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Chapter 35

What Luck

They were lost. Beth had led them along a random path, turning here and there in what felt like opposing directions, and yet somehow they managed to make progress through the shaded forest. Glancing in back of her with a worried expression, Beth tried to remember which way she had gone to see the river.

"Um..." she muttered nervously, turning towards another direction yet again.

"Well this is just great!" Sturgeon complained. "How could we possibly get lost? Where's that stupid big tree we were at before? How could we possibly lose sight of that!?"

"Would you calm down," Orca said. "The tree is back in that direction." He pointed casually in back of him, but Sturgeon just glared at him.

"How do you know? Since when did you have a good sense for direction?" He glanced towards Arlene. "Don't you have anything to say about all this!?"

Arlene was quite content to ignore Sturgeon however, as she introduced the different plants around them to Byrne, explaining how some were once used in different medicines when she was young. Byrne listened without interruption, his young brain absorbing every ounce of information she gave him.

"Well that's just perfect," Sturgeon muttered. "Ok, I guess it's time for me to save the day then! Time out, everyone!"

"I'll figure it out!" Beth whined, but she slowed to a stop when she noticed all the others had already given up on following her. "What are you doing?" she asked Sturgeon when he began to rummage about in one of his bags.

"I'll need something metallic," he said, poking his entire head into the bag when he couldn't feel for what he was looking for.

"I have a hair clip," Beth offered, pulling the aforementioned jewelry piece from her hair.

"Here we are!" Sturgeon suddenly reemerged from his bag, a small magnet in his hand. "Time to make a compass!"

"You can make those?" Orca asked.

"Of course I can make one!" He pointed at himself, "Genius here! Try not to forget it. Now, hand me that hair clip!"

Beth watched as he quickly set to work on crafting his very own compass. "You're really smart!" she said in awe.

"Well, yes, of course I am," Sturgeon said casually, but his face was soon sporting a large smile. "There we are, done!"

Arlene looked away from the leaves she had been pointing out to Byrne. "Way to go, Mr. Genius! Now which way was that tree? North? South?"

Sturgeon's smile fell. "Uh..."

He glanced up, back into the forest, and realized he had no idea which way they had started walking, because he hadn't had his compass from the very beginning.

"I'm telling you, it's that way!" Orca insisted, pointing in a completely different direction than where he had before.

"Hey, Sturgeon," Beth began hesitantly. "Is a compass supposed to act all weird like that?"

Sturgeon looked back down and noticed that the hair clip was swinging about in a hectic manner, at times it would even rotate in a complete circle.

"I don't think you built it right," Orca commented, reaching out to touch it.

"Back off, man!" Sturgeon snapped, moving the compass away from his brother's finger. "There's something here messing up the magnetic field!"

"What might cause that?" Arlene asked, suddenly more interested.

"Well, there's a number of possibilities, of course," Sturgeon muttered, staring at the compass.

Beth leaned closer. "Like?"

"Like... well..." Sturgeon glared at the forest. "There's nothing here that could do that! It's all just plants!"

"Be quiet!" Arlene suddenly snapped, raising one of her hands in front of her. "Listen."

A low rumble met their ears, and above them a few branches shook slightly, sending their autumn colored leaves down towards the ground.

"What was that?" Beth whispered.

"Earthquake?" Sturgeon suggested.

"It came from that way, I think," Orca said, pointing.

"Then let's shake a leg!" Arlene said before marching off.

The others quickly followed; Sturgeon took up the rear, fidgeting with his compass and grumbling under his breath the entire way. They soon reached the large tree where they had left Hadiya and Link, noticing that they hadn't been that far from it at all. It took them a moment to spot the large gaping hole just under the tree, tangles of roots protruding from it in haphazard angles.

"Hey!" Orca shouted as he raced to the hole. He peered down into it, shading his eyes against the light in the forest so he could better see into the darkness below. "Hello?"

"See anything?" Sturgeon asked, beginning to fumble through another one of his packs.

