Chapter V- Leevare
Samoora and Ganondorf traveled through the desert. The hot sun beat down upon their chapped skin, and their throats were rough as sandpaper. Samoora looked onward, refusing to be beaten by the elements. The defiance on her face discouraged even the buzzards from circling. Ganondorf, however, was a different story.
The child was beaten and bruised from tripping over rocks and various other objects jutting from the ground. He slowly stumbled along, waiting for Samoora to stop and rest. A whole day already he had gone without food. Things looked grim for the child.
The pair walked on, leaving only their footprints in the sand behind them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The creatures watched from their hiding spots beneath the ground. Not really watched; felt. Leevers, after all have no eyes. One of the creatures vibrated the ground ever so softly. It was how they communicated. Vibrations.
Two of them… good for food? it asked.
No, replied the other. They would kill us. But one… it is weaker. Uneven steps. It would be easy to take.
Then let us return with greater numbers. Then we shall eat.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Here," said Samoora, stopping suddenly. "We will sleep here tonight."
Night had fallen. The dust had stopped billowing, and a blanket of stars had been laid across the sky. The sun had left, leaving a cool night behind.
She sat down, while Ganondorf practically collapsed. They had no supplies. When they had left, it had not been under the best circumstances, and they had escaped with only the clothes on their back. She tried not to show it, but she was growing weaker. Every step she took across this harsh terrain hurt. And he was weakening, too.. She looked at him well for the first time. True, he was a Gerudo, and with strange powers, but he was a boy. Only a small boy. She would have to be gentler with him from now on. After all, she had a promise to keep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fools, the Leever said. Vibed, rather. They have no idea. Tonight we will feast.
A shaking came from all directions, spreading outward from the creatures. Laughter. It was Leever laughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back above ground, Samoora looked out across the terrain. Suddenly, she saw something. A flash of green. She glimpsed it for a moment, and then it was gone. She went out to investigate it. One couldn't be too careful out here. She quietly rose, careful no to wake the child. Slowly, she made her way out across the desert. After searching for almost 10 minutes, she turned back. Then she saw them. They were making their way slowly across the desert floor towards the sleeping child.
"Ganondorf!" she yelled, beginning to run back towards the camp. "Wake up, child!"
They were the scavengers of the desert. They were worse than buzzards. Infinitely worse. They were like small green pyramids, with points all over them, and a circular mouth with sharp teeth on the top. Leevers. They traveled in packs, large packs. There was a very large number of them in the desert, all spawned from a few giant Leevares.
The boy slowly rose, looking around. Then he saw them. He immediately jumped up, looking scared. He had no weapon to defend himself with. But she did. She whipped the long, curved scimitar out of her belt loop, and held it high, screaming war cries as she charged toward the Leevers.
When she reached Ganondorf, she put down her scimitar. She lifted the boy above her head, and sat him on her shoulders.
"You'll be safe there, child. Don't move."
The leevers reached their spot, and Samoora sprang into action. She swung around, scimitar slicing through the Leevers at high speed, their green blood staining the sand. But they kept coming. To make matters worse, Ganondorf on her shoulder's hindered her greatly. She could only swivel in place. She was fighting a losing battle.
Ganondorf saw the Leevers beginning to break through, hitting Samoora's legs. She couldn't hold them much longer. He would have to do something. He slowly shifted around on her shoulders, getting his feet under him. Then, he pushed off with all his strength. He went sailing over the leevers, landing some feet away.
The weight shifted! a leever vibed. A new presence! it vibed, as Ganondorf hit the ground. There!
Wait! another vibed. We will kill this one first!
Without the excess weight, Samoora sprung into high gear. Faster then ever she moved, spinning, jumping, slicing Leevers in multiple pieces before her feet touched the ground.
It is too fast! I cannot keep up! The Leevers spun wildly, unable to get at Samoora.
Back! It comes!
The leevers suddenly stopped. Slowly, all of them retreated into the ground. A deep rumbling began to shake the desert, shaking the sands out of place. It grew stronger, nearly knocking Samoora off her feat. A single whispered word escaped her lips:
"Leevare!"
As the monstrous thing broke the surface, Samoora fell to the ground. It was a giant leever, swelled to epic proportions over the years. It had feasted many, many times on multiple races of creatures. And now, it was ready for two more. The huge creature's spikes had grown into pointed tentacles over the course of two thousand years, and it whipped them wildly at the Gerudo. Samoora knew she could not dodge them, and closed her eyes tightly as she waited for them to crush her. But they never did.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, looking at the Leevare. Ganondorf was frozen behind it, unable to move. The thing was flailing wildly, apparently not knowing where they were. Then she realized it. It could not see! As long as they didn't move, it did not knew where they were at!
"Ganondorf!" she called. "Don't move! It can't see you!"
Ganondorf nodded his head, understanding these words. Samoora waited for the right opportunity, standing completely still as the tentacles flailed closer and closer to her body. When one narrowly missed her head, she struck. Her scimitar flashed, cutting the thing in half. Green blood gushed from the wound, and the tentacle withdrew itself. The Leevare let out a high-pitched scream, spinning its other limbs around to attack, but she had stopped moving. In this method, she removed the monstrosity's weapons, leaving it helpless. Or so she thought.
The thing began to spin, moving wildly around the battleground, crushing dead Leevers under its girth. Then it came hurtling towards her. She held her scimitar in front of her, though she knew it would be useless. But when the Leevare reached her, the blade cut through its soft flesh, and it kept spinning, so the blade ripped a wide gash into it. The thing backed away, screaming at the sky, its blood oozing once more over the ground.
The buzzards saw the dying creature, and decided it was time to eat.
Samoora grabbed Ganondorf's hand, walking him away from the site of birds swarming the Leevare, tearing away its flesh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They walked for the rest of the day, but they were extremely tired from the battle.
"After we top this next rise, we will stop for the day," Samoora told a relieved Ganondorf.
They struggled up the side of the sand hill, exhaustion threatening to overtake them. When finally they reached the top, an amazing site lay before them. It was a lush, green valley, with animals and water all around. It was paradise. They ran the rest of the way down, Samoora whooping like a child. The grass felt good on their feet, and when they finally collapsed, they were happier than they had been in days. They looked at the stars overhead, the beautiful blanket more enjoyable now that they weren't thirsty. Samoora smiled.
"We will live here, Ganondorf. This is our new home."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Everything is going just as you planned, sister."
"Did you doubt me, Kotake?"
"You have been wrong before sister."
"Not this time. They walked right into our trap."
"Yes, but the woman proved more resourceful than we thought. She may be hard to deal with."
"We tricked Mareena, did we not?"
"Yes, you are correct again, sister. The child will be ours."
Their cackling laughter echoed into the night, and then they were gone.