Chapter 10
About 3 weeks after Viera had told us to try archery, we were finally getting around to it. Viera had failed miserably at trying to teach me and gave up after half an hour.
Most of the Gerudos had gotten used to Dmitri but there were still many who would rather see him in a cage than out and about.
We walked up the hill to the archery arena, which we'd forgotten was horseback archery. Another shorthaired Gerudo woman was brushing a magnificent horse. Stables were actually built inside the rock that created a border around the place. Next to the stables was a small open shack. Bows all sizes and styles were hanging on the wall with quivers lined up beneath them.
The Gerudo stopped brushing the horse and came to greet us.
"Hello. I am Kala. You would be Saira and Dmitri" she was obviously not one of the Gerudos that hated Dmitri.
"Right we wanted to try archery not necessarily -"
"-horseback archery" Dmitri finished
"Well, no one has to come to ride in a long time so just pick a bow and take a quiver. Try your luck on the targets over there. No charge for that but if you want to try it on horseback, it will be 10 rupees" Kala said
"Ok"
We both grabbed a bow and quiver and went to a portion of the track where there were three targets in a row. Dmitri tried his luck first and got a bulls-eye in the first shot.
"That wasn't too hard" he said
"For you. Okay" I failed miserably. The arrow didn't even go ten feet
Dmitri held his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.
"Alright, hotshot, try doing what you did while keeping a horse steady. I'll even pay to see you fail" I said
"Sure"
We went back to Kala and told her Dmitri wanted to try his luck on horseback. I paid her the 10 rupees and she began explaining to Dmitri what to do.
"You see the track? It's made up of three ways to score points: The three targets on this wall, the pots in front of those and the high targets at either end. The targets vary on points depending on where you hit it, but the pots are worth 100 points for each on you break. If your score is high, you'll get a prize. Got it?"
"Yeah."
"Mount a horse. When you hear my whistle, go."
It took Dmitri 5 minutes before he found a horse that wouldn't buck when he approached it. He was very unsteady on a horse and it was all I could do to stop from laughing at him.
"Ready?" Kala asked him
"Y-yeah. I-I guess so."
Kala whistled loudly and the horse took off. Dmitri attempted to hold on and soot at the same time but he lost his grip and fell flat on his back when he reached the other end of the track.
I ran to him and he was lying there groaning. I healed him somewhat but he had taken a nasty fall and I wasn't skilled enough to heal him completely. Kala walked up grinning.
"That was the worst score ever attempted. Where did you learn how to ride?"
"I never did" Dmitri said sitting up
"You've never learned? The why did you ride?"
"Thought I'd try"
"Help him back. I'll take the horse" I said
Kala helped the limping Dmitri. At first I led the horse by the reins but then it stopped
"C'mon" But the horse stayed put. Then it nuzzled me "Oh don't tell me a horse wants me to ride him"
I walked over and the horse knelt down to let me get on. I kicked him gently and he took off. It was a great feeling to have the wind blow through my hair. It was like I was back at Lon Lon and I was riding Epona.
I passed by Kala and Dmitri as I cheered going down the track. He reared up but I held on. I waited for them to catch up.
"You ride quite well" Kala said to me "I know very few who have such control. Was that your first time on a horse?"
"No, and it wasn't Dmitri's either. He just cant ride"
"Hey, love, I got an idea. Why don't you ride while I shoot? We'd get the high score for sure. How bout' it?"
"Kala, can we?"
"Alright, but you must score over 2000 since you have two people"
I looked at Dmitri and smiled. I whispered to the horse then helped him up.
"Ready?" Kala asked again
"Yeah"
She whistled
"Yah!" We took off
Dmitri hit every pot putting us at 1200 points. The he hit three bulls-eyes on the high target.
"We only need 500. Can you do it?"
"I can try." He dropped an arrow "Now I have to. That was my extra"
"Just shoot!"
Dmitri shot an arrow at each target and two at the final high one.
"Hey, I found another arrow"
He shot one final arrow and nailed it.
