I've updated Alyssa! Please don't hurt me xD
They finally make it to the desert!
When Link awoke that morning not expecting the others to wake for at least another few hours, he headed groggily to the edge of the lake. He slipped his hat from his head and began to strip from his clothing. The hero silently dived into the water and sighed internally at the soothing sensation the water inflicted on him, breaking the water's surface Link couldn't help letting a refreshed smile grace his features. The water here was unlike others, vast, transparent and beautifully pristine. The hero glanced over to the sleeping figures his heart plummeting as he realised a body was missing. Ganondorf, the desert king, was nowhere in sight. Link quickly swam to the edge scrambling his way out of the water, cursing himself for being so oblivious and was about to rouse the others when the dark male reappeared. Ganondorf was walking with purpose oblivious to Link staring at him with great annoyance.
"Where have you been?"
Ganondorf would have jumped in fright at suddenly finding the green-garbed hero before him but his eyes were bulging at the sight of the eccentric new markings on the hero's face. The markings were familiar, he could almost sense his own presence in the boy before him.
"Hero, your face."
Link flinched slightly as the Gerudo lightly held the boy's face, tilting it to the side to analyse the markings more clearly. The markings were black in colour and slowly spreading down the boy's neck and had rounded his pointed ear.
"What?"
"It looks as if you've been cursed to some extent," Ganondorf announced lightly guiding his hand over the markings. "I sense dark magic."
Link turned from the male and glanced at himself in the reflection of the lake and sure enough, his left cheek was slowly being enveloped by dark lines. He touched his ear and a red colour pulsated across his face. Link gasped in surprised and the red pulse had him pulled to the past, the Usurper King clouding his mind.
"This is Zant's magic."
"Impossible." Ganondorf retorted crossing his arms. "The power I gave to him returned to me after his demise. There's no way he could come back. Unless that is you, didn't finish him."
"I did." Link furrowed his brow, he was sure of it. He had watched Midna give the devastating blow to Zant's being. There was no way he'd be able to heal from that.
"Then perhaps this is a result of your continuous transformations"
"Yeah, maybe." Link answered unsurely returning his gaze back to the lake. Ganondorf simply huffed and headed over to the camp sight and abruptly awoke the sleeping companions.
"Wake up. You've had more than enough sleep."
The three woke fairly well, Ike a little worse for wear than the others, narrowing his brow at the Gerudo throughout breakfast. After Zelda pointed out and slightly panicked about Link's face, the hero ensured her he was okay and there was nothing to worry about. It was clear Zelda didn't believe him but dropped it nonetheless.
The camp was quickly disassembled and the five companions headed towards the very edge of Lake Hylia halting before a vast wall, staring at the aged rock. Link turned his head left and right seeing nothing but grassy cliffs. He had been here multiple times before, examining every crack and hole for treasure that he never found, let alone any sign of an opening. The hero couldn't help but question Ganondorf's sanity.
"So where's the entrance?"
"Here."
They watched as Ganondorf strolled to the wall placing his palm upon the crumbling exterior. He let his magic come to the surface and watched as his magic formed a door like structure before suddenly constricting the rock and forcing it to crack. The wall fell away and before the group was a large entrance to what only could be a tunnel. Ganondorf smirked in satisfaction at the amazed glances and entered the rock tunnel feeling completely smug. The others quickly followed, the darkness closing in as Lake Hylia slowly faded away. Link fished out his lantern from his pouch, illuminating the way ahead and found himself in awe at the new lit carvings on the tunnel wall.
"These carvings were made to ward off your kind. However, they did not work." Ganondorf explained.
"They're very graphic," Ike informed the king, eyes widened at the depicted scene he had just walked past.
"Not graphic enough it seems." Ganondorf glanced over his shoulder giving Ike a wicked grin. The mercenary shivered unintentionally and glanced behind him to see Link had stopped.
"Link?"
"These are your people?" Link called out questioning Ganondorf, ignoring Ike's inquiry. Ganondorf stopped in his tracks and turned to see Link staring intently at the wall. The Gerudo stepped up behind the hero and analysed the image. There were three Gerudo women armed with spears aimed at a Hylian soldier.
"My clan? Yes. Why?"
"They're all depicted as women." Link pointed out.
"That is correct. One male Gerudo is born every one hundred years. The Gerudo Tribe is vastly made up of females."
"Amazing," Marth announced, hand on hip. "That is truly incredible."
"The male that is born is taken in by the current king and raised to eventually take over. That is our tradition and it has been for centuries."
"So do you have an heir?" Marth asked intrigued by this information.
"There is no heir as of yet. " Ganondorf furrowed his brow slightly uncomfortable with the current course of conversation. "I suggest we continue before the lantern runs out of oil."
Link gave the carving one last glimpse of interest before following his companions. The tunnel was longer than Link had anticipated and he was slowly beginning to tire. His head was beginning to pound which caused him to touch his forehead out of instinct and he hissed lightly in pain as the curse pulsed through his head. Luckily no one heard and he quickly neutralised his features when Zelda glanced behind at him.
They finally made it out of the tunnel and the scorching sun belted down upon them. Ganondorf breathed in the familiar and welcoming air and sighed in comfort. The others, however, felt their clothes begin to cling, their pores slowly beginning to sweat and the sand begin to make their way into their clothing
"Where to Ganondorf?" Zelda asked, standing by the man's side glancing out at the vast desert.
