A/N: This chapter is shorter than all the others xD Sorry ;;


As they passed by the mysterious plateau, looping around it to the right, Ganondorf glanced over his shoulder. He couldn't see any guards following them and was relieved that they either couldn't keep up with the head start or that the guards had lost sight of them.

Either way, without the guards on their tail, it made the trek to the desert that much easier.

Digdogg Suspension Bridge loomed before them, sturdy wooden bridges connected to huge land platforms jutting above the lake.

Ganondorf had heard rumors that the bridge had once been built by Goron to connect Hyrule with the southern portion, but he wasn't sure how much faith to put into it.

Goron hated water that wasn't hot spring water and being over water for who knew how long while constructing the bridge? It was more possible the Gerudo assisted, to allow more travelers to their home.

None of that mattered now since the area was barren of travelers. Without the existence of the Gerudo, the desert was just a big empty bowl of sand and monsters.

Ganondorf was brought out of his thoughts when Helltrotter stopped suddenly with a jerk.

Annoyed, he kicked the horse a bit. "It's a bridge. It will hold your weight. Come on."

Helltrotter had halted at the first bridge and refused to move.

Zelda came up beside Ganondorf. "What's that matter? Why did he stop?"

"I think the bridge scares him."

Helltrotter snorted, shaking his head and taking a few steps back.

Ganondorf pulled the reins hard, trying to steer the horse back to the bridge. "Come on! It's a stupid bridge!"

Helltrotter nickered then reared up to knock Ganondorf from the saddle.

Ganondorf grunted as he hit the ground, rubbing his back and glaring at Helltrotter as the stallion moved to the side.

Helltrotter's actions began to make Bluebell and Epona nervous, the two mares shifting side to side.

"What's gotten into them?" Zelda asked, sliding down from Bluebell and patting her neck to soother her.

Link gave a shrug as he patted Epona.

"Helltrotter doesn't scare easy," Ganondorf mumbled as he stepped onto the bridge.

It held under his weight.

Zelda tried to pull Bluebell forward but the mare yanked back, the reins jerked from Zelda's grasp, and the horse went to Helltrotter's side.

Link didn't even bother to hold onto Epona as the chestnut mare went to Helltrotter and Bluebell.

Ganondorf threw up his hands. "Come on! It's a bridge!"

"I don't think it's the bridge that scares them," Zelda murmured.

A monster then? Link asked.

"Helltrotter isn't scared of monsters," Ganondorf snorted, crossing his arms.

"There has to be something that has them spooked, Gan." Zelda brushed past Ganondorf, waving at the boys to follow her. "Come on. Let's check it out."

Ganondorf looked at Link who gave a shrug before following Zelda. Ganondorf sighed, trailing after them.

As they crossed the second bridge sloping up slightly to reach the next platform, Zelda could see the potential reason for the horse's behavior.

In the middle of the road was a black Hinox, snores shaking the ground slightly. Every so often, the Hinox would reach up to scratch its chest or chin before returning to its slumber.

A Hinox, Link signed, scowling at the monster. I hate Hinox.

"What should we do?" Zelda asked, looking at Ganondorf and Link.

"Well, to make the horses comfortable, we should defeat it."

"It's a black Hinox, Gan. That's one of the strongest ones."

"You see another way?" Ganondorf growled, spreading a hand to gesture to where they were. "Trying to sneak past could fail and wake it up."

"The horses won't even come here because of the Hinox. We have to move it away."

Ganondorf rolled his eyes.

"You know why Hinox have a necklace of weapons? Those are from dumbasses who tried and failed to fight it."

"Then I guess we're going to be dumbasses."

Zelda scowled, setting her hands on her hips as Ganondorf glared at her.

Link rolled his eyes, shaking his head as the two started another argument. He stood up, taking out his bow and an arrow, moving towards the Hinox.

"We can either try to defeat it, which I highly doubt, or we can sneak around it, Gan. There's no other way to the—where is Link going?"

Ganondorf looked towards the Hinox to see Link clambering onto its mountain of a stomach, bow in his mouth. He resisted the urge to yell at Link to get down from his suicidal mission as the noise would wake the Hinox.

