October is absolutely the best time of year. Baseball playoffs, football season really gets into the swing of things, basketball starts, and best of all, hockey is back.
14
Ganondorf Tells a Story (Part 1). Woodfall Avenue. A Second Chance.
What man can recall his own birth? The illumination of memory only pierces so far into the darkened haze of the past.
Ganondorf cannot remember meeting Zelda in the same way that a man does not recall his infancy. He cannot recall a time when he did not know her, is not even sure that there was a time when he did not know her.
But he does remember a time before the city.
In that time, Hyrule was a kingdom, spanning from the mountains in the distant north to the sea in the south, with settlements scattered along the river Hylia. The river was the lifeblood of the kingdom, a central artery for travel, trade, and sustenance.
But it was a kingdom divided. The rock-like Goron people inhabited the foothills and caverns of the mountains and never saw the feathery Rito that dwelled high among the peaks. The Zora populated the rivers and lakes and streams, never once glimpsing the Kokiri of the forests the water nourished.
And the Gerudo nomads roamed the plains, rarely venturing into the cities of the Hylians.
The wind was brisk the day Ganondorf rode into Hyrule Castle Town. It blew in from over the flatlands, carrying a dry heat with it. Above the thatched roofs and cracked streets, the banners perched on the castle's spires flapped briskly in the wind. Ganondorf spared them a moment's glance, looking at the towers and battlements of Zelda's castle, completed only in the last year- or was it ten? Or a hundred?
"Ganondorf." Zelda's greeting was perfunctory. Chill. As always. "My old friend. It is rare to see any of your people in our cities these days. What brings you to my castle?"
The Gerudo King stepped forward, and the two shared a brief embrace. "Business can wait, I think. How do I find you today, Zelda?"
She gestured towards the many papers strewn about her study, mostly written in her own hand. The writing was hasty, nearly illegible, and littered with symbols and crude drawings, as if she had written with great haste. "You find me illuminated, my friend. The gods have smiled upon me- more than that. They have sent me one of their own, a messenger, to reveal some of our destiny."
"Destiny?" Ganondorf took a seat. "You are, of course, referring to our… gift?" The golden insignia on the back of his hand shone dully.
"Yes. The gift of life- of the wisdom and power that we two share." A servant disturbed them briefly with food and wine. Ganondorf drank, and ate, but he Zelda did not. "I feel that we have woefully underestimated just what it means for us to have been blessed so."
He sipped at his wine. "Underestimated? I find that unlikely. You mentioned a messenger from the gods?"
"Yes," she repeated, "The gods are real, Ganondorf. They are tangible. They live among us. I saw proof of this not a fortnight ago."
"One of the Creators?" A chill ran down Ganondorf's spine. "You spoke with one of the Creators?"
"No," Zelda said this time. "Like I said, a messenger, or a servant. A lesser god. He appeared to me in the guise of a laughing man, a smiling trickster. And he told me things. About myself, and about you."
"Pardon me if I remain sceptical," he chuckled.
Zelda's countenance darkened. "You are free to mock me, but do not mock the gods. The mark that you and I share- it is the mark of the Gods. Of the Creators. We are blessed with their power."
Ganondorf had long ago figured that he remained alive only through the gods' will. He could remember the time when it seemed that he and Zelda were the only people in the world, long before Hyrule grew to become the modest kingdom it was today. But to outright claim to wield the power of the gods- it was outrageous arrogance.
"Zelda," he said, "You and I are blessed, undoubtedly, to live so long and wield such might. But to claim that the Creators themselves-"
"Who else? Who else would have graced us? Us- King of the Gerudo, Queen of Hyrule. But that's not all."
"Oh?" He had had quite enough of these delusions of grandeur. "What else did this divine messenger share with you, Your Highness?"
His use of honorifics did not go unnoticed. Nonetheless, she continued. "There are three Creators. But only two of us."
"So one is a tiebreaker?" he asked.
Now she ignored him. "There is a third. Another who is chosen by the Gods."
"Someone else like us. Ageless."
"There must be. If there are three Creators, then it follows that there must be three heroes who bear their power."
"Perhaps, Zelda, the fact that there are only two of us disproves your theory," he oferred.
A slight frown creased her brow. "No, the Gods have chosen us. I know it."
Ganondorf finished his meal and stood. "An interesting theory, Zelda. But nothing more. I came here today on behalf of my people."
