. "She told them to me, but none of them change our rules – killing each other is wrong. Killing the Sage of Spirit – is that much worst. She knew that, and she made her choice."
"Her choice didn't involve us," Korin said quietly. "Did she even care at all?"
Ailla's gaze fell to her reflection in the blood. "She did."
"Then why?" He demanded. "Why is she putting us through this?"
Korin wasn't sure when she had stood up, but she put a firm hand on his shoulder. "All we can do is move forward. Don't forget that you have a job to do."
Korin finally stood. He reached a hand to hers and felt it warm and wet. It was a grim realization, but the two of them were bonding in their mother's blood.
"We're a real mess." Korin whispered.
"Yeah."
"One day, Priel will be as well."
"What?"
"Nothing. If she made her choice, then I will make mine."
The following day had the sun reach its apex and bear down on this extra hot day. At the front of the fortress stood the combat instructor of the Gerudo. She was in her mid-30s, she stood especially tall compared to her sisters. Her arms were lanky, but her body was toned. Her face was round with a permanent reddish blush on her cheeks and her hair was braided into a ponytail. Various scars etched what skin was exposed by her white Gerudo uniform.
Her name was Lajrah and in front of her sat her pupils. "Who wants to volunteer today?"
Girls aged five through ten looked back up at her. Korin, the only male present, was a member of this group and he raised a fist into the air to show that he was raring to get started.
"Ah, Korin." She spoke as a small smile crossed her face. She knew he would have so much pent up anger and had been surprised that he hadn't picked a fight with anyone yet. Though she supposed that was Ailla's doing.
Korin stood up, holding two wooden scimitar replicas in hand. He almost scoffed at the weapons before looking at Lajrah. "Can we use real scimitars?"
In an amused tone she responded, "I don't think you're quite ready for that, Highness."
"Word is that when Ganondorf was training, he never used replicas."
"That's true so I'll tell you what. If you can land one blow against me, I will allow you to pick up a real blade."
Korin frowned a bit, knowing he was far from capable of the task. "If that's how we do this, fine!" He said, crossing his two wooden scimitars. He narrowed his eyes when he noticed that Lajrah was going to defend herself with just one weapon. He gritted his teeth when he saw that she had moved her other hand behind her back.
"Well?" Lajrah said. "Approach."
Korin approached, sliding his feet slowly on the ground, but Lajrah wouldn't budge. He entered her striking distance
He broke his stance and whipped his right arm around to strike at her side, but she parried it with barely a movement. He expected that and allowed himself to take one more step inside, hoping her long arms wouldn't be able to accommodate the close range. He didn't take into account that he was much shorter than she was and that moving closer just forced her to attack from above.
Before he could even prepare a left strike, she had already brought her scimitar to the base of his skull.
Korin stumbled, but regained his composure, raising his left blade up to parry her second overhead strike and succeeded. He jumped back to give himself space.
"Why did you run just now?" Lajrah asked.
"What do you mean?" Korin muttered, ignoring the stinging he was feeling.
"Were you treating this fight as if I was using two weapons? Were you worried that you were vulnerable?"
Yes. Though Korin didn't respond, she was correct.
"You were going by expectations instead of what was actually going on and what you could see with your eyes." It wasn't a question.
Korin frowned at how much information he had given up just by moving away.
"I actually wanted to give you a breather. We know how Gerudo of your age start to tire easily." Korin said, eliciting a laugh from the spectators.
Lajrah rolled her eyes. "Cheeky little punk."
"That's King Cheeky to you."
"More like bruised cheeky." Korin couldn't react in time as her wooden scimitar smacked him across the face and sent him staggering to the left. "Keep your guard up. Your defensive style shouldn't leave such easy openings."
Korin readied himself again as she moved towards him. She swung, so fast he struggled to heft his blade to intercept. He backed away as she reversed her sweep. With her speed he realized he was lucky she wasn't using two blades as it was taking all his concentration to parry one.
"You need to lead my blade Korin. Or do you plan to be on the defensive the whole time?"
One of the girls had stood up during the fight and joined it without announcement. The girl's hair was short and bushy.
"Io!" Korin and Lajrah said in unison. The girl looked frustrated that her sneak attack hadn't worked.
"And just what are you up to?" Lajrah said, slightly amused while their weapons were still locked.