Orca shook his head. "It's way too dark, I can't even see where the bottom is." He took a deep breath and then began to shout into the hole. "Hey! Anyone down there?"

"Orca?" Hadiya's voice responded; it reached their ears clearly, hinting that maybe the bottom wasn't so far down after all.

"You alright?"

"Yes. We are in some sort of... hallway."

Arlene raised an eyebrow. "Did she say hallway?"

"Link went on ahead to investigate. There is a door in sight, he went through just a few minutes ago."

"Here we are!" Sturgeon suddenly yanked a long piece of rope from his pack. "Here," he said as he threw an end to Orca. "Tie that to that tree over there. Hey, Hadiya! We'll lower down some rope so you can climb back up."

Arlene patted Sturgeon on the shoulder so he would move over. "Do come up if you want, dear," she called down to Hadiya, "but I think the rest of us are going down there."

"We are?" Sturgeon began to wring his hands together. "Is it safe down there?"

"I see nothing of threat," Hadiya replied.

"...Does that mean it's safe for the rest of us?"

Orca rolled his eyes. "I'll go down first if it makes you feel better."

"Well if you're going first then so am I!" Sturgeon snapped impatiently.

"We can't both go first! There can only be one first!"

Sturgeon was about to reply when he noticed Arlene was already scooting herself over the edge, the rope held tightly in her hands.

"I'm coming down!" Arlene called.

"Well then," Sturgeon said sulkily. "I guess she's going first."

"Fine, then I'll go second."

"Well if you're going second then so am I!"

While the two siblings struggled to work out who would go before the other, Beth, Arlene, and Byrne joined Hadiya down the hole. As soon as Arlene's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized that Hadiya had been correct in calling what they were now in a hallway. A stone floor lay at her feet, crumbling in certain places due to the roots but still remarkably intact given the age she suspected it to be. Around them grew walls of more stone intertwined with more roots; the ceiling, which was of the same material, looked to be in the worst condition, which was probably why it had collapsed on them in the first place.

"Incredible," Arlene breathed.

"Where are we?" Beth asked loudly, her voice echoing and startling a small group of bats from their perch. She gave a small squeak of surprise and then inched closer to Hadiya.

Arlene ran her fingers over part of the wall. "Judging by the type of stone here, I'd guess it's some sort of temple."

"A temple?" Beth repeated doubtfully, this time making sure her voice was quieter. "In the middle of the woods?"

Arlene shrugged and then pointed down the hall, towards a large, heavy looking door. "That's where Link went?"

Hadiya nodded. "He suggested that I wait here, incase more Hylian spirits are lurking deeper in."

"Of course!" Arlene slapped a hand to her forehead. "Arly, you're getting slow in your old age," she scolded herself. "This temple is probably how those ghosts exist in the first place. It must have... collected the dead souls somehow, or maybe its sacredness merely attracted them all here. Who knows, maybe whatever's in here attracting the spirits is what's messing up Sturgeon's compass."

As Arlene continued to theorize as to what was attracting the ghosts, Orca and Sturgeon finally appeared. Orca slid down first, a smug expression on his face as Sturgeon followed closely behind.

Arlene paused in her private mutterings long enough to greet them. "Good job, Mr. Genius! You worked out who should come down here first in record time!"

Sturgeon shot her a withering look, though since he had yet to adjust to the darkness he ended up looking somewhere over her shoulder.

"What is this place?" Orca asked.

"We already talked about it!" Beth complained. "I think we should find Ed!"

Before anyone could agree, the door cracked open. It wasn't a typical door that swung open on hinges, and instead was made to slide downwards, into the floor; it was a strange contraption, and as it slowly moved the sound of gears could be heard, working noisily. A crack of light broke between the ceiling and the top of the door, widening as the heavy stone moved further down. Then the gears ground to a halt, and the door stopped halfway down with a large number of clacks and groans that hinted whatever had been moving the door was now broken.