"People?" Zelda asked, absentmindedly, and then something clicked in her mind. "Oh, yes. The Gerudo. What of them?"
He strode to one of the castle windows and looked out over the city. It was a modest town, with a small population that struggled to get by. Ganondorf knew what he was asking for would be a stretch. "As I'm sure you know, the plains on the other side of the river have been struck by a drought recently. Streams and lakebeds have dried up, the wildlife has disappeared, and we struggle to find sustenance."
She nodded, but her eyes were already straying back to the papers on her desk. He could see circles and runes, intricate designs of powerful magic. What was she trying to discover?
He went on. "I know that your people are far from prosperous, but I come to you truly in a time of need. My people will die without your help, Zelda."
"What would you have me do?"
"Take us in." He bowed, low, not an act of subjugation so much as one of insistence. "The Gerudo will die without your charity, Zelda, I am certain of it. Please."
Her face was dispassionate for a moment. "Get up. Do not bow before me, Ganondorf."
"Well?"
"I'm sorry," she said, but it sounded like a formality more than any sincere apology. "I'm afraid that's not possible."
"What?" She had never refused him a favour before, just as he had never refused her.
"My grip on this nation has been… tenuous as of late. Several of the colonies upstream have been resisting my rule, wanting me to take less and provide more. The Zoras are beginning to demand restitution for us fishing their rivers, just as the Gorons protest us mining more and more of their rivers. My kingdom is spiralling out of my control, and I am finding that I cannot keep all my subjects under my thumb."
"So what, then?" he asked. "You want us to pay you? We are nomads. We have nothing."
"I will not risk losing my power, Ganondorf. The gods created us to be rulers, and rule we must. My control must remain absolute."
"Do your rule for your people, or for your power, Zelda?"
"I need both," she said. "I do not expect you to understand, but one day I think you will."
He turned to leave. "Excuse me, then. I must go and devise another solution to save the lives of my people."
Zelda offered him these parting words. "In one hundred years, Ganondorf, every single one of those people will be dead. As will every single one of my people. There will be new citizens to rule, always, but you and I will still be here."
"It's a sad thing that you've become."
Disgusted, Ganondorf swept from the room.
The next morning, an extremely apologetic Link and Ganondorf explained to Telma that they had no money to offer for the night's stay- even though the barmaid was insistent that they accept her charity without protest, for once. After much apologising, by both parties, they were on their way.
"But the Hyrule you described-" Link began.
"Yes?" Ganondorf asked.
"It didn't sound like this at all. It sounded almost like you were talking about a small town, or a settlement. Not Hyrule City."
"I was. The citizens of Hyrule used to be spread across the land, but now they are congregated together, where she can keep an eye on them. And Hyrule Castle itself? Far from the monstrosity that towers above us right now."
The story that Ganondorf had shared with him last night had given Link much to think about. For starters, the fact that Ganondorf and Zelda had known about the power of the Triforce within them for centuries- and they had also known that he would come along to complete the trio.
He knew better know than to take everything Ganondorf said at face value, but he felt that the Gerudo leader had been mostly honest in the things he had said. It was the things he hadn't said that worried him.
"So," Link said, "When are you going to finish your story? You didn't really answer too many of my questions."
"I'm not pretending that's the end of the story," Ganondorf responded, tersely. "But it is important. I believe… I believe that was the beginning of Zelda's madness. The moment when she first seemed… off. I don't know if I can really call it insanity, but for certain she was a changed person after that."
"Hey, where are we going?" Link interrupted, as they turned down a street he had never been before. The signpost read 'Woodfall Avenue.'
"Not back to the Spirit Temple," Ganondorf said. "Zelda has made a concerted effort to have us killed. The first aggressive move she's made in honestly maybe a thousand years. No, it would be suicide to go back there now."
"So where, then?"
"There are many more members of the Gerudo, many more places to hide," he said. "So, where was I?"
"Zelda."
"Oh, yes. The reason I told you that story, Link, is that I honestly can't make heads or tails of it. But my vision is clouded, by age and by… other things. I'm hoping you'll be able to see something in these memories that I cannot."
"So when do I hear the rest?"
"Soon." They stopped. "Here we are."
They stood outside a blacksmith's. Handmade weapons hung in the shop window, and painted on the glass were the words Eddo's Smithy- Finest in all of Hyrule.
