Hello all. Thank you sooo much for your reviews! I truly appreciate it!

The end of the semester is approaching and I'm getting rather busy studying for exams and doing about fifty million projects (why are projects always due at the same time?). So bear with me! If I don't update for a week or so, do not fear! I just might get bogged down here really quickly.

Anyways, onward with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda.

Chapter 10 – The Desert

Why did I always find myself in situations like this?

My head was throbbing. I was lying on the floor, somewhere, drool hanging out of my mouth. I opened my eyes slowly to a dim light burning on a torch on the wall. The wall of a jail cell.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught a flash of blue light and whipped around. Hilda was huddled in a corner, her knees brought up to her face. She was doing some sort of magic in between her legs and chest, but all I could see were bright flashes of light and all I could hear were incoherent mumblings.

Did I mention my head hurt?

A flash of green light blinded my vision and I grabbed my head in pain. I wanted to scream out, but not a single noise escaped my lips. But just as quickly as it came, it went, and the pain was reduced to a dull throb.

On the other side of the tiny cell I could see Fenn curled in a ball, facing away from me. But he was breathing. I sighed, relieved. At least he was alive.

"Oh, my, Ravio, you're awake!" Hilda's voice was quiet but rather excited. "Did you sleep well?" she said with a small grin.

"Uh, yeah…" was all I said as I rubbed my head. "Where are we anyway?"

Hilda turned away from me and looked out past the cell bars. "Deep in the Gerudo Fortress." She then turned back to me. "The prison."

I wasn't sure what to say, so I just nodded in response. I mean, it figured. It was really a dumb question of me to ask, seeing as we had been taken by the Gerudo…

"How long was I out?" I asked it hesitantly, secretly praying it hadn't been a week like the last time.

She was a little confused by the (probably) strange look on my face and laughed a bit. "It's only been a few hours, no need to worry." She then nodded over to Fenn. "And your friend will be alright as well."

Her eyes were glowing brightly as I felt her hand touch mine ever so gently. A spark ran up my arm and… suddenly my headache was gone.

"Did-Did you do that?" I sputtered out of my mouth.

She just gave me a goofy smile, leaves and twigs still poking out from her purple hair.

I suddenly heard Fenn rustle from over in the corner where he laid. "What…" he muttered under his breath. I was having some serious déjà vu… something about this seemed familiar, but only with a barn… and piles of hay…

"Holy Farore, what the hell happened to your hair?!" I blurted out. Fenn's eyes weren't even open yet but I could clearly see, even in the dim light, that his black locks were now… blonde. Almost the same exact color as my hair, if I had to guess.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he replied as he scratched his head like an ape. I moved over closer to him, just as he opened his eyes.

"Woah! Li-" he suddenly cut himself short and looked over to Hilda, "I mean, Ravio, you shouldn't be asking me about my hair. Just look at yours!" That was kind of a dumb statement, Fenn, because in case you couldn't tell, there weren't exactly a surplus of mirrors in prison cells...

But wait – what about my hair? I could still see it dangling in front of my face… but it was dark. Way too dark. I frantically began tugging at my hair, trying to get a glimpse of what the hell happened to it. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Was it just the dim lighting in the cell? No, I couldn't have seen Fenn's hair then, so what…

My gaze and Fenn's locked on. His eyes were blue. "Your eyes are green," he said almost too calmly.

As if on cue, we both flung around to face Hilda who was back in her corner, mumbling things and setting off strange light displays in her lap.

And two seconds later, when Fenn and I were standing directly above her, we heard a meek, "Before you get mad, can I just say that it was an accident?"

Fenn and I just looked at each other and then back at her.

"I'm sure by now you can tell what kind of magic I can do, Ravio." Okay, maybe I could, but what did this have to do with our seemingly swapped hair and eye pigments?

"Healing, I take it?" I said almost sarcastically, my jaw stiff.

She flattened her legs to the ground and rested her hands in her lap, not looking up at us. "Well, I was trying to wake you both up… at the same time… and something happened."

No shit.

When neither of us said anything, she continued. "I was just trying to do a simple healing spell to make sure you didn't lose consciousness, but I must have said something wrong. When you woke up, Ravio, I was still trying to figure out how to fix it…"

I felt bad instantly, my shoulders relaxing. She was trembling. Here she was, trying to heal us and we were mad about our hair changing colors. "I'm sorry, Hilda, we didn't mean it like that. We were just surprised, is all." She continued to stare down into her lap, on the verge of tears. "But if it makes you feel better, you must have done something right because Fenn and I are both awake and perfectly fine." Fenn nodded and shrugged in agreement. At this, she looked up at the both of us and smiled lightly.

