Glad you guys like the idea. R and R! Let's see how our hero is doing…
A smell of jasmine and spice wafted into his nose. It made it wrinkle, twitch, and then sneeze. The noise was a great sound, loud and echoing. He groaned as he sat up and glanced to his left, where a woman sat expectantly, leaning on her knees, supported by her elbows. He didn't recognize her, but he recognized her race- Gerudo. The skin, tan and even, was the first dead giveaway. Then came the eyes, a golden color as the race shared. She was smiling, wearing a deep green lipstick almost an olive color, her red hair tied back and woven into a braid, sporting jewelry in several places, from a gold hoop in her lower lip to several different star and moon shapes lining her ears.
"My Lord, you're awake. Do you need anything?"
Lord? Awake? Link lifted a hand to his head and shook it, setting his feet on the ground below him, feeling dizzy. "What happened?" As the words left his mouth, he nearly choked on them. His voice had suddenly dropped a whole scale, deep and powerful. His heart began to pound in his chest as he looked at his hands, resting on his knees. They were not his hands. It was a dream. Oh, Goddesses, please, let it be a bad dream, a nightmare. Zelda, wake me up. Oh, please, wake me up!
"You were imprisoned in the dungeon of the Royal Family. We took measures to rescue you, my Lord."
His eyes scanned the room for a mirror of some sort, but there was nothing visible. He got up from the sitting position and groaned, clutching an arm to his abdomen. It hit bare skin. He realized with a start he was not wearing clothing beyond a pair of tan pants, made of material which felt silky.
"Be careful, my Lord. Your wounds have not healed yet. The boy struggled against your power hard," She moved to his side, eyes glued on him.
He slid his hand along the wound in question, a long, nasty-looking sword wound cutting just above his belly button, about eight inches long. A simple look at the body confirmed his suspicions. He hated to admit it. He hated to even think it. However, for all his hatred and angry refusals, the facts remained firm. No, no, he had to prove it. He had to see for himself. He forced himself to his feet, shuffling over the stone floor of the room with a measure of confusion, unused to feeling so big and heavy. He towered over the woman by at least a foot, but was she short, or was he tall? The new perspective made things impossible to reason.
He didn't see a mirror in the room, so he thought harder. His expression must have alerted the Gerudo to something, because she cleared her throat and bowed as he faced her. "My Lord, I would truly be honored should you ask of me anything, anything you need."
A solution, though perhaps not the best, entered his mind. "Water," he said, surprised by how dark his voice sounded. "Could I have some water? A bucket will do."
She simply stared at him as if he'd sprouted wings in front of her eyes.
Link was sure his request had been straightforward, but he tried again. Perhaps he'd been speaking too quietly, though he was sure this voice did not even know the meaning of the word. "Did you hear me? I said I wanted some water."
She trembled like a leaf then, nodding violently. "Yes, yes, of course! I'll fetch it right away for you, my Master!"
Link reached out a hand to stop her as she whirled on heel and dashed from the room, but she left far too quickly for him to say anything. He followed after out, exiting the small, simple recovery room into a larger, sitting room with a couch, some tall pots among the shelves, and a long line of spears fitted against the wall. He did not see her, so he pushed the door open to reveal a blinding light.
He shut his eyes against it and shielded them with a hand, blinking back against the wave of heat suddenly much more apparent around him. When he'd given himself a moment, he lowered his hand and gazed around to take in his surroundings. Sand towered in a variety of dunes, stretching in every direction. Scattered in several places about him were houses, similar to the makeup of the one behind him, he noted, made of stone or brick, thatched by straw or wheat. In the distance, a half-worn path made of stone seemed to move in the wind as it lowered and built up sand. Two dozen and a half women walked from one house to the other or along the path, talking to one another or moving silently, dressed in Gerudo garb he recognized from the fortress. As he observed them, he saw the one who'd been at his bedside struggling to lift a pot as she exited a house.
He followed her as she left the ramshackled street, not ten minutes away. When he left the remains of the street, his feet plunged into sand, but still he followed, until he found her kneeling beside a lake of water. He approached, not noticing the gaggle of other women soon swarming behind him, in turn following him.
