To the Desert
He had tried, he really had. From the first to the last moment when he finally gave up, he tried damn hard to stay in the Castle Town of Hyrule. Waiting, or so he told himself, for a familiar, sassy, smart-ass redhead who thought too much and shared only what she thought a person ought to know.
In a way, it was true. He was waiting for her. She was the last of his lost people. The last one who knew anything about his people at all. She could tell him the stories, sing him the songs that he'd long since forgotten. She could teach him how to move elegantly with the scimitar she'd had made for him by the Gorons.
She could...
But she was not here. Raiha was not, as far as anyone could tell, anywhere.
Not that it said too much. While Zelda had clearly regained some skills in magic, she was not as strong in the skills as she once had been. And the kid? Bah. The kid could use magical items, but he couldn't cast the spells that would be of any use.
Neither could Ganon, but that hadn't entirely stopped him from trying. What had stopped him was the warning that Zelda wasn't inclined to have to replace yet another carpet after he'd blown up the third one.
Well, they had been ugly carpets anyways.
He was not yet adept at precision with his magic, though he did try. He continued as he'd been taught, with meditation exercises, and putting Just Enough power into the spelled crystals that Raiha had left him to make them work, and not kick him in the head with backlash. It... mostly worked. And when it didn't,well...
It had taken him four tries to make the simple wooden box he now held, and the matching pouch he wore attached to his belt. He could practically hear the sharply-amused, but ultimately well-meant mockery of his previous teacher, though he supposed he couldn't have blamed her. He did anyways because it made him feel better, even as he subconsciously clung to the idea of what she would have said of the three failed attempts.
Where, he wondered for what felt like the hundredth time, was she? Was she dead? Was she alive? Had she somehow ascended to being a goddess?
The last thought often made him snort, but he had to admit the idea had some small merit. Raiha had been alive for at least three thousand years, if not more. Protecting Hyrule, defending it, training its Hero and its Princess... and himself, when freedom had at last been within his grasp.
Ganon sighed a little to himself as he set the box down in Zelda's empty study, and pilfered a piece of paper. He'd tested the enchantment already, this was to tell them what he was now doing. Without lingering for their personal opinions on the idea.
He was going to miss Link, though he would admit to himself that if anyone had told him he'd miss someone like that in the long-forgotten past, he'd have laughed himself sick. And then probably blasted the idiot with magic. He was even going to miss the very annoying, clearly-trained-by-Raiha princess, though that one, at least, had minor merit to it. Zelda had never, after all, been considered ugly.
He hesitated over the paper, trying to decide what he ought to say. Should he apologize? Should it be a terse note? Should it be one with promises of him returning eventually?
In the end, he decided it probably didn't matter. The kid would be hurt. The princess... would probably be annoyed as all get out. Hopefully, Link would be over it before too long; despite not saying anything, Ganon knew well how Link was struggling to deal with Raiha's disappearance. At least he would be attempting to stay in contact.
Hopefully, that would be enough to mollify the blond boy. And if not... well...
Ganon sighed, and scribbled a terse note, sticking it to the top of the box with some wax. After another quick glance around the study, he slipped silently out of the room.
Ganon,
To say that Link is upset would be an understatement, but we understand why you feel the need to leave. You have been very helpful... when you haven't been blowing things up. I will admit that it will be much quieter with you gone, both magically and in other ways.
Thank you for giving us the message box. Once Link is no longer moping about, I am certain he will send you a long letter.
I wish you luck in your endeavors, my friend, and I hope that you return with whatever answers you seek.
Zelda
Link,
The desert is as empty as we encountered with the annoying redhead. The large moldorms, at least, seem to have died off; guess there wasn't enough food to sustain them. The smaller ones are annoying, but easy to kill... and not terrible to eat.
I think someone's been here recently though. Not sure who. But I'm finding places that look... new. There's water in one.
If I see her, I'll let you know.
Ganon
Zelda,
Probably better to have things quiet for a while. Nothing seems to be happening out here. I think. Just me, the sun, and the wind.
...and the moldorm.
Ganon
Gan,
I'm still... kind of upset. But the princess is right. I do get it. I wish you could have taken me with you, but I get it. I kind of wish I didn't. I guess that's what comes of having Lady Raiha as a teacher. You... kind of get used to someone leaving abruptly.
My sister came to visit last week. So did my Dad. Apparently Mom's pregnant, so I'm going to have another sister, or maybe a brother in a few months. Dad was in town looking for some things for the baby. I think Aryll just wanted to see me.
