A/N: All right, moving on to another temple area! :)


Just as Bazz had said, he returned by dawn. He reported that King Dorephan was all right their change in plans as Naydra had suggested it.

With that settled, the group packed up their belongings and returned to the horses so they could head towards Tabantha.

Ganondorf put the cloak back on to shield himself as they entered Kakariko Village, but it wasn't needed as no one stared at them. He swore he saw a few suspicious glances in Zelda's direction but the looks were so quick he wasn't sure if he had imagined it or not.

Exiting through the southern entrance, the group headed down towards Dueling Peaks. As they neared the stable, Astrid popped up on Ganondorf's shoulder.

"A temple! A temple!"

"Here?" Zelda asked, looking around as they halted the horses.

A patch of water sat near the stable and the Zora instantly made a beeline towards it. It was only ankle deep, but they made do.

Astrid nodded as the Zora left. She pointed at the mountain.

"Up there?" Ganondorf asked incredulously. "We are not going mountain climbing."

Astrid made a pathetic noise, pointing to the other half of the mountain. "I sense it there too."

"There's a temple in both?" Zelda asked, squinting at the mountain. "Or just one side?"

Astrid looked between the mountain halves before she sank down with a miserable sniff. "I can't tell!"

That's all right, Link said with a smile at Astrid. We'll go up this one first.

He gestured at the mountain half behind the stable.

Ganondorf put his hands on his hips. "And how do you propose we do that, huh? We have no climbing gear."

Link rolled his eyes before pointing at the mountain again. Flat enough to walk up.

"You're sure?" Zelda asked.

Link shot her a wounded look and she held up her hands.

"Okay, we'll trust you."

The three stared at the mountain in front of them while the Zora played in the water nearby.

There was a loud grumble and Zelda looked at Ganondorf with a smirk.

"Ganon."

"What?" Ganondorf huffed, giving a shrug. "So I'm hungry. Sue me."

"It's about lunch time," Zelda mumbled, crossing her arms. "I suppose we can stop for lunch then head up to the temple."

Link frowned, looking towards the stable. He spotted some pumpkins, likely brought from Kakariko, and grinned. Pumpkin soup!

"Heh?" Ganondorf asked as Zelda beamed.

"Oh, like the Lumpy Pumpkin? That sounds amazing!"

"What the fuck is a Lumpy Pumpkin?" Ganondorf asked, not sure if it was an inside joke he wasn't aware of.

"Oh, yeah. You were imprisoned as Demise, huh?" Zelda hummed while Link went to the pumpkins to get one. "It was a place in Skyloft and it made the most amazing pumpkin soup. Trust me, you'll not want to eat anything else after tasting it."

"O….kay?"

Ganondorf wasn't sure if he should trust Zelda's word on this 'pumpkin soup' thing but he supposed he had no choice.


The six sat around the pot while Link cooked, watching him work with a mixture of diced pumpkins, carrots, radish, fresh milk, melted butter and sprinkled rock salt.

"It smells amazing," Sidon said. "I've never heard of making pumpkin soup before."

"You know a lot of recipes," Bazz said.

Link gave a shrug as he stirred the bubbling mixture.

"So, another temple is here?" Mipha asked, looking at Zelda and Ganondorf.

Zelda nodded. "Yeah. We're heading up the mountain after lunch."

"You're leaving?" Someone asked, a traveler coming over to them. "I'd be fast then. I heard there may be a blood moon tonight."

"You're sure?" Ganondorf asked, frowning at the traveler.

Had it been that long? The last one had been just as he, Zelda and Link had fled the castle.

The man nodded. "Dangerous time to travel, friends. It might be better to stay the night."

He looked towards Ganondorf and smiled before waving as he left.

"Fare thee well on your travel, young ones."

"What a nice traveler," Sidon said. "Warning us of the blood moon."

No, Ganondorf thought, eyes narrowed as he watched the man's retreating back.

He wasn't a nice man. The smile hadn't reached his eyes.

What should we do? Link asked, frowning at Zelda. Stay?

Zelda looked at Ganondorf. She knew if they travelled up the mountain, they would run the risk of night falling and Ganondorf being exposed under the blood moon's light.

She sighed. "We should stay."

"Are you nuts?" Ganondorf snapped, whipping his head to look at Zelda. "We don't have 120 Rupees for the inn fare."

"We'll…then we'll…" Zelda threw up her hands in frustration. "We'll think of something! But you can't be out during the blood moon. You know that."

She didn't want a repeat of what had happened in Zora's Domain. She was tired of stabbing Ganondorf with Light Arrows to drive back the Malice.

