Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask do not belong to me. I
am just freely advertising the game created by Nintendo by creating a
fanfiction based on what the game already shown. Most of the characters and
places shown are from the original game, but some are created by me. Thank
you. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Prove Your Worth
Hyrule was within the midst of summer. From the scorching temperatures of Death Mountain to the cooling waters of Zora Domain, the temperature difference aided in the flow of a pleasant breeze that blew westwards, shuffling against the relenting blades of grass on the Field. With it, it caught the sweet melody of someone singing, heading on and crossing the calm waters of the Lake. And just as it was finishing its course through Hyrule, it picked up just one other voice - not by any count louder than the rest, and certainly not as regal, but a voice that belonged to one that was held in regards higher than any of nobler birth.
"You know, this is getting ridiculous."
For one as high standing as the Hero of Time, his speech certainly wasn't eloquent.
Link, with a few arrows bunched up underneath his arm pit, was thinking that one's health isn't great if your face is turning red.
Part of the redness was caused by the heat waves that surrounded the Desert, and the outside of the Gerudo Fortress (oddly enough, the stone walls didn't not make them bake in an oven, but protected them from the harsh sun). But the majority of it was because he was upside down.
With his feet strapped to a bungee cord.
"Prove my worth my flat foot." The 13 year old blond muttered to himself, as little children - all with red hair - passed by above him, some of them knocking the bungee cord he was attached with. "Yeah, I'm dealing with a bunch of thieves, so to prove my worth is to be able to steal, right? Apparently they had to mess it up even worse."
Since the fall of Ganondorf, as well as his journey through Termina, Link decided to visit the Gerudo to make sure there were no hard feelings among the people.
Apparently there were some people who resented his attack against their King, and him being the unknowing fool to Gerudo culture, accepted what they said would prove his worth and end all bitterness against him.
So bingo, there Link was, hanging on a bungee cord, with 10 arrows, his bow, and 15 Wolfos underneath him. Wonderful position, isn't it?
"Don't take so long, male! When the sun hits its peak, we're cutting the cord!" One very angry Gerudo shouted above him. Link glanced downwards (or upwards, if you think in that manner) and checked the sun's position in the sky. 'Great', he thought, 'I got about an hour before I'm dropped into this problem'.
The big deal was this: with these 10 worthless arrows, Link was to shoot down as many of the 15 Wolfos as possible. Once it reached midday, or he ran out of arrows, the cord was to be cut, and he'd have to fight the rest of them - with a dagger. Not very appealing, that thought was.
Once he's scratched, bleeding, limping, but essentially alive, he'd to sneak around the fortress - like a thief, yes - and steal back the items they took from him. Without getting caught.
And if he's caught, he'd have to fight the Gerudo holding that item - still with a dagger. If he gets caught trying to retrieve all 24 masks, his long- shot, bomb bag, sword, ocarina and everything else, he'd have to fight over 30 Gerudo - with a dagger still, unless he retrieves his sword and shield first.
"Gerudo hospitality never ceases to amaze me," Link grumbled, trying to aim at a Wolfos's tail while bouncing up and down. "I'm certain they'll become the Hyrule's number one dignitaries."
You know, of all the times Link had to sound professional in front of royalty, having to sound polite to higher class people, he certainly never seemed to achieve it properly.
As well as all the times he fought beasts, creatures which their prime motivation to live bent away from survival and towards the harm of others, he wasn't very good at fighting them all. He ran away, most of the time, with the thought of 'it's not cowardice, it is common sense'.
That of the person bearing the Triforce of Courage.
The only thing Link had to say of the moment summed up to 'Shooting while bouncing upside down is hard'.
Not quite the understatement of the year, but still horribly understated nonetheless.
He already had shot 6 arrows into the pit below him full of wild, (and probably, but hopefully not) rabid canine mutations and only 2 of them actually hit the pack of Wolfos - with one of them blocked by it's claws, and the other only grazing the other one. With 4 arrows left, 35 minutes to go and that odd, sickening feeling you get if you spin too much on the spot right after you ate in your head and stomach, his chances of managing to take down all those Wolfos were as slim as a blade of grass.
"Okay," he muttered quietly, "If I'm bouncing, and they all like to group up beneath me, if I aim this direction-" Fiddling with his bow, he accidentally dropped one arrow down. Oops. "Fine, so if I aim this direction, and fire when I'm at my highest, I should be able to-" His speech was cut short and the Gerudo on top shouted at him.