There was the sound of someone scrambling around on the other side, and then Link's face appeared in the gap, its too narrow features illuminated by a frame of the bright light.

"Hey, guys! ...The door's kind of stuck, but it's safe in here if you can climb over it. Oh! Arlene, you're here, good! I found some stuff in here I think you'd like to see."

The tunnels were nearly complete, however as they got closer to the city Zelda decided that they should slow their progress. While she was eager to get to the rest of her people before Ganondorf did something worse to them than burning all their crops, she also knew that too many explosions underground would probably attract attention.

So now they were only working durning certain hours, when they knew the city would be at its busiest - and noisiest.

"General!"

Looking up from her map of the city, Zelda caught sight of Major Russ making his way towards her from their newest tunnel.

"How's it going in there?" Zelda asked, tossing him a canteen.

He raised it in thanks before tipping its contents into his mouth. "We're taking a break now, but I think we'll be there by early evening." He leaned over the stone table and tapped a finger on the map. "We're about here right now."

"Very good. We'll complete the tunnel and then wait for nightfall before beginning the evacuation."

"Yes, ma'am." Russ looked about him. "Where'd Byrne get to?"

Zelda sighed. "Probably ran off to wherever Beth and Link went. Linebeck looked around for him, but that kid is good at not leaving a trail."

"Well, I'm sure he'll be fine..."

Zelda gave a grunt of amusement before continuing to study her map. Despite her attempts to concentrate, her gaze kept flicking towards the other maps that lay scattered about. One in particular continually caught her eye; it was the map of Hyrule, and as Zelda stared at it she couldn't help but try to guess at where Arlene and the others were at that moment. If they were lucky, nearly out of the forest and at the mountains by now. If they were lucky. With another sigh Zelda turned away from the maps.

"Get some rest, Major," she ordered as she began to walk towards the tunnel. "I want you on the evacuation team with me."

"Really?" he asked excitedly. "I mean... yes, ma'am! I'll be ready!"

As Zelda moved down the tunnel to check on its progress herself, her mind drifted off to other places. Once they had all left the city, what then? Maybe... they should just leave. Let Ganondorf rule over his precious city of Gerudo, and find a better place to live for what was left of Hyrule. Even as the thought entered her mind she shoved it out with a harsh fury.

"I can't just give up. This is our home, not his. Not theirs. And I made a promise that I still have to keep." She nodded to herself. That promise she had made, so long ago, still had yet to be fulfilled. Ganondorf and all his Gerudo followers had to die. Every single one of them.

She suddenly froze at the mouth of the tunnel; she could feel her Triforce piece against her chest, burning with a sudden warmth as if it were trying to scold her.

"Oh... you. I guess you'll never come back to me while I'm still keeping to that promise."

She chewed on the inside of her lip for just a moment before yanking at the cord around her neck. It came free with a snap, and soon she was dangling the small triangle in front of her face, where it was glowing dimly.

"Well if they find that Light Bow I probably won't need you anyway," she thought to it disdainfully. "And if they don't... I'm still not giving up what I am just for you." With a flick of her wrist, the sacred item went flying through the air. It landed a moment later on a pile of rubble, where it quickly slipped and disappeared underneath a few chunks of rock.

"Goddesses be damned, we can save ourselves."

Finally the tunnel was completed. Night fell, and as the sound of crickets replaced most of the blaring city noises, Zelda knew it was time. They were just under the register, and as Zelda climbed up from their tunnel she wondered if Arlene would be annoyed at them for ruining her floor. With a roll of her eyes, she realized the old woman probably would be.

"Alright, we all know what to do," Zelda said quietly as the rest of her small team climbed out after her. "Get to your positions and start waking people up. If anyone gives you trouble just knock them out and carry them... Ganondorf's not going to be too happy when he sees most of them gone, and if we leave anyone behind we might as well have killed them ourselves."

