A/N: Thanks H7 for your reply. Nice story of yours (Broken Dreams), by the way. For a while I might be updating at a maddening rate, but once school starts it'll be slowing down. Chapter 3: Fighting the Possessed

Link scrambled as fast as he could to where the shouts were emitting from. Swearing, it appeared to be in one of the main chambers of the Fortress. The Gerudo were still charging ahead of him, and that was why Link was swearing. Due to his smaller form, even though he was wearing the bunny hood mask, some of the Guards could outrun him, and since he didn't really know where the main room was (he guess it was since it'll have to be big to hold all those people rushing in), following the slower ones won't get him there in time; for he was the only one who knew what they were dealing with, and following the faster ones might come with him going the wrong direction when he loses them, taking him more time.

He didn't need to worry about that problem anymore, because all of a sudden he was picked up by the scruff of his tunic, and it appeared someone was dragging him along. Looking to his side to thank the person, he blinked when he saw it "Nabooru? I thought you would have been there already." Her mouth twitched - a cross between a scowl and a smile - and replied somewhat bitterly.

"I was being held back by some of my peers, the ones that didn't really agree with Ganondorf's downfall and allowing the outsider that brought him down inside the Fort. Most of us are very traditional, for when a male child is born among us, and he to be crowned King, all the Gerudo must follow him, to war, to peace, to success, to death. For him to be killed is a great blow to our tradition, and while they do respect your strength and courage, they are some still bitter against what you did." She muttered, choosing the right path of a fork in the Fortress.

"But I didn't kill-" Link was cut short when Nabooru finished it off for him.

"You didn't kill him? Of course I know that, but they don't. Try and explain to a whole community that you had travelled far ahead in time, fought their King whom transformed into a beast, sealed him in a legendary realm then travelled back with only the Sages knowing what you did. I only told them that he was essentially dead, killed by the Hero of Time, and that being you. That's all." He was going to reply back to that, but they had already reached the place.

Link's eyes widened at what had happened. Thankfully, most of them that entered were merely knocked out, many with large bruises and deep slashes, but mercifully still alive. There were still five more Gerudo still on their feet (excluding the one wearing the mask), and if you counted Link and Nabooru, only seven still in the right shape to keep on fighting.

Dropping down, Link charged at the masked Gerudo, but had to roll back to avoid a decapitating blast of energy. "By Farore's Wind", he swore loudly, "she can also throw them too!" The other five had discovered that before him, and when one of them tried to deflect that blast, it melted her scimitar.

The masked one was really a tremendous sight to behold. Her hair had also been dyed white, and had face markings as well. She seemed to be wearing red and brown armour, and with those scimitars changed into blacker, sharper versions, it was apparent that getting too close would not only be futile to try and cut through the armour, but suicidal to get that close to her weapons.

"Pull back!" Link shouted at the five of them, and since there was nothing better to do, they flipped over her (one being clipped on the waist by an energy blade) and going to Link's side, prepared for the next coming attack.

"I think I can get the mask off her, but we need to get her unconscious, or at least in a non-combating state." Link said, drawing out his bow and arrow. Hopefully, since the Fierce Deity mask was aligned more with shadow, a Light arrow would hurt it more than his sword would be able to.

She charged at the group at a wild pace; swinging both her scimitars, dispatching the group again. Link frowned: the Fierce Gerudo was moving far too fast for him to aim at, and with him needing to be always on the move to avoid her attacks he wouldn't have much time to launch the arrow. Subduing her would be the first step; playing the Song of Healing (then pulling the mask off) would be the second.

Link had to forget about the arrow idea as he pulled up his shield, just in time to block the upcoming attack in the nick of time. However, he had to cry out in pain as the remaining cuts in his arm reopened again. She kept slashing at his shield, knowing he wouldn't last for ever, when she had to back-flip.