"I guess."

A door suddenly swung open and the three of us turned, unsure of where it came from. A growing light told me there was a hallway that led to the right of our cell.

"Alright, boys and girls, time to go," came the voice of a silhouetted Gerudo near the door of our prison.

I was utterly confused. "You're letting us go?"

The Gerudo paused slightly to give me a disgusted look. "Don't be silly."

Two more Gerudo guards came and the three of them led the three of us out of the cell and through a maze of hallways, our hands held firmly behind our backs. I felt as lost as I did each time I was in Hyrule Castle but I would have given my left arm to be back there at that moment.

We were led outside into the autumn wind. It wasn't as cold as it had been in Castle Town or in the fields, but it was fiercer. It was dry and slapped at my face like an open palm, the occasional grain of sand adding an extra tidbit of pain.

It was extremely bright outside, blinding almost, but I could tell we were in some sort of courtyard of the adobe fortress. All around us, walls the color of the sand rose up. The fortress was built into the nook of a mountain, walls, windows, and stairs climbing up it like vines. The place was huge.

I turned my attention forward to see that we were approaching a large gathering of Gerudo women, all tanned and all clad in colorful baggy pants and belly shirts. I then noticed that they were petting two horses – oh my Din it was Epona and Fenn's horse. I instinctively tugged a bit in my captor's grip, to which she replied by squeezing my wrists tighter. As we approached the crowd, it suddenly quieted down and dissipated.

"Your highness, we have brought them."

Sitting on a large throne in this Gerudo fortress courtyard was none other than the Princess of Hyrule herself.

"Z-Zelda?" I breathed, to which I quickly was elbowed in the ribs by Hilda to my right. I gave her a quick glare of confusion before returning my gaze to the Princess, clad in the same blue dress I had seen her wear so often before.

"Very good," Zelda said calmly, but her voice seemed so ethereal, almost as if it were detached from her body. Her eyes, while still bright blue, were void of any life. "Bring the blonde one to me, but do what you please with the others." My eyes cringed as I waited to be shoved forward, but it never came. Instead, I saw Fenn get dragged from my left up to where the princess sat. I frantically looked around, realizing he was being mistaken for me, and gave Hilda a "what the hell do we do" look, but she wasn't looking back at me. She was staring at my horse.

I looked to Epona as well, but wasn't entirely sure what she was so captivated by. As I turned to look away, I thought I saw part of Epona's saddle jiggle, but assumed it was just the wind.

Fenn was standing in front of Zelda, struggling in the grip of one of the guards. I couldn't see exactly what was going on, but my own guard suddenly tightened her grip on my wrists again. Zelda reached her hand up to Fenn's forehead and, in a brief red flash, the guards weren't holding his hands anymore. He was standing freely, his shoulders, however, slightly hunched.

I held my breath, waiting for him to do something, run, I didn't care. After a few moments, he simply followed one of the guards into one of the many doors that led back into the fortress… and that was it. I could now see Zelda again without obstruction, but this wasn't Zelda. It couldn't be. I almost felt like I had in my dream of the Temple of Time; cold, lonely, full of despair…

"HEADS UP!" came Hilda's voice to my right. I shot up to see my sword and its cloth saddle-sheath flying sideways right at my head. I ducked just as the sword proceeded to smack both of our guards in the face, causing them to lose their grip on me and Hilda. The second we were free I grabbed my sword in one hand as Hilda's hand grabbed my other. She pulled me backwards as we started to sprint through an open archway. "But Fenn!" I yelled as we moved further and further away from my best friend. I could hear the sound of the Gerudo on our tail, but I kept my legs pumping trying to keep up with the forest-witch. Hilda didn't respond.

She tore in and out of doorways and flung me down halls, my purple cloak whipping behind me. Every time we spotted a Gerudo she would sprint off in a different direction, pulling me along for the ride. I managed to at least get the Master Sword out of the sheath in case I needed to use it, but secretly prayed I didn't. When we finally made it outside, she stopped cold.

A whole line of Gerudo were in front of us, spears at the ready. My heart sank as I clutched tightly on to both the Master Sword and Hilda's hand.

"Had enough fun for today, Hilda?" one of the Gerudo said as she stepped forward. She was wearing a similar outfit to the rest of the Gerudo, but she was the only one in the color pink.

I gazed up at the sky and took a deep breath, believing it would most likely be my last. I saw Hilda turn her head slowly towards me and give me a small wink.

"Not quite."

Hilda quickly tore her hand from mine and held her hands in front of her. A sudden blue light pulsated out of her palms and formed a wave of blue light that rippled out into the crowd of Gerudo. It happened so quickly but they all seemed to fall in slow motion. Moments later, they were laying in a semicircle around us.