The bell above the door chimed as they stepped inside. A small, bald man behind the counter looked up through his glasses as they entered, and almost immediately leapt to his feet.
"Sir!"
"In the back, Eddo."
"Of course."
Link flipped the sign on the door from 'Open' to 'Closed.'
They followed Eddo through a doorway behind the counter, and from there down a flight of stairs. The flickering light of a forge illuminated the large room below- there was an enormous man silhouetted by the light of the flames.
The man turned, revealing white hair that framed his face and skin that was a burnished brown and seemed to be made of stone. He was not a man at all, but a Goron.
"Darmani," Ganondorf said, as a greeting.
"Boss," the Goron responded. "That'll be Link, then," he nodded.
"How do you know that?" Link asked, suddenly wary.
Darmani's rocky face contorted itself into a knowing smile. "We had a guest drop in on us who said you two might show up here."
"And who was that?"
Their question was answered for them when a woman stepped out from the shadows, her hair just as red as the forge's flames.
"Though I was dead, didn't you?" Midna asked.
"There was always hope," Ganondorf said in return, stepping forward to rest a hand on her shoulder- the closest thing Link had ever seen from the man to an actual physical display of affection.
"Hang on," Eddo interrupted, "I'll get the other two. It's early yet, they might still be asleep." And he disappeared into yet another back room.
"How did you survive?" Link asked her as she stepped away from Ganondorf and embraced him briefly.
"The Nameless, actually," she said. She gestured towards her still-voluptuous body, which Link had not failed to notice. "I've lost the magic of the Shadow. There was no way I could have gotten out of that fight with Zant, except the Nameless saved me when it attacked him."
"Zant's dead?"
She scowled. "I won't believe it until I see his corpse with my own eyes. He's too wily to be killed by that beast- although there was something odd that happened…"
Ganondorf was suddenly attentive. "What was it?"
"Well… the way Zant was shouting at that thing. It was almost as if he believed he could control it. Not that it did him a lot of good, though."
"Hm." Ganondorf rubbed at his beard, thinking.
Darmani the Goron suddenly had one of his huge hands on top of Midna's head, ruffling her hair affectionately- to her obvious distress. "Little Midna here shows up at our door, in the middle of the night, and imagine my surprise when I find out she's not so little anymore! But the things she tells me- is it true? Is Zelda really trying to have us wiped out?"
"I don't think it's the Gerudo she's after," Ganondorf said, "so much as a few specific members of the Gerudo. Which is why we cannot stay long."
"What's this?" said a voice, "Can't stay long?"
Two bearded men had just walked into the room behind Eddo. One was big, and burly, with wiry black hair. The other, the one who had spoke, was an almost bald old man with a long, white beard. Despite his age, the old man carried himself well- his confident steps and wiry frame told Link that he had seen his fair share of battle.
"Not while they are looking for us," Ganondorf said. But I think we can spare time for introductions. This is our newest member, Link."
The old man bowed. "You have the look of a warrior about you, boy. I am Orca, the sword master. I see you have already met Eddo and Darmani, our craftsmen."
Orca nudged the burly man behind him. "I am Error," he said, after much prodding.
After a brief pause, Eddo explained. "He doesn't talk much."
"Excellent." Ganondorf clapped his hands. A rare look of anticipation came over his face. "Now that introductions are out of the way, let's talk about weapons."
Link was stunned speechless by the plethora of pointy metal objects that were on hand beneath the blacksmith's shop, although in retrospect he supposed that he shouldn't have been so surprised.
"The Woodfall cell of the Gerudo," Darmani proudly explained, "Outfits and trains the entire organization. Orca might not look it, but he is a master swordsman. Why, I think that the only man I've seen who could best him in a straight-up duel was Viscen!"
Orca nodded sadly. "It saddens me to hear of his betrayal. Although he was the one who inspired me to take up the spear, he was truly a master of the blade. Beyond all others."
"Let's hope that's not true," Link said darkly, picking up a hunting knife and testing the edge.
The old man watched Link sort through several blades before speaking again, "When Viscen and I were both young, I challenged him to a duel. I was a soldier, too, and I envied him for his role as the Gerudo's informant within Zelda's castle. As the challenged party, he had the choice of weapons. I taunted him, called him a coward. 'The blade is the true tool of a warrior,' I said to him, 'Any other weapon is a pale imitation.' But he surprised me. He chose to fight me sword to sword."