Lowering his shield to see what happened, he saw Nabooru in a low stance, with her scimitars pointing towards the ground. Apparently she tried to swipe at the Fierce Gerudo's legs, but with the Fierce Deity mask equipped, her senses were strong enough to detect the low attack.

Two of the other five tried a double team attack, one on each side of her. That appeared futile as she flipped her scimitars around into a stabbing grip instead of a thrusting one, and positioned her arms so that each attack was blocked.

Link nodded at that. 'Effective', he thought, 'the swords held at that help give extra reinforcement to the defence and her arms are close enough to protect her from a frontal or back attack.' While she was with her swords locked in a strength contest, the Gerudo which that had one of her scimitars melted tried a jump attack to the Fierce Gerudo's back. That too proved futile, as she just released two blasts at point blank at the two Gerudo (sending them flying with the only thing remaining of their swords being the hilt) and rolling forward, she threw an energy blade at Link to keep him occupied then blocked the Gerudo's attack.

Link was grateful about fighting Kotake and Kaome right now. Using the Mirror shield, he angled it so that the blast was deflected back, and with a grunt of satisfaction, heard that it had connected.

She was surprised by the sudden attack back that the Gerudo in the sword lock managed to get three swipes in. Scowling, she sent Link a glare that pretty much said 'messing with me was a wrong move, buster'.

Enveloped with such strong desires of combat, success, winning and right now rage, Link knew that a flaw of the Fierce Deity mask was that it did not allow you to speak. But the message was sent across, and with the frightening face markings, the meaning was amplified a dozen fold.

Link was not frightened, however. He had fought Ganon, Majora, Twin-Rova, The Four Giants and even himself (Dark Link) that he was not frightened of any menacing looks anymore. That trick doesn't work on him anymore. Even though he was not frightened, he was still worried.

For now, Fierce Gerudo had focussed her attention on him now, just throwing energy blades at the others to keep them at bay. Link could not afford to damage his right arm anymore, so he settled for dodging. And he also had to run, too.

Right now, he was running in circles, zigzagging when she became too close for comfort. He wasn't getting anywhere, as all he was hoping for was that she would run out of mana and once she stopped throwing energy, he would be able to shoot her with a light arrow.

She was not tiring.

That was not a good sign.

Why wasn't it? It was because Link was tiring.

However, Link didn't win all those battles he did in the past by just following one attempt to the end. He right now knew that this idea won't work, and it was proven so by when she managed to score a hit against his back.

Even when he fell to the ground, she didn't relent for a second. Using his sword, he tried to deflect as many attacks as possible, and Nabooru as well as four Gerudo tried to attack her from behind and the sides. When it wasn't working, Link tried a desperate move.

"Jump back!" He cried, using his shield hand to search his sack of masks for just one particular mask. The four jumped back as told, with Nabooru a bit hesitant, but she did follow his command and taking five steps back, went into a ready stance along with the others, in case the Fierce Gerudo noticed chose to attack them.

Link tried to crawl back on his back just for a bit more space, but she did not even give an inch. Finding the mask he wanted, he quickly donned it and gave a mental thought of 'explode'.

It worked perfectly, with the sudden attack knocking her back, and taking the Blast mask off quickly (and donning the bunny hood back again) he muttered something quietly, leaving a glowing ball behind and charged towards her for a hit.

While she was still stunned, Link glanced at the others to check how well they'll fight. The two Gerudo that were in her sword lock had singed arms, and it seemed that there was pain when they were holding their fallen comrades' weapons. One was panting heavily, but trying to keep it in so that her vision didn't bounce up and down, one had a bleeding waist (Link thanked the Goddesses that it didn't cut her clean into two) and another was out cold with the rest. Nabooru was tiring, along with him, and it didn't look like they would be subduing her if this held out too long.

"Nabooru, wait at the glowing sphere, alright?" Not waiting for an answer, Link and the Fierce Gerudo went back into their deadly game of tag. When he saw Nabooru was in position, he ran by the glowing ball (with the masked Gerudo following) and shouted "Farore's Wind!"