I'm kind of temporary guard captain at this point. With some of the Princess's nobility returning to the city now that we're making it liveable again, it's... not as much fun as it was. I still help with recruits and training, but there's a new layer of dealing with people. It's a bit confusing sometimes.
The town is getting really busy now, with more shops open for business. It's noisy, but... good.
I wish she could see it. I miss her...
Can the box send semi-live things?
Link
Ganon,
There is such a thing as too quiet, my friend. I do not miss the explosions, but your lacking presence has been noted upon by several nobles who were uncertain as to your placement in the events that occurred. I have, of course, redirected their curiosity to other things. Sometimes with enough speed to leave them blinking.
She would be proud, I think. She never did have the patience for the political side of my duties, despite teaching me how to ensure I would make few mistakes.
Link is a bit bewildered by recent events. Some of the noblemen who are older have brought their children to be part of the reforming court. They are, of course, the proper age to interact with me in what could be called 'frivolous' ways, and some of them are very notorious at flirting. He does not... quite know how to handle that.
His innocence is endearing, but also a little worrying. Please advise him, if you can.
Also, do not be eaten by moldorm. You would never live it down.
Zelda
Link,
Do I wish you congratulations, or send my condolences? I can't decide. Also, define 'semi-live'.
I miss her too. Wish I didn't. The spot I'm in now has a lot of ancient Gerudo writings, things I can make out only if I really work at it. Old stories, mostly. Of our goddess, and our lore. Not that there's much to be found of either these days.
Still, it's... fascinating. Sometimes I'll read something that spark off a chain of memory. I still don't really know what's mine, which is frustrating, but I can remember the stories.
I'm going to visit the prison next. She implied that it was where an old temple of our people used to be, so... I want to actually see it. Explore it.
I'll be careful.
G
Zelda.
Hah! You get to be courted by idiots! That's rich. If he tells me about it, I'll offer what I can, though I'm probably not someone to be giving advice on that.
I don't intend to be eaten by them. The ones that got transformed by whatever the enemy did are all dead anyways; too big, not enough food in the desert to sustain them. The little ones are annoying, but manageable.
I have a bunch of notes here for your scribes and historians. Don't let them do anything stupid with them, I'll want them back to fix up myself...
Ganon
Gan,
I'll take both. And like... an apple, or some food? Can I send something like that? Since you're in the desert and all, I thought...
I dreamed a bit, last night. About that place and what almost happened there. I know it didn't because she did something, but.
I wish you would come back.
The princess has been 'entertaining' nobility, now that the city's mostly running itself again. I'm not noble, so I get to skip a lot of the formal things, for which I'm glad. I don't know how to respond to them, and if I talk familiarly to the princess, people get... offended. Like I'm not supposed to be her friend.
She's lonely too, Zelda, I mean. She's got a few actual cousins among the nobles, but they don't seem very impressed by everything she's done. Kind of... kind of snobby. I've overhead a couple of them saying that she needs to find herself a king to rule, instead of making herself the queen. I don't entirely understand it; Hyrule has been led by queens before, so what makes Zelda not fit?
There's a lot of paperwork, but I can mostly deal with that. It's the rest of the job that's making me a bit confused...
Link
Ganon,
Yes, unfortunately, you would be correct. I have no intention of marrying at this time, so it is a very complicated dance to maintain. It is difficult enough to keep on top of the many requirements of ruling a city that was so neatly leveled less than two years ago, adding in courtship and marriage would complicate it unnecessarily at this time.
I am not entirely opposed, but...I think, given the choice, I would rather your return, and the three of us retaining that which was starting to grow before your leavetaking.
And of course, there would be a space for her, when she returns.
I have put your notes in a locked drawer in my study. I will make fairer copies than your rather... messy scrawl, and pass those on to the scribes.
Zelda
Link,
I have no idea. You could always test. Theoretically, if it fits in the box, it ought to send...
I can tell the princess is having issues. Best I can offer you is just stick close to her, and give her what you can, regardless of the idiots who think they know better. Just because she doesn't have the Triforce piece doesn't maker her stupid.
There's nothing here at the prison. No poes. No undead... Mostly just a lot of sand, and some very bizarre torture things. I was a prison...
But it was also, clearly, at some point, part of my people. There's small statues of the goddess of the sands here. I remember these, but I remember... there was a huge one. It towered above me, even when I was fully grown.
Damn this fallible memory.
G
Zelda,
The kid is worried about you. Tell him your ideas for us, not me.
….and thanks for putting my stuff where it can't be wrecked. Here's more.
Ganon.
Gan,
I hope the apple came through okay.
