Disclaimer: No longer necessary.
Author's Notes: Does anyone even remember me around here? Good God, I'm so behind that even Roseanne says my ass is huge. Seriously though, I just couldn't get this one out. I thought, pondered, deliberated, contemplated and thought some more, but nothing came. Plus, my computer went down for a month just as I was finishing it! Bummer! So after months of waiting, here it is: The sixth installment to this riveting tale.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Link took off from the camp as fast as he could go. He'd seen the light boots in action only once before, but even he was surprised at how well they worked. Now that he could travel faster, he had a better chance of catching up with Malon, even without Epona. The only problem was, he didn't have the slightest idea of where to start. He thought about it for a minute, and then came to the decision of stopping by the castle to ask for help. With any luck, maybe one of the scouts or something had seen either Malon or Sinjo. All he needed was a fresh lead.
* * *
Malon coughed and sputtered; doing her best to expel the water she had unwillingly inhaled in her landing. Her knees hurt something awful, and she was as wet as a fish, but at least she was alive. The only problem she faced now was where to go from here. She could continue down the river to the lake, but that would be another dead end. However, it seemed better than the alternative, which as of right now was staring her in the face, sort of.
Just a small distance ahead of her, Malon could see a ledge of sorts in the cliff face that was about even with the water level. On this ledge she also saw, this made her tremble, a Gerudo warrior.
She tried her best to steer away from the small shore, but the current was too strong and she was too weak from her recent ordeal. As she approached the Gerudo, she could see that the warrior wore a seemingly sinister smirk on her face. This sent Malon into a panic, and she doubled her efforts to paddle away.
It proved futile however, as the Gerudo simply reached out with her glaive, hooked it onto Malon's shield, and pulled her in. The situation appeared hopeless, and Malon gave up trying to fight, saving what little strength she had remaining, lest she need it later.
"Well, look what the leever dragged in," said the Gerudo as she pulled Malon up onto the shore. Had the young farm girl not been petrified, she would've noticed what a helpful action it was.
"Please, leave me alone," Malon managed to choke out. The Gerudo chuckled.
"You don't look fit to be left alone, girl. Why I'm willing to bet, if I hadn't pulled you out of that river, you'd have been deed by nightfall." Malon just gaped at the woman addressing her in disbelief. Then, the Gerudo caught sight of the sword and shield.
"Well, not as helpless as we may seem, are we?" she said sardonically. "Why don't I take you up to the fortress where you can rest up, heh?"
"You mean...you're going to help me?" Malon asked.
"Sure, why not? Once you're up to full strength again, then we'll decide what to do with you."
Malon wasn't sure she liked the sound of that last part, but she accepted the Gerudo's outstretched hand and allowed the stranger to pull her up.
"Come on, it's getting dark already," said the thief. "By the way, what's your name?"
"My name is Malon," answered the farm girl.
"I'm Deruna," said the Gerudo. "You don't have to call me anything special, 'cuz from the looks of it, you're about as old as me."
Malon took a second look. They were about the same age. Based on her first impression, Malon would've placed this woman in her late twenties. She also noticed that Deruna was smiling at her, a friendlier smile than the smirks she'd seen earlier.
"How do we get up from here?" Malon asked. Deruna grinned.
"Like this." She led Malon over to the cliff wall, and placed her hand on a stone jutting outward.
"I can trust you with this I think," she said, "But I should warn you anyway that if you tell anyone about this, we'll have to kill you." She obviously wasn't joking, so after a gulp Malon nodded weakly. Then she watched Deruna press on the stone, and a door opened up in the cliff face. Inside was a very steep, very dark stone staircase.
As Deruna led her up the staircase, Malon looked at the walls of the tunnel. They were carved out of the heavy rock of the cliff face, and had small torches mounted on them every twenty steps or so for light. The stairs were a bit uneven, so Malon had to take care not to trip. She'd lost all sense of time and distance by the time Deruna announced they had arrived. The Gerudo pushed aside a trap door and led the farm girl out of the tunnel. She the replaced the trap door, which Malon now saw was actually a crate. She made care to put it in line with the others, and then turned to Malon.