"What the hell just happened?" I said, shocked and confused by what had indeed just happened.

"We don't have much time." She once again grabbed my hand and I realized what she meant. I heard a loud clamor coming from behind us in the fortress: more Gerudo were in pursuit. She gripped my hand tightly as we jumped over the unconscious bodies of the Gerudo women, still clutching their spears.

We flew down the steps of a large rocky hill and it was then that I noticed our destination.

A large gate towered at the base of the hill. And right now, it was open.

"Stop them!" came a distant cry from behind us. My head was spinning as my legs tried to keep up with Hilda's as she pulled me closer and closer to the gate. "Close the gate!" came the same voice.

I could see Hilda's eyes widen as one of the Gerudo on top of the gate began to crank a large wheel. The gate was beginning to close.

"RUN!" she screamed at me. I honestly didn't think I could run any faster but I did, feet slipping on rocks but keeping me upright. Just as the large wooden gate doors were about to close, Hilda and I narrowly squeezed through. A large bang indicated that they had closed behind us.

I stopped suddenly, my lungs taking control of my body. I began to wheeze heavily and felt my knees begin to buckle. I was just glad we were on our way back to the fields.

Well, it was kind of like a field. When I finally looked up, I realized just where Hilda had led us.

The desert.

No one had followed us and it was very obvious why. There was nothing out there, except, most likely, death. Mountains of sand rose up in front of us as the harsh, dry wind continued to beat across my face. I tied the cloth sheath to my back underneath my cloak, insuring the Master Sword was close to me at all times.

"So now what?" I turned to Hilda who was blocking her face from the sandy air with her arms as best she could. "Here," I added, unclasping my cloak and draping it around the two of us, just enough to keep the sand out of our faces.

"Thanks," she said through my cloak, but staring off into the distance. "We really only have one way to go now."

I had so many questions spinning around in my mind. Was that really Zelda? Was Fenn alright? What did they actually want me for?

Hilda was huddled up next to me as we trudged through the sand. I wasn't exactly sure where she was leading me this time, but she sure as hell knew where to go better than I did. Her arm would occasionally brush mine and I would feel relaxed and calm, if only for a few moments.

"There's an old outpost not too far from here. We can stay there for the night." I could barely hear her over the wind, so I just nodded that I had heard at least most of what she said. We continued to press on, the sun diving lower in the sky, the wind growing cooler and harsher. My boots were almost completely filled with sand, but at least I had shoes. Hilda was still barefoot.

It was at least another hour before a small stone structure appeared less than a hundred yards away. The sun was almost setting but the wind was at least dying down, increasing our visibility if even a little bit. As we approached the outpost, I noticed it was in the shape of a small circle with a ladder leading down beneath the surface of the sand.

"Ladies first?" I said to Hilda as I gestured toward the ladder. She gave me a quick smirk and parted from underneath my cloak, climbing down into the shelter below.

What little light trickled down from the ladder entrance illuminated the underground structure just enough for me to get a hold of the surroundings. Several torches lined the walls, unlit. Hilda took one at once and began to whisper something to it, most likely in some other language. Less than a moment later, the torch burst into flames. She looked me right in the eyes and smiled.

The room we were in was rather small, but it had a table with four chairs, a cot in the corner, and several cupboards that may have at one time held food. My stomach rumbled angrily. I hadn't eaten at all that day.

"Am I right in assuming you can't just whip up some food and drink out of thin air?" I asked as I looked around the room for any signs of food. There were cobwebs galore, but nothing I'd even remotely want to eat.

"I'm afraid not," Hilda said as she sat down on the cot. "But there is a well outside, and I'm sure the two of us could really use some water." At least I wouldn't die of thirst. She rummaged around in one of the cupboards before producing a small bucket and hurried back up the ladder.

I sighed and took my turn sitting on the cot. Oh how I missed my lumpy bunk bed back at the soldiers' quarters. It felt like ages since I had slept in a proper bed.

I suddenly heard what sounded like a conversation up above and made my way to the ladder to investigate. Did one of the Gerudo follow us? I instinctively reach for the sword on my back when I was met by a pair of old, grey eyes making their way down the ladder.

"Oh, ho. You must be the young lad the witch told me about." The person in question was a short, old hag, her skin tanned deeply by the desert sun. Her silver hair was gathered on top of her head in a messy bun. "Oh, calm down, laddie, I mean you no harm," she said as she set a basket down on top of the wooden table. "I should instead ask you if you mean me any harm, seeing as you stumbled into my home." She didn't even turn from unpacking her basket, as if she was completely certain we were harmless.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know, you see we-" I began, but was cut off when the old woman raised up a hand to silence me.

