Using her Co-Star, Rosalina was able to contact Luigi's Mr. L through a phone-call esc technique, STAR COMMUNICATION. She wished to update Luigi on their journey thus far, and to hopefully hear more about Mario's worsening condition. While Rosalina stood on a sandy hill, Kirby and Roy stood about twenty feet away, at the gates of Gerudo Town, in front of two large, muscular Gerudo guards armed with spears.
"Richter and Zelda should be here by tomorrow," Rosalina told, her head tilted up towards the sky, watching the sun slowly fall in the sky, "Samus did a number on Richter, but she won't be an issue anymore."
"That's a relief to hear," she heard Luigi mutter, "Varia Feature is a tough Spirit to crack. Are you absolutely sure that she was the only Spirit Master in your way?"
"It's hard to say, but, if there is any more, they're not as dangerous as she is. Zelda and Richter should be fine," Rosalina responded, "Zelda's become very proficient with Phantom Warrior, and Richter is, well, an expert with his Son of Dracula. They can take on whatever crosses them, if anything does."
"Yes, well you can spare to give them about a day or two grace period," Luigi explained, his voice becoming filled with dread, "By my calculations, Mario still has sixty days until… You know…"
Rosalina sighed, looking towards the gate of Gerudo Town, "Don't worry, Luigi. We'll get to Dreamland and stop that monster as soon as we can."
At the gate, Roy crossed his arms stubbornly and eyed the guards maliciously, "It's not cultural appropriation!" he claimed, "How is anything about my outfit disrespectful?"
"Isn't it obvious, you idiot voe!?" the guard on the left quickly snapped back, "You clearly are not a Gerudo, yet you wear our armor, style your hair in a fashion that is culturally important to us, and carry around our weaponry? You might as well paint your skin to match our own!"
"If I didn't "appropriate" your culture, as you suggest I am, I would be dead!" Roy shouted, clearly getting increasingly angry, "You think I wanted to wear this outfit? I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE!"
"Roy, enough," Kirby said, pushing Roy back to create distance from the guards, "There's no point in arguing a fight you can't win. The Gerudo are stubborn with males; stop wasting your energy."
"I'm just trying to defend myself from the slanderous claims from that woman!" Roy yelled, pointing at the guard whom he was arguing with.
Kirby rolled his eyes, "There's no point, Roy. Drop it."
At this point, Kirby had forced Roy back to about the same hill that Rosalina stood on. Co-Star was withdrawn as Rosalina began to speak, "Mario's not doing much better: he has sixty days left."
"Let's just hope that Zelda and Richter are close," Kirby nodded, "We maybe can spare a day waiting around."
"Luigi said to take two," said Rosalina, "If they encounter something on the road, then they'll take longer than we did."
After picking up some supplies, Zelda rode beside Richter as they left the Kara Kara Bazaar for Gerudo Town. The sun had just risen, so they planned on getting the entire trip done in a day, though it would be incredibly long. If they had to travel at night, even if it was only for a few hours, then they would. Zelda figured that, the longer they took to get to Gerudo Town, the less time they would have to complete their journey to Dreamland.
"The last time I traveled to Gerudo Town was when I was a kid," Zelda said to Richter as their camels walked down a long, flat road. Nothing was in front of them, besides a few small hills of sand, "My mother took me down here to visit the Chief of this territory. I can't remember her name right now, but I know her daughter; she's the current Chief."
"You think you can convince her to let me stay in the Town, even for just a night?" Richter asked, half-serious.
Shrugging, Zelda cracked a small smile, "I wish. You have to understand that the Gerudo are extremely traditional. A male, or "voe" in their language, are born once every few generations, and I don't even know if they would be allowed in the city; it's a very female-dominated culture. My mother would always tell me to look to the Gerudo Chiefs as role models."
Nodding, Richter asked, "You say males are born once every few generations? Safe to say, once every century, or so?"
"Yeah, I guess that's a good estimate," Zelda nodded back, making eye-contact with Richter, "Why do you ask?"
"How do they reproduce?" Richter asked, his tone somewhat ignorant, "I mean, sure, they can wander towards Hyrule and look for mates, but wouldn't that completely destroy the Gerudo bloodline? Their offspring, which I assume would be a daughter, would only be half-Gerudo, then her daughter would be one-quarter, and so on."