"Shut your mouth, male! Yapping to yourself won't get you anywhere." She imperiously said, kicking the cord for good measure.
Grumbling, Link glanced up to see what time it was. He had about 10 minutes, and that incredibly ignorant (Link actually wished to say some more. drastic words, but his good sense against females toned it down) Gerudo was smirking at him.
'What was her name?' Link thought. 'Pretzel? No, that doesn't sound right. Rusher? Nope, not that one either. Reza? Sounds about right, I think.' In his thoughts, Link accidentally released the arrow, which fortunately managed to hit one Wolfos's tail.
Yapping to yourself won't get you anywhere, but not getting anywhere is being somewhere.
Once Link finally managed to measure when and where the arrow should fly, he actually did take down two more Wolfos. Running out of arrows, as said earlier, the cord was cut.
Link could almost feel the Gerudo's smirk when he painfully landed on the ground. Groaning, he up righted himself, and when he was about to stand up, felt something cold and wet on his arm.
'It's not raining, so what by Goddesses is that?' Raising his head to see, he found he was face to face with a Wolfos.
It was a hungry one.
It was a very hungry one.
'Uh oh.' "Yaaaah!" Link screamed as he jolted back, grabbing over his left shoulder for what should have been the hilt of his Gilded Sword. Realizing that problem a few seconds too slow, two of the remaining twelve Wolfos pounced on him.
Link was certain that this position wasn't the best for survival - two logs of fur, teeth and very sharp claws resting on him, with his dagger in a position that would damage himself more than the creature to pull it out, Link was in quite the fix. Kicking the Wolfos that was directly above him, he went into a crouched position, snapped out the dagger and waited for the next one to attack. Due to the Wolfos newer advantage of reach, a head on attack would have been foolish.
One of the smaller ones were willing to comply. Charging on all fours and first attempted to just simply bite him first. Thankfully, one of the perks of not using a sword and shield was that it was easier to move around without the extra weight on him. When it had realized that the simple snapping approach would not work against Link, it went towards the more custom attack of clawing the opponent.
'Too basic.' Link smirked, straining his leg muscles in preparation to dodge back. One of the flaws of these incredible beasts was that since its arms packed so much power, after each swing its recoil would be to great block the upcoming blow.
Just when he was about to jump back, another Wolfos attempted to attack him from the side. Thankfully, it was to his left side, and Link managed to snap out his wrist to leave a light scratch against the Wolfos's face. Angered, it charged again, and Link simply took a step back, with the two Wolfos that were after him colliding. With their heads temporarily muddled up, Link leapt at the chance and first stabbing the closest Wolfos hard on its tail, he jumped aside - leaving his knife behind - to kick the other one in the throat to buy him more time. With that, he rolled under a third Wolfos's swipe ("Well, they certainly learn cooperation very fast." Link muttered quietly to himself) grabbed his dagger back and with as much force (and luck) as possible, swung it hard enough to stab that Wolfos's shoulder. Of course, that was disabling one arm - Link had forgotten about the other. That mistake was paid duly.
Above, the Gerudo that Link had dubbed Reza was sitting down with her legs curled to her chest, chin resting on her knees, a light smirk on her face. While it was rather a gruesome sight to see a child still not old enough to be considered an adult being mauled at by the Wolfos, it did hold some entertainment value that he managed to hold back and protect his vital parts with a puny little knife.
'Ooh,' she thought, watching as Link stabbed one Wolfos too close for comfort in the eye, 'that got to hurt.'
Whatever it was she thought was amusing or painful down in that pit, Reza was glad that it wasn't her in there. A blow to her pride that she might not be able to match up to this male in his challenges, but she certainly knew she wouldn't be able to fight all of the Wolfos with a knife.
As Link finally removed the remaining threat from the pit (he finished it off by kicking its reproductive organs then a knife to the throat when it howled), she threw down a rope for Link to climb out with.
"Not bad, male. You do show some prowess against beasts like that." She remarked after he got out, his once green tunic slashed all over the place and drenched crimson with the now drying blood of both his and his opponents' cuts.
"You don't honestly want to know where I got all that skill from." He responded, while limping out.
"Great", he softly said, examining all his cuts, "I got about half an hour to rest, examine a map of this fortress and bandage myself up." Looking at the sky for help (and finding none), he added on "Then I got until morning to find all my items and get them back."