"No need to explain, dearie. I run this outpost here and I'm here specifically for people like you and your friend up there. There ain't another outpost for miles so it's good you went and stumbled upon this one."

I felt an intense amount of relief when I noticed what she had taken out of her basket: bread, apples, cheese, and some dried meats. I stood there awkwardly not saying anything until Hilda came down from the ladder, bucket of water balancing on top of her head.

"So you live here, huh?" Hilda said as she set the bucket down next to the old woman. "Doesn't it bother you how dusty it is? Or that you have no food?"

The old woman was gathering some dishes from one of the cupboards and dusting them off. "Dearie, I've only been gone two days. Dust is just part of living out here in the desert." She was now handing me and Hilda plates, which we took gratefully. The woman then turned around and began to pour us water from the bucket Hilda had gotten. I only took a little bit of each food, afraid of eating the old woman's food supply.

"Please, take what you need! There's plenty more where that came from." Where did it even come from? We were out in the middle of the desert, for Din's sake. But my stomach rumbled, causing me to comply, and I filled my plate with more bread and dried meat.

The three of us sat around the table, quietly eating. It hadn't even occurred to me until I was almost done eating that the food may or may not be poisoned. Too late now, I guess, I thought as I continued with the rest of my meal.

"So do you live here all of the time?" I asked, genuinely curious how an old woman could stay out in the middle of the desert alone all of the time.

"Oh goodness, no. There is a small town about half a day's walk from here. I live there most of the time, but, when my friends alert me of desert travelers, I do my best to make it here in time to meet them."

"Friends?" Hilda asked. As if on cue, a small guay flew down from the ladder opening and perched itself on the old woman's shoulder.

"These are my friends," the woman said, as she broke off a small piece of bread and fed it to the bird. "They saw you leave the Gerudo's fortress and alerted me as soon as they could. Fortunately an old woman such as me has other means of travel than walking." She gave Hilda a small wink.

Magic.

I suddenly felt extremely lonely. Hilda began to talk to the old woman, whose name I still didn't know, as she began to clear our dishes. Fenn was back in the Gerudo Fortress. Zelda was basically not Zelda anymore. The only friend I had was this mysterious witch Hilda. And I barely even knew her.

"I'm gonna go grab some air," I said as I headed back up the ladder, feeling Hilda's red eyes on my entire ascent.

The night air was chilly but there was no fury to it anymore, no sand to scrape across my cheeks or blur my vision. It was surprisingly calm, so I plopped myself down in the sand next to the well and stared up at the stars.

I thought about the night Zelda and I sat in the archery arena, staring up at the same night sky, perfectly content in our silence. I thought about the nights Fenn and I sat around campfires in Hyrule field. They were only a few days ago but they felt like years.

I felt like such a different person. Hell, I looked like a completely different person. A strand of my black hair fell in front of my eyes and I angrily blew it away from my face. What was I even doing anymore? Wasn't my mission to find Zelda and bring her back? That certainly failed.

"Hey," came Hilda's voice from the top of the ladder. I turned around and acknowledged her with a small smile but resumed my gaze up at the sky. It seemed like there was nothing in every direction, just darkness and sand. "Do you mind if I join you?"

I shook my head silently and soon felt Hilda sit down next to me. "You know, everything happens for a reason." Hilda was looking at me intently now, but I for some reason didn't feel like holding her gaze.

"Yeah, I'm sure," was the response that came out of my mouth.

"Ravio, I'm serious. You need to trust me." Trust her? What did she have to do with any of this?

I finally looked over to her, her eyes now staring up at the sky as mine had been. "You know, there's still a lot I don't know about you. Like that magic you used back in the fortress. How do I know I can trust you?"

"What other choice do you have?" she replied without hesitation. "So trust me." My heart skipped a beat when she made eye contact with me. For some reason my words caught in my throat as our eyes locked. I felt her hand brush against mine and my face suddenly got very hot. I tried to move my hand away but felt her grasp it firmly.

"Ravio? Are you okay?" I must have dazed out for a second because Hilda was staring at me, very concerned. My face was sweating and my heart was beating really fast.

The only thing that I could think of and say at that moment was, "You know you still have twigs in your hair, right?" She quickly whipped her hand away from mine and flung them up into her hair.

"Are you serious?" she almost yelled, raking her fingers through her hair as fast as she could. I couldn't help but chuckle slightly at her shocked reaction. But really, how did she not know? She gave me a quick glare as I laughed again.