"I believe my visit here is long overdue, perhaps a visit to my clan before heading to Arbiter's Keep"
"Very well, that will give us time to rest before we embark any further."
"Let us not keep my clan waiting any longer. We head north w-"
Ganondorf was silenced when a pained scream ripped through the air behind him. The Gerudo glanced around to see Link holding his head in agony. Golden eyes followed the 'curse' as it suddenly spread down passed the green garbed hero's collar. The three Triforce's began to glow once again and along with an engulfing dazzling light, pained screams pierced the air. When the light died down and everyone gathered their senses Zelda rushed to the wolf laying unconscious on the sand.
"He transformed again." Zelda frowned, slowly stroking the wolf's fur. Marth walked over a hand to his chin in thought kneeling down to join the Hyrulean princess.
"Perhaps we should stop. Rest and wait for Link to wake."
"No." Ganondorf shook his head. "We mustn't be out in the open like this, dangerous beasts lurk here. I do not wish to be their food. We head for the clan."
Ganondorf noticed Zelda's silent plea, glancing to the sleeping wolf which causing the desert king to suddenly stop. He knew when the next words flowed from his mouth that he was getting soft.
"We won't get there today but I do know of a cave close by. We can stop there."
He took Zelda's smile as a thank you and pushed both the princess and prince away and lightly threw the unconscious wolf over his shoulder. Ganondorf quickly took off not wanting to confront the princess with his change of mind. Ike helped the princess over the ledge, glancing at the Gerudo with suspicion. He was being awfully nice for the Hyrulean's worst enemy. His eyes lowered to the wolf and found himself entranced once again with the markings on the wolfs forehead.
When they made it to the cave and the fire was lit Ike knelt before the wolf and analysed the markings. His brow furrowed as his slowly eyed the pattern, coming to a sudden stop when he noticed a difference. He hitched a breath and called the prince over.
"What's the problem, Ike?'
"His pattern, its back to front."
"How can you be sure?"
"I analysed at it every time I visited him in the infirmary. Something about it intrigued me and I spent hours memorising every line and curve. It's changed, I'm sure of it."
"Perhaps we should inform Gano-" Marth zipped his lips when the wolf in front of them suddenly groaned, its blue eyes fluttered open jumping slightly when he noticed the two foreigners so close to his face.
"Link, you're awake." Ike smiled, relieved to see the blue eyes. "How are you feeling?"
Link sniffed the air and his belly rumbled causing the boy to bow his head in embarrassment. Marth let out a hearty chuckle before standing.
"He's hungry. Perhaps we should start on dinner."
Ike nodded about to help Marth start when he felt himself being nudged. He turned to see Link glancing at him in both worry and curiosity. Link nosed his Triforce and looked up at the mercenary. Ike tilted his head to the side in confusion watching as Link motioned to his paw once again. He suddenly figured out what Link was asking and nodded to the cave mouth.
"They're outside."
Link huffed lightly feeling too weak to stand instead simply resting his head between his paws and watched the flames of the fire dance. Ganondorf and Zelda made a reappearance just as Ike began to serve the little ration that remained. Zelda rushed to Links side glad to see the boy was finally awake. Ganondorf simply ignored the mushy scene, silently thanking Ike for his meal and headed to the mouth of the cave to eat his dinner. Link whined to Zelda who understood and glanced to where the Gerudo went.
"I don't know Link. Maybe he prefers eating alone."
Link quietly turned to his meal his thoughts clouded with the desert king. He still hadn't returned after several hours and Link was beginning to get restless. He carefully steadied himself on all fours glimpsing at the sleeping backs of Ike, Marth and Zelda before heading to the entrance. He padded lightly not daring to wake his companions and found Ganondorf staring up at the night's sky. Link came to the man's side nudging his arm when he didn't receive an acknowledgement and huffed when the man gave him a fleeting glance. A shock ran through the sky and Link cautiously padded outside, glancing up at the sky as it clouded over. A drop of water fell on his nose and he sniffed the sensation away. Suddenly it began to pour and Link was drenched to the bone in seconds. He ran back under cover snarling slightly at the Gerudo's tamed laughter and gave the king a fanged grin when Link shook his fur, lightly showering the desert inhabitant with water.
"Hero!"
A shiver ran down Links spine as a cool wind blew through, the hot weather suddenly vanished and Link was reminded of the Yeti's freezing domain. Link was cold, his fur was wet and the chilly air was making it worse. The cave wasn't any better, the fire having died down a few hours ago. Link glanced to the big male and checked the man over. He wasn't shivering and Link could almost feel the heat radiating off him. The hero cautiously approached Ganondorf and nudged his arm away bringing his body close. Link casually place his head on the man's thigh and sighed as the warmth immediately seeped its way through his body.
Ganondorf himself was speechless. He had never been this close with anyone let alone his worse enemy. The hero seemed so comfortable around him and that made Ganondorf nervous. He could feel the wolf shaking with cold as he drew closer to his own body heat. Ganondorf inwardly had an argument with himself, to which his seemingly non-existent good side prevailed and he gently placed his arm over the wolf's body, fingers slowly intertwining in Link's fur. The Gerudo king glanced up to the clouded sky and sighed in defeat. He really was going soft.