Aryll came to visit again. She says that Gerti says Mom is going to give birth to twins soon, so I'll probably be out of reach for a while. I'll send the messages to Zelda, though, and she's promised to pass them on.
It's really busy now, in the city. Most of the summer crops have come in, and there's a festival of some kind planned within the next two weeks. Zelda sad she wanted to attend some of it, and planned on doing so in disguise. She hasn't said what sort of disguise yet.
The nobles aren't... all bad. Some are really weird about my friendship with Zelda, but others don't seem to care. Some of the girls are flirting, kind of... aggressively? I don't think they mean any harm, but it's unnerving.
I had a strange dream last night. I don't think it was prophetic or anything, but... just be careful? I dreamed about quicksand, and almost drowning in it. I fell out of bed, all tangled in my sheet.
She would have laughed. Zelda did. Not meanly, though.
I've got a handful of new recruits to look over. Some of them... well...
It'll be interesting. I think.
Link
Ganon,
Yes, I know he is. He does his best to stay close to me, and tries very hard to not respond to the flirting of the other girls. He turns very red at some of the ennui. His innocence is, I think, what makes him interesting to them.
In reading over your notes, I admit,I am fascinated by the people you once ruled. And slightly appalled, to be honest, by some of the customs, but it is not my place to judge. I am sorry they are no longer in evidence...
Link tells me you're inspecting the prison. Please be careful. We both want you to come home when you can, and in one piece would be very preferable.
Zelda
Gan,
Sorry about the delay. I have two new baby brothers. They're very loud. Mom's very tired. So is Dad. Aryll has taken to sleeping over at her best friend's place, near the Malo Mart. She's probably the smartest of everyone.
Zelda's sent me a few pages of the notes she's transcribed for you. When you get back, could you tell me some of the stories? They sound... nifty.
Link
Ganon,
Are you well? It has been several months since your last missive. I have not yet informed Link, though I shall if you do not answer soon.
Zelda
The pouch tingled, and felt overstuffed. Rather like his head. His body ached, becoming chilled with cold and fever-burned by turns.
He was willing to swear he head a familiar voice muttering in exasperation as she tended to him, but he was not awake enough to pursue the line of thought for long.
A bowl was pressed to his mouth, a strong arm helped him sit up enough to drink without choking.
Consciousness wavered... then fled.
Gan,
We're both really worried now. Are you okay? If you don't write back soon, I'm coming to find you.
Link
When he was at last fever free, he looked for the familiar presence that had undoubtedly saved his life. There was no one else in the desert, so it had to have been her.
But there was no sign. No footprints, no red hairs... nothing.
Wrapped in his blanket, he managed to find something to eat, drank the water from the oasis he had somehow found himself beside, and then looked again.
The pouch was empty, letters stacked neatly under a pair of rocks. The only sign that someone else had been there.
It had to have been her... But she was not here now.
He laid there on the sand for several long minutes before he turned his attention to the letters.
Link,
Sorry. The prison gave me... something. Or maybe I wasn't taking care of myself enough. I'm better now. Didn't mean to worry you.
Congrats on being a big brother again.
G
Zelda,
I'm fine now. Thanks.
G
Gan,
You sure you're all right? I can come and get you if you need the help. Or some healing; there's a really good herbalist in the center square of the Market now.
Link
Ganon,
I am glad you are recovering. Please do nothing foolish to inhibit it.
Zelda
Link,
I'm fine. Someone... helped me already. I think it was her, but...
I suppose it doesn't actually matter. I'm recovering. Thanks for the apple, even though I didn't actually get to eat it. Send me another. Or a potion, if it'll fit.
I'll be honest, I don't remember much. Being too hot, and too cold a lot. Someone muttering every now and again. Sounded like her, when she was in a particularly bad mood. Someone helping me drink something... pretty sure it was medicine. Or water. Sometimes I think it was soup.
Whatever and whoever they were, they're gone now. Since that's the case, it probably means I won't need their care any longer.
I hope it was her.
I dreamed a lot while being sick. Most of it, I think, was just fever dreams. Faces, mostly, I think people that I used to know at some point. My mothers... a woman that I loved once, though... her name escapes me. The annoying redhead that I can't help but miss. You. Zelda.
I think... once I've recovered enough strength, I'll try and come back. To Hyrule.
G
Zelda
Funny.
Once I'm recovered, I think I'll make my way back. Still got space for me?
Ganon
Gan,
If you think it was her... well, maybe it was. Raiha's always done things... different. And if it was, we just have to... to keep waiting, right? She'll come back when she's done whatever it is she's doing. She promised. And... and we're all waiting for her. I think she could maybe disregard one of us, but... not all three of us.