Her purple hair was now a little less twiggy, but a little more all-over-the-place. I silently cursed myself for spoiling such a romantic moment… No. No. That's not what it was. My heart was beating fast because… she's a witch. Or something. Yes. Something.

"Disregarding the state of my hair," she continued on from before, giving me a sharp look, "we'll make for the town at the Desert Colossus tomorrow."

"And what are we looking for there?" I asked, my heartbeat finally returning to normal.

She sighed a bit. "I don't know yet," she said quietly, "but I have a feeling that's where we are supposed to go." Supposed to go? What was even going on? I was utterly lost and Hilda seemed to be keeping some very important details from me.

Before I could respond, she quickly stood up, brushing the sand off of her purple dress. "I'll see you in the morning, Ravio," she practically whispered and scurried back down the ladder. Did I do something?

By the time I made it back inside, Hilda was passed out in the cot and the old woman was fast asleep in one of the wooden chairs. Looks like the floor for me. I took off my cloak and bundled it into a ball as a makeshift pillow. I'm not certain if it took minutes or hours to fall asleep, but all I could think about was the lifeless look in Zelda's eyes.

"Link, wake up," came Zelda's gentle voice in the dark. I opened my eyes to her beautiful face, draped by her golden hair, her blue eyes sparkling in the morning sun.

A sudden shake jolted me awake. "Ravio, wake up!" Hilda was standing over me, her hand gripped around my arm. I yawned and stretched my arms out a bit, a little disappointed she had woken me from such a nice dream of Zelda…

"We've got to get moving if we want to make it to the Desert Colossus." I nodded slowly, still trying to open my eyes fully. I looked around the room and noticed the old woman was no longer there.

"Where did she go?" I asked rather ambiguously, realizing I still didn't know the old woman's name.

"She left about an hour ago," Hilda explained as I got up and brushed myself off, "but she left us some food for the road." She gestured to the table which had the remainder of the food from last night. As I gathered my things up (clarification: my sword and cloak), Hilda began to place the food in a bag the woman had left for us. "Now, we don't have any canteens, so I suggest you drink as much water as you can now." She handed me a cup of water without waiting for any sort of response or acknowledgment.

"I'm not entirely sure that's how it works but –"

"Just drink it!" Hilda said almost angrily, her eyes glowing a bit. Goddesses I hoped she didn't poison it or something. I complied (out of fear) and let her pour me two more glasses. When I didn't die, I figured she really was just looking out for me. It was astounding how often I felt like an idiot.

We soon left the comfort of the outpost and ventured back out into the sands and winds. The wind had picked back up so Hilda and I once again huddled under my purple cloak as we made our way deeper into the desert.

We passed almost nothing along the way. A random post with a flag here or there (obviously markers of some kind), the occasional leever or two popping out of the sand, and did I mention a whole lot of sand? There was a lot of sand.

My legs were getting sore and my feet ached horribly. Even through my boots, I felt the heat of the desert sand. It may have been autumn, but the desert sun still managed to roast it pretty well. I still hadn't figured out how Hilda tolerated it in her bare feet. Witch things perhaps?

"Do you see it?" Hilda suddenly exclaimed staring out in front of us.

"See what?" I squinted my eyes, trying to find what she was talking about. A sudden wind came, a clean wind, a sand-less wind. I finally got a clear view of the "it" in question.

Towering above the sand was a tall mountain. Carved into the side was the depiction of a woman, rather Gerudo-like in my opinion, and honestly rather provocative as she had little clothing carved onto her. But those thoughts aside, she had her hands out, welcoming us. Or luring us, I wasn't sure which one.

Less than half an hour later, we were standing at the entrance to the small town the old woman had told us about. And for some reason I felt nervous. I felt like this was the place we were supposed to go to, as Hilda had mentioned the night before. But knowing that made me lightheaded and dizzy. I didn't know what we were looking for so far out in the desert when Zelda and Fenn were in the opposite direction. But Hilda said to trust her and I did, because I felt the same things she at least said she did.

Or maybe my feelings were going to be my downfall.

I know it's a little shorter than some of my last chapters, but I promise to have an update later this week or on the weekend.

Also, a clarification in case you are unsure of some of the names of baddies/creatures in Zelda:

Leever - those green gump-drop like things that spin and bury themselves in the sand (like outside of the Desert Colossus)

Guay - the blackish-purple birds that dive down on you (especially on the bridges over Lake Hylia)

As usual, thank you so much for reading and please don't forget to review or follow this story if you haven't already! I really appreciate the feedback and always get super excited and happy every time I see a review. Feel free to send me a PM if you have other comments or just want to chat!

Until next time,

- KnT (brigette)