A/n: This chapter has been revised.
Disclaimer: Meow.
Chapter 37: The Fortress of Thieves Part 1
It had occurred to the party after they set out to cure Kaori's poison that none of them had ever been the potion shop, even when it was still in the castle town. Kakariko's small size made it pretty easy to figure out where it was, though, since the little village hadn't really caught up to its sudden conversion to a major world hub, and all the shops were clustered together near the exit to Death Mountain Trail as a result. Marius, the shop owner that Impa had mentioned, was a thin, awkward man in his late twenties who was more than thrilled to whip up the cure at no cost as soon as Impa's name was mentioned. After that, they had spent the night in the village, per Navi's suggestion, so that the cure could settle and they could set off on their next adventure.
"Marius was really nice." Kaori said, holding a hand up to the side of her face to block out the early morning sun.
"Yeah, he was a pretty cool guy." Aya agreed. "He told us to come back, but I didn't have the heart to tell him that we probably wouldn't be taking him up on that offer."
"I would say we'll all forget where the potion shop is by tomorrow, but since Link counts every stranger we meet as a new lifelong friendship forged, we'll never actually forget." Navi explained, lifting a finger as she sat casually on Link's shoulder. The party was using their horses to accommodate their new trek across Hyrule Field.
"Marius is our friend now." Link said cheerfully, proud of himself.
"Usually we label random strangers we meet with 'Insert-Adjective Guy/Girl', so it's nice to actually have a name for someone that's not a Sage or princess or something." Aya laughed a bit.
"Anyways, where are we going, Navi?" Joey turned to the fairy.
"The desert is the only place we haven't explored yet." She responded. "Saving the best for last."
"Wasn't Ganondorf the king of the desert before he took over Hyrule?" Katara asked warily.
"Yes. And the people of the desert are, for the most part, still unquestioningly loyal to him." Navi leaned back a bit as she started another explanation. "Part of that loyalty is tradition, though. The Gerudo, the people who live in the desert, is a race comprising of women. One male is born every one hundred years and that boy acts as king."
"Oh, a race of women?" Joey seemed unsure of whether to be confused or excited.
"I'll leave it to your imagination to figure out how that's biologically possible." Navi said. "All Gerudo are distinguished by tan skin, yellow eyes and red hair. They are incredibly powerful and trained warriors. And they're famous for how beautiful they all are. "
"Except Ganondorf. He's pretty ugly." Katara wrinkled her nose.
"Our opinions of how beautiful he is might be dampened a bit by the fact that he is a psychopath that's nearly destroyed Hyrule." Kurama mentioned sarcastically. "But, I assume the point here is that we need to be careful."
"Well, this is a new area." Kaori mused. "We've never been here before. We had at least explored everything else until this point."
"Exactly. We are enemies of Ganondorf headed into a territory full of people who think he's awesome." Navi stated, as if that first warning was obvious. "But, really, you should be more concerned about the guys. Aside from Ganondorf, the Gerudo don't like guys that much beyond what they can be used for. Women are okay. But guys are not. I'm not sure how far we can wander into the desert before there's trouble, though."
"So, the guys could be arrested at any point?" Kaori seemed worried.
"I refuse to be arrested by warrior women who want to use me for questionable purposes." Joey protested immediately.
"I don't get it." Link shook his head.
"Link, the Gerudo will arrest you and use you to make babies." Navi was blunt. "They especially like to use men that are good looking. All three of you have a problem."
"Wait, what?" Link's eyes were wide like saucers. "How do I make babies with them?"
"Link, don't concern yourself with details like that." Kurama lifted a hand reassuringly. "I'm not sure now is a good time to explain that stuff to you."
"Anyways." Navi interrupted, looking ahead to see that the party would be coming up on the entrance to the desert area soon. "It's inevitable that we will have to go through the fortress area to get to the Spirit Temple. If things are normal enough, we might be able to sneak through."