Reza almost pitied the guy when she overheard his time distribution plans. He could back out anytime, but that was what the test was supposed to prove.
Standing until the timer's out, to prove determination.
To prove strength, you fight against the Wolfos.
Scouting all over the fortress (except restricted zones), to prove landscape memory.
To prove skill, you steal back your items.
You fight the guards holding your items, to prove courage.
To prove sneaking skills, you have to avoid the guards patrolling.
All in all, the test was supposed to prove your worth to thieves. If you passed all the elements of the test, you would be accepted among the Gerudo.
'Ah well,' she thought, roughly shoving into Link's arms a first aid kit, 'It's either he makes it or he doesn't. Becoming a worthy and to be respected outsider or a lowly man. The choices are simple enough.
Meanwhile, Link was having trouble with the bandages - should he bandage his arms first, but let that gash in his stomach keep on bleeding, or bandage his stomach, but make it incredibly hard since his arms are bleeding too?
His choice was made up for him when two enormous Gerudo came in and started bandaging him with - although tender care - incredible force.
"Ow, you old crone, can't you be easier on the cuts?" He cried out, wincing as her response was to press even harder.
"Stuff it, kid, this is to make sure that blood doesn't circulate too fast in that area, and helps prevent further blood loss if you open it again." One of the two muttered, applying a cold strip of. something on the minor scratches on his back.
"What is that?" He asked, feeling a bit awkward with that thing plastered on and being strapped on with more bandages.
"It's a cloth soaked in Gerudo herbal medicine, and quit your whining." The other one responded whacking Link on the back to make sure it was stuck there. "Stupid outsider." The lady added on quietly, probably to her partner. After the treatment, Link wasn't sure whether he should feel refreshed or moan in agony.
Link glanced at the map, and seeing that his idea of rest wouldn't fit it on the schedule, just chose to walk around the fortress and examine the map. He was just about to finish his second round around the building when he bumped into a lady.
'Oh,' Link thought grimly, looking at that crooked smile, 'Reza again.'
"What'd you want?" He asked bluntly - lady or no, Reza was a Gerudo, she won't mind. Besides, it was rather unnerving to see her keeping the same light smirk while he was battling with inappropriate equipment against one of his most disliked beast.
"If you actually had brains in that thick skull of yours, you would have asked someone about who were holding your items. Now, you'll have to check every single Gerudo for them all. Stupid boy." She casually remarked, pointing to the fortress he was circling about before. Thinking about it, Link groaned.
"Wonderful," he grumbled, "just wonderful."
"Glad you like it so much." She off-handedly remarked, her crooked smile still there. She was about to leave when she stopped and turned around. "I could tell you where your sword and shield is, and who's guarding it, however."
"Really?" He asked.
"Yes, really." She responded.
"Okay then. where are they?"
Reza stared at him flatly. "For one such as well-traveled as you, I think you'd know by now that nothing comes without a price, especially from us thieves."
Link sighed. "How much do you want?" Reza blinked at that.
"What do you mean how much.? Oh! You meant rupees! No, I don't want rupees - they have only materialistic value. I would request a spar with you afterwards. We Gerudo don't just thrive on items, you know - value does apply to us." She puffed up at that.
"Huh? Okay, sure, I don't see why not." Actually, he could see why - as a proud Gerudo fighter, she liked to compare against outsiders, seeing who was better. As he had fought many monsters, some human-shaped and some not even resembling anything alive, he was quite certain that he would win that spar - any spar with a Gerudo is a battle. It is hard, unrelenting, and requiring wits as sharp as the edge of his sword.
Nodding (and making sure no one knew she was helping someone on his own test - that would degrade her status in the Sisterhood) she told him what she knew about it.
"What? My sword is hidden with Nabooru, and she keeps walking all over the place, and my shield is stuck somewhere underground, with a prison guard? You're not being very helpful, you know that." Link stared wide-eyed at her. Nabooru was probably the best among all the others, and with her on the move it would be hard enough trying to sneak by and snatch it without ringing her internal alarms and fighting her with a dagger. He already had a tough time navigating this place before when he was in the future, and given so little time, he might not be able to find his shield easily.
"I'm not supposed to tell you anything after you accepted the fight against the Wolfos," she replied lightly, her smile being more of a smirk. "Be grateful that I'm helping you this far on your test."
Link had to nod at that - he should've asked before he readily agreed to what would happen. Choosing that night time would be the best time to try to steal back his items, Link spent the remaining time with the sun out exploring the fortress (trying not to be detected) and observing where the patrol routes were.