The teleport spell worked perfectly - as her prey had suddenly disappeared, she had to stop, and with him now behind her, was able to give a hard slash, breaking the armour behind her. Nabooru wasted no time to commence her own attack, and with panting Gerudo helping her, he jumped back, targeted his opponent and released the Light arrow.

Fortunately for him, it hit, and even better, his idea worked. The Fierce Gerudo gave off a silent scream of pain, and the others kept pounding her with her attacks.

"By Nayru, thank the lord that worked," he said. "Just keep her in a tight grip, and make sure she won't be able to wriggle out!" All five Gerudo worked at that, Nabooru holding her in a head-choke position, one twisting her arm to prevent her from firing a energy blade at them, one pushing her down and using her knee like Link did previously to pin her to the ground, and the remaining two pointing their swords at her face to prevent her from escaping that way.

Whipping out his ocarina, he played the Song of Healing.

With the tune drifting through the chamber, some of the knocked out Gerudo relaxed their stiffened muscles. Most troubled minds cleared, with the song purging most fears, spites and worries. For the Gerudo being pinned down, she stopped struggling, and slowly, the armour and odd tint in the blade seeped back, heading towards the head, and it all dropped off, with the Fierce Deity mask lying up ahead.

Seeing that trouble fixed, Link blew a puff of air up to clear his bangs, and once he reattached his ocarina back to his belt, promptly fainted.

Link groaned. Opening his eyes, he saw that it was still black. "What hit me?" He managed to groan out.

He really wasn't expecting an answer. "It was something better than what might hit you in the future." Weird response, Link thought.

"Odd as it may sound, Hero of Time, something worse is threatening to come than what you have experienced before." Turning around, Link saw what appeared to be a glowing figure. By the voice and general shape, he knew it was a female, but other than that, he had no clue.

"It matters little right now on whom I am. What you have to worry about is the Second Seal." 'Okay', Link thought, 'she can read minds. But what is the Second Seal?'

"I shall tell you soon enough about the Second Seal. Right now, I am not reading your mind, even though I have the capability to. I am in your mind. And for now, I suggest you wake up." With that, she started to fade away, and Link started to feel what appeared to be a very rough roller coaster ride.

"Hey kid, get up already!" Link groaned. Opening his eyes, he saw that it was still black. "What hit me?" He managed to groan out.

He really wasn't expecting an answer. "It was something better than what might hit you if you don't get out of bed now."

'That's odd', Link thought, 'I think that's not how it was supposed to go.' Rolling to face where the voice was coming from, he noticed that he was in a rough cloth blanket. Seeing two shapes, he identified one as Nabooru.

"Hello there." Link mumbled. Seeing him respond, the other shape turned on the gas lamp, blinding him temporarily with light.

Once he could see again, he saw Nabooru smiling, and the other figure, once she turned around, appeared to be.

"Reza? What are you doing here?" Her scowl never seemed to leave her face. She muttered something, and then flicked his nose. Link growled, and was about to shout something that probably would have been rude when Nabooru cut in.

"What she said 'thank you for helping me back then, and don't be surprised by my attendance - unlike what you may think, there is honour among thieves." Link raised an eyebrow. He helped her? Since when? And he said exactly that.

"I helped her? Since when?" If it was possible, her scowl deepened slightly, but her face seemed to be tinted with. shame?

"Who do you think you were fighting with back in the central hall?" she replied, a bit stiffly, biting her lip in self-depreciation. Link's eyes widened.

"You were the one bearing the Fierce Deity's mask?" No wonder she was in the crate - probably hid it there, though that doesn't really explain why she was talking about a flint.

