The quarters they were given weren't fancy but they certainly weren't unpleasant. Malon and the Princess each had been afforded their own rooms which was nice however at the moment Malon could care less about their accommodations. She wanted to know what had happened to Link. She sat besides the Princess and listened as she related the story of the meeting with the High Priestess and Link's subsequent reaction to the woman and how he'd become separated from the Princess. When it was all said and done she didn't quite know what to say but she did manage to simply not lapse into silence.
"So...he stayed with her?" the Princess nodded glumly in response. "Did she bewitch him?"
"Malon there was no magic that I sensed being cast though she was powerful...she's just...that woman is powerful...I can't explain it but she has a presence to her and whatever it was...Link was enthralled by it, whatever it was."
"Should we try to rescue him?" Malon asked, her concern mounting.
The Princess laughed harshly. "From what? She's not going to hurt him...I just wonder what she will do to him...she insisted that he be the one to get the seal with her, no one else. What was I supposed to do? Refuse and ruin our chances?"
"You don't think that...I mean she wouldn't..." Malon's face flushed.
The Princess looked at her sadly. "Actually I don't know who to worry about more, Link or Nabooru...the attraction was mutual."
Malon's face heated further and she felt seething anger well up inside of her. She supposed that it was wrong to fault Link for this but...well it was his fault for agreeing to stay with this woman. That he'd done so willingly only served to further her own irrationality.
"You asked about Sheik earlier." the Princess said quietly, drawing Malon's mind away from Link and her own fury. "He's here isn't he."
"He was on the roof of our cell. I told him to wait until you and—" she stopped before she said 'Link'. "Returned."
Zelda nodded. "For now we're just going to wait. There's not much else we can do for the time being. Hopefully Sheik can remain hidden until then. I'd like to have at least one advantage on our side while Nabooru and Link retrieve the seal."
Malon's heart bristled with ice at the Princess forlorn words. Though were she to be entirely far, she was angrier with herself than Link. She should be above this, hadn't she said that this was all about Hyrule and not him? Well, wasn't it? She thought she knew the answer, and used that answer to stamp out her own anger. Link was his own man, he could do what he pleased. It was not her affair.
Nabooru watched him intently for a long while after the Princess had left them. Link returned her gaze with equal attentiveness. He didn't understand exactly what his body was telling him, the inputs were alien but he'd heard of such things happening before...supposedly his parents had been victims of this very thing with each other. Sometimes, from what little he understood about it, a Wolfos found someone that was...well for lack of a better conception of it, perfectly in tune with them. That was the only explanation that he could come up with as why he was so drawn by Nabooru. Why he'd so readily agreed to stay here with her, and why he didn't feel like a trapped animal though really that was almost exactly what he was. As silly as it sounded to his own mind, they were ideal and she seemed to sense it as well.
"Change for me Link." she said from her lounging position. "I've never seen a Wolfos in their true form."
Link bobbed his head, the motion turning into a transformation as he assumed his wolf form. He shook himself once and stood there obediently as Nabooru stood up and walked around him. He followed her with his eyes as she passed behind him, turning his head to keep her in view. This was all so strange to him, so surreal. It was as if he was watching his own body from somewhere else.
"Splendid." Nabooru whispered as she ran her hand over his fur and caressed his back muscles. "You can feel it too can't you." she murmured as she leaned over and spread her body across his back. Her voice was right in his ear as she continued and Link's jaws spread wide as he panted heavily. "There is a draw between us, a shared destiny, we are meant to do...something." she said this last part playfully as she slid off of him and walked in front of him once more. "Change back."
Link obeyed, standing before her with his blue eyes fixated on her golden intently.
"Link." murmured Saria worriedly in the back of his mind. "What are you doing?"
He ignored her, shutting her out of his thoughts forcibly. He could feel her pain at being pushed aside heedlessly but this was something she had no part in. There was no room for anyone else here. Not even Ordon would trespass this moment.
Nabooru considered him with a smile. "You're Ordon's avatar, aren't you."
Link flinched at the reference but nodded sullenly. "He says I am."