Ganondorf grit his teeth but remained silent.

She was right. He knew that. But how could they afford to stay in the inn?

Cheerful humming caught his attention and Ganondorf looked beside him to see Beedle slowly making his way towards the stable. He stood up with a growl.

He had been waiting to cross paths with Beedle again.

The merchant was the one that had made the Sheikah send Skye after them in the first place, he was certain of it. He had told them of their whereabouts.

Beedle's humming stopped when he caught sight of Ganondorf, one foot raised to step into the stable. He immediately turned on his heel and began to walk away as quickly as his pack would allow him, mumbling, "Oh, no, oh, no," under his breath.

"Gan!" Zelda called when Ganondorf stormed after the harried merchant.

Ganondorf grabbed the backpack, lifting it off the ground and turning it so the merchant faced him.

Beedle squeaked and curled up like a turtle in its shell as he yelped, "Don't kill me!"

"You almost got me killed! Give me a good reason why I shouldn't rip you apart."

Zelda grabbed Ganondorf's arm, glaring up at him. "Put him down. Now."

With a deep growl, Ganondorf dropped Beedle.

Zelda gave a sigh as she helped Beedle to his feet. "I'm sorry about him. He doesn't know how to control his temper."

Ganondorf grunted, crossing his arms.

Beedle gaped at Zelda. "I-I'm sorry I didn't recognize you the first time we met, Your Highness! I didn't even think—"

"Shh, shh!" Zelda waved her hands, looking around quickly to make sure they hadn't drawn attention to themselves. "We're just….my name is Sheik, all right?"

Beedle appeared confused but nodded. "Of course, Sheik. I apologize."

"You're going to make it up to us for ratting us out," Ganondorf growled at Beedle who shrunk back.

"O-of course, friends! I can give you—"

"No, you pay for the beds in the inn. We need six."

Beedle paled but nodded. "Of course! Anything to make up for my transgressions—"

"And we get to look through your bag again."

Beedle appeared like he was about to have a heart attack but he nodded meekly.

Zelda swatted Ganondorf's arm as Beedle headed to the stable. "You don't have to be so rude, you know."

"He was the reason Skye was sent after us."

"You don't know that."

"You don't know that either," Ganondorf countered, sneering at her. He looked away, rubbing the scar on his forehead. "Let's just…go eat."

Zelda sighed as she watched him leave.

She wondered if the blood moon was making him more irritable than normal.


While the group ate, Beedle allowed them to rifle through his pack to see what new items he had acquired.

There really wasn't anything interesting in the pack but Link found some arrows with a red bulb at the end.

"Those are bomb arrows," Beedle said. "I got them in Akkala."

Bomb? Link signed, eyes lighting up. He held the shaft of the bomb arrow he had picked up in both hands, practically vibrating in his excitement.

Ganondorf snatched the arrow from Link before the blond could try and test it. He pointed it at Link. "No. Explosions."

Link pouted, crossing his arms to sulk.

"We'll take twenty. They may prove helpful."

Link perked up.

"I'll keep a hand on them, though."

Link sulked.

After getting a bundle of twenty bomb arrows, Ganondorf slid them into the pocket of his coat to prevent Link from sneaking them when he wasn't looking.

With that done, Beedle grabbed his pack and scrambled off.

Sidon laughed at the merchant. "You scare him, my friend. Perhaps you could be nicer?"

Ganondorf gave a grunt as he shoved some of the pumpkin soup into his mouth in lieu of answering the Zora.

"I think he likes the soup," Mipha said, grinning.

Link puffed up. Best soup.

"It is quite excellent," Bazz murmured. "I've never tasted such a delectable soup before."

"This is better than the fish soup mother made," Sidon said.

Mipha gave a quiet hum as she continued to eat, quietly agreeing.

Astrid had her own tiny bowl of soup, sitting on the ground nearby as she sipped it, giggling every so often as her legs wiggled.


The metallic smell of blood was strong, making him dizzy. A dripping sound was heard and even as he took a few steps forward, he could tell the floor was covered in a thin layer of water.

The place was unfamiliar and it made the hairs on the back of his neck prickle.

Other than the dripping noise, the place was silent.

The scent of blood deepened as he came closer to its source and what he saw chilled his bones.

Link was sprawled on the ground, the Master Sword driven through his skull. His blood stained the water, spreading out.

He took a step back in horror.

Who had….?

"G-Ganon…!"

Whirling around, he saw Zelda being held in a one-handed vice grip by a shadowed figure much larger than her.