She saw him as he approached and lifted the pot with some difficulty, staggering over to him. Now that he saw her in the sun, he noticed she did not look as old as before, perhaps just entering her tween years, fourteen or fifteen years old. Though she wore makeup and jewelry characteristic of an older woman, her body did not have the making of a woman yet, at least not many of the women Link knew. "M-my Lord," she stammered, setting the half-filled pot before him with a great release of breath, making an imprint in the sand with spatters of water as it sloshed over the sides. He stared at her as she threw herself down with a bow, both hands outstretched, kneeling in the desert sand. "Please forgive me, I am not strong enough. I do not have a fraction of the gift you possess. I am only your servant."
Link frowned, but not with displeasure at her actions. He leaned over the lake surface, greeted with that which he both needed and despised the most at the moment- the truth. The imposing figure of Ganondorf, minus his iconic armor, stared back at him. He should have been disgusted, but he found he was more stunned. Link had seen Ganondorf many times before, but never like this- never so simple, never so… human.
His muscles rippled with every breath, bare chest hard with abdominal lining like a washboard, broadening into great, bulging biceps and thick hands, which Link inspected briefly. Black hair grew from his arms, and red, unruly locks from his forehead. It spread along the back of his head like wildfire, just as untamable. He shuddered once, touching his forehead. The amber jewel and silvery headpiece he usually saw associated with Ganondorf was gone, but he still had pierced ears, a hoop in each and studs on each side, two of them. His eyebrows were also red, the same color as his hair, thick and bushy. He ran a hand over his face, stopping at the nose, which was his greatest obstacle. It was huge. His own nose had been small and pointed, but not to any extreme. This man's nose stuck out like he intended to look down over it at everyone he met. Granted, the man's body itself was much bigger than Link's, but still, the whole idea was just so… unnerving.
Oddly enough, despite the wound looking nasty on his abdomen, and his estrangement from his own body, Link felt… energized. No, perhaps that was not quite the right word. He couldn't explain the feeling, but it coursed through him, made him feel… powerful.
Powerful.
His eyes widened in horror as he stared into the golden eyes in the pool, the golden eyes of the man who was his greatest enemy, the evil king.
"Lord Ganondorf?"
He turned to face the girl still kneeling by the pot of water, her eyes downcast as he met her gaze.
"Is there anything else you need of me, Lord Ganondorf? I live to serve you."
He noticed a rather large group of Gerudo women staring at him in a half semi-circle, the faces looking bewildered and tired. Several of them carried weapons, some of which he didn't recognize. He swallowed, mind racing. Although he knew who he was and most certainly was not, they expected him to be Ganondorf. Should he break that expectation, the results might not be productive. Technically, he was an honorary member of the Gerudo after passing the tests in the fortress, but he would sound crazy if he explained who he was. He didn't know the capabilities of the Triforce of power, nor how to wield it properly. He would have to get back to the castle and speak to Zelda, as soon as possible. She was the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom. If anyone would know what to do, it would be her. In order to do this, he would need help. Best to have someone willing to help him, even in disillusion, than no one at all. However, he would not let all things stand. Until he figured out exactly what was going on, he'd take it slow. He cleared his throat and faced her, doing his best to stand firm and tall.
"Yes. Stop calling me that."
"My Lord?" the girl asked, and several women exchanged whispers.
"Don't call me 'Lord Ganondorf'. Just…" He hated the name Ganondorf, but considering it was "his" name now, he couldn't very well ask her not to call him that, either. "Just Ganondorf will do… or sir." He'd tacked the last part on, but he figured Ganondorf would have wanted some term of endearment. It dawned on him how little he knew of how the man reacted around others. He had some idea. He would just have to hope it was the right idea.
The girl hung her head. "I know you are angry, my Lord… but we will not stop here. We will wait until you are recovered, and then we will look to you and obey. We will storm the castle whenever you feel the time is right."
Link sighed mentally. It was obvious he was not getting anywhere with her fast. He took a deep breath and faced the women looking at him. "Resume what you were doing!" he yelled, scaring himself a little with how intimidating he sounded, "I have much to think about!" He turned on heel, eyes turning upwards as he released a breath, and walked as quickly as possible back to the recovery room.