"I wanted to be the first one to land a hit on you." Io responded with a grin. "Besides you always tell us that the unexpected is what can turn the tides of battle."
"Challenge accepted." Lajrah quickly said. "Though, I will be using both of my scimitars now."
"Good."
Two hours later the two of them were still lying on the ground staring up into the sky. They were bruised, battered, and still too tired to move.
"Why did you say good?" Korin groaned. "You thought her using both scimitars was good?"
"Better than backing down."
Korin rolled his eyes, but couldn't dispute the logic. He thought back to how he was out of ideas for engaging Lajrah when Io stepped in. She had stood there with him and took part of the beating he was going to get. He couldn't help but smile at the loyalty.
"Yeah, we need to get up and get some water."
"And food." Korin added in agreement. He slowly picked himself off the ground.
Io grimaced a bit. "Leever stew doesn't sound too appealing." Korin offered her a hand and she took it to get back to her feet. "Though I guess we'll have to beat her next time to get something good."
"We, huh?" Korin said smiling. Io looked at him then shrugged. "Thanks for helping me. Would've been pretty humiliating without the assist."
"I just wanted to use a real scimitar. I made up my mind the moment it was brought up."
"Still, you've made a pact with me now. We will defeat her together. If only all of my subjects took to my cause, I wouldn't have all of these problems."
Io slapped her forehead in some emotion Korin couldn't identify. "Who taught you to talk that way? Who calls their people subjects?"
"I learned from someone who knows these things." Korin said, staring at nothing as memories of his mother flooded him. He quickly awoke from his stupor and began walking towards the tavern. "Maybe instead of beating her in combat, we just find someone's scimitars that don't need them."
Io smirked as she followed behind him. She knew that he meant Priel. She knew the trouble they could get in. It excited her. "Sounds fun."
Ailla's blades clashed with Lajrah's clanging with the high pitched screeching of metal on metal. They stood so close that they could feel each other's breath and Ailla wanted to break away but found it difficult to give up position. In the blink of an eye Lajrah broke the stalemate and brought her blade up and down with a downward slash, but Ailla read the move and brought one blade up to match.
"Korin isn't taking your mother's death well." Lajrah said, eyeing Ailla's blade.
Ailla put on as much offense as she could, focusing her aim lower, towards Lajrah's abdomen and legs. This baited the veteran into somersaulting over her, which is what Ailla wanted, but she didn't expect Lajrah to perform midair parries. As Lajrah landed behind her, Ailla spun around with her right blade outstretched into a horizontal slash with a lot of power backing it, but Lajrah was already prepared, parrying the strike with both of her scimitars.
The two stood staring at each other for a moment.
"Did you expect him to?" Ailla finally said. Part of Lajrah's training was to be able to hold a conversation while in the heat of battle. It was a lesson in concentration that Ailla was not good at, so she had to wait until a lull in the combat before she could effectively respond.
"No. It's just hard to imagine," Lajrah said before quickly moving back on the offensive. She didn't try to hide her intent as she slashed both scimitars in a horizontal sweep with all her strength. Ailla saw this and struck back the same way having their blades collide. "What are we to do with an angry errant king?" All four scimitars converged again overhead. Ailla knew this was a drill in power strikes and being able to withstand it. "He may not have all the powers afforded to someone who has been crowned, but he can still toss things around."
Ailla took this moment; she jumped back to avoid Lajrah's next predictable strike, and sprung forward using her left foot as a pivot, twisting into a bladed spin with all the ferocity of a meat grinder. To her dismay all she could notice during her attack was that Lajrah parried each strike, each pivoted twist leading into the next.
Lajrah dodged back out of reach leaving Ailla off balance. A quick kick sent the girl to her knees and the woman pressed her scimitar to Ailla's neck.
Ailla inclined her head forward in surrender.
"Well, you are certainly getting better." There was pride in Lajrah's voice.
"I have to." Ailla said, her tone low and the scimitar still to her neck.
Lajrah waited as Ailla steadied her breathing, the adrenaline worn off. "Why?"
"Because that's what he needs right now."
Lajrah withdrew her blade and gave her an admonishing look. "You're acting like it's the two of you against the rest of us. You're treating this situation like a child would."
Ailla blushed at the lecture. She couldn't find the words to respond.
