Chapter 9
The little settlement was known as Desertshore. It was really more of an outpost than a settlement with a few humans making the occasional rounds about the place, but their main purpose was to help move supplies to and from the buko deserts. All other inhabitants were just buko. They seemed to not mind their condescending neighbors as much as was to be expected. Living on the edge would have meant starvation had they not assisted them. To the buko, life was more important than death, even if it was often through slavery.
There were others, however, who wished to enhance the lives of their kinsmen. They smuggled what precious little supplies they could. It was a noble cause, and they sought no compensation of any sort. All buko, whether they tolerated humans or no, appreciated their efforts.
Not all was perfect, though. The humans constantly searched for them; hunted them. But that was why the information they held was so good. They had to know where everything was and where everyone was going. Though technically headquartered in Desertshore, there were never any meetings held there. Messages were simply carried back and forth as needed. If a gathering was necessary, they moved into their desert homelands. No human ever went there for it was far too hot for their comfort.
That was all going to change. Though not quite human, Shad and Auru had departed with the two buko into the desert. The sun was nearly down on the second day of their journey south. With darkness would come a cooler feel among the desert, but it was only relatively tolerable now. It was very different from Gerudo Desert; its blistering hot days were offset by the freezing cold nights. Still, the two hylians were thankful that they would meet at a time most sensible towards the heat.
Within another twenty minutes, they reached the meeting place. Aside from the two who brought them, there were four other buko seated around a large stone. It looked like it could have been the center of a campfire, except it was plenty warm already. As they approached, the smallest buko, whose back-scales were brighter than the others, made a gesture to them. They all stood up until their visitors had found their spots. Another gesture from the small one and they all sat down together. Then he finally spoke. "I am Grit, one of the leaders of our work to help our brethren. I trust your trip here was not rough.
Auru, always the diplomat, spoke first. "We ran into some small monsters you refer to as goriyas last night, but they were not too difficult to dispatch."
Grit nodded. "Brother Plino told me you seek information, correct?"
"It is as you've been told."
The small buko spoke in a firm, but not quite accusatory, tone. "We've had no dealings with near-humans such as yourselves before. Do you truly despise them as we do?"
"No we do not, but there are those who act inexcusably. Many of them will need to see the light, but there are those that are not such vermin."
Grit made a bemused sound before responding. "I've yet to meet one that could at least make a difference for us. Perhaps you have friends in higher places?"
Auru inhaled deeply, ensuring he would not say anything he didn't mean. "Not here. In our native kingdom of Hyrule. The queen is a wise and benevolent ruler. Though she cannot assist us militarily, I know when we return we could sway her to help you if there is moral depravity against another of the goddesses' creatures."
"And why can't she help now?" Grit was quite inquisitive. "You have a bird that sends messages. Can you now have him courier one?"
"Yes, but there are certain restrictions to how long a message it can carry, and how far it can travel, but that matter is trivial. To be honest, we have no proof that Silidan has provoked us, and up until now, this injustice would only be a steppingstone to war. We'd like to avoid that if possible, especially since trying to move an army through the Ordona Woods is virtually impossible. What we can do is start sending you supplies at a more steady pace from the north. If you could set up an outpost there, you'll be in far greater hands than you are now."
"You mean you won't help overthrowing this tyrannical government?" The astonishment on Grit's face could not be hidden. Surely any reasonable person who saw their state would assist.
"It's not that we won't. We can't. We just recovered from a war of sorts just a year ago. Our soldiers are all but diminished, and those we have lack any skill or even courage to be of any use."
"But can't you yourselves stay and help?"
Auru turned to Shad, whom had sat quietly throughout the entire debate, listening intently. Now he looked at his older companion. It was a tricky ordeal, but what could they do? "My friends and I are too few to possibly have such an effect. Besides we are on a hunt for some renegade knights."
The buko suddenly began murmuring excitedly amongst themselves. Eventually they all hushed as Grit continued his near nonstop barrage of questions. This one, however, nearly caught Auru off guard. "Why would you hunt the renegades? They are amongst the few who fight the aristocracy that destroys everything."
"Perhaps I spoke hastily. We believe them to be renegades. Some group of humans savagely murdered an entire village and burnt it down. We also believe only one young woman made it out alive, and my companions and I are hoping to find her. That is the event that led to our being here. As you recall, we can't prove who exactly provoked us, but someone from this land did. That's something else we'd appreciate if you'd help us discover."