Chapter 1: Prove Your Worth
Hyrule was within the midst of summer. From the scorching temperatures of Death Mountain to the cooling waters of Zora Domain, the temperature difference aided in the flow of a pleasant breeze that blew westwards, shuffling against the relenting blades of grass on the Field. With it, it caught the sweet melody of someone singing, heading on and crossing the calm waters of the Lake. And just as it was finishing its course through Hyrule, it picked up just one other voice - not by any count louder than the rest, and certainly not as regal, but a voice that belonged to one that was held in regards higher than any of nobler birth.
"You know, this is getting ridiculous."
For one as high standing as the Hero of Time, his speech certainly wasn't eloquent.
Link, with a few arrows bunched up underneath his arm pit, was thinking that one's health isn't great if your face is turning red.
Part of the redness was caused by the heat waves that surrounded the Desert, and the outside of the Gerudo Fortress (oddly enough, the stone walls didn't not make them bake in an oven, but protected them from the harsh sun). But the majority of it was because he was upside down.
With his feet strapped to a bungee cord.
"Prove my worth my flat foot." The 13 year old blond muttered to himself, as little children - all with red hair - passed by above him, some of them knocking the bungee cord he was attached with. "Yeah, I'm dealing with a bunch of thieves, so to prove my worth is to be able to steal, right? Apparently they had to mess it up even worse."
Since the fall of Ganondorf, as well as his journey through Termina, Link decided to visit the Gerudo to make sure there were no hard feelings among the people.
Apparently there were some people who resented his attack against their King, and him being the unknowing fool to Gerudo culture, accepted what they said would prove his worth and end all bitterness against him.
So bingo, there Link was, hanging on a bungee cord, with 10 arrows, his bow, and 15 Wolfos underneath him. Wonderful position, isn't it?
"Don't take so long, male! When the sun hits its peak, we're cutting the cord!" One very angry Gerudo shouted above him. Link glanced downwards (or upwards, if you think in that manner) and checked the sun's position in the sky. 'Great', he thought, 'I got about an hour before I'm dropped into this problem'.
The big deal was this: with these 10 worthless arrows, Link was to shoot down as many of the 15 Wolfos as possible. Once it reached midday, or he ran out of arrows, the cord was to be cut, and he'd have to fight the rest of them - with a dagger. Not very appealing, that thought was.
Once he's scratched, bleeding, limping, but essentially alive, he'd to sneak around the fortress - like a thief, yes - and steal back the items they took from him. Without getting caught.
And if he's caught, he'd have to fight the Gerudo holding that item - still with a dagger. If he gets caught trying to retrieve all 24 masks, his long- shot, bomb bag, sword, ocarina and everything else, he'd have to fight over 30 Gerudo - with a dagger still, unless he retrieves his sword and shield first.
"Gerudo hospitality never ceases to amaze me," Link grumbled, trying to aim at a Wolfos's tail while bouncing up and down. "I'm certain they'll become the Hyrule's number one dignitaries."
You know, of all the times Link had to sound professional in front of royalty, having to sound polite to higher class people, he certainly never seemed to achieve it properly.
As well as all the times he fought beasts, creatures which their prime motivation to live bent away from survival and towards the harm of others, he wasn't very good at fighting them all. He ran away, most of the time, with the thought of 'it's not cowardice, it is common sense'.
That of the person bearing the Triforce of Courage.
The only thing Link had to say of the moment summed up to 'Shooting while bouncing upside down is hard'.
Not quite the understatement of the year, but still horribly understated nonetheless.
He already had shot 6 arrows into the pit below him full of wild, (and probably, but hopefully not) rabid canine mutations and only 2 of them actually hit the pack of Wolfos - with one of them blocked by it's claws, and the other only grazing the other one. With 4 arrows left, 35 minutes to go and that odd, sickening feeling you get if you spin too much on the spot right after you ate in your head and stomach, his chances of managing to take down all those Wolfos were as slim as a blade of grass.
"Okay," he muttered quietly, "If I'm bouncing, and they all like to group up beneath me, if I aim this direction-" Fiddling with his bow, he accidentally dropped one arrow down. Oops. "Fine, so if I aim this direction, and fire when I'm at my highest, I should be able to-" His speech was cut short and the Gerudo on top shouted at him.