Link stood on the Hinox's chest, steadying himself as eh took his bow out and aimed an arrow at the Hinox. He tapped the Hinox's chest with his foot enough to get it to grumble.

The Hinox opened its eye halfway then widened it upon seeing Link on its chest.

The second the eye opened, Link fire the arrow right into the giant's eye, causing it to shriek. He leaped to the ground as the Hinox stood up, clutching its wounded eye.

Ganondorf sighed, unsheathing his swords. "We're definitely fighting it now."

Zelda took out her sword, following Ganondorf as he charged at the Hinox.

The Hinox snarled at the trio, glaring down at them and licking its lips.

"Need some help?!" Sidon asked, leaping up from the water below.

The Hinox turned to face the newcomer only to have another arrow added to its eye. It screamed, falling on its rear to nurse the wound.

Ganondorf took advantage to being slicing cuts into the Hinox's legs.

Zelda attacked the other side.

As the Hinox stood up, Mipha and Bazz came up form opposite sides, their trident and spear carving slashes into its chest. The Hinox howled, stumbling back to grab its bleeding chest, scowling at the six nuisances it was faced with.

"With six of us against it, this Hinox doesn't stand a chance," Zelda said, grinning at Ganondorf.

Ganondorf rolled his eyes. Now she was eager to fight it. "Let's just kill it."

The Hinox growled at them, shielding its eye with a hand to prevent anymore arrows from striking its obvious weak point.

Mipha and Bazz each stabbed one of the Hinox's ankles, causing it to rear back with a roar, hand falling from its eye.

Without the shield, Sidon and Link both shot the eye with arrows.

Zelda released a Light Arrow int the back of one of the Hinox's knees, dropping it to the ground.

With easier access to the beast's throat, Ganondorf leaped up and swung out his swords, the blades slicing into the Hinox's windpipe.

The Hinox clutched its bleeding throat as it staggered back until it reached the edge of the platform, plummeting into the water below.

"Taken care of," Zelda said with a satisfied grin.

Ganondorf half-heartedly shoved her after sheathing his swords.

"That was excellent teamwork!" Sidon said as the group returned to the horses.

You're a good shot, Link signed, grinning at Sidon.

Sidon shook his head "I much prefer a word or spear to a bow, but the situation called for long-range combat."

"My brother sounds like a tactician, doesn't he?" Mipha chuckled. "If we ever need one, he'll be the first pick."

Sidon appeared bashful at the praise, rubbing the back of his neck as his headtail swished. "Oh, I'm sure there are more qualified Zora than me."

"Don't be so modest," Bazz said. "You've trained the guards better than I have and I'm their captain."

"Pointers never hurt," Sidon murmured. "That's all I gave them."

Ganondorf sighed as Helltrotter continued to resist him. "They still won't come."

"This is unusual," Zelda muttered. "There must be something else they're scared of."

Should we leave them here? Link asked, looking concerned at leaving Epona by herself.

"We're near the desert entrance," Ganondorf said, pulling out his map to look at their position. "A few hours walk. We can continue the rest of the way on foot."

"Then should we camp here for the night?" Bazz asked, looking up at the darkening sky.

Ganondorf glanced at the moon beginning to rise, noticing that it was a quarter moon.

"I don't see the harm," he murmured. "I'll find some firewood."

I'll see if there's any thing to hunt, Link said, already running off to find food.

"We can get some fish," Sidon offered. "There were some in the waters below Digdogg Bridge."

As the group separated to do their jobs, Zelda glanced around for something to do.

It felt strange to be out of her Sheikah uniform and in more comfortable adventuring clothes, but she wasn't complaining. There was no bother hiding anyway with her father's obsession to find Ganondorf.

With nothing better to do, Zelda searched for some mushrooms and spices that could be added to whatever meal Link made.


With a few fish, two squirrels, some mushrooms, Hylian rice, and rock salt, Link cooked up some meat and rice as well as a few fish and mushroom skewers.

It wasn't too large of a meal, but Zelda knew with them traveling to the desert, finding food would be the least of their worries.

She wondered if the Zora had realized yet that they weren't coming with them into the desert. She figured they did; the Zora weren't stupid and were aware of their limitations.

"That was delicious as always, my friend!" Sidon said with a grin at Link. "You can always make the best food from a limited number of items."