"Welcome to our hideout," Deruna said. She gestured with a hand and Malon looked up to the most spectacular thing she'd ever seen. Before her was a huge stone fortress, completely carved out of the cliff face. Gerudos stood here and there with glaives, obviously on guard duty. She simply stood there in awe at the structure until Deruna called her attention.
"Come on inside, and I'll get you something to eat," she said. Malon couldn't hide the amazement in her voice.
"Wow," she said. "Link told me this place was huge, but I never thought—"
"You know Link!?" Deruna cut her off, noticeably surprised. Malon didn't really think it was such a big deal.
"Yes, I've known him since I was ten," she said. Deruna's jaw nearly hit the ground. She remained frozen for a moment, and then shook her head to clear it.
"Forget food," she said. "Let's take you to meet Sarina."
"Who's that?" Malon asked.
"She's in charge of this fortress, our second in command after the great Nabooru. She's the one who allowed Link to become one of us."
"Link's a Gerudo?" Malon asked. "He never told me that. He just said he was a good friend of yours." Deruna laughed.
"He's a good friend all right. He's one of the greatest of us there is, and he's done more for us than you'll ever know. As for him not telling you, that doesn't surprise me much. It's not something you go spreading around." With that, she beckoned Malon to follow her into the fortress to meet Sarina.
* * *
Link ran through Hyrule field at a speed so great that he appeared as almost a blur to anyone he passed. It had been nearly half a day since he'd borrowed the Light Boots from his friend Gilu, and he was now passing Lon Lon Ranch. After glancing once at the ranch and considering it for a moment, he decided to stop there and look for any clue he could find.
Upon entering the ranch, he found everything as he had left it, and an eerie silence hung in the air. He'd never heard the place this quiet before. Then it hit him. He couldn't hear the horses! He ran to the stables, and when he burst through the door he gasped to find that his prediction had been verified. The horses were all gone, and he could see the footprints of many men in the dirt on the floor. The thieves had been back! They'd stolen all the horses, and probably a few other things as well. As Link let all of this sink in, another thought struck him.
"How did they know we weren't here?" he asked aloud. His eyes shot wide when the answer came. "They've found Malon!" Without another word or thought, he tore out of the ranch as fast as his feet could carry him. On his way out, he quickly checked to see if there was a trail he could follow, but the tracks went off in too many different directions. He resolved to continue his trip to the castle, only now he was doubly sure that he would need their help in finding Sinjo. He only hoped he could make it to town before sunset.
* * *
"In here," Deruna said, gesturing to a door that had two Gerudos standing guard outside of it. "This is Sarina's room." The two guards stepped aside and allowed them to enter.
"Who is that with you, Deruna?" came a youthful, pretty sounding voice from the other end of the room. Malon couldn't see the speaker, for that half of the room was hidden in shadow by curtains hung from the ceiling.
"This is Malon," Deruna said simply. "She washed up on the cliff bank out of the river. I think she needs help."
"Well certainly," came the voice again. This time, the one speaking stepped out of the shadows and into their sight. She was a beautiful young woman who could not have been a day over twenty, and the way she conducted herself when she spoke, not to mention the sweet, genuine smile on her face, made her look kind and sensitive. Not at all what Malon was expecting from the master of a guild of thieves.
"Since she's a close acquaintance with one of our own, I figured it would be okay," Deruna continued. Sarina smiled warmly at this.
"Oh? To which of our guild is she an acquaintance?" The way she asked the question made it sound like she already knew the answer, but Malon wasn't sure.
"Link," Deruna stated proudly, as if just mentioning his name was a big deal.
"Ah, Link!" said Sarina fondly. "I haven't seen him in such a long time! How is that handsome young man?"