"But you don't agree, do you." Nabooru prompted with a knowing smile. "I did not wish to be the High Priestess of my people when I was younger. I desired to be free, unrestrained, running wild with no responsibilities to any but myself." her smile turned wistful. "Such was not my fate." she looked to him. "None of us can escape what we are intended to be Link...though we may delay it. When I became the High Priestess my mother, upon her deathbed, said that the Mage King was my fate but not my destiny; that one day I would be undone by a lone wolf in the desert. A wolf among men, and a god among wolves." her smile was wry and amused as she leaned back to lounge in the sea of cushions that made up her bed. "I never thought it would be so...obvious."
Link said nothing, unsure of what she was saying to him exactly. Nabooru leaned forwards intently.
"Do you understand what I am telling you Link? Ordon is your fate, but he is not your destiny. That has yet to be determined and only you can decide what that is...I choose that you be my destiny. We each must choose our own paths and today I have chosen mine, no matter where it may take me." She gestured to her daughters who were standing silently nearby. "I presume you have not bathed since you entered the desert and I won't have you unwashed. Into the pool with you."
Link looked at the clear water hesitantly before looking back at Nabooru. "You want me to strip?"
She chuckled and stared at him avidly. "Surely the avatar of Ordon is not afraid to reveal his body to a priestess?"
Link considered, normally he had no problem with nudity but right now he actually felt self-conscious. He gripped his scale armor and pulled it over his head, handing it to one of Nabooru's daughters who hung it up on a nearby stand. He stripped off his tunic and pants before sliding into the water. It wasn't warm, but rather cool which when combined with the heat of the desert that permeated even into the depths of the fortress created a soothing sensation. Nabooru continued to watch as he submerged himself. When he came up he found one of her daughters knelt on the edge of the pool waiting for him with a strange stone in her outstretched hand. It was impossible to tell the twins apart, even their scent was the same which only served to make it more awkward for Link.
"Take it." she said, pushing the stone towards him. "It'll clean your skin."
He took it from her and sniffed it, it smelt very odd, but he began to rub it over his skin nevertheless and immediately felt his eyes growing heavy with pleasure. The rough stone scratched and soothed his skin, cleaning out his pores and removing the desert sand and his own body's sweat with ease.
A delighted chuckle escaped Nabooru's lips. "You look like a spoiled temple cat my dear avatar."
Link opened his eyes and turned to regard her as she sat on the bed watching him with a faint smile.
"Why do you call me that?"
"Because it is what you are." she replied offhandedly.
"My name is Link." he asserted, climbing out of the pool and shaking himself.
She smiled up at him as he stood before her. "Very well, Link, are you enjoying yourself?"
He nodded. "I am...though I don't understand why."
Her smile was honest and truly pleased for a change as she took his hands and placed them on her shoulders.
"Good, don't forget this feeling Link, because once this is over nothing will be the same and chances are it will not get any better until you complete your task."
She helped him slide her robe from her shoulders, he looked at her with a growing hunger building inside of him that made as little sense as any of this did.
Reaching up, she caressed his cheek affectionately. "Don't fight it Link. This is meant to be."
His mind did not rebel, though a fleeting image of Malon played across his mind and he felt Saria's remorse as well in the back of his mind. Neither of them though seemed able to sway his motion as he pushed Nabooru back into the silks and kissed her fully as she wrapped around him. His lips moved to her throat, biting tenderly which solicited a soft sigh from her lips as her legs stiffened and twisted about him. He found himself on his back, with Nabooru straddling him her eyes glowing in the shimmering sunlight. He wondered for a moment if her daughters were still in the chamber, he hadn't taken any notice of them since he'd stepped out of the water. A moment later Nabooru thrust herself upon him, his eyes dilated and lost himself to oblivion.
"Your Highness?"
Zelda's head jerked upright. "Saria?" she said aloud.
"Yes." Saria said quietly. "Malon can't hear me so you may want to keep your voice down."
Zelda looked over at Malon who was too lost in her own thoughts to have noticed Zelda's brief outburst. What was Saria doing in her mind? Wasn't she with Link?
"Link has closed himself off to me for the time being...I suppose I don't have to tell you where he is." Saria added with bitter wit.