"What'd that put us at?" Dmitri panted falling on me
"2100 I think. Whoa, horsy"
"Well, Kala, did we do ok?" I asked
"I've never seen such skill in 2 young people. You play off each other's strengths to achieve what you need to. It amazing"
"Yak, yak, yak. What'd we win?' he said
"For, you, Dmitri, take this. It's one of the finest bows. Not quite Elvish or Faery quality but the best here in Hyrule. And for you Saira, a Gerudo bracelet"
"Saira! Dmitri!" Nyssa called "Come"
Dmitri and I exchanged looks before following her back to the Fortress.
"So, what's the word?" I asked "Can we leave yet?"
"How long have you been here?" Nyssa asked
"Let's see. Two -"
"-Three months." Dmitri said
"I have orders to keep you here in the actual fortress. You must stay inside at all times unless escorted by one of the guards."
"Exactly whose orders are these?" I asked
"That's my business"
"We're the ones being held. It's our business too." I said
But Nyssa said nothing as she locked us in our room.
"What the hell?" Dmitri yelled slamming his fists on the door
"Calm down"
"Love, now we really are prisoners. Before we could have easily left but now we're locked in."
"Dmitri -" But just then I got a sharp pain in my head. It was unbearable. The pain escalated with every second. I fell off the bed but Dmitri caught me before I hit the floor. The pain was so bad now that I began screaming. I fought to keep my eyes open but when they finally shut, a vision appeared.
Ganondorf was in the castle. It was black and reeked of death and a sense of evil. He was sitting in a large chair in front of a fireplace. Nyssa's head was floating in the fire.
'We have two elves held in the fortress' she said
'Who are they?' Ganondorf asked
'Their names are Saira and Dmitri. They are in search of someone but wont say who'
'Saira? Is she from the Forest?'
'I didn't ask'
Everything stopped. I could barely remember what I'd seen. Dmitri was staring at me oddly. Footsteps could be heard running down the hall towards them. Nyssa unlocked the door and burst in.
"What is going on?" she demanded
"Nothing" I said
"She was having a vi -"
I elbowed Dmitri. I didn't need a bunch of thieving women knowing I had visions"
"Having a what?" Nyssa asked
"Migraine. I get really bad migraines"
"Migraines?"
Nyssa bombarded me with questions about that and other things I knew she didn't care about. She asked where we were from and what we were doing out by ourselves. But mostly she wanted to know who I was looking for. That was the one thing I refused to say.
About 3 weeks after Viera had told us to try archery, we were finally getting around to it. Viera had failed miserably at trying to teach me and gave up after half an hour.
Most of the Gerudos had gotten used to Dmitri but there were still many who would rather see him in a cage than out and about.
We walked up the hill to the archery arena, which we'd forgotten was horseback archery. Another shorthaired Gerudo woman was brushing a magnificent horse. Stables were actually built inside the rock that created a border around the place. Next to the stables was a small open shack. Bows all sizes and styles were hanging on the wall with quivers lined up beneath them.
The Gerudo stopped brushing the horse and came to greet us.
"Hello. I am Kala. You would be Saira and Dmitri" she was obviously not one of the Gerudos that hated Dmitri.
"Right we wanted to try archery not necessarily -"
"-horseback archery" Dmitri finished
"Well, no one has to come to ride in a long time so just pick a bow and take a quiver. Try your luck on the targets over there. No charge for that but if you want to try it on horseback, it will be 10 rupees" Kala said
"Ok"
We both grabbed a bow and quiver and went to a portion of the track where there were three targets in a row. Dmitri tried his luck first and got a bulls-eye in the first shot.
"That wasn't too hard" he said
"For you. Okay" I failed miserably. The arrow didn't even go ten feet
Dmitri held his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.
"Alright, hotshot, try doing what you did while keeping a horse steady. I'll even pay to see you fail" I said
"Sure"
We went back to Kala and told her Dmitri wanted to try his luck on horseback. I paid her the 10 rupees and she began explaining to Dmitri what to do.
"You see the track? It's made up of three ways to score points: The three targets on this wall, the pots in front of those and the high targets at either end. The targets vary on points depending on where you hit it, but the pots are worth 100 points for each on you break. If your score is high, you'll get a prize. Got it?"
"Yeah."
"Mount a horse. When you hear my whistle, go."
It took Dmitri 5 minutes before he found a horse that wouldn't buck when he approached it. He was very unsteady on a horse and it was all I could do to stop from laughing at him.
"Ready?" Kala asked him
"Y-yeah. I-I guess so."