"I was worried that Korin would do something foolish. Trust me he will, but you . . . I'm worried about you doing something foolish. Something more extreme in his name."
Ailla got back to her feet and sheathed her blades. She looked Lajrah in the eyes, but turned away unable to face her. "I'm not reckless. That's my mother. I'm not power hungry. That's my father."
'Then what are you?"
Ailla slowly shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'm too young to figure it out yet."
"You're too young to be keeping secrets too, but that's not stopping you."
The words cut deep and Ailla grimaced a bit. "I need to go. Don't you have other students to train?"
"Not before you admit it to me." Lajrah told her.
Ailla bit her lip and furrowed her brow. "I don't even know what you're talking about." She said in a whisper.
Lajrah gave her an unimpressed look. "Admit your secret to me."
Ailla was silent. Lajrah trained her since she could hold a blade. In more ways than one, Lajrah had taught her more than even her mother. Her mother was more hands-on with Korin. Lajrah was persistent, strong, knowledgeable, and wise. She couldn't hide this from her.
Ailla looked back at Lajrah and quietly muttered. "I have an affinity in magic."
After a long pause, Lajrah smiled at her. "I know. I was told the moment your group had the evaluation three weeks ago. I was surprised you didn't tell me."
Ailla looked away not wanting to look Lajrah in the eyes. "I just . . . It's just not important."
"It's pretty special." Lajrah said warmly. "After the war, our numbers have been severely reduced. How many of us have an affinity in magic now? I can probably count the lot of you with one hand."
A sad smile etched onto Ailla's face. "It's not so special considering I'm Ganondorf's daughter. I don't have a problem with that. But apparently, there are sages that might come after me if they knew-"
Lajrah frowned. "It's not that simple." She heard the stories countless times. They all knew that the previous king used his mastery of the dark arts to conquer Hyrule. "I don't think you'll use magic the same way your father did."
Ailla turned around and left.
Lajrah stared after the girl as she left. "I wonder if she'll train in magic," She let the thought hang in the air for a moment. "with the apprentices of the witches."
Korin opted to sleep in the King's Chamber, formerly Ganondorf's. Though sleep was the furthest thing from his mind as he snuck through the fortress in the dark of night. Perhaps when he is finally king they will have guards around that room more often, but until then he'd exploit this hole. It was mostly a waiting game for him, as patrol inside the fortress was a lot less strict than outside.
The destination was Priel's room. Her room was on the fourth level of the fortress and relatively far back. Patrols did tend to do slightly heavier patrolling to protect their leader, but Priel frequently spent her nights in the war room so security has been a bit more lax.
Korin sat behind a crate before the stairs to the second floor.
"How long have you been waiting?"
Korin froze for a moment before recognizing the voice. He looked up to see Io peering over the top of the crate down at him. "Get down here." He whispered, almost raising his voice. She hid next to him in a moment. "I just got here."
"You can relax. The patrol just passed a few moments ago."
Korin took a peek into the empty hallway. "Then let's go."
The duo stuck to obscure areas in the hallways as they made their forward. Gerudo drunk on Zoran ale that hadn't quite made it back to their rooms snored on the floor, sometimes right outside of their rooms. It took fifteen minutes of stealth and sometimes quiet panic to make it onto Priel's floor.
Korin found himself a little put off at the fact that they were able to make it this far. When he became King things would be different.
Korin's eyes widened like saucers at the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Halt!" This female voice came from behind.
The hallway suddenly went dark as the torch fizzled out. Korin felt someone grab his hand and he ran forward. When they turned to the left he was greeted with a light of another torch and could see Io lead the way. The two of them ducked into another room.
Korin hesitated in front of a pair of hung red pants, instantly realizing that this was a laundry room. Io didn't hesitate and motioned for him to hurry in front of a pile of dirty clothes.
He shook his head. She shrugged and dove in. Korin heard the footsteps approaching and dove in after her. Korin held his breath for half a minute before he slowly exhaled. When Io moved to leave the pile he grabbed her arm. He felt dampness on his leg, but fought the instinct to jump out.
Twenty minutes passed before the two emerged from the pile with a distinct look of irritation, no guard looming. Priel's room wasn't too far from that point.
Korin let out a sigh of relief when he entered Priel's chamber. "Her room is such a pain to get to." He whispered.
