Hello again. I'm really sorry about the cliffhangers recently. I keep forgetting to think the basic structure of previous chapters before writning new ones. Sure, I remember to check out the plot, but I wrote each cliffhanger forgetting that the previous three chapters each had one. In fact, the first segment of this chapter should probably have been the end of the previous chapter, but it's a little late now.

There might be a few errors with my description of Link's experience as a Gerudo. As I am not and have never been a boy transformed into a girl, I can only imagine the problems that such a person might face. Also, the Gerudo aren't human, so I can handwave it that way too.

If anyone is a little upset about Link being a girl, remember that he's only stuck for a while. Soon, he'll be able to sitch back and forth at will. Just think of the advantages in real life! Going to movies a guy would be embaressed to go see? Check. Staying in the same room/tent/whatever on shcoool trips/summer/camp/etc.? Check. Circumventing the six inch rule? Check (Are you blind, teacher? Link's a girl!).

Lessons

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.

-Vernon Sanders Law

Music: Zelda Reorchestrated's (zreomusic:dot:com) LoZ Title Theme

"What?" asked Link, startled by Mythisper's statement.

"Just sit down for a minute. My reasoning is going to take some explanation." the fairy replied. She did so.

"It started when you entered the Great Fairy's Fountain for the first time. As soon as you got my attention, I thought I sensed something. However, I was too busy teasing you to pay much attention at the time. Whatever it was slowed down to practically nothing when you left. That was why I decided to take a peek in your father's journals; to see if he left any clue as to where you could have inherited any magical power of your own. When I didn't find anything obvious, I gave up and thought no more about it. However, the power returned whenever you were injured, which got me thinking there must be something to it. It sparked again every time you used a transformation mask. However, while puzzling, it wasn't particularly important. You obviously weren't fully human, but the other half didn't concern me." Mythisper said.

She then continued with, "However, this most recent… adventure has got me on the subject again. I actually focused my limited divination skills on the nature of your magic this time, and even I could tell what it was. Link, I believe that your mother was the one person who was there throughout your father's entire first adventure- his guardian fairy, Navi."

"Navi was my mother? That doesn't make sense." Link protested.

"Really, it's the only thing that fits. Your innate healing and shapeshifting powers are obviously of fairy origin. Your father never really expressed much interest in the other women he met in his travels. Sure, he was loyal to Zelda, but he knew better than to go any nearer to the royal court than necessary. There was Malon, but she would have forced him to settle down, and besides, she only half-believed the stories of his adventures. Ruto was obsessed with him, and he found that creepy, not to mention the fact that she's part fish. Saria is a Kokiri, and as such would never grow past childhood. She would continue to exist in the same state long after he was dead, and he couldn't do that to her. Lastly, he met Nabooru, second in command of the Gerudo of Hyrule. However, getting involved with Nabooru would mean daughters, and lots of them. That left only one girl, the one who was with him through it all and would follow him wherever he went. Reading the end of his first journal, he was devastated when she left."

"I guess that does make at least a little bit of sense, when you put it that way. Uh, Mythisper, wouldn't the si-… never mind. Hey, you mentioned something about innate shapeshifting magic? As in magic that could undo this stupid potion?"

"Yes, and I think I can help your natural ability along to the point where you won't even need the Tin Soldier and Wolfos masks at all."

"All right! When can we start?" asked Link.

"Right now, if you like. But remember that this is going to take some time. You'd better get comfortable as a Gerudo, 'cause you're stuck like this for awhile."

Music: VG Music's (vgmusic:dot:com) OoS Skull Piratians

Link and Mythisper practiced magic for another hour. Very little progress was made in that time, but she was happy to be learning. Then, it was time to return to Nadia's apartment, forcing Link to return to the state of dress she had awoken in. It was decided that she would spend mornings learning of Gerudo laws and culture under Nadia, who would also try to help her with any questions about her new body. Evenings would be spent training with Mythisper, in hopes of learning enough to undo the effects of Nadia's spell. Link's first question was, "Why do I have to wear this instead of my normal clothing?"

"There are a couple of reasons. First of all, cloth is a rare and valuable commodity. A tunic like the one you wear is reserved for the incredibly wealthy to wear at extremely important and formal functions. You'd stand out a bit as the only one wearing a tunic in a crowd full of people in more standard apparel. Secondly, your tunic does not have-" she pointed to the glorified cloth strip across Link's chest, "this."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Fine. Go ahead. Walk around braless all day. Just don't complain about how you feel afterwards. Really, we're an all female race living in a tropical climate. We didn't invent clothing for purposes of modesty or warmth. Now, since you're basically going to have to wear this in public every time you go out, I don't want you changing into anything else. You need to get comfortable in traditional Gerudo garb."

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Link asked, trying to hide her disappointment at the order she had just received.

"We get as much done as possible. I've only got another four days of leave before I have to return to the Red Dawn, and you do not want to have to wait two months for me to get back."

"That's for sure. I think of pretty much gotten over the worst of the shock, but I still want to change back."

"Oh no, the worst by far is yet to come. Your current form is of childbearing age, which means the monthly cycle will have begun. I'll leave the specifics to your imagination as an incentive to learn quickly, but I will tell you that there is bleeding. Much bleeding."

Link went pale, but sat down, ready to learn as much as she could before lunch.