Link set down the dagger he had been examining. "What happened?"
"I was embarrassed," Orca said. "He chose to humiliate me rather than honour me with a proper battle. As a punishment for my arrogance. He disarmed me, struck me with the flat of his blade, drove me into a rage. Viscen triumphed over me because I was unbalanced in my emotions, while he had the discipline of a soldier. I picked up a spear that day, and have used it ever since, as a reminder of the lesson I learned when I was a young man."
Link's face betrayed no emotion as he continued examining the hardware. "And what lesson would that be?"
"Treat every opponent as a worthy one. Fight every battle with honour. And do not underestimate your foe."
"Leave your clothing here," Ganondorf was saying, unbuckling his black plate mail. "It stands out too much. Dress for travel. Nothing that you can't carry all day long."
"I have not worn actual clothes in, like, forever," Midna was saying as she pulled on a pair of boots. "This feels so weird."
Link swapped his own chainmail and green tunic for a leather jerkin and worn travelling cloak. For weapons he chose the knife he had been looking at and, after some hesitation, a bow.
"You know how to use that thing?" Midna asked. She was in the process of trying on another ridiculous-looking hat, possibly as a replacement for the one she had lost. It looked like she was wearing a bizarre skeleton on her head.
"How hard can it be?" Seized by a sudden bout of recklessness, he swept the hat off her head and tossed it in the air. With one fluid motion, he reached into the quiver on his shoulder, nocked an arrow, drew back the bowstring, and released.
The arrow pierced the strange headgear in midair and pinned it to the wall.
"How the hell did you do that?"
"Easy." he smirked.
Ganondorf prodded him in the back with a long wooden quarterstaff. "Careful."
Out of the corner of his eye Link noticed Orca watching him with an oddly perceptive look on his face. Link acknowledged Ganondorf with a minute nod.
Midna twirled a rapier clumsily. "So, how does this thing work? Stick 'em with this end, hold on to this end, right? This is easy."
"Time to go," Ganondorf said.
As morning turned to afternoon, three figures in dusty traveling clothes mingled with the crowds that thronged the narrow streets of Hyrule.
"You don't know what happened to Ashei, do you?" Link asked.
Midna shook her head, hidden beneath the hood that was protecting her sensitive skin from the sun. "I was barely able to get out of there alive. I hope she did too."
As they crossed one of many bridges that spanned dark city streets further below, Link gazed down into a hole in the city's sprawl, a gap that eventually receded only into darkness. He wondered if that was Ashei's ultimate fate, to be dragged down into the dark by the shapeless beast that shunned the light.
"So where are we going?" Midna chaged the subject.
"I've left instructions with the Woodfall cell of the Gerudo," Ganondorf said, "And they will take those instructions to the others scattered around the city. I'm having them strike at the city's banks, create a little bit of trouble for Zelda that will hopefully divert some attention away from us."
"Yes, but where are we going?"
Ganondorf continued, "But it's too dangerous for us personally to show our faces right now. Zelda hasn't been rational for a very long time, but since you showed up, Link, she has been acting very oddly indeed. It won't be very long before she makes a mistake. And we can capitalize on that."
"Yes, but you still haven't answered my question."
Ganondorf stopped and turned to face her. "I'm beginning to regret the fact that you aren't actually dead."
"Yes, but-"
"We need to hide, Midna. Somewhere where Zelda's gaze does not reach. No place in Hyrule is safe."
"Well if no place in Hyrule is safe, then just where do you think- oh."
They rounded a corner and suddenly found themselves in the middle of a busy thoroughfare. Carts rattled by on the wide street in front of them, farmers bound into Hyrule to sell their crops at market. At the far end of the street was the massive wall that ringed the city, and one of many gates that led out into the plains beyond.
"We're leaving the city?" Midna said, a bit incredulously.
"We have no choice," Ganondorf said. "If we are in Hyrule, Zelda will find us."
"Are you kidding me? This city is so big, we could hide for years if we wanted."
"No," Link agreed with Ganondorf. "If Zelda wants to find us, she will. He's right. Hyrule is not safe."
Midna shot him a look, and then drew her hood further over her face, stepping forward into the flow of people heading towards the gate out of the city. "Fine. Whatever. I don't care. Where are we going?"