Io shrugged. "Not if you're just walking to it."
Priel's bed sat on the right, small and plain, though Io went to go investigate it. Straight ahead were two piles of neatly folded clothes. He wondered for a moment about the shorter pile.
"These must be-" He was cut off before completing his thought.
"Whoa." Korin glanced right to Io to see her pointing at training dummies made of wood covered in splinters. "Looks like someone practices a lot."
"Not surprised, she fought in the war." Korin said, turning his attention to the left of the room. "My mother was the same way. They imagine an opponent and begin the fight, sometimes so into the fight they forget where they are."
The last thing of note was a wooden dresser headed by a large mirror. A ruby adorned the mirror at the top and its sides were bound in yellow metal. Korin's brow was furrowed as he tried to picture where she had got this from. It did not look Gerudo-made at all.
Korin couldn't help raising his right arm and flexing in the mirror.
"What're you doing?"
Korin felt the heat in his cheeks. "Nothing. Will you keep it down?" He began going through the drawers.
"I don't think you'll find any scimitars in there. She probably has them on her."
"I know she has hers on her. I'm looking-" They quieted down as they heard footsteps heading closer.
Io waited as he continued to go through her dresser. To her surprise he did come up with a pair of scimitars. He handed them to her. His expression changed when he saw her taking a swig of water from a cowhide flask.
"What?" Io shook her head. "No, there is no ale there. It has a little bit of water left. I used it to douse the torch outside too."
Korin now understood how they got away earlier. "You also spilled some on me earlier. I thought it was someone's soiled clothes. Moving on." Korin went back to the last drawer. He opened it to see it full of parchment. He was about to shut it when he saw a peculiar symbol of three triangles on one roll. He laid it on the table and carefully unfurled it.
Io did a couple practice swings with the scimitars, smiling at the feel. She stopped when she again heard footsteps approach. She turned back to Korin who rolled the parchment back up and placed it back in its drawer.
"We can't stay here much longer. The breaks are getting shorter, they must be preparing for Priel to return."
Korin nodded at her walking past her. "Then let's go."
"Wait. What did that say?"
"Apparently Princess Zelda will be having her coronation sometime next year. Priel was invited."
It took them half an hour to make their way outside and another twenty minutes to sneak away from the fortress altogether.
Io looked around as they traversed the sand. When she was convinced that no one was around she spoke. "Hey, so whose scimitars are those?"
"Nabooru's." Korin said. "Ailla kept mother's so I was sure that Priel would have hers."
"Why?"
"Those three fought together. She would definitely keep hold of it. That's the type of person she is." Korin said. Io looked at him strangely, before shrugging. "What?"
"Nothing."
"No, tell me."
"Why do you know so much about Priel? That's not exactly normal."
"Oh," Korin said. He pointed ahead at a sand dune.
The two made their way and Io kept glancing in Korin's direction. "Well?"
"Well, mother always saw the two of them as enemies. So she made sure that I knew everything about them, because one day they might be my enemy." In a somber tone he added. "She was half right."
The two trekked up the sand dune.
"Okay, this is where we will leave the scimitars." Korin said. "We'll be the only ones that know. Okay?"
"Okay."
It was a rare sight to behold when dark clouds covered the desert. Korin could only remember this happening a few times a year. The temperature would be cool and give the Gerudo tolerable weather instead of extreme heat and cold.
Korin and six others passed the two guards that separated the fortress from the desert. Each of his peers were bundled tightly in dark cloaks and stared with wide eyed fascination at the falling water and wind-swept land outside the fortress. Korin had never ventured this far from the fortress before and suspected none of the others had either.
A woman in her mid-forties led the group. She was the mother of one of the girls there. She must have drawn the short straw having to be the one who escorted the new possible initiates to Soor's Grotto.
The Gerudo training ground for magic.
Korin grinned. Just like Ganondorf before him, he would learn that he had access to magic and from there would become a powerful king.
As he walked he pictured himself clenching a fist like a grip and destroying Priel with magic. Her cries would fuel him and his mother would be watching from the next world proudly.
Io walked by his side, no cloak over her back. The rain and the cold didn't bother her. Her disinterested gaze reflected her lack of interest in magic.
"Naima! Keep up!"