Zelda winced. So Link was with Nabooru, she supposed it wasn't much of a surprise, only that it was. What was wrong with him? Why did he succumb to the High Priestess so easily? It made no sense.
"Somethings are meant to happen. Nabooru understands that oddly enough." Saria said. "It doesn't make what Link is doing any easier to bear. In doing this he's hurting both you and Malon which is hardly fair to either of you."
Zelda felt a twinge of annoyance flicker upon her heart but washed it away with concern for Malon. Would she be fine with this? How would she take the news that Nabooru and Link had taken each other?
"Apparently she was meant to lose herself to him." Saria provided. "Before Link shoved me aside and closed himself to my presence, she said that she was meant to lose herself to a lone wolf in the desert. A wolf that would be a god amongst wolves."
Zelda's mind flashed as she analyzed that statement and what it might mean. Could Nabooru have known that Link would be coming here? It sounded absurd but then again, she was a direct link to Din. Would that convey some sort of clairvoyance that others would not be privy to?
"The Deku Tree knew of Link as well." Saria provided. "You might not have realized it but by bringing Link with you, you set into motions events which have cannot be stopped, though their outcomes remain uncertain."
What did that mean for Hyrule? For Link? For Nabooru? For herself? There was so much that Zelda did not understand but wanted to desperately. There was so very little that she could do to decipher what was happening around her. She suspected that individuals like Saria and Nabooru knew more than her. Ordon and the Deku Tree both obviously knew far more, the former no doubt was responsible for much of what was happening. Nabooru herself had said it, Ganondorf was calling upon powers beyond this world to wield the power he was. Where did that leave her? What of her power? Was it enough truly to defeat him?
"Don't lose hope. Link is doing what he is called upon to do for whatever reason the fates have decided, but he is still in this as are your other companions. I'm going to return to him now. Stay safe your Highness, much as it might seem otherwise were anything to happen to either you or Malon, Link would be crushed."
Saria's presence faded away, leaving Zelda alone with her thoughts once more. She wondered how Link coped with having another's consciousness inside his own. She couldn't fathom doing that all the time as he must do with Saria and Ordon. However he endured it and still stood strong at the end of the day. She recalled what the Primarch of the Wolfos had said to him and smiled. If Link did choose to return to his home once this was all over, the Wolfos hierarchy would never be the same.
Sheik had trailed after the Princess and Malon in the corridors of the fortress with little trouble. That their captor and escort seemed intent on avoiding other guards just as much as he did only served to further his goal of remaining hidden. He'd listened intently throughout the procession and now felt that he had an understanding of the situation. The Princess and Link had gone to speak with the Gerudo leader, a High Priestess of some sort or another. Upon agreeing to help them, she had then requested that Link stay with her to retrieve the seal and the Princess had agreed, leaving Link behind. That she was having misgivings about doing so was obvious but Sheik was well aware of how powerful a normal Wolfos was and Link was anything but normal anymore. He'd be fine of that Sheik was sure. It was the Princess and Malon that he feared for now. Thus far they'd been left alone, sequestered in an isolated portion of the fortress in what appeared to be servants quarters. He imagined that the fortress was so undermanned simply because the Mage King had mustered much of the desert's forces against Hyrule. It certainly made sneaking around the fortress simpler.
For the time being there was little he could do for them as the servant's quarters were almost completely isolated and the fearsome woman who had been escorting the Princess was keeping a very close eye on the two rooms. A close enough eye that Sheik did not wish to risk engaging her. If she was an ally he had no desire to start a fight he would inevitably have to finish. So in lieu of that he opted instead to lurk elsewhere in the fortress, sneaking from place to place via the rooftops or shadowed corridors, which were remarkably hard to find in the sunlit structure. However he did manage to glean certain things about the new world he'd landed himself in. The Zora were making life miserable for the Gerudo on the shores and seas across the desert, the High Priestess refused to speak with the Mage King and only kept council with her own children, the campaign to subjugate Hyrule was proceeding well though not without difficulty. Items such as these which might prove useful later on was what he sought and in his travels he found a deep dungeon where captives were kept, most male. It seemed that they were prisoners of war deemed to be good breeding stock for the Gerudo women.