"I'm not sure," Malon replied, hanging her head. "He's probably searching for me."
"Well, don't worry about him," Sarina said. That guy can take care of himself. He'll be fine, and I'll bet he finds you, to. That's what he does." Sarina's speech had suddenly become much less formal, Malon noticed.
"As for you," the guild master continued, "How'd you like to become one of us?" Malon looked shocked, as did Deruna.
"Are you serious?" she asked.
"Sure! Any friend of Link's is a friend of mine! Besides, you've even got the right hair color! You'll fit right in!" The idea at first sounded like a bad one, but the more Malon thought about it, the more it sounded like the perfect plan. If she became a Gerudo, then she would get the training she needed, and maybe even appease her adventurous spirit. Most of all though, it would give her the means to find her father.
"That would be wonderful," she said after a long pause. Sarina smiled.
"Great!" exclaimed Sarina. "I see you have a sword and shield. Do you know how to use them?"
"Not really," Malon admitted. "Link was going to show me how, but he never got a chance. I can use the sword well enough to protect me against those demon things in the field, though." Sarina looked somewhat impressed.
"If you can defend yourself against a stalchild with no formal training, then there's hope for you. Why don't you wait in here while I go have the girls make up a chamber for you?"
"Okay."
Sarina exited, and Deruna followed her. As soon as the door closed, Deruna turned to her leader.
"What are you doing?" she demanded in the most respectful tone she could muster. "You can't just go letting outsiders into the clan!"
"Link was an outsider, wasn't he?" Sarina retorted calmly.
"Link is one thing, this is different. First of all, she's not of Gerudo birth, so what's to stop her from having a male child? And second, she has no fighting experience except one night in the field! I like her too, and I think she's a nice girl, but aren't you taking it a step far?"
Sarina responded with a touch of irritation in her voice. "I shouldn't have to explain myself to you," she said, "However, you bring up a good point and I guess I should tell you why I'm doing this." Deruna listened closely. "I received a message from Nabooru," said the guild master. "She told me that Link had contacted her and asked if we would watch over this girl for him. She said it would be all right, and then started watching the girl herself through her mirror until he brought her here. Unfortunately, she ran away and wants to go rescue her father from a band of rogues. Since she's not going to back down, I figure the best way for us to help her is to teach her how to do that. Understand?" Deruna nodded.
"Well I'm going to look after her," said Deruna. "For the most part there shouldn't be a problem, but some of the girls can be pretty mean to a rookie sometimes, and the fact that she's an outsider might add to that." Sarina smiled.
"I figured you'd feel that way. I was going to ask you if you didn't volunteer." With that, Deruna and Sarina reentered the room, but not before Sarina sent off one of the guards to set up a room for Malon.
"You're in," said Sarina to the farm girl, and held out a tattered piece of parchment with a small jewel on top. "Here's your membership card. Now before I give this to you, I want you to understand that this is permanent. Once you're one of us, you're one of us forever. Do you still want it?"
Malon paused for a moment and then nodded.
"All right then. Do as I tell you. Take the card in your right hand, and pinch the jewel between your finger and your thumb." Malon did as she was told, and the jewel began to give off a faint glow. "Now, pull up your left sleeve, and slap the card down on your upper left arm, just under your shoulder. Make sure the jewel is on the top." Malon did this, and squinted as a bright light shone from where she just slapped the card. A searing pain went through her, like she was being burned or perhaps branded, but it vanished quickly. When everything faded back down, Malon looked to find that the card had been transferred onto her skin, like a tattoo. It was definitely permanent.
"Welcome to the Gerudos," cheered Deruna.
* * *
Link ran up to the castle tow just as they were retracting the drawbridge for the night. Not having any time to spare, Link pulled out his hookshot, and pulled himself over the gate.
Ha! I'm finished, finally! I bet a few of you had to go back to remember what happened, huh? Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, in the next chapter, Malon's training begins! Don't miss it!