Korin and Io both turned around and saw one of their own falling behind. The girls cheeks looked flushed and each awkward step she took gave Io an exasperated look. Naima was bundled tightly and hesitant in each step. Korin didn't know if she was afraid of water or what.
"I-I'm coming mother."
Her words stopped Korin from going to assist her. He glanced at Io, noticing her scoffing at the girl before she turned around and continued her march. Korin turned around and followed.
Nothing but sand and rain followed them for four hours with no sign of letting up.
"We're here." Naima's mother spoke. She turned around eyeing each of them. Confusion crossed the faces of the group. They didn't see a thing. Korin frowned, eyeing the escort. Before he spoke, she continued. "What do you see in front of you?"
Nothing.
That couldn't be. Korin took a breath and looked at it a different way. There was certainly nothing in the distance, so he checked their surroundings more carefully. He noticed small stones in the sand ahead of them – a dozen in all. Four of them were sitting in the sand forming an arc. The rest were in a small area bundled together.
"There are rocks here."
Korin turned around to see Naima focusing on the ground intently. Her mother's eyes narrowed. "Go on."
Io rolled her eyes. "And there's sand. Lots and lots of sand."
"There's nothing special about the sand." Naima said, her voice low, barely heard over the rain drops themselves.
"And there's nothing special about the rocks. Right Cavshri?" Io asked the escort. Cavshri shrugged.
Korin moved to inspect the area more closely. He reached down to one of the rocks and his hands brushed against another's.
"Sorry." Naima said to him. She had the same idea.
Korin waved off her apology, more interested in the stone. Naima turned her attention back to the stone and slowly picked it up. The two of them let out a small gasp, seeing that the stone had fit into a small spherical indention in the sand.
Korin turned around. "The rocks are the key." He smirked Cavshri's approving smile and turned to the others. "We need to find the other grooves or whatever and put the rocks in."
They set to work. Knowing what to look for caused the other indentions to be easy to find. The stones were solidly placed inside in what formed into a circle.
A golden hue sprang from the rocks, drawing gasps of awe. The ground shook as the sand within the circle began to swirl.
"Looks like you've found the entrance to Soor's Grotto."
Naima looked up and smiled, but frowned when she saw her mother had been speaking to Korin.
"So it's the entrance then?" Io said warily. "Are we supposed to jump in?"
The grin on Cavshri was wide. "If you have the courage." She challenged.
"Oh?" Io muttered an unreadable expression on her face. She took a step forward.
"Io." She turned to see Korin walking up to her. "Let me go first."
"Why?"
"I have to." Something about the seriousness of his response caused Io to shrug. He looked back at the others and gave them a lordly nod before stepping into the swirling sand and vanishing from sight.
A sweet pungent zing of ozone brought Korin back to consciousness. He wasn't sure when he had lost himself, and felt completely disoriented. He felt an invisible weight on his body.
"Welcome to Soor's Grotto."
Korin glanced around to see where the voice had come from. There wasn't anyone there with him in the cavern. Where was he? His surroundings looked to be a cave with many branching paths. It was dark, but he could still make out the walls.
"You come here seeking magic? Are you truly ready for such a task? Heh heh heh. Doubtful. No one is truly ready to undertake the arcane arts. This day and age, who is truly the worthy?"
The voice was confusing, it started in one ear and finished in the other. It sounded of sandpaper, scraping its way to him, bringing a frown to Korin's face.
"Sister, have you not noticed? This one is special."
The second voice, low and rough – though Korin heard amusement as well.
"Special? Ah, yes. He's a male. I wonder just how he will take to the test."
Korin stared straight ahead, for no other reason than it being the most convenient. "I will pass this test and train here."
"Will you? You are not the first to make such a claim. By now you're aware of just how many practitioners of magic within the tribe. Still you have such confidence? Amusing."
Korin smirked. "Start the test and I'll prove it."
There was a chuckle in response.
"The test has already begun." The voice of gravel spoke.
"Simply use the light to find the way." The voice of sandpaper continued.
"You say that like it is simple. In order to even see the light. . .he will need magic within him."
Korin's eyes widened. Light?
The voices were still speaking, but he could barely make them out. So he began moving forward. Soon he found himself running to catch up to the voices, down any corridor he could find to no avail. The light. He had to find the light. The more he searched for the light the more impossible it seemed. There was nothing but darkness. Korin turned back around panicked but saw nothing familiar, just more cave.