"Shut your mouth, male! Yapping to yourself won't get you anywhere." She imperiously said, kicking the cord for good measure.
Grumbling, Link glanced up to see what time it was. He had about 10 minutes, and that incredibly ignorant (Link actually wished to say some more. drastic words, but his good sense against females toned it down) Gerudo was smirking at him.
'What was her name?' Link thought. 'Pretzel? No, that doesn't sound right. Rusher? Nope, not that one either. Reza? Sounds about right, I think.' In his thoughts, Link accidentally released the arrow, which fortunately managed to hit one Wolfos's tail.
Yapping to yourself won't get you anywhere, but not getting anywhere is being somewhere.
Once Link finally managed to measure when and where the arrow should fly, he actually did take down two more Wolfos. Running out of arrows, as said earlier, the cord was cut.
Link could almost feel the Gerudo's smirk when he painfully landed on the ground. Groaning, he up righted himself, and when he was about to stand up, felt something cold and wet on his arm.
'It's not raining, so what by Goddesses is that?' Raising his head to see, he found he was face to face with a Wolfos.
It was a hungry one.
It was a very hungry one.
'Uh oh.' "Yaaaah!" Link screamed as he jolted back, grabbing over his left shoulder for what should have been the hilt of his Gilded Sword. Realizing that problem a few seconds too slow, two of the remaining twelve Wolfos pounced on him.
Link was certain that this position wasn't the best for survival - two logs of fur, teeth and very sharp claws resting on him, with his dagger in a position that would damage himself more than the creature to pull it out, Link was in quite the fix. Kicking the Wolfos that was directly above him, he went into a crouched position, snapped out the dagger and waited for the next one to attack. Due to the Wolfos newer advantage of reach, a head on attack would have been foolish.
One of the smaller ones were willing to comply. Charging on all fours and first attempted to just simply bite him first. Thankfully, one of the perks of not using a sword and shield was that it was easier to move around without the extra weight on him. When it had realized that the simple snapping approach would not work against Link, it went towards the more custom attack of clawing the opponent.
'Too basic.' Link smirked, straining his leg muscles in preparation to dodge back. One of the flaws of these incredible beasts was that since its arms packed so much power, after each swing its recoil would be to great block the upcoming blow.
Just when he was about to jump back, another Wolfos attempted to attack him from the side. Thankfully, it was to his left side, and Link managed to snap out his wrist to leave a light scratch against the Wolfos's face. Angered, it charged again, and Link simply took a step back, with the two Wolfos that were after him colliding. With their heads temporarily muddled up, Link leapt at the chance and first stabbing the closest Wolfos hard on its tail, he jumped aside - leaving his knife behind - to kick the other one in the throat to buy him more time. With that, he rolled under a third Wolfos's swipe ("Well, they certainly learn cooperation very fast." Link muttered quietly to himself) grabbed his dagger back and with as much force (and luck) as possible, swung it hard enough to stab that Wolfos's shoulder. Of course, that was disabling one arm - Link had forgotten about the other. That mistake was paid duly.
Above, the Gerudo that Link had dubbed Reza was sitting down with her legs curled to her chest, chin resting on her knees, a light smirk on her face. While it was rather a gruesome sight to see a child still not old enough to be considered an adult being mauled at by the Wolfos, it did hold some entertainment value that he managed to hold back and protect his vital parts with a puny little knife.
'Ooh,' she thought, watching as Link stabbed one Wolfos too close for comfort in the eye, 'that got to hurt.'
Whatever it was she thought was amusing or painful down in that pit, Reza was glad that it wasn't her in there. A blow to her pride that she might not be able to match up to this male in his challenges, but she certainly knew she wouldn't be able to fight all of the Wolfos with a knife.
As Link finally removed the remaining threat from the pit (he finished it off by kicking its reproductive organs then a knife to the throat when it howled), she threw down a rope for Link to climb out with.
"Not bad, male. You do show some prowess against beasts like that." She remarked after he got out, his once green tunic slashed all over the place and drenched crimson with the now drying blood of both his and his opponents' cuts.
"You don't honestly want to know where I got all that skill from." He responded, while limping out.
"Great", he softly said, examining all his cuts, "I got about half an hour to rest, examine a map of this fortress and bandage myself up." Looking at the sky for help (and finding none), he added on "Then I got until morning to find all my items and get them back."
Reza almost pitied the guy when she overheard his time distribution plans. He could back out anytime, but that was what the test was supposed to prove.