"I… I don't know," Zelda pondered, "I guess I'll ask Chief Riju when we get to Gerudo Town."
They journeyed for a few more hours, casually talking every now and again, until it was past midday. As Richter adjusted his white hood, and Zelda drank some water, they heard a song being played on a flute. At this point in their journey, there were some steeper hills of sand, with dead trees in their clearings. As the sounds of the flute became louder, they saw the remains of a campfire. "This must be where Rosalina, Kirby, and Roy stopped last night," Richter noted, looking down at the burnt sticks.
"You think they fought Samus before or after they rested?" Zelda pondered, checking their surroundings, "I don't see anything left over around here; no burn marks in the ground, no divots in the ground, or damaged surroundings… And there's no body or shallow grave."
"Damn, Princess… That's dark," Richter said, his voice shocked as Zelda's became more studious, "I'm sure that they fought her further ahead."
As they resumed down the road, the music became louder. Finally, it seemed Richter had enough, "Do you hear that? Or am I going crazy? It's been the same tune for the past twenty or so minutes."
"Oh yeah, I hear it," Zelda said, "And, we're getting closer to it. The source is probably just up ahead."
The calmness in Zelda's voice startled Richter, prompting him to say, "And you're not concerned? What if it's an enemy Spirit Master, sent by Bowser because he knows that we're separated from our travel group?"
"From the other Smashdust Crusaders?" Zelda said with a giggle, "I'm sure if it were an enemy Spirit, Rosalina, Roy, and Kirby would've taken care of it."
"From the other what?" Richter questioned, keeping his same pace as Zelda made her camel move faster. He caught up to Zelda as she saw the source of the music; on the stump of a dead tree, Zelda saw a small child-sized figure playing a flute while dancing, hopping from one leg to the other. This thing wore orange and green, colours that seemed to fit in better in a forest than a desert. This made Zelda smile, as she knew the tune that he was playing. She stepped off her camel, making Richter do the same.
"Excuse me, Princess, but can you explain to me what's happening?" Richter asked, making sure that his white hood covered his head.
"It's a Skull Kid," Zelda still grinned, "I've never seen one this far south before; usually, they're inside or near the Lost Woods. Here, hold this."
Zelda handed Richter her satchel quickly. From one of the satchel's pockets, Zelda pulled out a beige ocarina, taking a breath. She began playing the same tune as the Skull Kid, which made it stop and tilt its head curiously. Zelda only played for a short while, and, when she was done, the Skull Kid laughed with a high voice. To Zelda, it was a cute, happy laugh. However, Richter drew back, as if the laugh made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. His eyes widened as the Skull Kid began to play again. This time, however, it was a different tune. Zelda put her ocarina back in her satchel, taking back from Richter.
"One thing I've learned is that Skull Kids love music," Zelda explained, her mood clearly still high. They began walking again, the music from the Skull Kid growing increasingly distant, "My father taught me that song that the Skull Kid was playing; apparently, it's called Saria's Song. It's the song of the Lost Woods, and it's repetition helps adventurers cross through it."
"You don't think that it's unusual that a Skull Kid is in the Gerudo Desert?" Richter asked, seeing the remains of another campfire. Assuming that it was from the Skull Kid, Richter did not say anything, "Say what you want about the Skull Kids, but they sure creep me out."
"Really? A Skull Kid gives a Belmont the creeps? Vampires are no match for the great Richter Belmont, but a Skull Kid is too scary?" Zelda teased, though Richter gave no reaction, "I'm sure that Rosalina, Roy, and Kirby came across that same Skull Kid. Because it's still there, it must not be anything."
They journeyed for a few hours and then they saw something in the distance, just as the sun began to set. However, it was not Gerudo Town, like each of them was expecting; it was the Kara Kara Bazaar. Shocked, Richter looked at the Bazaar, "Um, Princess, did we just walk the wrong way?"
"No we didn't," Zelda said, "I made sure that we didn't… The only time we stopped was to see the Skull Kid, and we were never turned around… Were we?"