The voices were now whispers without any discernable direction. What was this test? How would this prove that he had magic? He gritted his teeth in frustration, picked a direction and ran that way. These caves couldn't be endless; at some point he would find a dead end and use it as a starting point. They didn't tell him any rules, so he would show them that he would never give up.
Anger crept onto Korin's face. "Where are you?!" He was only greeted by his echo. He took another step and was overwhelmed by a sense of doubt. A cold chill that ran down his shoulder to his stomach, but he shook it off.
"It seems the light is not for your eyes."
"Or there isn't any light at all!" Korin yelled. "This whole thing is a joke! Give me a real test! A trial! Give me an opponent and I will win!"
"Why? Is your current ordeal unfair to you?"
Korin bit back his retort, searching for a response that didn't betray weakness. However a glimmer of hope welled within, he could clearly hear the voice. "No," He made his way down a path to his right.
"Then why are you failing so spectacularly?"
This brought Korin to pause. The pause was brief and he continued to march ahead with one small difference. There was a noticeable lack of determination in each step.
"Your tricks won't stop me." His mind told him to hold his tongue, but his pride forced the words out of his mouth. "Your voices are leading me to you."
"Ah. Is that why you've been heading in the wrong direction for so long?"
Korin stopped walking and was silent.
"Your instructions were to find the light, not chase a voice."
Korin found himself staring at his feet unsure of what to do. He made up his mind and exhaled slowly. "I said your tricks won't stop me." He broke into a run. He stopped listening to the retorts, the insults, the concern.
He emerged just before what Korin recognized as quicksand. This was definitely not the way. The cold chill returned, but this time he didn't have the willpower to subdue it. It festered within him. When he began to sink, it gave way to panic.
Despite the panic, he knew how to get out of quicksand. If it was deep enough he would have to move to his back and slowly swim backwards. However he wasn't that deep yet, so he tried to slowly take steps back before it could liquefy beneath him. However, each step back cost him more energy than he used running through the labyrinth. His muscles burned for rest for half a minute after each small step back.
This was impossible. After 3 minutes of continually stepping backwards, he should have been clear of the quicksand. Why wasn't he? He slowly turned his head back and found nothing but more quicksand.
"No!" He yelled. "No! No! No! No! No!" He turned his feet in order to turn around, but what little solid ground below him liquefied causing him to instantly sink half of his body.
"Help!" Forget pride. Forget magic. Forget Priel. He didn't want to die here. "Get me out of here-" He choked out, but felt at a loss for words. Worst, what little energy he had left him.
Korin stayed there motionless as he slowly sank into the quicksand. The only thought in his head was - Why?
Korin gasped for breath. He slowly opened his eyes to see the storm clouds above. He was back on the surface? He lifted one hand up and stared at it. He was definitely alive. The quicksand? Was it real?
"Korin!"
He slowly got himself to his feet as he saw Io approaching him with a huge grin on her face. He gave her a smile that didn't quite reach the corners of his mouth.
Before he could ask how she fared she exploded.
"I passed!"
Despite the excitement radiating from his friend, a slimy feeling of resentment coiled in his gut.
"I thought it was so stupid. Find the light. The light wasn't hard to find." She continued on about her trial and Korin couldn't respond. The idea of using magic was never a priority for her - she didn't deserve it.
Korin found himself gritting his teeth.
"At least I came out faster than you did! Don't worry, when we're training here I'll be sure not to get too far ahead of you." She finished playfully.
"I didn't pass the test." He said, his false smile vanishing.
She was about to turn around but did a double take and looked back at him. "No way. . ."
"And you did." He muttered, though barely audible.
Io's golden eyes suddenly narrowed defensively. "Look, it's not like I planned for this to happen."
"You didn't even want to come." Korin said to himself.
"Don't blame me for it."
"I'm not blaming you!" He yelled. "This isn't about you! Just shut up for a second."
"Don't get pissy with me-"
"I said to shut up! When your king tells you to do something you do it!" Korin yelled. With that he left the stunned Io behind in order to report to Cavshri about his failure.
The trip home was a long one. Korin seethed, alone, the whole time. Only Io was successful during the test, but Korin didn't know if he'd feel worse if others were successful as well.