A row of heads nodding told her they all understood, and soon they were slipping out of the register and out to the dilapidated buildings that were filled with Hylians. Zelda hung back, making sure everyone was heading to where they were supposed to go, and then quickly moved towards her own location. It had taken longer than she had thought it would to work out the best paths each should take, as the district wasn't all that organized, but eventually they had managed it. Together they had the most effective route, and the entire district should be empty long before morning. If they were lucky.

Zelda reached the first house along her route and quickly marched up the creaking porch steps before rapping her gloved knuckles lightly against the door. At first nothing happened, and she was about to try again when a light flickered on in the upstairs window. Glancing in back of her, she saw similar occurrences happening at a few other houses around the district.

The door swinging open brought her attention back to her own house. "Good evening," she said, smiling behind her bandana.

"It's the middle of the night," a still half-asleep man grumbled, rubbing at his balding head and clutching a long bathrobe around himself.

"Yes. It is. It's also time to leave."

"What?" The man blinked, and then he noticed her clothes, and he instantly became more alert. "A rebel!? I thought you all died! Look..." he glanced around the quiet district. "I don't want any trouble, so just keep going, ok?"

"Sir, you misunderstand me. We have a safe and easy way out of the city."

"...Out? Of the city?"

"Out of the city," Zelda repeated.

"But... where out of the city? The entire field out there is burnt black. There's no farms to work."

"Not to the fields," Zelda said, shaking her head quickly. "Not anywhere under Ganondorf's control. Out of the city, to safety."

"...Out of the city?" the man asked again, his brain unable to grasp the idea.

"We have food," Zelda suggested, realizing that he wasn't looking swayed.

"Really?" The man's eyes lit up at that before he glared at her suspiciously. "How much?"

Zelda resisted the urge to sigh at him. Just how long was this one house going to take? "Enough for everyone here. We have a hideout in the forest, there's lots of plants that we're finding edible, and birds, and all sorts of other creatures."

The man frowned again. "I don't know..."

"Oh for crying out loud, I don't have time for this," Zelda muttered. She made to turn away and leave before suddenly swinging back, bringing her fist hard against the man's head. He collapsed into a heap on the floor, and soon Zelda was dragging him along, back to the register. "Your neighbors better be less suspicious, or this is going to get real annoying, real quick," she grumbled to the unconscious man.

The rest of the night passed in a similar manner, though as Zelda progressed deeper into the district she found more people were willing to trust her and leave on their own, without her having to help them along. Eventually she came across a house that held the receptionist. The green haired woman was quick to recognize Zelda, and even quicker to boss her parents out of the house.

"It's a good thing you came when you did," the young woman whispered as she ushered the elder Hylian couple into the night air. "Rumors are going around that the Gerudo are planning on killing some of us to help ration food. ...How's Arlene?" the young woman asked hesitantly.

"Last I saw of her, just as tiresome as she always is."

With a smile on her face, the woman quickly joined her parents. "Good luck, and thank you!" she called behind her before leaving.

"Why can't you all be like her?" Zelda asked the next house rhetorically as she approached it. "Such a nice, well behaved, young girl."

Morning was just beginning to break when they were finally clearing the last few houses. Zelda's last family had been particularly stubborn, thinking it was some sort of loyalty test cooked up by the Gerudo, and she had ended up having to recruit Russ to help her out. Just as the first few rays of sunlight peeked over the tall buildings, the last of the Hylians finally disappeared into the register.

"Let's do one more check," Zelda instructed her people as they gathered near the register's doorway. "Just to be on the safe side. Once you're done head back through the tunnel, we'll regroup on the other side. Major!"

"Ma'am?"

"As soon as everyone's through I want that tunnel collapsed. It's too risky to leave open."

Russ nodded and ran back towards the tunnel, to get what he needed to collapse it.

The check through the district went fairly quick, and after just a few minutes had passed Zelda was certain no one had been left behind. She took a moment to stand in the middle of the area, letting the silence absorb her. Already the rest of her rebellion were walking back into the register, ready to head to their temporary home in the Lost Woods.