Ganondorf split the sea of people with his massive frame, and Link and Midna fell into step beside him. "North. I know somebody there who may be able to help us."
"Help us?" Link repeated. "With what, exactly?"
"Yeah," Midna said, "There's a lot that we could use help with right about now."
"You will see," was the only explanation that Ganondorf offered.
They passed through the gate and into the shade of the stone tunnel that ran through the city wall. Midna's eyes still glowed luminescent in the dark, but it was a pale, wan light. "I've never been outside Hyrule before."
"It's like… a weight is lifted from your shoulders," Ganondorf said. "The city is oppressive. It saps your life from you- in more ways than one."
Link spared a glance back towards the receding arc of light that was the entrance to Hyrule City. Ganondorf had told him earlier about how Hyrule had been a nation, and the castle town had been a simple village. Now it was a hulking, infinite edifice that sank its claws into you, drawing you deeper and deeper into its stony jaws.
The city felt alive. It felt like a malicious spirit that lurked just out of sight, out of mind, but haunted your shadows, waiting. What had happened to Hyrule to change it into this?
What had happened to Zelda?
The three of them stepped out of the tunnel and into the sunlight, taking their first steps across bridge that spanned the river below and leaving the city of Hyrule behind them.
"I am waiting, Rusl. Why have you requested this audience?"
The Commandant remained prone, forehead pressed to the polished marble tiles. No evidence remained in the throne room of the chaos that had occurred the night before, but plenty of evidence remained with Rusl.
He seemed to have aged overnight, with lines on his face and grey in his hair where there had been none the day before. His face was filthy, washed clean of grime only where channels of sweat had run down it. The blood of his own son still stained his armour.
He summoned the will to speak. "Your Highness… I wish to apologize for my failure. I allowed you to be personally harmed because of my own hesitation. I failed to carry out your orders. I allowed Link to live."
Zelda's expression betrayed no emotion. Garbed once again in the opulent gown of her office, she was akin to the throne room in that she bore visible sign of what had happened the night before. She had been restored to perfect health.
"Stand, Rusl."
He stood, and Zelda did also. She stepped down from her throne and stood in front of him, looking up- he was taller than her.
"You did well. I could not ask for a more loyal soldier. You are only human, Rusl, and I would be a poor ruler if I did not understand that."
"If I may, Your Highness… a request?"
Now she smiled. "I have told you before. You may call me by name."
He nodded. "Zelda. Please. Give me a chance to make amends. Allow me to redeem myself. I will hunt down the Gerudo and destroy them, I swear it."
The princess retreated to her throne and sat. Rusl's voice echoed in the cavernous throne room for a few moments before it faded into silence. "I may have acted rashly," she said.
Rusl, not understanding what she meant, pressed on. "I know that I alone cannot succeed. But hear me out. I will take twenty of my best men, and my own teacher, still the greatest swordsman Hyrule has ever known, and together we will hunt them. Together we shall prevail."
Zelda explained further. "You misunderstand me. Ganondorf, Link, and myself are individuals who are… gifted with a strange and powerful magic. When the three of us met for the first time here, last night, this power overwhelmed me, caused me to act in a way that was not entirely rational. I think now that I may have erred when I asked you to kill Link."
"Princess Zelda," he said, and now there was emotion in his voice. "The Gerudo are a threat to our citizens, terrorists who undermine your own authority and spread lies and sedition. They have killed countless numbers of our own men, caused incalculable amounts of damage to our city, and murdered several of our highest-ranking citizens. They… they took my son from me. Please. Give me another chance to end it, once and for all."
"Yes," Zelda nodded, but spoke quietly, Rusl almost didn't hear her. "Yes, of course. You have permission to do so, Rusl. Maybe I have made another mistake- but I wouldn't expect you to understand. You are, after all, only human."
Ganondorf's story in this chapter doesn't tell us too much by itself- but it is significant if you want to understand some of the most important events that are going to unfold. Also, a bit of key illumination into the characters of Zelda and Ganondorf, neither of whom are completely innocent. I was originally going to devote this entire chapter to Ganondorf's flashback, but it was far too long and broke up the flow of the plot too much. I have divided it into sections that will be revealed as Link, Ganondorf, and Midna travel northwards. Who was Ganondorf talking about?