Link gave a shrug as he finished off his bowl of rice, setting it with the rest of the dishes.

"We'll be at the desert sometime tomorrow," Mipha said, clasping her hands together. "I've never seen the desert."

"No Zora has," Bazz reminded. "We don't usually travel this far."

"You guys won't be entering the desert," Ganondorf grumbled. "Even if we gave you elixirs or special clothes, your scales would dry out quickly and oases are few and far between."

"Then we have to wait for you guys to return again?" Sidon asked, frowning as his headtail swished.

"There is a small stable near the desert entrance," Ganondorf said. "You can wait there until we return."

We don't want you to stress yourselves, Link signed, patting Sidon's arm. This is the best way.

"I understand their reasoning," Mipha murmured. "They don't even know where the temple is, so we would be wandering around a lot under the sun."

"We could go at night," Bazz suggested. "It's cooler and there is no sun."

"Stalmonsters appear at night," Zelda said. "And it's freezing in the desert."

"We have the warm clothes still with us," Sidon said. "We could wear those."

"And where would we hide once the sun comes out?" Ganondorf grunted, crossing his arms. "There isn't much in the way of shelter."

That halted the Zora as they tired to figure out a way that they could come into the desert.

"You're not coming," Ganondorf said. "Too dangerous."

Mipha sighed and gave a slow nod. "It's understandable. We wouldn't want to put too much pressure on you."

Zelda felt bad for the Zora, understanding their wanting to join them in the adventure, but the desert was too unpredictable for the Zora to travel in safely.

With that settled and the fire still crackling to keep any Stalmonsters at bay, the group turned in for the night.


As the sun was beginning to rise, they were on their way to the desert entrance. By the time they would reach the entrance, the sun would be high and the desert hot, so Ganondorf wanted to avoid that if he could.

The canyon road winding toward the desert had enormous walls looming over them and rock bridges connecting one side to the other.

The Zora stared up at the walls in awe.

"That's Mount Nabooru," Ganondorf murmured, pointing to a steep plateau they passed. "Named after a famous sage of spirit from a long-ago time."

"She must have been a fierce warrior to have something named in honor of her," Sidon said.

"She was."

The wind whistling though the pass rustled the dry grass which rasped along the rock walls.

The sudden breeze had Ganondorf's neck prickling and he realized that he had the sensation of eyes on him.

Before he could ask if anyone else felt what he did, a traveler was coming towards them.

Ganondorf instantly recognized them as the one that had warned them of a blood moon.

"Ah, hello, friends!" the traveler greeted with a smile. "I didn't think anyone else would want to come to such a barren place."

"We're sightseeing," Zelda said. "Did you just come from the desert?"

"Oh, no. I just came from the hideout." The traveler's smile turned razor sharp. "We've been keeping any eye on you."

Ganondorf narrowed his eyes. "Who exactly are you?"

The traveler flipped backward, their entire appearance changing. They wore a red and black head-to-toe suit with a white mask covering their face painted with a red Sheikah eye flipped upside down.

Zelda gasped at the suit's color.

Black and red. The Yiga!

She mentally slapped herself, realizing that she should have connected the dots when the Lord of the Mountain mentioned to beware the ones of blood and ink.

Zelda hadn't seen any Yiga and she knew little about them other than that they were Sheikah who had split due to disagreement with the royal line.

Impa and Purah didn't know much either about the mysterious cult as the Yiga had existed for over a century.

Zelda imagined any texts on the Yiga had been destroyed by Rhoam.

There were laughs and Link glanced up sharply to see several more Yiga appearing on the cliffs, staring down at them.

It felt like a trap, but it wasn't like they had been lured there. The Yiga had been waiting for a perfect ambush opportunity.

"Now, you can all come with us quietly," the Yiga member said, "or we can do this the hard way."

"Why exactly do you want us?" Ganondorf growled as he unsheathed his swords.

"The master will explain everything to you."

"I'd rather we not do this," Sidon said, brandishing his spear. "We're in a hurry."

"And we're not asking," the Yiga member snarled, stomping a foot before snapping their fingers.

The Yiga along the cliff edges leaped down, tackling the group to the ground.

Two burly Yiga held Ganondorf down while it took four to keep Sidon pinned.

