Uuuuuuuh. Not much to say up here. Don't care for this chappy too much.
It was just a normal day of deliveries for Malon and Link. Malon had the reigns in hand and Link was just lying in the back of the milk cart, eyes closed lazily. As the girl lead the horses through Castle Town gates, Link just waited to hear Malon say she was going to visit Gufuu. Something different happened.
In a confused and concerned voice, she said, "Link, there's a crowd over there."
The blond opened his eyes and peered out over the cart, seeing that his friend was absolutely right. There was a crowd… right by Agahnim's house. "Weird…" he mumbled to himself. In a louder voice, he asked "What do you think happened?"
"I don't know…" Malon said softly.
Knowing that she would probably want to check it out as soon as possible, Link jumped from his place in the cart and onto the cobblestone streets of the town. "I'm going to take a look!" He said, before Malon could object. She always left him to do all the work, now she could see how it felt!
As he neared the crowd, he heard uneasy voices and mumbles. The atmosphere automatically had Link nervous, himself. He didn't bother to overhear what people were saying; he just pushed himself to the front of the crowd.
And was he glad he left Malon behind.
"Goddesses…" he whispered to himself. Being the Hero of Time, Link had seen a fair share of nasty stuff. He battled monsters of every shape and size, seen the ugliest of the ugly and the scariest of the scary. But seeing so much blood scattered and spilled on a floor was never a nice thing to see. It was never something one could get used to. Not even the Hero of Time.
Agahnim's crooked old door was cracked and ripped, the brownish color of dried blood staining it. Inside there only seemed to be more trails of blood and strange paw prints or claw marks. Link didn't have to ask any questions to figure out the source of the strange prints. Three ghastly creatures, creatures that looked to be amalgams of creatures that shouldn't be mixed together, were stacked dead upon each other. Judging from the blood on the guard by the home of the old wizard, he was the one that had killed the beasts. Nor did it look like he had an easy time of it. Despite that, he was still working, questioning someone… someone who made the back of his hand burn.
Gufuu.
The apprentice looked relatively pristine compared to the inside of the house and the guard, but his face seemed absolutely distraught. But in the short time Link had known the young man, he had to admit this was the calmest he'd ever seen him. He hunched over the crate he was sitting on, glasses loosely held in one hand, the other holding up his head while the elbow rested on his knee. From the looks of it, he was past the point of crying uselessly and doing the best he could to just tell everything how it happened. How long had this been going on, he wondered?
"It's something, huh?"
Link nearly jumped out of his boots. He was so into examining the scene before him, he hadn't even noticed Chopin had come and stood next to him.
"Do you know what happened?" He asked the bard.
Chopin shrugged. "Not really. It reminds me of an awfully weird dream I had last night but… I just guess the old cook got a little friendly with his chimeras and they bit off his head or something."
The Hero of Time just looked back to the scene, frowning. "I guess they took the body away already."
"A bit ago. Feel for the kid, though. They've been drilling him nonstop, won't leave him alone. I mean, I know they gotta figure out what happened but it seems harsh."
Link said nothing to that. What could he say, really? What Chopin had said was true. The only downside to this was that Link also knew where the spaz would be staying once Malon found out about all this.
Quinn was tired, cranky, hot, and his butt hurt. He wasn't used to riding at all, least of all in the rough land in between Hyrule Field and the Gerudo Desert, and that stupid prince Mordrid from stupid Ilantia was making it look like it was easy. And Quinn knew it was stupid to be calling both the prince and his country stupid. He was just cranky from not having slept at all. He repressed an irritable grunt as he thought of the situation that had him and the prince on their way to the Gerudo Desert.
It was late in the afternoon, Quinn had been in his quarters reading a book, enjoying the little bit of free time he was given. The there was a knock at his door, and he wondered 'Who on earth can that be?' Wasn't he surprised to see the princess there, telling him she had a mission that only he could do. Baffled and confused, he asked the princess what it could possibly be, and when she explained it to him he became even more baffled and confused.
'Wouldn't a woman be more suited for this kind of mission?' He had asked.
'Well yes, but the only woman currently under our employment is Faruch,' explained the princess, 'And I couldn't imagine her getting on with the Gerudo at all.'
'That still doesn't make me a woman, Highness.'
'No, but you look like one. All you have to do is play along with it!'
Sometimes, Quinn had to wonder why he was cursed with his slender, feminine frame and his pretty feminine face. He hated it. Why couldn't he be a normal male and need to shave and have at least some sort of masculine feature? For goddess's sake, he was twenty-one and the most facial hair he would ever get was a tiny little bit of peach fuzz that came in every few months! But at least it came in useful for his country.