Standing until the timer's out, to prove determination.
To prove strength, you fight against the Wolfos.
Scouting all over the fortress (except restricted zones), to prove landscape memory.
To prove skill, you steal back your items.
You fight the guards holding your items, to prove courage.
To prove sneaking skills, you have to avoid the guards patrolling.
All in all, the test was supposed to prove your worth to thieves. If you passed all the elements of the test, you would be accepted among the Gerudo.
'Ah well,' she thought, roughly shoving into Link's arms a first aid kit, 'It's either he makes it or he doesn't. Becoming a worthy and to be respected outsider or a lowly man. The choices are simple enough.
Meanwhile, Link was having trouble with the bandages - should he bandage his arms first, but let that gash in his stomach keep on bleeding, or bandage his stomach, but make it incredibly hard since his arms are bleeding too?
His choice was made up for him when two enormous Gerudo came in and started bandaging him with - although tender care - incredible force.
"Ow, you old crone, can't you be easier on the cuts?" He cried out, wincing as her response was to press even harder.
"Stuff it, kid, this is to make sure that blood doesn't circulate too fast in that area, and helps prevent further blood loss if you open it again." One of the two muttered, applying a cold strip of. something on the minor scratches on his back.
"What is that?" He asked, feeling a bit awkward with that thing plastered on and being strapped on with more bandages.
"It's a cloth soaked in Gerudo herbal medicine, and quit your whining." The other one responded whacking Link on the back to make sure it was stuck there. "Stupid outsider." The lady added on quietly, probably to her partner. After the treatment, Link wasn't sure whether he should feel refreshed or moan in agony.
Link glanced at the map, and seeing that his idea of rest wouldn't fit it on the schedule, just chose to walk around the fortress and examine the map. He was just about to finish his second round around the building when he bumped into a lady.
'Oh,' Link thought grimly, looking at that crooked smile, 'Reza again.'
"What'd you want?" He asked bluntly - lady or no, Reza was a Gerudo, she won't mind. Besides, it was rather unnerving to see her keeping the same light smirk while he was battling with inappropriate equipment against one of his most disliked beast.
"If you actually had brains in that thick skull of yours, you would have asked someone about who were holding your items. Now, you'll have to check every single Gerudo for them all. Stupid boy." She casually remarked, pointing to the fortress he was circling about before. Thinking about it, Link groaned.
"Wonderful," he grumbled, "just wonderful."
"Glad you like it so much." She off-handedly remarked, her crooked smile still there. She was about to leave when she stopped and turned around. "I could tell you where your sword and shield is, and who's guarding it, however."
"Really?" He asked.
"Yes, really." She responded.
"Okay then. where are they?"
Reza stared at him flatly. "For one such as well-traveled as you, I think you'd know by now that nothing comes without a price, especially from us thieves."
Link sighed. "How much do you want?" Reza blinked at that.
"What do you mean how much.? Oh! You meant rupees! No, I don't want rupees - they have only materialistic value. I would request a spar with you afterwards. We Gerudo don't just thrive on items, you know - value does apply to us." She puffed up at that.
"Huh? Okay, sure, I don't see why not." Actually, he could see why - as a proud Gerudo fighter, she liked to compare against outsiders, seeing who was better. As he had fought many monsters, some human-shaped and some not even resembling anything alive, he was quite certain that he would win that spar - any spar with a Gerudo is a battle. It is hard, unrelenting, and requiring wits as sharp as the edge of his sword.
Nodding (and making sure no one knew she was helping someone on his own test - that would degrade her status in the Sisterhood) she told him what she knew about it.
"What? My sword is hidden with Nabooru, and she keeps walking all over the place, and my shield is stuck somewhere underground, with a prison guard? You're not being very helpful, you know that." Link stared wide-eyed at her. Nabooru was probably the best among all the others, and with her on the move it would be hard enough trying to sneak by and snatch it without ringing her internal alarms and fighting her with a dagger. He already had a tough time navigating this place before when he was in the future, and given so little time, he might not be able to find his shield easily.
"I'm not supposed to tell you anything after you accepted the fight against the Wolfos," she replied lightly, her smile being more of a smirk. "Be grateful that I'm helping you this far on your test."
Link had to nod at that - he should've asked before he readily agreed to what would happen. Choosing that night time would be the best time to try to steal back his items, Link spent the remaining time with the sun out exploring the fortress (trying not to be detected) and observing where the patrol routes were.