Zelda turned to Richter, who removed his hood. She looked down his body, until she noticed something unusual about him: his whip, Vampire Killer, which was primarily on his right hip, was on his left. And, when Zelda looked up, she saw that his hair seemed to be styled the opposite way it was from the morning. These differences, however, were so small that she did not even notice them before.
The only lights around Roy and Kirby were from Gerudo Town, forty or so meters away from them. Rosalina was permitted entry into the Town, but Roy and Kirby were not. Kirby had tried to plead his case with the guards, but they had heard about him from his travels before. And, any chance Roy had of getting in, which was slim to begin with, was virtually non-existent after his little argument with the guards earlier. Roy laid on his back while Kirby sat down, his hat just to his right. As Roy admired the stars above them, Kirby heard somebody approaching them. He turned and saw Rosalina walking towards them with some food and water in her hands. She handed Kirby the food while Roy sat up.
"That market is wonderful," Rosalina said, "They're all so nice and welcoming. I actually spent most of the day speaking with other travelers."
When Roy took the water from Rosalina's hand, he noticed that she wore a vibrantly pink, light fabric top with green pants to compliment it. Though Roy thought she looked nice, he spoke in a manner that suggested the opposite, "How come they let you wear that without hassle?! I got crap for wearing this outfit just to survive the trip!"
"Oh, the innkeepers gave me some pajamas to wear when they noticed I didn't have any," Rosalina responded sweetly, not aware of Roy's frustration.
"That's so unfair!" Roy yelled, his voice echoing in the dark desert, "Those damn, hypocritical Gerudo! I hate this place…"
"Good grief, quit the complaining," Kirby sighed. He chose to ignore Roy's childlike mood and asked Rosalina, "Have you tried to contact Zelda and Richter?"
"Unfortunately, Co-Star's Star Communication is only compatible with similar Spirits," Rosalina explained regretfully, "Phantom Warrior is a short-range Spirit with incredibly power, defense, and precision, while Son of Dracula can extend its range a little further, but it won't work. We'll have to wait patiently."
"If they don't show up by tomorrow night, we'll have to keep moving," Kirby said, "We don't have much of a choice."
Only staying at the Bazaar a short while, Zelda and Richter began journeying towards Gerudo Town again. This time, however, they did not talk at all; each of them was trying to figure out how they were turned around without physically being turned around. While Richter did not have a clue, just assuming it to be the work of an enemy Spirit, Zelda had an idea. She had heard rumours of the Mask's return after the time of Dharkon, but she refused to believe them.
Though their journey seemed longer, it was actually incredibly more efficient. They set out an hour after sunset, and they heard the music again a few hours past midnight. The relative flatness of the Desert allowed Richter and Zelda to scope out any approaching enemies, and, because of the night, Richter could easily take care of them with his Spirit. The sounds of the flute co-incited with an attack; Zelda saw a figure running towards them with great speed. However, Son of Dracula appeared and made light work of the figure. With two slashes of his sword, the figure fell to the ground, it's arms and legs fading into dust. As it laid back, dissolving away, Zelda saw the fangs inside its mouth.
"Vampires in the desert don't fair very well," Richter spoke up; those were the first words spoken since they started traveling again, "It's like an Atheist in a Church: they're out of their element in a Holy place of worship."
"I honestly don't know how you come up with some of the stuff that comes out of your mouth," Zelda responded, looking straight ahead.
Soon, the music grew louder and louder. By this time, Zelda saw the remains of the campfire again. Just as she suspected, they were on the other side of the road. "Look Richter," she said, nodding her head towards the remains, "Remember seeing that earlier?"
"It's on the other side of the road," he pondered, looking at it closely.
"The Skull Kid is in possession of a strange power, but I'm not entirely sure if it's a Spirit," Zelda sighed, "I could've seen it better, but I got too caught up with the song… I suspect his Spirit made us travel backwards without making us notice a thing. Maybe the Skull Kid reflected our vision horizontally, and the barrenness of the desert made us think we were heading in the right direction."
Thinking, Richter suggested, "It must've been triggered by that creepy child's laugh… Or, it could have been when you played that song on your harmonica-thing."
