Disclaimer: Once again, I own nothing. And once again, this is based on the Zelda cartoon which was based on the Zelda game. Heck, the only Zelda games I'm even familiar with are: Zelda (original NES, baby!), Zelda II The Adventures of Link (again, original NES), and that one with the Wind Fish (GB). I don't even know when Ganon became Ganondorf. But nothing beats the old-school stuff!
The Price of Power
Chapter 2: The Purge
Because the Kunai were a wandering tribe, their village was made to travel easily. Simple tents served as shelters, and, with the exception of livestock, none of the Kunai owned anything that couldn't be carried by hand. The camp could be assembled and taken apart in under an hour. And thus when Ganon skidded into the campsite, he was not necessarily surprised to see it empty of life. But he never expected to find it full of death. Bodies littered the site - not the whole tribe, but still a good number. The tents remained - many trampled, some burning, none unscathed.
Ganon stepped gingerly through the carnage, trying not to look at the bodies that had once been friends and family. So much was gone in such a short time - homes, loved ones... Mingled among the bodies of the Kunai was the occasional soldier in the king's livery. A grim smile crossed Ganon's lips at the sight. It was good to know that at least the Kunai didn't accept their deaths passively.
Outside of his family's tent, Ganon froze. Two Kunai bodies lay surrounded by ten soldiers. A sick fear knotted Ganon's stomach as he turned the bodies over. "Father! Radon!" Ganon slumped to the ground, a keening wail erupting from his slender body as he mourned the loss of both father and brother. Not an hour before he'd expected to come home to triumphantly display his treasure, but now that home lay in ruins. The Triforce of Power meant nothing compared to the loss before Ganon.
Ganon knelt before the bodies of his father and brother until dawn's rosy fingertips brushed away the night sky. He'd cried until he had no more tears, and then he'd remained motionless, staring unblinkingly at the bodies. Now, though, he rose. There was much to be done!
Finding a pouch whose owner no longer had need of it, Ganon placed the Triforce inside and belted it around his waist. Now he could work without the temptation of magic. And work he did! He toiled through the heat of the day, dragging bodies to the center of the camp. Kunai and Hyrulian lay together in death. Ganon had decided that he couldn't leave the soldiers' souls to wander the afterlife for eternity. These were just men who were following orders, not the men giving the orders. And so through the stink of death and gathering clouds of biting flies, Ganon worked to make a funeral pyre.
When the last body had joined the pile, Ganon slumped back to the ground. Weariness gnawed at his bones, but the task was nearing completion. Just a little more and he would be finished, and the dead would have peace. Again Ganon stood and began ravaging the meager supplies left in the camp. He did not need much, but the invaders had left so little... After some scavenging, though, Ganon found what he needed.
Carrying a bag of salt, Ganon circled the funeral pyre. He sang in a low, warbling voice as he walked in measured steps, sprinkling the salt around the bodies. Ganon knew the ritual. He'd performed it before, but never for so many at once. Salt for purity - no demon could cross the circle of salt to kidnap a wayward soul. And the hymn called upon the totem spirits of the Kunai to lead the dead. Normally one would only call upon the totem of the deceased, but with so many gone, Ganon felt it safer to just call upon all of the totems so that no one would be left out.
Within the pouch, the Triforce flared and thrummed in tune to the hymn. Ganon barely noticed until he realized he was not alone. Phantom shapes of mist weaved through the pyre. Occasionally a shape would pause and begin to take form. The totem spirits! Ganon could only stare, for this was the first time he'd ever actually seen the totems during a ceremony. Here a wolf sniffed out a soul, there a beaver swam to a soul... So many totems had come to take the dead away! Ganon's thoughts drifted towards the Triforce. "If it is you that allows me to see this," he whispered, "then thank you."
As Ganon watched, one phantom creature approached him, becoming more solid as it came closer; until, at last, Raab the Boar stood before Ganon. Ganon fell to his knees, leaning forward until his forehead pressed against the ground. But Raab merely snorted and snuffled at the boy. Hesitantly, Ganon sat up and met the boar's sad gaze. As Ganon stared into those twin pools of darkness, he found himself seeing other places. Smaller bands of Kunai huddled close together in hiding. Some of the places Ganon knew, but most he did not. "I will find them all," Ganon swore as he remembered Melnas's warning. "I will find them all and bring them to the cave."
Raab nodded in what Ganon hoped was approval, and then the scene changed again. The royal palace of Hyrule filled Ganon's vision. In the courtyard strode a colossal man in an ermine trimmed robe - King Harken of Hyrule. The king stormed back and forth before his advisors, flecks of spittle flying as he shouted and gestured wildly. And then Ganon heard the words. "Destroy them!" the king roared. "Those filthy Kunai are responsible for my son's death! I wanted the land purged of those beast-lusting monsters! And I will not rest until the last Kunai is dead!"
With an almost audible snap, Ganon was flung back into his own body, eyes wide with horror. 'Purge...' Raab's voice whispered in Ganon's mind. 'The Purge began when the prince was thrown from his horse and the Kunai were blamed.' Raab turned away, back to the bodies. He still had dead to guide, after all.
