This is my entry for this year's Zelgan Big Bang on tumblr. I hope you enjoy this little story!
For all those of you who might wait for an update on Who Wants To Fight Forever: Writing this Zelgan story delayed any progress on wwtff, but now that the Zelgan Big Bang is over, I will catch up on that!


Zelda sneaked through the shadows of the Noble Quarter. A warm summer breeze and splendid fullmoon drove the people outside, seeking the comfort of gardens and establishments. It was the first night of the Sun-and-Moon-Festival, the biggest festivity of the summer months. Everyone celebrated.

The city brimmed with liveliness, overflowed with merchants from all over the country. Colorful lamps decorated every street, even the filthy ones in the slums. The days were too hot to do much outside, so the people flooded the streets at night, filling the cobble stoned paths, dressed in light fabrics of garish colors. Some wore even sun or moon masks to honor the two deities.
It was the perfect time for a well planned theft that would make her rich.

For weeks the rumor of Ganondorf Dragmire's sapphire cherries coursed through the city. The few nobles he invited to his exuberantly ostentatious villa claimed, he possessed a cherry tree with fruits that were the purest and bluest sapphires.
Sapphires, the holy jewels of the Great Goddess Nayru, were rare and costly. Only two of those ominous cherries would be worth a fortune. IF the rumors were true!
Various members of the Guild of Thieves had affirmed the talk.

None, however, had been able to steal any of those cherries yet. Zelda intended to be the first one and had prepared to be on her way in case of success. Failure would most certainly mean death or the loss of both hands, which was about the same.

The man she intended to steal from was a cunning person with origins barely known. Yet with his wisdom, strategical knowledge and war experience he'd forged his way to the position of High Advisor to the King and Member of City Council. Rumor had it he lived with only women. He would even pick some of them from the streets. Those of them who did not serve him as warriors or personal guards were cooks, maids, messengers or lovers, they said.

The bell of the central tower rang, deep and sonorous. The next change of guards would happen in fifty heartbeats. She closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of night. Laughter. Steps. The humming of moonlight bees. The soft breeze caressing her sweaty skin where it was not covered by dark clothes.

When the sounds changed in the same way they did every third night, she started to climb the wall at the spot where she had eroded the mortar over the weeks.
She pulled herself up over the edge, looking for unexpected trouble. After another heartbeat, she slipped over the wall in perfect silence.

On the other side, Zelda let herself fall into the shadow of a sage bush with violet-blue blossoms, rolling right under it. She started to count heartbeats. The new patrol appeared at twenty, walking the walls and the garden in a very unpredictable manner.

Zelda closed her eyes, slowing down her breathing. She waited for the next change of guards at midnight. At that time, the train of musicians should pass by this villa, hopefully distracting the bronze skinned warriors. They were rather fond of music and musicians, she knew. With luck, the change of guards would take longer, long enough for her to steal AND leave unseen.

If not? She'd had to wait another two hours. Patience and accuracy were some of the most important traits of a thief, together with silence and deftness. She was proud of her skills, though none other than her would acknowledge them.

When finally the noise of the nearing musicians grew loud, the full moon took its most inconvenient position: zenith. She would be exposed during her sprint to the tree which stood in the middle of the garden. There would be no shadows she could use on her way. Swiftness was of the essence.

The guards retreated from their positions. Zelda gunned out of her hideout and raced for the tree. Its shadow was shallow shelter, the silver light of the moon too bright on the soft grass around. She reached swiftly for the lowest hanging fruit, plucking it into her little bag.

It was hard and round and smooth, crystal clear like the most beautiful sapphires. It WAS a sapphire! What magic was this, the rarest gems in all the lands growing like fruits on a tree?

She reached for the next blue cherry, when a hand covered her mouth, drawing her against a foreign body. The shining blade of a dagger pushed softly against her throat.
Zelda froze.

"And which unbidden guest would this be?" asked a deep, rich voice right beside her left ear. She was whirled around, her back colliding with the tree. Another cherry fell to the ground, sparkling in the moonlight.

Her wide stare fell upon golden eyes, gleaming, belonging to a mountain of a man. His hair had the color of uncut rubies, his skin was a rich, dark gold-bronze.
He looked at her curiously. "So?"

She still hadn't answered his question.
"Only an admirer of this garden's beauty," she breathed. He seemed amused.

"Did you know that blue is the rarest color in all flora, rarest in all lands and most of all here, in our warm climate?"

She kept silent. Her eyes darted from left to right, looking for a way out, not caring about lessons on flowers and colors at all.
He chuckled. His warm hand captured her chin. This made her focus him again, her gaze defiant.
He inspected her for many heartbeats, making her feel warm under his intensive stare.

"What exceptionally beautiful eyes you have. I never saw a blue this deep and clear," he murmured, tilting her head this way and that way. "Clearly, Nayru blessed you. Though She also should have blessed you with the wisdom to stay out of these gardens."

Zelda glared at him. Why didn't he just call the guards?
She pressed herself harder against the tree, trying to remove some pressure of his blade. With a chuckle, he let the weapon sink, but caged her with his body. She could smell the spices of foreign tobacco on him, see the silken shimmer on the tightly woven, smooth fabric of his tunic. The collar was intricately stitched with gold thread. The thread alone would probably get her by for two weeks.

Zelda shrunk when his presence got overwhelming. The fingers holding her chin wandered over her shoulder down to her hand and lifted it to his lips.
She stared.
A smirk lifted his mouth corners, while he touched her knuckles with his mouth, tenderly, his eyes glowing with mischief.

Shaking herself out of shock, she reclaimed her hand and hit his nose with the heel of the other. She let herself fall to the ground, rolled from out under him and ran for the wall, unwinding a grappling hook from her belt.
Her heart beat like a wild thing, when she threw it, but she measured well and a moment later, she climbed the wall again.

He didn't call for the guards. Zelda didn't know why, maybe he was a lunatic. But she had one cherry, and he just let her go! Fast, fast, fast, she told herself. Down the other side she went, darting into the next street, finding a spot with many people, slowing down, tearing off her mask and vanishing in the anonymity of the masses.
_

"Are you hurt, my Lord? What are you doing, handling an intruder yourself? Have you not the best guards for that?" Nabooru scolded him softly, stepping at his side under the tree.
Ganondorf laughed. "Why? I was only trying to pluck an exceptionally rare flower.."
She gave him an arched brow and The Look.

With deep felt amusement, he dabbed at the blood dripping from his nose. "So much fire, and such captivating eyes."
"Shall I tail them?" his friend and personal guard asked.
The advisor shook his head. "No. They will soon figure out that those cherries are just that: Cherries. Rare and unique in their texture and look, but no real sapphires. This theft rather amused me."

With a smirk, he held up a small, golden medallion, the size of a big gold coin.
"Very unusual for a young thief to take such jewelry onto a coup, don't you think?"

Nabooru shrugged.

The engraved letters on the medallion's surface were dark with the dirt of fingers having rubbed over them again and again. This was not a mere trinket. It was indeed a treasure. A lucky charm. A beloved item.

Nabooru shook her head. "Thieves are a far too common plague in this city, it seems."
Ganondorf gave another chuckle and smiled. "They will come back for this, undoubtedly."

She sighed. "You obviously look forward to that. And? What makes you think they are rare?"

"Why, because the rarest flowers are those blooming under great adversities."
He picked up the fallen cherry and grinned.