Every time he tried to calm down the sting of failure reared its ugly head. When they made it back to the fortress, Korin, made his way to the canteen for a hot meal before the end of the day.
Korin scowled behind him when someone touched his shoulder. Ailla stared back at him, concerned.
"It's about time I got your attention." She met his scowl with indifference. "Honestly, you're bringing the mood of the whole place down."
Korin looked around, but there was no evidence to her statement, everyone in the canteen was going about their own business. "I'm not in the mood right now, okay?"
"I guess it went bad, then?"
"About as bad as it did with you." He shot back. Not many could read the emotions on Ailla's face, but Korin knew his sister well enough to see through the hard expression she gave him to the vulnerable and dare he think it - scared - reaction beneath the surface.
She smiled at him. "Really? It can't be helped then." She motioned for him to sit down at an empty table.
"What do you mean it can't be helped?"
She slipped into a seat and placed a bowl of lizalfo tail down. "You wanted to use magic to become king right?"
Korin had refused a seat and stood staring back at her with a frown. "Yes."
"You can't want magic for that. You can't rely on magic to become strong, Korin."
Korin shook his head. "No. You're only saying that because you also don't have magic."
Ailla sighed. "Mother didn't have magic. Would you say that she lacked in strength in any way?"
"No, but-"
"No excuses." She gave him a warm look. "Maybe it's a blessing in disguise."
Korin scoffed at her and left the canteen without a bite of food.
Sleep did nothing to sooth his wounded pride. So early in the morning he set out to spar with Lajrah. He knew that she woke early every morning to run through drills. So he made his way outside on the second floor of the fortress and there she was swinging and moving with fierce concentration.
"Fight me."
Lajrah stopped her blade swinging and smirked. "First Ailla, now you."
Korin cocked an eyebrow at that. "Ailla was here too?"
"With the same exact words. I guess it's to be expected from Aveil's children." Lajrah pointed a scimitar at the boy. "Though she usually just wants to talk. That's all she has to say, but she insists on hiding it behind a fight. You on the other hand, seem to be raring for a whooping."
Korin genuinely smiled at that. "I wouldn't say that exactly."
Two wooden replicas were thrown in front of him and by the time he picked them up she held the same. In the next moment their weapons met. Korin's attacks were easy to read, but he wasn't focusing on winning. He just wanted to give an accurate representation of what he could currently do. Lajrah seemed to understand and clashed with his blades with just enough effort to remain even with him.
This continued for several minutes before Korin broke off from his attack.
"Ailla told me that I need to get stronger without using magic."
"Did she now. Why?"
"I failed the test. The stupid test that didn't make any sense."
Korin moved in range and Lajrah took it to mean he wanted to test his defenses. She obliged. She began slow, performing minor strikes at a moderate speed that he was able to block. Little by little, she upped the tempo, gauging his reaction times and seeing just how far she could push him. His blade was focused and he seemed to be concentrating much more than he did during her classes. She found his threshold when he could no longer keep up with her strikes. It wasn't just her speed now, but the angles at which she attacked which overwhelmed him. Lajrah exerted just a bit more effort and Korin found himself weaponless as his scimitars twirled through the air and clanked onto the stone.
He slowly inclined his head forward in surrender.
"Many Gerudo fail the test. Just like many Gerudo would fail to defeat me in combat. It doesn't lessen their worth."
"Yes, but. . .when both me and Ailla don't have magic it doesn't seem fair. Ganondorf was our. . ." He hesitated. "Father."
Lajrah seemed to ponder these words. "Unfortunately, Ailla's secrets have put a burden on you."
Korin frowned at her. "Secrets?"
"Ailla passed the test when she went to Soor's Grotto. Foolishly, she declined the training afterwards."
Korin stared at her incredulously. "Declined the training?"
Korin didn't find his sister until the night. It was close to curfew for those his age and besides patrols and scavenging, most activity was dying out for the night. He found her bundled in a cloak as the rain poured down while she was talking with a few of her peers and preparing to head out for night scavenging. She noticed him and nodded to others as they went ahead of her. When she was alone he approached.
"Shouldn't you be heading in for bed?" She asked him.
He ignored her question. "Where are you off to?"
Ailla stood in silence. "I'm just going scavenging. Because of the rain there have been more leevers moving around. I know you don't like leever stew, but we're going to have plenty soon enough."