"Where is the Spirit Temple?" Aya turned. "The sand goddess part of that riddle thing that Sheik gave us doesn't really specify where the temple is located. You know, beyond that it involves sand."
"I'm pretty sure the Spirit Temple is located in the Desert Colossus. Which is a total pain the in the ass to get to. And amazingly dangerous as well. Whatever we do, we'll have to go through the Gerudo to get to it. The terrain around here makes it impossible otherwise."
"Goody." Aya muttered.
"What about the boys? How do we avoid getting them arrested?" Katara turned.
"Like I said before, I'm not sure how far we can approach the desert before anything happens." Navi responded. "All I know is that the Gerudo aren't very welcoming to guests. I'm also not sure how well they handle strangers since Ganondorf is king right now."
"We'll just have to wait and see." Kurama shrugged his shoulders. "There's nothing else we can do."
The party could see the changes in landscape as they made their way closer to the desert. It started with small bursts of burnt red, growing in size and laying out before them the rich, natural canyon that surrounded parts of the desert. The rock was very smooth, almost slippery if it weren't for red dust that littered the ground in patches and some sand that swirled up in the occasional breeze. Curving up and down, a path lined with worn, broken wooden fences led the party through natural walls. The further the group traveled down the path, the more obvious it was that visitors were few and far between, with the beauty of the canyon surrounding them being the only welcoming aspect of the aged path. The naturally smooth texture of the rock was probably the only thing preventing it all from breaking down completely. The road acted as a transition between landscapes, of sorts, and the group felt like they were in a different world once they came up on sand and tall, burnt red pillars of rock towering in the air around them, some seeming to be so fragile and thin. They came to a stop at a massive chasm, separated from a raging, frothy river below them. The remains of a rope bridge hung loosely from the opposite end of the huge gap.
"Well." Joey rubbed his forehead, stepping his horse closer to the gap. "Why do I feel like we just stepped into a whole other dimension?"
"This is very different than everywhere else." Kaori looked a little nervous. "It's so hot, too."
"I'd be surprised if a desert area weren't hot during the day." Kurama said, his gaze studying the broken remains of the bridge.
"We have to get across somehow." Navi fluttered over the chasm. "Without falling in the river and dying, preferably."
"We could jump across!" Link squealed. While the party was about to write it off as a useless Link comment, it was actually a warning and, with terrifying speed, Link shot towards the gap on Epona, launching across it like a missile. For a few long seconds, everyone in the party, maybe even Kurama for once, had a miniature heart attack.
"Well…That works." Navi blinked a few times in surprise before she shook her head, turning to see the rest of the group shaking out similar disbelief.
"Link!" Kaori yelled, though she knew he could barely hear her because of the distance.
"Okay, heroes." Navi crossed her arms, flying over to Kurama first. "Which one of you is going to take the plunge and follow Link and hope your horses are as awesome as that one?"
"I...I…There is no way." Kaori sputtered, clenching the reigns on her horse.
"If Red can make it over without dying, then I'm cool with trying, too." Joey crossed his arms confidently.
"Kurama doesn't have luck with big gaps." Aya turned, her voice deadpan.
"Or bridges, for that matter." Kurama added, his calm voice hiding similar deadpan. "But if everyone is confident that this maneuver is only safe if I can do it, then I suppose I can't let the team down. I've done crazier." As expected, Kurama's attempt was a lot more careful. And once he was across, Navi decided jumping the gap on the horses was okay given the distance. After a few fearful attempts, everyone was across.
"Yep, not doing that again." Aya stated firmly as the party got off of their horses.
"In total agreement." Kaori shook her head, leaning against one of the nearby rock pillars, wobbly legged from the fear of it all.
"Let's hope that at some point we learn from Sheik the warp song and we won't have to jump that gap anymore." Kurama placed his hands in his pockets, smiling sympathetically at Kaori as Katara helped her stand up straight again.
"I thought it was fun." Link put his hands behind his head as he started to move forward.