Again the buko mumbled amongst themselves but took less time to respond. "You say you come from the northern forest?"
"Beyond it, but yes. A settlement used to be there."
"Very well. We propose a deal. We know you can't do much to fight the tyranny, but we ask that you stay and help. Who knows what good may come of it. If you do so, we will, in exchange, use an extensive amount of our resources to find what you desire right now. Will that suffice?"
Auru didn't take too long to contemplate his answer. "You are correct in that we can't do much alone, but yours is a noble endeavor. We'd be honored to help."
"Good! Then it's settled." The leader gestured all to stand. "It will of course take some time to pass word and to take account all possibilities. Expect to have to wait up to five days before you hear anything, and when you do, it may be a day or two old, but it will be good information, I guarantee it. I'm sure Plino will be happy to find safe quarter for you both while you wait."
"You have my thanks, Grit." Auru said bowing lowly.
"And you have ours, hylian friends." The way back to Desertshore felt much cooler than when they'd started.
Link had that dream again. Ilia was everywhere he looked, but constantly grew distant. He nearly jumped off the floor, sweat dripping down his brow. It took him a moment, but he eventually came to his senses, and even smiled slightly. Though a nightmare haunted him, he now had a great lead to find his beloved. Each night his doubts and fears had begun to creep into the backmost portions of his mind. Now, however, those feelings felt incredibly foreign and out of place.
Link paused for a second, remembering that he still needed to find out where she was. The girl he'd met only told him to meet her at a specific house around the time when the moon was at its peak. Since there was no device that could tell him what time it was, it had been up to Ashei, who was sitting on the only bed in the room, to stay up until the time had come. As he looked over to her he realized she'd been watching him for a little while with a disappointed look on her face.
"Link, if you're just going to wake up on your own, then I'm not gonna lie awake all night next time. You can do it yourself, yeah?"
"At least you sleep on the bed." Link retorted somewhat mockingly. "Besides, you've been enjoying watching us be miserable for the last two days. You can afford to suffer just a little bit."
Rusl, who had been sleeping next to Link, began to stir. The two hylians lowered their voices as to not wake him. "Well, take Harmless with you. Pretend you're just walking the dog."
"In the middle of the night?" Link asked sheepishly.
"Just get going. Harmless, go with him boy."
The large gray and black wolf opened it's eyes. After a quick stretch, yawn and shake, it began to follow Link out the door and down the stairs. Harmless was a very smart wolf, and took to Link very naturally. The hylian presumed that the canine could somehow tell that Link was once a wolf, or smelled like one, or something. Regardless of what it actually was, it proved to have more intelligence than the average beast. It could be domestic and calm if it so desired, or wild and fierce. Its three owners had to call it "Harmless" for the very simple fact that it wasn't.
Once the two were outside, they made their way to the decided meeting place. The streets were completely empty save for a couple beggars scattered along the street. There were a couple of taverns still open too. Some bustled with activity while others were more quiet, and simply hosting a few patrons. Link found himself staring up at the stars. For some reason, seeing stars with perfect clarity in Hyrule was a rare chance. Here, however, everything was clear.
Soon, the young man passed another block, and in the corner of his eye he found the house of which was described to him by the woman. In a matter of moments, he was next to the door, hidden by a large barrel. He looked up at the moon once more. It was definitely about that time, though there were no absolutes with such things. He merely sat and waited, hoping the girl would come soon.
Sure enough, after about fifteen minutes, a slender young woman opened the door and made her way towards the main street, carrying the same jug on her head as Link had seen her that afternoon. Link began to follow her, taking loud steps so that she knew he, or someone at least, was following her. Without even turning around, she replied. "Link?"
"Yes. You told me you knew-"
"Walk with me. My master needs more wine. We'll talk along the way." Link caught up with her, strolling along on her left side with Harmless trailing several feet back. Soon after they began, the woman spoke up again. "Yes, I know where she is, or rather who had her last I saw. I'm sorry if I'm too late or if it isn't enough. I don't know what you already know."
"I wasn't even sure she was alive until you told me. That alone was great news."
The woman smiled. "I'm glad."
There was a slight pause, which Link discontinued. "How did you come to meet her?"