"It's called an ocarina," Zelda corrected. As they began again, Zelda got an idea, "Maybe we can use that to defeat the Skull Kid."
"If his Spirit simply changes our perception, it must not be a very strong Spirit, physically speaking; he didn't even make an effort to attack us," Richter responded, "I think we'll be able to take care of the Skull Kid without distracting it with music."
Stopping her camel, Zelda turned her shoulders to face Richter, "Well, it'll make our job a whole lot easier. Besides, we don't know how powerful his Spirit actually is."
Following the music again, they arrived at the same tree stump that the Skull Kid stood and danced on during the day. However, he was no longer dancing on the stump; he floated about seven feet above the stump, the full moon serving as his backdrop, playing the same repetitive tune that he was from before. Zelda hopped off her camel, Richter closely following her, and reached inside her satchel. As her back was turned, Richter saw a dark blue figure, which was gigantic, running towards Zelda. Before he said anything, Zelda's life energy glowed and Phantom Warrior appeared behind her, smacking whatever it was in the face. It slid backwards, and eventually stood up on its hind legs. Richter summoned his own Spirit as the werewolf howled at the moon.
"I knew it was a bad idea to travel at night…" Richter muttered. He shrugged and had his hand hovering over his whip, "Take care of the Skull Kid. I'll handle this monster."
As soon as Zelda stepped towards the floating Skull Kid, who was still playing it's flute, the werewolf lunged at her. However, Son of Dracula stepped forward, seemingly teleporting, and slashed the werewolf in the chest with its blade. The werewolf drew back and swiped at the Spirit, but it transformed into a vampire bat. Quickly, it flew on the werewolf's neck and began sucking blood. After a few seconds, Son of Dracula created distance from the werewolf, and Richter himself spit its blood out. The werewolf targeted Richter next, but Son of Dracula kicked it into the sand.
Zelda slowly approached the Skull Kid, who stopped playing it's flute and looked down at Zelda curiously. Trying to reason with it, Zelda lifted up her ocarina and played the same tune. The same laugh from earlier echoed into her and Richter's ears. Suddenly, her vision shifted, seemingly returning to normal. She looked over to Richter, and his whip was again on his right side. However, the werewolf was nowhere in sight. Zelda's facial expression dropped as she looked at Richter, who looked around like a mad man.
"What the hell!? Where did that thing go?!" Richter shouted. On cue, something jumped onto his back, pinning him down. Son of Dracula, in the form of a wolf, jumped onto the invisible force, wrestling it into the sand.
"The Skull Kid turned it invisible," Zelda said. Quickly, she summoned Phantom Warrior and shouted, "Wisdom Slash!"
On command, Phantom Warrior executed the attack. The blue curved beam shout out of its sword, barreling towards the Skull Kid. However, upon impact, it changed into blue smoke. When the smoke cleared, the Skull Kid emerged, still floating above Zelda, now wearing the infamous purple mask. "Oh no…" Zelda muttered, taking a step back, "the Skull Kid's Spirit… It's Majora's Mask."
Skull Kid, with MAJORA's Mask on his face, again laughed and disappeared. It reappeared behind Zelda, who spun around and sent Phantom Warrior straight for it. However, it was just out of her Spirit's range. Again, the Skull Kid laughed—said laugh piercing Zelda's ears, mocking her personally—and began playing it's flute. Zelda knew the song, quickly grabbing her own Ocarina. As rain clouds began forming, and rain began pounding onto the sand, Zelda began playing the same song, The Song of Storms, to combat this. However, the rain made her finger slip, and she missed a note.
Richter's fight against the invisible werewolf only grew more intense when it started to rain. Luckily for him, he could easily track the werewolf's movements as it could not hide with the rain constantly hitting it. The werewolf swung its large claws at Son of Dracula, who blocked most of the attack with its arm, but Richter felt his own arm get scratched. He made Son of Dracula teleport behind the werewolf, so it would straight at him. Richter made Son of Dracula's sword stay in the air, floating mere feet behind the werewolf. Then, just as the werewolf came within range, he revealed his whip, spinning it to gain moment, and knocked the werewolf in the head. The monster flew back, and, with Richter's command, the sword flew forward, impaling the werewolf.