"You find any random act of incredible danger to be really fun." Navi plopped herself down on Link's shoulder.
"That wasn't dangerous. It really was fun." Link insisted.
"Yeah, Bud, I'm not feeling that." Joey put his hands on his sides, leaning forward a bit. His bangs covered his eyes as he leaned forward, stretching after a long time traveling. "That fall really was certain death."
"Indeed." Kurama started to follow Link as he walked. "An experience we can all agree was uncomfortable." The rest of the party started to follow them and took a quick look around the area they were in was all that was needed to prove to them that no one was really around. All that was around was a white tent pitched in the far corner of the rocky valley, hidden by a couple of natural walls. When the party approached the campsite, the only person there was a tall, muscular man that looked to be late middle-age. He was a man of hard work, towering over even Joey and his arms crossed. One of his calloused hands tapped nervously against the elbow of the opposite arm. That same hand reached up to stroke his chin, his top lip covered by a white mustache. By the glare in his eyes, he seemed to have heard the party coming.
"Are you the idiots insane enough to jump that chasm on horses?" the man wanted to exclaim, but his voice was a harsh whisper instead.
"It was fun." Link insisted bluntly, walking up to the man. "Are you on vacation, sir?"
"Vacation?!" the main leaned forward a great deal, staring eye to eye with Link. Link stepped back, catching on that the guy wasn't happy and he lifted his hands innocently in front of him. The man shut his eyes and let out an exasperated groan. "How stupid are you, kid? Damn insane, I'd say."
"I think the rest of us would actually agree with you that doing what we just did was incredibly stupid." Aya waved a hand from the background.
"Ugh. Kids, this place ain't a vacation spot." The man stood to full height again, re-crossing his arms. "If you all are seekin' some thrills or something, you all better turn around and get the hell out of here. Who are all of you?" The party quickly introduced themselves.
"What's going on?" Link cocked his head.
"Well…" The man looked around at the group. "You all really should leave. But a lot is going on. And I guess some of it might be my fault."
"Really?" Katara cocked her head.
"I'm Mutoh, the head of the carpenters that came out here to fix the bridge." Mutoh started to explain. "The guy that commissioned us to do so is some rich athlete guy who needed the bridge fixed for some marathon he has planned. We figured the job was easy enough as long as we stayed out of the Gerudo's hair."
"A marathon sounds awesome." Link completely missed the point. "I want to meet this guy! What's a marathon, Kurama?"
"Something I'm sure you find incredibly fun, Link." Kurama put a hand on Link's shoulder.
"I take it none of that happened." Joey shook his head at Link and turned back to Mutoh.
"No, son. And it's really my men's fault." Mutoh seemed annoyed. "I mean, I knew that this would be fine as long as we didn't go too close to the fortress. I told my men that a hundred times and I knew that we were treading in some dangerous territory. Everything was fine until they decided to rebel against me and run off closer to the fortress to get a better look at it. They said they wanted to be thieves because it was cooler than being a carpenter."
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Navi's voice was flat with disbelief.
"Yeah. It's super easy to join an all-female group of thieves when you're a dude." Aya rolled her eyes and she exchanged the briefest look with Kurama, sharing some unspoken sarcastic remarks with each other.
"The idiots got themselves captured and as soon as I found out, I high tailed it to the farthest corner of the valley I could find to stay away from them." Mutoh looked past the group warily. "You see, because the bridge was broken, we came in from another canyon pass that made it easier to cross the river. But the Gerudo blocked that area off as soon as they found out we were here. Those bastards up and running left me a wanted man with nowhere to escape. I've been hiding out here alone, with barely any food, for a few weeks now. Those idiots!"
"So, they're after you, too? You didn't go near the fortress." Kaori put her hands shyly behind her back as she spoke, her voice quiet.
"Those dumbasses told the Gerudo there was another one of them out here. But, even without that, the Gerudo know that there are more potential intruders. They're on high alert." Mutoh shut his eyes, his mouth a thin line. "They are the ones that broke the bridge. Who knows what became of my men."