There was a small riot today. It didn't precisely end well. I hope you can come back soon; it might not be necessarily politic, but you can make things explode and get people to behave with more ease than I can.
My new brothers are doing well enough. My sister is still staying at her friend's place, but she's surviving. I know I did the same thing when she was born. She won't say it, but I think she's a little fascinated by them, just like I was. Oh, and their names are Mido and Pippet.
Yeah, I have no idea what Mom was thinking, but she likes them, so... I guess it works.
I hope you recover quickly. I want to hear about what you've learned, and what you might remember, even if it's not wholly accurate. Zelda and I miss you too.
Link
Ganon,
There is always a place for you here. I was thinking Master of the Guard. It would allow me to make Link the Queen's Champion instead, a position that might utilize his specific attitudes and skills far better than the current post. He is dear, but as I have said, a bit too sweet and innocent to really be involved in some of the murky politicking that is due a court.
Do you know who aided in your recovery? We could, perhaps, reward them if it was requested.
Zelda
Link,
I get it, you only want me back to make things explode.
Thanks for the potion. It's helped quite a bit. Hope it didn't cost too much. Give me another week, and I think I can start heading for the edge of the desert.
G
Zelda,
I could do that.
No. I have a guess though. As the kid. I told him.
Ganon
Gan,
You know that's not true.
Link
Ganon,
Ah, I see. Whoever it was, they did a great thing. I hope to one day be able to thank them.
Zelda
P.S. Please hurry back. Link is at his wits end, and things required a much heavier hand than his.
Going back would not be easy. Recovery, even helped along by the potions and special foods that he kept finding, was a slow process. He wondered—he couldn't help wondering—what it was he'd been infected by.
And why she had saved him, and then left him.
Despite saying he would go, he wanted to linger. He wanted to see her. He wanted to find her, and tell her...
He didn't know what he wanted to tell her. Something.
He did not go back.
Zelda,
Sorry. Still something I have to do.
Ganon
Link,
Kick ass, and don't take names. Still have... some things to handle.
G
Gan,
I don't understand. I don't. I want to, but I can't. Please come home. I need your help. I need your presence. I'm not good at this, not like I thought I was. Not like Raiha thought I was.
Please, can't you come home?
Link
Ganon,
We will be waiting for your return. With as much aplomb as possible. Please though, hurry, if you can. At the least, I would like to have you witness the graduation from princess to queen, and I can only hold the ceremony off for so long before people begin to ask uncomfortable questions.
Link is not happy with your decision, I'm afraid. I will do what I can to console him.
Zelda
Link,
No. I can't explain it right now because it doesn't even make sense to me, but I have to... I have to do something out here. I don't even know what, and it's annoying as hell, but I have to.
Take a vacation if you can. Go visit Kakariko and your family again, and soak in the springs. You sound like you need it.
G
Zelda,
Make him take a vacation. Hell, take one yourself. Alternatively, tell me exactly what the hell is going on. I remember another letter where the kid said something about a riot that ended badly. He didn't go into any detail though.
Ganon
Ganon,
I have done as you suggested; he is not entirely happy with the idea, but I was able to successfully persuade him that he is trying to be too much what he thinks others want him to be, and not himself. He will return home for a few weeks, and hopefully be more himself when he returns.
As for what is happening, it is... complicated.
It is, as you might guess, quite political in nature. With the town restored to most of its prior state, the nobility have begun returning from the lands and homes outside the city, and some are making themselves quite troublesome. A number of them have always been like this, to be perfectly honest, and I am only mildly hesitant when it comes to deciding how to handle their overt machinations.
The riot, unfortunately,is because someone misspoke, saying there would be a food shortage due to some unspecified disaster in the north. There is a problem up there, but it is not yet related to food, and as soon as you return, and Link is made Champion, it can be dealt with to my satisfaction. Hopefully, it will burn itself out before then, and things will continue as normal, since you have reversed your previous decision.
It did, unfortunately, take the lives of three older guardsmen, and injure many of the citizens of the Market. I have since censured the one who misspoke, and he has kept his mouth shut on further troubles.
Make no mistake, there are some, and I think that they would benefit from your personal brand of... as Raiha would put it,overkill. I know it is not right of me to implore you to return, but I will do so anyways, and not just for myself. We both miss you. It is far too quiet around here.
Please.
Please hurry home, Ganon.
Zelda
Zelda,
If I could hurry, I would. I don't know that I can. There's so much desert left, and I still don't know... what I'm looking for, not really.