Kala whistled loudly and the horse took off. Dmitri attempted to hold on and soot at the same time but he lost his grip and fell flat on his back when he reached the other end of the track.
I ran to him and he was lying there groaning. I healed him somewhat but he had taken a nasty fall and I wasn't skilled enough to heal him completely. Kala walked up grinning.
"That was the worst score ever attempted. Where did you learn how to ride?"
"I never did" Dmitri said sitting up
"You've never learned? The why did you ride?"
"Thought I'd try"
"Help him back. I'll take the horse" I said
Kala helped the limping Dmitri. At first I led the horse by the reins but then it stopped
"C'mon" But the horse stayed put. Then it nuzzled me "Oh don't tell me a horse wants me to ride him"
I walked over and the horse knelt down to let me get on. I kicked him gently and he took off. It was a great feeling to have the wind blow through my hair. It was like I was back at Lon Lon and I was riding Epona.
I passed by Kala and Dmitri as I cheered going down the track. He reared up but I held on. I waited for them to catch up.
"You ride quite well" Kala said to me "I know very few who have such control. Was that your first time on a horse?"
"No, and it wasn't Dmitri's either. He just cant ride"
"Hey, love, I got an idea. Why don't you ride while I shoot? We'd get the high score for sure. How bout' it?"
"Kala, can we?"
"Alright, but you must score over 2000 since you have two people"
I looked at Dmitri and smiled. I whispered to the horse then helped him up.
"Ready?" Kala asked again
"Yeah"
She whistled
"Yah!" We took off
Dmitri hit every pot putting us at 1200 points. The he hit three bulls-eyes on the high target.
"We only need 500. Can you do it?"
"I can try." He dropped an arrow "Now I have to. That was my extra"
"Just shoot!"
Dmitri shot an arrow at each target and two at the final high one.
"Hey, I found another arrow"
He shot one final arrow and nailed it.
"What'd that put us at?" Dmitri panted falling on me
"2100 I think. Whoa, horsy"
"Well, Kala, did we do ok?" I asked
"I've never seen such skill in 2 young people. You play off each other's strengths to achieve what you need to. It amazing"
"Yak, yak, yak. What'd we win?' he said
"For, you, Dmitri, take this. It's one of the finest bows. Not quite Elvish or Faery quality but the best here in Hyrule. And for you Saira, a Gerudo bracelet"
"Saira! Dmitri!" Nyssa called "Come"
Dmitri and I exchanged looks before following her back to the Fortress.
"So, what's the word?" I asked "Can we leave yet?"
"How long have you been here?" Nyssa asked
"Let's see. Two -"
"-Three months." Dmitri said
"I have orders to keep you here in the actual fortress. You must stay inside at all times unless escorted by one of the guards."
"Exactly whose orders are these?" I asked
"That's my business"
"We're the ones being held. It's our business too." I said
But Nyssa said nothing as she locked us in our room.
"What the hell?" Dmitri yelled slamming his fists on the door
"Calm down"
"Love, now we really are prisoners. Before we could have easily left but now we're locked in."
"Dmitri -" But just then I got a sharp pain in my head. It was unbearable. The pain escalated with every second. I fell off the bed but Dmitri caught me before I hit the floor. The pain was so bad now that I began screaming. I fought to keep my eyes open but when they finally shut, a vision appeared.
Ganondorf was in the castle. It was black and reeked of death and a sense of evil. He was sitting in a large chair in front of a fireplace. Nyssa's head was floating in the fire.
'We have two elves held in the fortress' she said
'Who are they?' Ganondorf asked
'Their names are Saira and Dmitri. They are in search of someone but wont say who'
'Saira? Is she from the Forest?'
'I didn't ask'
Everything stopped. I could barely remember what I'd seen. Dmitri was staring at me oddly. Footsteps could be heard running down the hall towards them. Nyssa unlocked the door and burst in.
"What is going on?" she demanded
"Nothing" I said
"She was having a vi -"
I elbowed Dmitri. I didn't need a bunch of thieving women knowing I had visions"
"Having a what?" Nyssa asked
"Migraine. I get really bad migraines"
"Migraines?"
Nyssa bombarded me with questions about that and other things I knew she didn't care about. She asked where we were from and what we were doing out by ourselves. But mostly she wanted to know who I was looking for. That was the one thing I refused to say.