"You know what the Gerudo usually capture men for." Navi said grimly.
"Yeah, but I can't imagine that's what my men are doing." Mutoh shrugged his shoulders. "They aren't exactly an attractive bunch. Just a bunch of sweaty, whiny guys. The Gerudo have certain standards for attractiveness and strength. With as long as it's been, they could be dead."
"I hope not!" Link jumped forward. "I don't know how to help you find them, though."
"Well, you're not marching off to the fortress to stage a rescue operation." Navi flew down to eye level with Link. "If we don't get captured before that, then we need to find a way around the fortress to the Desert Colossus."
"Y'all ain't getting to the Desert Colossus with how high the security is." Mutoh turned to Link. "I'm not expecting a rescue operation, either. The idiots got themselves captured. And you kids are giant targets around here. I'm sure you three boys would fetch some interest for from the Gerudo if they capture us all for being intruders."
"The idea scares me." Joey shivered.
"What about us?" Katara pointed to herself and the other two girls. "What would they do with us?"
"Eh, I don't know. They'd probably capture you guys, too, but I can't see them keeping you." Navi looked over at her.
"Is there nothing we can do?" Link looked up at Navi. "I mean…I don't really get any of this."
"Link, don't think about it too much." Aya put a hand on Link's arm. "Just…just don't think about it."
"But…" Link looked at Aya and then Navi.
"Trust her, Link." Navi shook her head. "You're safety is pretty important. We can't risk everything for a simple rescue mission."
"Anyways, it's getting dark out." Mutoh looked up. "Let's go inside. Y'all better just hide here with me for the time being. We can whip up something to eat with what I've got left." The party took Mutoh up in his offer, since they had nowhere else to go, and sat down for dinner with him. They spent a long time talking about possible alternate routes to the desert or talking any possible ways to rescue Mutoh's men from the fortress. Mutoh became friendlier with the party as dinner went on, and as intimidating as he was, he seemed like he welcomed the company after hiding alone for a while. After night finally fell, everyone was getting ready to settle down for the night when an explosion sounded close to them, shaking their tent loose. They could hear and feel pieces of rock scatter all around them.
"I can't see! The tent is attacking me." Link started trying to free himself and had poked his head through a hole in the tent's fabric when a sharp point pierced his cheek. "Oh."
"Freeze, intruders." the woman holding the spear said in a husky voice, her mouth hidden behind veil.
"Ahhh!" Kaori squeaked, a guard pulling her from the pile by her ponytail.
"Kaori-" Link tried to get up but a sharp blow to the head by a guard knocked him to ground, tangled up in the tent's fabric. The other guys were all knocked out before any of them knew what was happening in a similarly violent fashion, while the girls were ripped from the pile.
"All of you are coming with us for entering Gerudo territory." another guard announced, tapping the tip of her spear against the ground. "No one is welcome here. We punish those who come without invitation."
"What about these ones?" another guard shoved Katara forward, having tied her hands behind her back. Katara fell to her knees. Navi, who had flown off to hide during the invasion, could tell it took every ounce of Katara's energy to not go off on any of the guards in an angry, watery fashion. Aya, usually prone to sarcastic quips, kept her mouth tightly shut as a guard tied her hands up. Kaori had small tears in her eyes, wincing as another guard still gripped her hair despite her own bound hands.
"Knock them out." the first guard said. "We're figure out how to get them out of the way. No need to waste our time taking them to the fortress. We needn't reveal our secrets to these little girls."
"And the males?" the guard said, half-pulling up the unconscious Link.
"The old guy we can set aside and deal with later." she bent down and studied Link more closely. "These other three, however, are interesting enough to keep. Be careful with them."
"Okay, captain." the guard holding Kaori's hair, knocked her out and dropped her to the ground. Soon, all three girls were down. Navi winced from her hiding spot as she watched her group and the carpenter dragged away in a cart, and the remains of the tent tossed over the edge of the giant chasm and into the river.