Sharpened nails dug into the tender flesh, causing blood to run down and drip into the water.

"Zelda!"

At his cry, the figure turned their head, eyes glowing the color of Malice. A flash of lightning revealed the figure's long red hair and long cloak. Twin blades hung at their side.

You will not escape me!


A loud boom caused Ganondorf's eyes to snap open. He rapidly sat up, breathing heavily as he looked around.

Everyone was still asleep. They were in the stable.

Ganondorf looked outside to see the red hue coating the land, a signal that the blood moon had risen.

A thunderstorm had also come, sending down heavy rain and lightning that struck the ground close to the stable, briefly igniting the grass.

Ganondorf slowly breathed out as he forced his heart rate to calm down before he looked at his hands.

He could almost see the blood staining them. He needed to wash them. There was a pond nearby, right?

Throwing off the covers, Ganondorf got out of bed and headed for the stable's entrance.

A hand grabbed his arm and Ganondorf instantly flinched, yanking his arm free from the grip as he took several steps away.

Zelda appeared wounded at the reaction then sympathetic. She lowered her hand. "Where are you going? The blood moon is out."

Ganondorf looked outside again, remembering the blood moon was indeed out.

Had it been the Malice's subconscious suggestion he go outside to wash his hands? To expose him to the moonlight?

He clenched his hands then sighed, looking back at Zelda. "Why are you up?"

Zelda held up her hand, showing the glowing Triforce. "It's hard to sleep with this going crazy."

Ganondorf looked at his hand to see that his Triforce was also glowing, a reaction to his nightmare.

Zelda took a step closer and set a hand on Ganondorf's arm.

He tensed but remained still.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Ganondorf thought back to the blood coating Zelda's neck. He shook his head, not trusting his voice.

Zelda smiled slightly. "That's okay. Do you want to go back to sleep?"

Ganondorf shook his head again.

"We can sit against the wall then," Zelda suggested, gesturing to a wall furthest from the blood moon's light. "Stay up as long as you want."

"You should get some sleep too," Ganondorf whispered.

Zelda shook her head. "I'm fine. Sit?"

Ganondorf sighed, gave a nod and followed Zelda to the wall where they both sat down beside each other.

"Nightmares are the worst," Zelda said. "It's nice to have company after them."

"Why?"

"To know you're not dreaming anymore." Zelda gave a small laugh. "Though I'm surprised Link can still be asleep."

Ganondorf let his gaze move to Link who was sprawled on the bed, the blanket nearly off his body. He was drooling in his sleep and Ganondorf wondered if he was dreaming of food.

"He definitely is something."

Zelda hummed, leaning against Ganondorf.

Ganondorf glanced down at her to see that she was already falling asleep. He gave a quiet, guttural hum.

Zelda responded with a quiet laugh. "Always the same song, Demise. And you never told me…what it means…"

Ganondorf stared down at her when she fell back asleep, frowning slightly.

It means 'you are my sunlight. Don't let the demons in the dark take you away'.

It was a song Demise had made specifically for Hylia.


"What are you two doing on the floor?"

Ganondorf gave a grumble as he lifted his head before stretching his arms above him with a grunt.

Standing in front of him was Mipha who appeared concerned.

Link and the other two Zora were gone, presumable making breakfast while Mipha woke Zelda and Ganondorf up.

Ganondorf looked beside him when he felt stirring and saw Zelda rubbing her eyes.

Why were they….? Oh, right.

"Good morning," Zelda said, smiling at Mipha before looking at Ganondorf. "How do you feel?"

"Better."

"Good. Where are Link and the others?"

"Making breakfast," Mipha answered as Zelda stood up. "Are you really going up Dueling Peaks?"

"There's a temple. We have to check it out."

Ganondorf stretched again then stood up, rubbing the crick in his neck. Sleeping on the floor wasn't good for his posture.

"I hope that you'll be safe," Mipha murmured. "Try not to climb anything too high without a harness."

"We'll try our best," Zelda said. "Hopefully it won't take too long."

Hopefully, Ganondorf thought.


Like Link had thought, the majority of the trip up the side of the eastern half of Dueling Peaks was pretty flat. It didn't take a lot of effort to climb over the rocky hills or sloping sides. Halfway up, near a grassy knoll, the three decided to take a break.

"I can almost see the top," Zelda said, pointing to the Dueling Peak's top.

"Good," Ganondorf sighed as he and Link plopped back to back beside a boulder. "Let's take a break."

I brought some snacks, Link said, pulling his pack off and beginning to rummage through it.

The ground rumbled and they all stopped what they were doing.