I keep thinking that she'll be around the next hill. Beyond that next dune, perhaps. Where those wild boar are hiding.
I know. It's stupid. I didn't expect it to hit me this hard out here. Maybe it's because I think she saved my life. Again. And if she did, I want to at least tell her thank you. I admit, I never did that while we were trying to save the world.
I'm a ways out into the desert now. The prison is far off to the east of my current position. I use it as a placemark, because I know if I head back that way, I'll be able to find my way back to Hyrule again.
….there have been some signs of habitation in the areas I've been searching. Moblins and lizalfos mostly. We give each other a wide berth. I suppose the desert is home to them now, and not my people.
I'll give it another month of searching. Maybe I'll find something interesting for your scholars along the way.
Ganon
P.S. Tell the kid that the pinky-orange apples are better than the greeny-yellow ones.
Ganon,
Link would like me to inform you that the green-yellow apples are just as good. He is, I think, being a bit petty, as he could write and tell you this himself.
Please don't let the prison fall out of sight. It would not be fair to anyone if you lost your way and could not return here. Especially as Link would no doubt insist on going to the desert to find you, which would undoubtedly end badly for all involved.
The situation in the north is mostly resolved now. Mostly. I think I will need to send a small detachment of soldiers up there but there is diplomacy and decent behavior again, so that is something, at least. There has been, as I expected, no food shortages.
Zelda
Zelda,
I'll survive him being petty. Tell him thanks for the pinky-orange apples. They're good at getting me some help out here, being a fruit that doesn't grow. Tell me what you think of the grapes; this part of the land seems like it's really good for them.
It's not my desert any more. I thought I knew that.
She would laugh at me if she heard me say it, I think.
Ganon
Ganon,
No she wouldn't. Raiha has more compassion than that.
The grapes are... interesting. I don't know that we can use them for wine or eating though. I shared them with some of the others and they weren't as enthusiastic as I thought they might be. It may well be that I can finally convince the others who would like to have more lands that the desert is truly not worth the work.
I can, in all honesty, say that I would like to see the desert. But I know well that it is not mine to try and control, to try and hold. It never has been. If your people still existed, I would give it back to them. If you wanted it, I could try and give it to you. If not, I can simply give the desert back to itself.
Zelda
Zelda,
I don't want it.
Ganon
Gan,
Zelda wants you to come home. I want you to come home. Please?
Link
Ganon,
I accept this decision.
Link has returned from his vacation, in a more charitable frame of mind, but he is no less lonely. Please, I know you are far now, and it will take you longer, but if you could return? We would both be very grateful. There is... something necessary to discuss.
Zelda
Link,
All right.
G
Zelda,
It's going to take me a few months at least. Probably most of the rest of this year. I... kind of lost track of the prison.
Ganon
Ganon,
How?
Zelda
Zelda,
Accident?
Ganon
Ganon,
This, Raiha would laugh at you for.
Zelda
Zelda,
I know. I'm working on it. It's not like she left instructions with all her gear.
Ganon
Gan,
I've got people watching for you at the pass. They'll help you get home.
Link
P. S. Zelda's...um... pregnant.
Link,
Who's the father?
G
Zelda,
Link spilled the beans. I assume you're not married. What're you going to do?
Ganon
Gan,
me?
Link
Ganon,
He is unnerved and excited at the same time. He is, I think, not entirely sure that he is all right with this. I know his heart very much lays with Raiha, and yourself, as much as it does with me, and he fears that he is being unfaithful.
Yes, I am as-of-yet unwed. I intend to remain that way. I know this child of mine will have two supportive fathers, and hopefully in the future, one more mother. I am not afraid to challenge the preconceptions of the nobility on such a thing.
I will keep the babe, regardless. It is mine. I plan to raise the child, and love it as I was loved.
I would do this more happily with partners.
Zelda.
Link,
I am impressed. We'll talk this out when I get back. A few months more, unfortunately. The prison is a tiny speck in the direction I'm going.
Sorry. Didn't mean to wander so far.
G
Zelda,
You would have made a good Gerudo.
I'm coming back. Not sure how long it'll take, but I'm coming. Your kid will have two fathers, at the very least.
Ganon
It took a year. Not on purpose. Not from any intent to delay. But it took a year to get out of the desert. It made for a total of three by the time he made it back to the Market. The Market was now in full operation, filled with people who seemed—if not always happy—content with the lot that life handed them.
Link met him on the bridge, and practically tackled the much taller man. Ganon couldn't help but grin a little, pleased, even as the hug was sufficiently strong enough to squeeze the breath out of him.
"All right, all right, I'm back. So. Show me what I missed."