It was during that moment of silence that she heard the familiar click of a large rifle being cocked. The click had sounded slightly off to Zelda, as if the gun hadn't been made properly, but instinct had her turning and aiming her gun before she could give too much thought to it. Behind her stood a small Gerudo girl, probably not much older than nine. As Zelda's gun trained on her head, the little girl quickly dropped the rifle in her hands, letting it clatter noisily against the ground.

"It's not real!" the girl protested quickly, gesturing to the gun on the ground. "It's just a toy."

"What are you doing here?" Zelda asked suspiciously. While she had yet to see someone so young in the Gerudo military, she wouldn't put it past them.

"I came to play with my friend! Have you seen her?" The tiny red head began to turn wildly about as golden eyes took in the empty district. "Hey... where is everyone anyway?"

It was some sort of trick, it had to be. Every part of Zelda was screaming at her to just fire her gun and get out of there. She very nearly did. But then the girl looked back up at her, and the round face and large, curious eyes suddenly transformed; right in front of her face, the golden eyes turned violet, and the red hair turned blonde, and suddenly it was her daughter standing before her, smiling her big toothy grin that Zelda only ever saw in her dreams. Zelda breathed in sharply and blinked a few times. The image faded, and there was the little Gerudo girl again.

"Go home," Zelda said gruffly, holstering her gun.

The little girl crossed her arms over her chest. "You're awfully bossy for a Hylian!"

"That's because I've got a real gun," Zelda replied dryly.

"Oh... uh..." She considered this for a moment and then quickly snatched her toy from the ground and sped off.

With an unamused snort, Zelda began to head back towards the register herself. She managed to take a few steps closer before a new sound interrupted her once again. It was the sound of a gun, a real gun this time, being fired. Impulse drove Zelda to the ground just as a bullet raced over her head from somewhere along the rooftops, disappearing harmlessly into the wood of one of the houses. "Damn it, I knew that kid was some sort of trick! Probably to stall..."

"Gerudo!" Zelda shouted, though it probably wasn't necessary.

Zelda pulled out her own gun and fired it haphazardly in the direction she had heard the other gun being fired. It was a sloppy shot, but it wasn't her intention to hit anyone; she had to get back to the tunnel before they were overrun, and all she wanted to do was slow the enemy down a bit.

She saw the rest of her team already racing for the register, Gerudo bullets chasing after them as they shot in back of them just as chaotically as Zelda was. They were closer to the building, and made it inside when Zelda herself was still only halfway there. She dodged between buildings, catching glimpses as she went of the Gerudo running along the rooftops, all in their thick armor. With a flicker of annoyance, she realized that they had stolen her old tactics of roof hopping. She was nearly to safety when a large figure stepped in front of the register's door, blocking her way.

She didn't have time to get a good look at the figure as she quickly fired a shot towards it, hoping whoever it was would fall before she got there so she could just jump over it. Instead the bullet she fired suddenly stopped and fell to the ground harmlessly. The figure was still there, and Zelda was forced to slide to a stop before she crashed into it. The grinning face of Ganondorf met her eyes, and then she understood why her bullet hadn't done anything.

"You," Zelda snarled. She knew it wouldn't do any good, but she fired a few more rounds at him anyway.

"Hello there, Zelda," Ganondorf said cheerfully, barely even waving his hand to deflect the bullets.

"Blow the tunnel!" Zelda shouted past Ganondorf, into the building. She knew Russ would hear her.

Ganondorf seemed to know the same thing, as he hissed at her before whirling around, intending to march inside to stop him from collapsing the escape route. Before he could even take another step there was a rumble, and as the building shook Zelda breathed a sigh of relief. They were all safe, every single one of her people. For not, anyway.

Turning around sharply, Ganondorf began to shout out orders to his army, his eyes bulging and bloodshot. "And as for you," he said sharply as he looked at Zelda. "First I want to know how you hid the fact that you have Wisdom from me... even now I can't sense it inside you... and then... I'll be taking that piece of yours for myself."

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