Music: Zelda Reorchestrated's (zreomusic:dot:com) Outset Island Soundscape

The most important thing the Link had to learn was to be comfortable in her new body and wardrobe. Nadia could basically walk her through the rituals needed to begin the Trial of the Misty Pillars, but if Link couldn't get there without blushing and hiding in a corner, they couldn't start. After what amounted to a short classroom session with the most basic of lessons, they set out for a walk around the general area. At first, Link was convinced that everyone was staring at her, but after couple minutes she loosened up. It felt a little weird to walk around half-naked and be found normal for it, but weird seemed to be the norm when adventuring. The most disconcerting thing was the way she felt when walking past an especially handsome man, but Nadia assured her that it was normal and if she ignored it then there wouldn't be a problem. They were able to stop by the market to pick up lunch, which consisted of raw fish on some sort of bread and was about a third the size of what Link would consider a regular meal. However, it appeared that Gerudo need less food than humans, as the meal filled her up anyway. Overall, Link was adapting very quickly. They returned to Nadia's apartment, where Link started practicing with Mythisper.

Mythisper's lessons were of an entirely different variety than those of Nadia. While the latter could give instruction based on tangible objectives, the former was forced to use vague descriptions of unfamiliar concepts. She opened with the question, "When you put on a transformation mask, what do you feel?"

Link thought hard for a moment before replying, "At first, my body gets all tingly. Then, there's this… twisting sensation and it's over."

"I'd like you to focus on the tingling. Just keep thinking about it, and after a while, try to feel it."

Link tried to follow Mythisper's advice for an hour without result. A thought suddenly occurred to her.

"Mythisper, what if I'm out of power?"

"You can't be. That's the one advantage that you half-fey have over us full-blown fairies; while we find learning magic to be much easier, the mortal blood in the mix allows you to recharge anywhere."

"Then the only problem is I just can't do it."

"Don't worry Link, you'll get it eventually. It's not easy to gain control over involuntarily activated powers. It's just going to take some time. Here, since the first tactic wasn't working, let's try something else. We'll use the Tin Soldier Mask to trick your powers. What are you waiting for? Get to it!"

Since Link had been so quick to adapt to simply walking around, Nadia decided to move on to something new. They went to a training facility which didn't see much use now that the majority of the fleet was always on duty. The place had been used mostly by the elite marines of the Red Dawn when they in port but not off duty, a circumstance which never happened with the servants of Majora's Mask in control. It had a number of rooms for generic exercise, with stone weights, small running tracks, and a variety of bars for hanging and swinging from. There were empty chambers with training weapons cut from palm trees adorning the walls. Most impressive of all were the gauntlet of non-lethal traps and the mock ship.

"Link, you've done well with the everyday stuff. Now, we need to be sure that you can fight like this. Get warmed up, and then I'll meet you in that sparing chamber." Nadia instructed.

After a fifteen minute workout, Link was ready. Nadia grabbed a pair of scimitars off the wall and handed one to Link. She then proceeded to take down a small parrying knife for each of them. She showed Link the two main grips for the knife (up, like a sword, and down, so the back of the blade ran along her forearm), and then they were ready to begin.

After a very short period of time, Link noticed two things. First, she had much greater ability to jump side to side and backwards as a Gerudo. Second, just because you've come to a stop doesn't mean your breasts have. While the first thing was useful, the second was threatening to knock her off-balance. Every strike Link launched was off target do to her lack of familiarity with her body. However, she made up for it by using her increased speed to her advantage. Overall, the match was a standstill as neither combatant could strike the other. After five minutes of sparring, Nadia called a halt.

"You're doing pretty good," she said, "but something tells me you could be doing better. Would you mind just showing me a few of your basic techniques?"

Link did so. She started with the basic strikes: horizontal slash, vertical slash, thrust, and jump attack. She then moved into a spin attack and from there into the basic dodges.

Nadia smacked herself on the forehead. "Well that was obvious. First, you've never used a curved sword before, have you?"

"No. Why?"

"Because curved swords don't work quite the same as straight ones. For starters, a straight thrust won't work with one. However, that's not the biggest problem. You're also fighting like a man."

"What do you mean?"

"You've been training in one fighting style only, correct?"

"Yes. How is that a problem?"

"The problem is that it is a men's style. In my experience, men tend to treat a swordfight the same way they would an all-out bar brawl. That's all well and good when you don't have to worry about anything except your arms when you begin an attack, but it sure doesn't work when you have tits bouncing around all over the place. You need to learn to treat a fight not just as a battle, but as a dance. You'll save yourself a lot of pain that way."

"A dance?"

"Yes, a dance. You can dance, can't you?" When Link did not reply, she sighed, and said, "Well, back to the apartment. Forget what I said about not changing; we need to get you a dress."

By the end of Nadia's shore leave, Link had learned a lot about both dancing and her magic. Incidentally, the dancing did actually help with the fighting. Link could feel that she was close to unlocking the secrets of her magic. In much less time than Mythisper had predicted, she could transform without the Tin Soldier and Wolfos masks. However, return to her original form still eluded her. On the evening of the last day, Nadia took her to the palace of the Admiral-Queen. After securing the Deku Blade and her shield (which mysteriously changed into a scimitar and parrying knife, respectively) as well as her chain shirt and hat (which re-sized to fit her), Link was taken aboard the Watery Grave, en-route to the Misty Pillars.

Comment: Hooray! No cliffhanger! Last poke at the tunic-dress thing, I promise.

Please note that Link isn't that top-heavy, she's just not used to having anything shifting around while attacking. Also, Nadia is exagerating a bit with her assesment of fighting styles.