"We were both being sold together. My parents owed great debts to a noble. In order to pay it off, my parents sold my sister and I to a slave trader." Link recalled Shad's brief lesson on the local slave trade just before she pressed on. "My sister was sold first. I haven't seen her in almost a week. I didn't know what would happen to me. I was really scared. All the girls I was with were scared too, except for one. At least, that's what we all thought. She was scared, but she had faith someone would save her."
Link quickly put the pieces together. "She told you about me."
"Right. She was positive that you could save her. She spoke of a great many things that you had done up north. Spoke of a great evil that corrupted the land that you saved. Please excuse me if I find a lot of it hard to believe, but it certainly eased all our tension. Just seeing her smile made us all feel better about our situation." She suddenly stopped for a moment in front of a tavern. "Wait out here. I'll just be a second."
Link nodded, and stood back patiently. He needed to soak this new information in. Just seeing her smile made us all feel better, he recalled the girl say adding on in his mind, she has that effect on people. He was extremely grateful that Ilia was alive, and even more so that she was in good health and spirit. It was a great relief off of his mind. Now all he needed to do was to find her. The girl so far had only explained how they had met, so he expected that next they would discuss where she was. As he impatiently waited the girl's return, he silently hoped that she was nearby and still safe.
Within another minute, the girl had returned, the jug on top of her head now full of wine. Link couldn't contain his excitement. He rushed over to her and asked, "Where is Ilia now?"
"Calm down, Link." She began to walk again back to the house. "We were both sold to separate buyers. You know where mine is now, but she was sold to a traveling merchant just before me. He had convinced our buyer that her unique features could get him more money elsewhere. Very persistent, he was."
Link stopped walking with her. That sounded familiar. "Was his name Sanducci?"
The woman turned to face him. "You know him?"
"We just saw him today trying to buy me off!" Link almost lost it. She was right in their hands, and they let her slip away.
"She wasn't on his display?"
"We saw him walking in the streets alone. I guess he was already planning to leave. Finding him is going to be difficult."
"Maybe not. I hear he is a big seller. There must be many regular buyers who know his scheduled route."
Link paused again to contemplate that. Unless the man had already sold her, she was still with the merchant, who'd be traveling to other places to sell her. At least they had a trail to follow. Perhaps things were not as bleak as he had suddenly made them out to be. And just a minute before he was thanking the goddesses of her near return.
"I'm sorry I can't help you anymore," The girl had begun to walk back again. "But I must return to my master now."
Link caught up to her and began trudge alongside her again. Another minute or so passed until another question dawned on him. "Hold on. How were the two of you put together? Ilia was stolen away by knights. Did they sell her to your merchant as well?"
She shook her head. "Not exactly. My seller had her given to him by another man. He may have been a knight though he did not wear any armor. They spoke casually to each other, or so it appeared to me, and the man simply gave her to him."
So were these men renegades? Link wasn't sure anymore. His journey was clearly nowhere close to being over. The girl clearly enjoyed her short company with Ilia that she cared enough to pass the information off to him. "Thank you for everything. Is there something I can do for you?"
She nodded this time. "Yes. My sister, Ani, if you see her, tell her I'm all right. My master, though demanding, is fair with me."
"Will I recognize her, and what is your name, by the way?"
The girl turned red at the realization. "Oh dear! I'm sorry I forgot to even mention who I was. My name is Tani, and Ani is my twin. You'll recognize her, and she's supposed to have been sold to a worker in Clifftown far to the east of here. If you find yourself over there, please look for her."
"I will." They arrived at the house of Tani's master, and said their good-byes. Link and Harmless quickly made their way back to their inn. The owners were still asleep, just the same as when they left. Sneaking back into the room was no problem for them; though closing the door to the room was a bit more difficult to keep down. Ashei sprung out of her bed with sword in hand. It was rather comical, but the serious look in her face suggested she honestly had thought otherwise up until she realized what was actually going on. When she recognized him, she sighed with disappointment.
"And I had just fallen asleep too. Next time, you're all on your own." Harmless sprang towards Ashei and hopped on the bed in front of her. It had an inquisitive look on it's face. "And I suppose you want to sleep on the bed, yeah?"
The wolf's eyes widened and he began to whine pathetically, trying all it could to appeal to her. Ashei just rolled her eyes as she laid back down again. "Oh, shut up, Harmless."