An uncertain amount of time later…
"Ugh, wake up." Navi said to herself as she fluttered around the three girls. Navi had tailed the Gerudo for a good amount of time, following their every step from afar to see what they were going to do. Ultimately, the three girls had been tied up and separated from the boys and were dragged by cart out to Hyrule Field, where they were dumped not too far from Lon Lon Ranch with some of their bags and the horses. Unable to undo knots or carry them, Navi had flown to the ranch to get Malon's assistance and all three were being tended to by the worried ranch girl.
"Are they going to be okay?" Malon said, setting down a tray with some towels and a few cups of water on a nearby nightstand. Talon and Ingo had set up the guest room for the girls. "And you're saying the others have been captured by Gerudo?"
"Absolutely." Navi nodded, setting down on the nightstand next to the tray. "Not much we could have done to avoid it, I guess. At this rate, though, it will be late tomorrow before we can head back to the valley to make a rescue attempt."
"But it's so unsafe!" Malon sat down and smoothed her skirts out nervously.
"Well, we were with a carpenter guy whose men had been captured earlier by the Gerudo. Link was all gung-ho about doing a rescue attempt and I was totally against it. Now that the boys have been captured we need to attempt a rescue. They are all way too important to leave to the Gerudo. And if Ganondorf finds out they are in Gerudo custody, we're fucked. And I guess we can rescue lead carpenter dude and his stupid workers."
"Owwwwwww." Aya let out an exaggerated groan. Her gloves, jacket and extra jewelry had been removed by Malon, and she sat up slowly, throwing her hands to her face. "Ow. Wait. What?"
"Good morning, sunshine." Navi flew off the nightstand and over to Aya. "How's the headache?"
"Glorious." Aya looked around. "Wait. We're at Lon Lon Ranch? I mean, I'm super grateful but what the actual hell?"
"We're at what?" Katara said from her bed, staring straight up at the ceiling. She was in a similar state of undress, her long arms bare of their usual gloves. She instinctively reached up for her necklace and pendant, only to find that both were on a table in the corner with everyone else's belongings. A tiny squeak from the corner of the room let everyone know that Kaori was coming to, as well.
"The Gerudo decided to dump you off in the field and keep the guys." Navi said. "They didn't need you. But we've got big trouble. We have to head back to the fortress as soon as we can so we can save the guys before something terrible happens to them, either because of their prettiness or because of Ganondorf figuring out that the Hero of Time is in Gerudo custody."
"Oh, shit." Aya shook her head a couple of times. "Yeah, we need to enter crisis mode. This is bad. But we need to sneak back, right? How? I think they'll be expecting it because we jumped across that giant gap with horses. That part's probably guarded."
"I vote we head back to Lake Hylia and try to find a path near the river." Navi said. "Though, none of you play the ocarina, so we need to get there by horse."
"I can give you more horses but that's all I can do." Malon stood up, offering the girls the cups of water. "You all should at least eat something real quick. That's the least I can offer."
"Yeah, get food in your system." Navi ordered the girls.
"What will happen if Ganondorf ends up with Link?" Kaori asked, her voice dripping with worry.
"Link will die, no doubt. I'm sure he'll just kill the other two, as well. I mean, we're screwed without Link." Navi's voice was very stern as she spoke. "If luck is on our side, though, then it may take them awhile to realize that they are important."
"What do you mean?" Katara put the cup in her lap.
"We have most of the inventory with us." Navi pointed to a couple of bags in the corner. "They took what the boys had on their person, so they have Link's sword and shield and his bag. And it seems like they have Joey's bag, but we have Kurama's and the item bag. And, while Link's bag had most of his gadgets, the item bag has a few of the other useful ones, like both the longshot and the hookshot and the hammer. And Kurama's bag had the Lens of Truth in it. And, luckily, the item bag had the Ocarina of Time in it. It looks like Link put it in there by accident."