"Earthquake?" Ganondorf asked.

"Don't be preposterous. We don't have earthquakes."

Link saw the shadow looming over them first and signed frantically, Talus!

Ganondorf just barely managed to break away as the Talus's rocky arm slammed against the ground where he and Link had been.

"That boulder was a Talus?!" Zelda asked in alarm.

Of course they hadn't noticed. Talus camouflaged themselves as ordinary boulders to trick unsuspecting travelers.

"How do we kill it?!" Ganondorf snapped, taking out his swords.

Fighting a rock was not high on his to-do list that day.

Link fired a few arrows at the Talus, but they bounced off the monster without damaging it.

The Talus launched a part of its arm at the blond in retaliation, Link managing to roll out of the way in time.

Zelda threw a few needles at the Talus to get its attention off Link and it hurled its other arm at her. She dodged to the side with a squeak.

With no arms, the Talus dropped on its side with a thud to gather more rocks to reform itself.

Ganondorf saw a black rock jutting from the Talus's back and narrowed his eyes at the ore. Then he gasped.

That was it!

"Hey, Link!"

Link looked towards Ganondorf to see the redhead holding up the bundle of bomb arrows.

Ganondorf tossed the weapons at Link. "Explosion time!"

Link caught the arrows, vibrating excitedly as he shoved them into his quiver.

"I'll draw its attention; shoot the ore on its back!"

The Talus turned towards Link but Ganondorf stepped into its line of sight, waving his arms.

"Over here, ugly!"

Ganondorf moved to the side so the Talus slowly turned around, exposing its ore to Link.

As the Talus raised its arm to attack, there was a tremendous explosion that struck its ore, causing it to collapse.

"Are you nuts?!" Zelda asked as she grabbed Ganondorf's arm to pull him away while Link shot several more arrows at the Talus's exposed ore.

"Someone has to distract it!" Ganondorf snapped, trying to pull his arm away so he could help Link.

"You could get killed!"

"I don't see you helping!"

Both froze. Zelda, wounded, and Ganondorf shocked.

"Th-that's not…I didn't mean it—"

"You think I'm just dragging you down?" Zelda asked quietly, looking at the ground as she released Ganondorf's arm.

"N-no, of course not! You're helping plenty!"

"Then what, Ganondorf?!" Zelda glared at him, clenching her hands. "Obviously my presence frustrates you. I should just go back home then."

"What? No! We need you."

"Obviously you don't," Zelda hissed, crossing her arms as she scowled up at Ganondorf. "It seems you can clearly handle yourself alone."

Link glanced between the two and the Talus, wondering when they would be done having their spat.

The Talus slowly stood up and set its sights on the arguing duo.

Link waved to try and get their attention, but they didn't notice him as the Talus raised its arm. Link shot a bomb arrow several feet away from Zelda and Ganondorf.

The two looked at him in annoyance then Ganondorf noticed the shadow above them. He quickly tackled Zelda as the arm slammed into the ground behind them.

Ganondorf glanced back at the Talus as it turned to face them, Zelda laying beneath him. He looked down at her then stood up, hauling her to her feet.

"We'll discuss this later," he grumbled, holding his hand out towards the Talus.

Flames—turned blue and hot from his anger—covered the Talus, halting it just as it raised its other arm.

It gave enough time for Link to move behind the Talus to hit it with another bomb arrow. Once it was down, he pounded it with more bomb arrows.

The Talus turned black then exploded, leaving behind several gemstones.

Link approached the prizes, picking up a sapphire.

"Those could be useful," Ganondorf grunted. "Rubies, topaz, and sapphires all have properties to help with warmth, electricity and cold."

Link nodded, beginning to put the stones into his bag.

"We should keep going," Ganondorf said, moving past Zelda to get further up the slope. "Hope we don't run into anymore monsters."

Zelda watched him leave before she sighed, trailing after him.

Link brought up the rear, deciding not to comment on the awkward silence that had fallen over them.

No incidents happened as they made it to another flat portion of the mountain, just before the top.

Ganondorf glanced around, searching for an entrance to a temple.

You think that Talus was the guardian? Link asked.

"Could be," Zelda murmured. "It was close to here."

"I don't see anything unusual," Ganondorf said. "Perhaps it's on the other side?"

Link made a face. More climbing?

"If it is on the other side, we'll do it tomorrow."

Zelda blinked when a sharp dot of light hit her eyes, shielding her vison with a hand as she looked up to see the source of the reflection.

"Ganon!" she screamed just as Skye slammed into Ganondorf, sending the both of them to the ground.