He had no idea what on earth Mordrid was doing accompanying him, however. The prince, unlike Quinn, could not pass off as a girl. And Hyrule's Minister wasn't above asking, "What the heck are you doing coming along?"
Mordrid's simple response, "I want to see the desert, why else?"
Whether that was the real reason or not, Quinn didn't know. But if Mordrid was hoping to see any Gerudo, that was out of the question. He'd have to stay with the border patrol encampment.
They had arrived at the encampment early in the morning, before the sun had completely risen. The place wasn't terribly impressive. At one point in time it might've been, but with the rebel Gerudo raids, the encampment was just a few busted up tents with shoddily set up barricades. Despite not looking intimidating in the least, those that were part of the patrol took their jobs seriously. As they neared, several men on horseback came with their spears aimed towards the oncoming travelers.
The redhead quickly took the lead in front of Mordrid, taking out a letter from the princess and holding it up for the men to see. "I am Quinn Bree, Hyrule's Royal Minister under direct orders from Her Majesty Princess Zelda Harkinian VIII. This letter contains the exact nature of the mission given to me by Her Highness."
"Fancy," he heard Mordrid mutter from behind.
The leader of their welcoming party, a young but tough looking man in the armor of a captain, drew his horse closer and took the letter from Quinn's hand. He wasted no time tearing it open and looking it over. He carefully eyes Quinn, and then Mordrid. "Who's he?"
Mordrid then drew up by Quinn's side. "I'm Mordrid Deslan Ilantia, Second Prince of Ilantia." He said in a dignified tone worthy of a prince, only to ruin it by returning to his normal manner and saying, "I wanted to get out of the castle and away from all the battle plans and boring stuff, so I decided: desert? Why not?"
The expressions of the soldiers did not change in the slightest.
"Stay quiet." Quinn snapped.
Mordrid stuck his tongue out in retaliation, but said nothing.
"Lord Bree, as per Her Highness's orders, you are allowed to pass, whether it be now or later." Said the captain. It was just another way of saying, 'Feel free to take a short break before you go.' And Quinn was all too ready to take it.
He spent a few hours off the back of his gray, ignoring questions from Mordrid as to why he couldn't go with him, taking his time eating and having a drink of water, and what he felt to be a well deserved nap. While Mordrid was distracted at midday, Quinn reluctantly got back on his horse and left for the Gerudo fortress.
To pretend to be a girl.
Joy of joys.
The gray didn't seem to be too fond of the bridge when he came to it. Rather than the force her to continue, he just dismounted and went on foot. Either way the sun would blare down on him - which he hated. He could just feel the sun cooking him. No wonder the Gerudo were always trying to get some land in Hyrule.
As he walked, he wondered if his uncle had thrown his name down for the Minster job because he wanted to avoid this type of thing, or whether he just thought his great-great-great-whatever nephew was capable of it.
He sighed, because he knew trying to blame is uncle on something that was determined by his figure and appearance was just absurd. Still, Quinn wondered what the man was up to. Before he had left, he dropped by to check on him. Agahnim being the crazy old coot that he was, the redhead feared that his uncle may have tried to strangle his apprentice or something. He had expected that sort of thing, but it wasn't at all what he got. The last time he saw him, the man looked scared or anxious - possibly both. That wasn't like him.
Quinn would definitely have to visit and make sure he was all right when he got back.
Getting back to the task at hand, Quinn entered a small canyon. The only reason he knew he was in the right place was because of the small wooden sign hanging from above, displaying the Gerudo insignia. He hadn't taken two steps past it before there were two Gerudo behind him and three in front, all of them holding very intimidating and sharp looking spears. He raised his hands in surrender, but made sure that he held the princess's letter, the one meant for Nabooru, in one hand.
"State your name and business, Hylian." Said the Gerudo woman in front.
"My name is Quinn Bree; I've come from Hyrule on behalf of Her Majesty Princess Zelda to meet with Nabooru." He shook the hand with the letter, "This is to go to Nabooru to confirm my story."
The leader eyed him warily before snatching the letter from his hands. She went to open it, but quickly became aware that it just wouldn't open. She even went so far as to try and tear it, but nothing happened. She angrily looked at him, "What trickery is this, Hylian?"
"No trickery, magic." Quinn stated simply. "The Princess wanted to be sure it was read by no one but Nabooru. I'm sure you know the Princess is skilled in enchantments and hexes – quite the talented wizard in her own right."
The woman glared at him, barked an order at her subordinates in the Gerudo tongue, and then went off to give the letter to Nabooru. The subordinates just stayed where they were, unflinchingly holding out their spears at various parts of Quinn's anatomy. He wondered if they had figured out he was a male or not, because if this was the way they treated foreign females, he certainly didn't want to find out what would happen if they knew he had a penis.