As the werewolf screeched, the Skull Kid stopped playing the song and looked over, the mask blocking it's studious, curious expression. Then, just as the rain stopped by Zelda's ocarina, she started to play another song, Oath of Order. She played it perfectly despite that her fingers were now soaking wet. The Skull Kid's Spirit was surprised to the hear the song, and Zelda hoped to evoke some bad memories. Instead of laughs, the Skull Kid began screaming as the mask's maroon tendrils sprouted from it. The sight nearly made Richter sick, but Zelda knew that she had won. As she continued playing, Majora's tendrils separated itself from the Skull Kid, and propelled it towards Zelda. Then, Zelda stopped playing her ocarina.
"WISDOM BEAM!" she screamed, pointing her finger forward. Phantom Warrior appeared behind her and pointed its sword at the oncoming mask. The single, precisely aimed beam shot directly through the mask, abruptly stopping it. It fell onto the wet sand, its vibrant colours slowly fading away.
While Zelda ran to tend to the Skull Kid, Richter looked down at the mask under the moonlight; it was a dull purple colour, no longer looking as lively as before. He saw Zelda help the Skull Kid to its feet and talk to it.
"Maybe I should've listened to her," Richter thought to himself.
A few hours later, Richter and Zelda rode their camels down the road, towards Gerudo Town. They set out immediately after Zelda saw the Skull Kid off towards Hyrule. Since then, they had not conversed, each of them tired from their interesting battle against the Werewolf and Majora. However, as Zelda casually rested, enjoying the silence, Richter could not figure out how Zelda schemed out her victory.
As the sun rose, Richter pulled his white hood over his head. Looking down, he saw the scratches on his arm slowly healing. Finally, after hours of silence, he asked, "How did you know?"
The question caught Zelda off guard, mainly because she was inside her own tired, sleepy head. She reset and opened her shoulders to face Richter, "Sorry, what was that?"
"How did you know how to defeat the Skull Kid?" Richter asked, "You don't have the abilities of Rosalina's Co-Star, so how did you know?"
Sighing, Zelda thought for a moment, "I know my history. I'm aware of my kingdom's history, the various heroes and the adventures they went on. Skull Kids have a connection with music and masks. I guess that I just got lucky I recognized Majora's Mask."
"So that tune you played that really set him off… Is that just like a prayer or hymn you sing to exercise a demon?" Richter questioned, "Because, if you ask me, that Skull Kid did not look like a Spirit Master; besides, when you defeated that… Majora-thing, the Skull Kid didn't go down with it."
"He's not a Spirit Master; I guess Bowser's just sending literally everything and everyone he can after us," Zelda suggested, "And that song… It's called Oath of Order. I know that it was used to defeat Majora a long time ago, so I was hoping for that reaction."
"Well, it worked," Richter nodded, "I'm sorry I doubted you earlier."
"That's no big deal," Zelda brushed off, "I should be thanking you, really. You're the one who fought off that werewolf, which turned invisible mid-fight, and kept it distracted from me."
Smiling, Richter said, "Well, you were the one that made it rain suddenly. That helped me find it. I guess we make a pretty good team then, huh?"
"I guess so," she agreed, smiling back at him.
After they crossed over a hill, they saw Roy and Kirby sleeping on the ground, about forty, or so, feet away from Gerudo Town. Kirby was sleeping on his hat while Roy spooned his sword. This scene made both Richter and Zelda laugh: they needed that after almost twenty-six hours straight of journeying. "I guess they weren't allowed inside," Richter commented.
"Don't worry, I'll talk with Riju," Zelda promised, continuing to walk over while Richter hopped off his camel, "Even if it's for an hour or two, I'll get you three inside the Town."
As Roy and Kirby woke up, seeing Richter, Zelda rode her camel slowly towards the gates of Gerudo Town. Roy joyfully welcomed Richter back, as Kirby dusted off his hat and put it on. As the three talked about the past day-and-a-half's events, a brown dog arrived south of the town, overseeing Zelda's conversation with the guards at the gate and the conversation of the three further back. The dog stretched its back as a duck flew down and landed on top of it. Together, they walked toward the gates of Gerudo Town just as the sun came fully into the sky.