Ganondorf growled at the dragon's weight bearing down on him, holding up his arm as the beast's mouth parted, teeth sinking into his skin.

"I figured that Sheikah got to you."

Skye opened her wings and took off into the air, dragging Ganondorf along the ground.

Before she could get too far up into the sky, a bomb arrow struck her eye. Skye released Ganondorf with a shriek, dropping to the ground.

Ganondorf grunted as he was released, getting to his feet quickly.

Zelda ran over to him, eyes going to his bleeding arm. "Your arm!"

"I'm fine!" Ganondorf snapped, keeping his arm pressed against his side. "We need to kill her!"

Skye slowly clambered to her feet then looked towards Ganondorf, six red targeting beams appearing on his body.

Upgraded targeting, Ganondorf thought as he searched for a way to avoid the beams. Two had been obnoxious enough and now he had to deal with six?

An arrow struck Skye's face and disrupted her targeting temporarily.

As Link aimed another arrow, Ganondorf moved closer, stabbing one of Skye's eyes to disable the targeting.

Realizing the plan, Zelda took two knives and pierced two of Skye's eyes.

The dragon roared, rearing up onto her hind legs, flapping her wings to knock the two back. She grabbed onto Ganondorf's arm once again and flew up.

Link shot another arrow at Skye to try and force her to release Ganondorf, but Skye turned her head so the arrow glanced off the armor.

Ganondorf grunted as he swung his body forward until he could wrap his legs around Skye's neck. With more leverage, he used his free arm to pull out a sword, stabbing one of Skye's functioning eyes.

Skye released her grip on his arm with a shriek and Ganondorf pulled himself up so he was on her back.

"This time, I won't force you to my side, you hunk of junk."

He stabbed his sword into the joint of one of Skye's wings and began prying it out of the socket.

Skye roared and tried a barrel roll in an attempt to dislodge Ganondorf but he held on tightly as he managed to take out the wing.

With only one wing supporting her weight, Skye fell towards the ground.

They both struck the mountain's peak.

Ganondorf scrabbled and managed to grab ahold of a ledge to prevent himself from plummeting off the mountain.

Skye fell past him, claws reaching out to try and catch him to drag Ganondorf down with her, but missed.

Ganondorf watched as Skye fell then struck the ground far below. He imagined not even a Sheikah-made beast could survive that far of a fall.

"Ganondorf!" Zelda gasped, both her and Link peering over to see where Ganondorf was.

Ganondorf grinned up at them. "Oh, hey. Come to give me a hand?"

Link grabbed his wrist and Zelda grabbed his other arm, being careful of the wound on his forearm.

They both hauled Ganondorf onto solid ground and the three sat to catch their breaths.

"Are you…all right?" Zelda asked, looking at Ganondorf.

Ganondorf gave a nod. "She was just a bunch of wires and codes."

Zelda was about to say that wasn't what she meant, but Link's waving caught her attention.

Link pointed at where they had come from and she saw an opening in the ground that hadn't been there before.

"Looks like we found the temple," Ganondorf said as he slowly stood up, the adrenaline gone from his system and making him feel tired.

They couldn't rest though. They had a job to do.

"Let's go."

Zelda blinked then looked at Ganondorf in surprise. She scrambled to her feet, stepping into his path. "Go? Into the temple? We need to get your arm healed!"

"My arm is fine."

You got bit! Link protested. We'll go to Mipha.

"We'll waste time doing that," Ganondorf grumbled. "Besides, the spring inside could heal my wound too."

Link and Zelda glanced at each other, not sure if they trusted Ganondorf's logic, before Zelda pulled down the Sheikah mask covering her face.

She tore it off and moved closer to Ganondorf, beginning to wrap his arm in the cloth.

Ganondorf could hear her muttering about 'stubborn males' and 'nothing ever changes' under her breath.

"Hey."

Zelda looked up at him, appearing on the verge of pouting but trying to look strong.

"If my arm becomes too much to bear, I'll tell you and we can leave the temple and get it healed by Mipha. Deal?"

Zelda narrowed her eyes then held out her hand, pinkie extended.

"You have to pinkie promise you'll tell me or I'll kick your ass."

"Ooh, princess can curse. All right," Ganondorf wrapped his pinkie around hers, shaking her hand. "I pinkie promise if my arm hurts, I'll tell you and we can leave."

Link appeared amused by the exchange while Zelda appeared satisfied.

She sighed, dropping her hand. "I suppose we can go in and see what we're up against this time."

Link and Ganondorf nodded and the three headed to the opening that had appeared in the mountain's side.