He'd been tempted to set them free, but to do so would be to risk endangering the Princess and therefore unacceptable. They'd not seen him anyways, he'd merely spoken from the shadows, asking questions and getting what answers he needed with false promises of rescue. Once the war was won, then these men could be freed but until then it was in Sheik's best interest to leave them where they were. It was during this exploration of his that he stumbled across a long stairway leading downwards. Towards the bottom of it he heard faint voices speaking tenderly and listened intently.
Nabooru's lips caressed Link's pelvis where a jagged scar marked the injury that Malon and her family had saved him from.
"Where did this come from?" she murmured as her fingers plied across his bare skin.
"It was the first battle on the fields. My friend was lanced with a spear and I was pinned beneath her." Link answered quietly, remembering Farva's look of terror as she'd called for him to run, and then being pinned beneath her staring eyes for all those hours. He shuddered involuntarily.
"I'm sorry." Nabooru whispered as she traced her lips up his stomach and chest towards his neck.
"It was not your fault." Link replied, his chest constricting from Nabooru's touch.
"No, I suppose not...however it was one of my people that gave you that wound. Had she killed you we never would have met and for that I could never have forgiven myself."
She looked down at him fondly, leaning down against him, pressing their hips together as she ran her hands through his hair.
"Fate and destiny are cruel masters it would seem though I regret nothing that has happened."
Link looked at her curiously. "Will you truly betray your people for the Princess?"
Nabooru's smile was forlorn though no less determined. "Not for her, for me. To revenge myself upon the Mage King for killing my sons, yes, I will risk my people for that."
Link frowned and licked her throat affectionately, nuzzling against her dark skin as he caressed her sides.
"I wish I could take your hate and pain away."
Nabooru cupped his face in her hands and kissed him tenderly. "No you don't. I would not be who I am were it not for that hatred and pain and you would have no cause to lie with me now. We are our experiences, without them we are someone else."
Link stared up at her determinedly. "I'd find you, no matter who you were."
Nabooru laughed, a rich and full hearted sound that filled Link with warmth as she brushed her hair over her shoulder.
"Would you my little wolf?"
His blue gaze blazed with determination and Nabooru's mirth faltered under the intensity of the gaze.
"I would find you." he asserted.
She paused, her expression one of uncertainty before she bowed her head and pulled him close to her, holding him closely.
"Thank you my god touched wolf. Thank you for coming for me. Just remember Link, that you are meant to save the world, and the life of one woman is as nothing before such a weight. You can't save me from my past or myself anymore than I can change what Ordon has decided for you. We each have our fates, it is our own task to shape our destinies from those fates."
Link was silent for a long time as he considered what Nabooru had said, in that time they made love once more before untangling themselves from each other and lying in the bed besides each other. Link stared at the stone ceiling as he spoke, his voice calm and serene.
"When will we leave?"
"As the sun begins to set." Nabooru said. "You do not travel in the deep desert during the day. I will explain it all as we go, I promise."
"Why are you trusting me with your people's holy place? You know that I am sworn to the Princess, I could lead her back to it."
"She promised my people would be spared, and." she propped herself up on her arm as she looked at him affectionately. "You would not sully my memory by betraying me like that would you?"
Link considered for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I would not."
Nabooru leaned close to him, pressing her leg between his legs. "And that is why I trust you Link."
Sheik backed away from the door silently, turning and ascending the stairs as quickly as he dared. He didn't understand exactly what he'd witnessed but he sensed it was something he should not have. He was reminded of what had happened in the Zora domain with Ruto, and the look upon Link's face when he'd seen Sheik with Ruto. He felt that he understood now how Link must have seen that scene and why he'd chosen to keep it to himself. Sheik would return the favor, this war was destroying lives, there was no reason for him to ruin what little happiness and solace those around him could find...even if it might be with the enemy. After all, hadn't he shared a kiss with Ruto and kept her safe despite being entrusted with her death? He didn't pretend to understand what the High Priestess had been telling Link just now, but he would keep what he had seen to himself. He owed Link that much and so long as the seal was brought to the Princess there was no harm done. Let Link take his deserved rest, even Sheik would not deny that he'd been through enough to have earned it.
AN: Well there we go, I got that out of my system, now back to the originally intended storyline.