He was quiet at her remark.
"You okay?" Ailla said, before kneeling in front of him so they were level. "Go inside before you catch a cold. We can talk tomorrow."
Korin looked into her eyes before looking away. He wasn't sure if he was still angry, the rain falling on him felt as if it covered up his feelings as well. Still, he ventured. "I don't know if you'd tell me the truth if I asked."
Ailla looked puzzled. "Korin, what are you talking about?"
"You passed the test at Soor's Grotto didn't you? You do have an affinity for magic."
Ailla's eyes widened.
"But you can't, right? You would have told me if you had passed. I don't get it."
"Korin-"
"And then you would decline to train?" he snapped, hands fisting.
"Who told you this?"
"At least try to deny it." Korin muttered. She made no move to do so. "Whatever. I guess if you're not going to train it's the same thing as failing the test anyway." He turned around to leave.
"Korin,"
"I just don't understand why."
As he left her behind, he couldn't see her gaze shift to her feet.
Korin sat on a crate before an entrance to the fortress. He didn't feel like going inside just yet. The noise of the rain coming down was something he could focus on. He probably had a bit of time before someone patrolling spotted him.
Why had everything gone so wrong? The test was stupid, but both Ailla and Io had passed. Ailla is Ganondorf's daughter, so despite how that hurts, it's understandable. Io? How? The Sand Goddess must really like her jokes.
A sigh escaped him. "Pity me, right?" He muttered to himself before hopping off the crate. "I am not some emotional wreck." He was about to turn around when he saw two bundled up figures heading out. One of them was shorter like a child. The child turned around and Korin noticed it was Io.
He narrowed his eyes, but then sighed again and made his way to them.
"Hey," he waved at the girls.
Io frowned at him. "Hey."
"Leaving tonight huh?"
"Yeah. They say it's best if I start my training right away."
"Good luck."
Io started. She then smirked, confidence returning to her form. "Yeah. Imagine it. Me with magic? It's a joke." Her smirk intensified. "However, I am Gerudo, so it's not like I won't give it my all. As a matter of fact, I'm going to become the best dang magic user ever. Better than Nabooru. Better than the witches. Better than everyone!"
Korin smiled at that. "I see. Well when you get back you're going to have to show me a few tricks."
"You bet'cha." She turned around and nodded to her escort. The strode out into the desert.
Korin watched them go, before he felt eyes watching him. He turned around to see an adult staring down at him. "Inside, now."
End Chapter 1
Debug Room
"Hey, listen! This is Navi. If you don't remember who I am, then maybe you should replay The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. You know, where I was the main character! Together with a little help from the Hero of Time, we were able to stop the evil King of Evil. Was that redundant? I don't care.
Anyway, I've made it to the Debug Room. For some reason, I'm not in this game, Exiled King. I want to find out why by looking into the code. Maybe I was supposed to be in it, but because of time restraints they had to cut me. Hey, it happens all the time.
…
So what do we have here? Code on some of the characters? Hmmm, there should be more. I wonder if there is something locking away the information. Hopefully I'll know by the end of the next part.
Still, I can't leave you without anything. Very well. If your curiosity has brought you this far, it would be impolite to dismiss you without satiating it (if only a little.) I, Navi, will gladly answer your questions … The New Deku Tree – capital N, by the way – insists it's time for me to 'act my role again', so let's begin with what I found here."
The current format to test possible initiates for magic in Soor's Grotto is for the apprentice of Kotake and Koume to use their power to create a mind scape for the initiate. Power attracts power, so the initiate should be able to locate the source of their magic.
Ailla's Test at Soor's Grotto:
Ailla's test was one of the quickest in the current format. There was a type of 'gravity' in her mindscape that made it hard for the apprentices to breathe while they conducted the test. Ailla was able to see the light, but the witches stopped the test before it got out of hand.
Io's Test at Soor's Grotto:
Io's test was of average length for those that are successful. There was something peculiar about it, though. The quicksand traps that impeded Korin were present, but each step she took froze that particular area of quicksand. She was able to move without fear.
"That's all I've been able to find so far. Don't worry, it was my first try. I get better at everything I do. If you have any questions, ask them in a review. One reason why I'm here, according to The New Deku Tree, is to make this a smooth process for you. Or just say hi to me. Hey. Hey. Listen!"