"I noticed that it felt. awkward, so I tried to see if the thing would burn - it didn't burn, and if it did I would have put it out, anyway - but it sprayed some sort of dust at my face." 'Oh, so that explains why she sneezed, I guess', Link thought. "It seemed to be almost 'calling', so that's why I put it on." Well, that was a good a reason Link would ever have required. No one would have believed ReDeads roamed where people flocking from store to store would have been.

Trying to lighten the mood a bit, Link cheerfully said "Well, that explains why that thing fought so single-mindedly." Nabooru smiled a bit more, Reza cracked a smile as well, but it was also showing a bit of indignation as she flicked his nose again.

"Well, you better rest up properly. Since you've been asleep for about two days, you should feel rather hungry tomorrow. Luckily for you, we're holding a ceremonial banquet." Nabooru pushed Reza back slightly before she would flick his nose again.

Once the two left, Link was left to wonder why they were holding a banquet anyway.

Nabooru was right about him being hungry the next day. They had presented back the three items he did not manage to obtain (two because he didn't have time, one because he fainted first). Before, he either ate a lot, or skipped eating for days on end, mainly because he could not find enough food in the place. Today was no different from the food-skipping days, except for that he exerted himself further than he usually did. Fighting a demon enhanced Gerudo would have tired anyone.

The Gerudo seemed to be dressed a bit more formally, despite what many would think. For instance, they were wearing arm bracers, all of them (child and warrior alike) had to have their hair tied up in a similar fashion. What Link thought were the higher ranking Gerudo wore a bandoleer bearing crests sewn into it. But other than that, they were pretty much the same.

If Link would have paid a bit more attention, he would have realised Gerudo dining etiquette was almost non-existent. The furthest they went was to chew with their mouths closed and not point cutlery at other people, but that was as far as it went. Children could bend over the table and pick up food with their fingers and the adults nearby wouldn't reprimand them. Link really didn't care - they were feeding him with food, a lot of food, and so why complain?

After the lunch, he was brought by a Gerudo guard to the central room, the one where he had fought in. Within the space of two days, the Gerudo had managed to clean up the small blood stains on the floor, replace any of the broken furniture and laid a procession carpet on the ground. Link was told to walk on the carpet, and following the blue fabric (Link found that kind of odd, for everywhere else it was red), stopped at the base of a impromptu stage. On it was Nabooru, Reza, and some other Gerudo with a lot of crests on her bandoleer. Looking at her, it was obvious the lady was trying to hold back a frown.

"From what High Sister Nabooru told me, earlier you had slain our leader Ganondorf. For that, many of us did not appreciate you and accept you to our customs. You had taking the test to prove your worth, with hopes that those that were resentful towards you would at least respect you. From previous three days, it was said with seven witnesses that you did more than that. You had prevented one of our Sisters from being in a war-hungry form, and aided in removing that problem, thus saving many of us. From the choices of the High Sisters, we welcome you to our society, mal- Link." The Gerudo around clapped at that, but Link could feel that it was well rehearsed. 'Oh well, can't complain. I still find it odd that they use male as a degrading term, when they follow a King, not a Queen.'

Just after the applause ended, Reza stepped forward. "As he had helped me from the mistake I made, by Gerudo honour, I shall follow him wherever he goes in case there is the requirement of aid in combat." That said, she took another step to get off the stage and stood just slightly behind him. Some of the Gerudo were surprised at her statement and action - to be follow behind an outsider was to mean that you shall abide most of his requests and help him when the time came, just to pay off a debt.

While they were surprised, Link was stunned. "Are you sure of that? I'm going to be travelling all across Hyrule, and sometimes into Termina." Reza was slightly worried about that, since she didn't know what by the Goddesses Termina was, but kept the strict face and nodded.

"Do not question the honour bounds of us Gerudo." She muttered to him. Link felt like frowning and smiling at the same time when she replied. Since he would have to fight, there would be some creatures she didn't know exist, and it would be hard to explain why a girl about his age was tagging along with him and save him the embarrassment. Then again, at least he won't be alone anymore. Link managed a smile at that.