"That works out well." Kaori looked down at her cup sadly. "If they found the ocarina, then it really would be all over."
"Yes, it really would." Navi flew to the door. "Listen, kids. You need to eat something and pull yourselves back together. I'm going to see if I can track down Sheik real quick. I feel like he might be able to lend us a hand in getting back to the valley sooner." Without waiting for an answer, Navi flew off.
"Thanks, Malon." Katara pulled herself into a standing position. "You guys are a lifesaver."
"No, it's not issue." Malon picked the tray back up after collecting everyone's glasses. "I'll whip up something real quick for you."
"We hate to rush you like this." Aya smiled guiltily.
"No, it's not issue." Malon rushed to the door. "You three have to get out of here fast. I'm terribly worried about Link, Kurama and Joey. Please, I'll hurry so you all can get to saving them sooner. It's not issue." Malon nodded her head and skittered out the door, her skirts fluttering behind her.
Elsewhere
"So, do you just magically appear when you sense crisis or is it perfect timing that you're in the area when I need you?" Navi's voice dripped with sarcasm as she approached the group's familiar, enigmatic guide. Sheik had been hiding in the shadows of a cluster of trees nearby Lon Lon Ranch.
"Actually, I was in the area." Sheik seemed genuinely surprised. It wasn't often that Navi saw him actually taken off guard. "Navi, what is wrong? This is only the second time you've sought my presence outside of my scheduled meetings with you."
"The boys were captured by Gerudo when we went to the valley. Some dumbass carpenters screwed everything up and tightened security up big time. I didn't expect things to go down like that."
"What?" Sheik seemed surprised by quickly regained his composure. "They are in Gerudo custody? What of the girls?"
"They are at Lon Lon Ranch. Don't flip out. Most of the important shit is with us. They dumped most of our bags out and kept a few things for themselves. The Ocarina of Time and the Sage medallions were in the item bag, buried at the bottom. Link keeps them bundled up in a small, leather bag. They didn't notice it."
"That's only temporary relief." Sheik narrowed his eyes at the fairy. "It's good that the Ocarina of Time is still in our hands, but the Hero of Time and two Spirits are not. Should they fall into Ganondorf's hands, the war is lost."
"Yeah, I know. Why do you think I came to find you?" Navi said. "I wasn't going to spend too much time looking for you. Time is of the essence, but I was hoping you'd be able to help us get to the valley faster. Do you know a way into the valley that's not crawling with Gerudo?"
"There's a small, unused trail near Lake Hylia that follows the river. It's dangerous, though." Sheik shook his head. "I saved the Spirit Temple for last because I knew it would be the hardest temple for you, but I thought sneaking past the fortress and to the Desert Colossus would be a lot simpler than the temple itself. Now, I feel that I should have simply skipped all of this and taught you the warp song."
"Well, too late for that, Teapot." Navi turned. "This is an emergency, though."
"I'll come back with you and show you where the path is." Sheik nodded his head. "I'll be waiting for you outside of Lon Lon Ranch."
"Gotcha." Navi started to fly off at top speed. "Let's get this rescue operation started!"
A/n: I made some major changes to this chapter because the previous version of this chapter was one big blob of word-y pointlessness. I barley spent any time of the potion ship because there was no point spending so much time on it in the past. I seriously don't get what I was thinking. I also just changed the whole thing around to make more sense. First, as smart as Kurama and Navi are, they aren't going to blindly waltz into the fortress and get arrested. And, while the Gerudo don't hate women, I decided that having them just leave the girls to wander the fortress area while their friends were captured made no sense and changed that to make them more distrusting. And, to accommodate the fact that they didn't enter the fortress, I had them ambushed because the carpenters caused security to tighten. And raised the stakes of the boys getting captured by making the girls rush to save them before anything really bad happens to them. And got Sheik involved to help. And Malon made a cameo.
Really, this whole chapter just…makes more sense.