The Yiga approached the restrained group, arms behind their back. They leaned down in front of Ganondorf.

"The master is going to be pleased to see you," he murmured, poking Ganondorf's nose.

Ganondorf growled at the Yiga before he grunted when something heavy struck the back of his neck, his vision swimming before going black.


"He does look like the one in the history texts…"

"See?"

"Hmm…we'll have to see if he'll cooperate or not."

Ganondorf grunted, shaking his head a bit before opening his eyes, blinking to clear his vision.

"Oh, he's awake."

"Goodie." A Yiga kneeled down in Ganondorf's vision, waving a hand. "Hey-o!"

Ganondorf startled, leaning back as he tried to move away. He realized his arms were bound behind his back, preventing easy movement.

As Ganondorf glanced around, he spotted Zelda and the others a bit away, tied up as well and guarded by several Yiga. He could tell they were on some sort of cliff, but he couldn't tell where.

The desert spread out in the distance on one side while grass and mountains were on the other side.

The Yiga in front of Ganondorf stood up. "My name is Kohga. I'm the leader of the Yiga Clan. And this!"

Kohga turned in a circle, spreading his arms out.

"Is Spectacle Rock. And what's about to happen will be quite the spectacle for everyone in Hyrule."

"So, you're the master," Ganondorf muttered. "What exactly do you want?"

"You, of course."

"A lot of people want me for a variety of reasons. You'll have to be more specific."

Kohga shook his head, annoyance obvious even with the mask covering his face. "You see, my friend, we've been waiting for your arrival. We need you to take control of Hyrule. To demolish the monarchy so that the Yiga come into power!"

"Why do villains always monologue?" Sidon grumbled, shaking his head.

"For attention?" Zelda asked, shrugging.

Kohga stomped a foot, pointing at the group. "Shut up! Don't interrupt me."

"Are you guys all right?" Ganondorf asked, leaning a bit so he could look at the others.

Link gave a nod, the binds rendering him unable to sign.

"Besides being a bit uncomfortable," Zelda said with a smile, "We're fine."

Kohga stomped even more with an annoyed grumble. "Stop talking! I'm busy being intimidating!"

Ganondorf snorted quietly as Kohga faced him again.

"Where was I? Oh, yes. To take over Hyrule we needy our assistance."

"Not happening," Ganondorf said immediately. "I'm not doing that this time."

Kohga chuckled, tapping his fingers. "Well, I don't mean you you. I mean that beast inside you; what do they call it? Ganon?"

"Sorry. I don't know how to access Ganon and I'm not going to do it for you." Ganondorf gave a shrug. "Guess you'll have to find another way to take over Hyrule."

"You are very adorable." Kohga prodded Ganondorf's forehead. "You think we haven't done our research? We know how to summon Ganon."

"If you do that, you'll be destroyed as well!" Zelda yelled. "Ganon doesn't differentiate between friend and foe!"

Kohga looked at Zelda with what could be called a glare before looking back at Ganondorf. "Now, you can either do as I say or we can force Ganon to make an appearance."

"How about you suck my dick and then we'll see where it goes?" Ganondorf snarled, glaring at Kohga. "You'll have Ganon over my dead body."

"Oh, I'm so happy you said that." Kohga clapped his hands before a small blade was summoned to his hands. "You see, all your transformations had something in common."

With a swift lunge, Kohga was kneeling in front of Ganondorf, blade driven deep into the redhead's chest.

"The brink of death. Ganon is a self-preservation mechanism only activated when you're about to die."

Kohga yanked the blade out.

"So, since you won't hand Ganon over politely, we'll take him by force."

Kohga backed up then turned sharply, striking Ganondorf with a kick hard enough to send him off the edge of the cliff.

"Gan!" Zelda shrieked.

Everything fell silent, the Yiga holding their breath to see if their plan had worked.

After another minute, a large paw gripped the edge of Spectacle Rock, thick claws digging in.

Slowly, a boar's head pulled up over the edge, tusks long and jagged. A thick mane of fur ridged down Ganon's back.

"Ganon…" Zelda whispered as the boar beast pulled itself up halfway.

Ganon raised its head, releasing an earthshaking roar.


A/N: Ganon is daijoubu. no need to worry :3