He was there for quite a while, hands still up. The only movement he dared to try and make was rocking back and forth on his heels a bit. He really hoped this awkwardness wouldn't last much longer.
From the top of the small canyon, the leader finally called out. "Nabooru will see her; bring her up."
Ah women… tearing down my self-esteem and they don't even mean it. He thought to himself.
The Gerudo around him put their spears in regular carry position, but were very obviously on their guard. It wasn't as if he needed a hint to know the message was "follow us or die." Gerudo didn't leave much room for choice did they? Not that he would've left. He still had a job to do.
As he was lead up the incline and to the fortress, Quinn noted with interest that the place seemed like a bit of a maze. He gave kudos to Link in his mind, remembering that the young hero had navigated this place… Wait a second, why couldn't Zelda just get Link to come here? Link was actually allowed to come and go into the Gerudo Desert as much as he wanted! Well, no use getting grumpy over that now.
Following his guides through the twists and turns of the fortress, they finally came to what appeared to be some sort of planning room. Nabooru stood at the end, leaning over the map of the desert and instructing the other Gerudo around her in her own tongue. It took her a moment to realize that Quinn had arrived.
She stared blankly at him for a moment before recognition dawned on her face. "Oh, I remember you… I didn't realize you were a woman." It was true; it wasn't the first time they'd met. More often than not it was usually Nabooru who went to Hyrule, though.
Quinn just smiled icily. "I'm not."
The other Gerudo in the room had a range of emotions. Some were outraged that a man had been allowed so far into Gerudo territory, while the other end of the spectrum was just shocked. The ones who were outraged, however, didn't do anything but look at their leader.
"Well, sit down, Mr. Bree. We've got a lot to talk about." Nabooru said, ignoring some of the looks she was getting. She did make sure to roll up the map she was using, to make sure that Quinn didn't get a peek. "Or rather, we have a few things to talk about but a lot of reasons I can't agree to them."
"Her Highness figured as much," the male said almost tiredly. "But the fact is, the kingdom is falling on extremely hard times. If only the Gerudo are limited to the knowledge of the desert, things can and will escalate."
Nabooru sat down on her seat and leaned back, mulling over the situation. "I can send a spy to the rebels, but that's all I can do, Mr. Bree. I can't divulge information of the desert to anyone who is not Gerudo."
"The balance of Hyrule is being disrupted." Quinn said firmly. "Should you allow the rebels leverage on Hyrule, your own abilities as leader of the Gerudo would be questioned."
There was an eerie silence. Nabooru glanced around the room at the Gerudo that had stuck around for the conversation. The women remained emotionless, but it as clear that Quinn was right. At the same time if Nabooru did relinquish knowledge of the desert without putting up a fight, she'd be questioned either way. She was in a lose-lose situation, and she didn't like it. She gave the man sitting across the table from her a grave look.
"I. Cannot. Do. It." She enunciated.
"Then you know what my princess asks." Quinn stated simply.
The current leader of the Gerudo gritted her teeth. A meeting of the sages… "Tell her I'll keep in touch by hawk."
Quinn nodded and said nothing.
There was silence.
"Nabooru!" It was another Gerudo woman. Upon closer inspection, it was one of the guards that had been outside with Quinn. "Another man has entered the camp. He says he's a prince from that Ilantia country."
Nabooru forked an eyebrow and looked at Quinn, who merely put a palm on his forehead in frustration.
"I hate to say it but… he's with me."
"Well… then I guess you should get going. Diplomatic immunity isn't something enforced here." She said tiredly. Then she looked at Gerudo guard nearest her. "Please escort the two men off the premises. No harm is to come to them, got it?"
Bottom half, more to say here. First section, nothing to say. Second section, I should let it be known that Quinn doesn't look like a girl because he;s going through some awkward stage in life. He actually has Klinefelter's Syndrome. Which means he has two X chromosomes and Y. He's stuck looking like a chick for the rest of his life. Luckily for him, it isn't a severe case. Mordrid is also just being a sillyhead. I like Mordrid. More outgoing than and cheerful than his brother.
In other, more exciting news... I have come up with an idea for yet another Zelda fanfic! Not the more recent VaatiZelda one I;ve mentioned before. It's awesome and amazing, and once I come up with a freaking plot I'll be super excited to write it! After that other one I have planned. But if you guys like fantasy steampunk, be sure to be on the look out for it!~ And just so everyone knows... I rushed this chapter just so I could say this. So if sucks, me so sorry.
Oh, one more thing. I'm sorry if it sounds kinda bitchy but... I'm honestly surprised at the amount of faves and watches this gets, and hideously disappointed in the review department. I do like reviews people, even if they are simple one word comments. They mean a lot, you know.