"Purge..." Ganon repeated with a sense of growing horror. He remembered the man he had seen thrown from a horse and he shuddered. Ganon could hardly dare believe that he'd witnessed the death of a prince, and that now his people were blamed. Neither Ganon nor his people had anything to do with that death! Fate had merely dealt the prince an unlucky blow. But King Harken obviously needed someone to blame.
As the last of the phantom shapes vanished, Ganon rose once again. He crossed the salt circle and began sprinkling the bodies with oil. He could not bury so many, but he could at least see to it that no scavenger desecrated the corpses. Once all the oil was gone, Ganon struck a torch and hurled the flame into the pyre. The bodies lit almost at once.
Ganon did not stay to watch the bodies burn. He'd said his good-byes while the totems were sorting out the souls. Nothing more could be done for the dead, but there were still the living to seek out. Ganon wrapped up the few meager supplies he'd been able to find and belted on his father's sword. The blade was sharp and able to cleave through armor as though it were warm butter. The hilt was a good strong steel plated in gold, with a ruby on the end to weight it and give it balance. Besides the ruby, the sword bore no other ornamentation. Staring at the blade, Ganon thought on his father's words. "It is a sword, son, and it does what a sword must. Other swords may look better, but they are not as strong or good." The Crissword, Ganon decided, would be modeled after his father's sword.
And so with sword, food, and Triforce, Ganon marched into the woods, heading away from civilization. The Kunai would not be near cities. They would hide in deepest forest, avoiding people like skittish deer. But Ganon would find his people, and he would bring them to safety.
~*~*~*~*~
After three days of steady travel, Ganon began to wish that the stories about the Kunai being able to turn into animals were true. If he could turn into a boar, he knew he would not feel the weariness of travel as strongly. Yet still Ganon continued to push himself. He ate as he walked, and only stopped to rest when it became too dark to travel. Fearful of being found by soldiers, he would burrow under leaves at night to sleep. But as the trees pressed around thicker, Ganon began to lose some of his fear. Surely the soldiers would not come this deep into the forest, where their horses could barely move for the trees. At least, not yet. But Ganon suspected that King Harken would eventually order them to come. A shudder rocked Ganon's slim frame whenever he thought of the Purge and the shattered remains of his home.
On the morning of the fourth day, Ganon was rudely awakened by the butt of a spear poking at him through his nest of leaves. "Rise slowly," a rough voice commanded. "Make any sudden moves and they will be your last." Ganon rose. He wanted to wipe away the dirt and leaves and bugs, but now was not the time. Instead he remained still as three Kunai men circled him. At last the one with the spear spoke again. "If you are truly Kunai, speak the name of your totem. If you are from the castle, leave now and we will let you live."
"I follow Raab the Boar," Ganon answered, crossing his arms in front of his chest. These men were of his tribe and he would not be chased away. One man stood guard while the other two pulled away to converse. Ganon merely waited, as these were some of those he sought. At last the men motioned for Ganon to follow and began to slide silently through the forest, seeming little more than shadows. Ganon kept pace easily as he was led to a rude encampment.
Tents stitched together from scraps dotted the camp, and Ganon noted that there were more sleeping pallets than there were tents. Most of the people slept without shelter. An eerie quiet hovered about the area as men, women, and children went about their daily tasks. The threat of the Purge was still all too real, and these people were aware of it.
Ganon was led to one of the fires and motioned for him to sit. Ganon did so and found himself across from a middle-aged man whose dark hair was streaked with grey. The man regarded Ganon with the sharp eyes of a hunter; eyes which lingered on the boar-shaped earring worn by Ganon. "I am Ranu," the man said at last. "We have had several from the palace try to infiltrate our camp. They now walk the paths of the dead. If you are not Kunai, you will join them."
'A suspicious lot,' Ganon thought. But then, that suspicion was probably all that kept these people from being slaughtered. Without a word, Ganon flicked his fingers in a Kunai hunter signal for caution. Ranu smiled and repeated the gesture. The hand language was unique to the Kunai, and few outsiders knew of it, much less how to communicate with it. "Why do you come to us?" Ranu murmured.
"I am Ganon, son of Losee. I come to lead you to a sanctuary where you can escape the Purge." Ranu narrowed his eyes, and Ganon held out his father's sword. "I escaped the slaughter of my father's people," Ganon continued, "because I was not there. I was fleeing from hunters and came to a cave where a seer foretold the future. He told me that the Kunai were in for many years of hardship, and where we could find sanctuary."
Ranu stood and surveyed the camp before dropping his gaze back down to Ganon. "Will you fight to prove the strength of your claim?" Ranu demanded. At Ganon's nod, Ranu smiled again, but it was a smile without warmth. "Very well. If the totems wish us to follow you, you will win the battle against our strongest, and we will follow you to this sanctuary. If the totems are against you, you will leave us immediately." Ganon nodded again, watching as a fighting ground was set up by people who couldn't help but eavesdrop on the conversation.
Drawing his father's sword, Ganon moved to the center of the fight circle and waited. The wait was short as a giant of a man strode into the circle. He inclined his head slightly as he looked down on Ganon. "I am Vigar, and I fight with Moblin the Hound by my side," the giant growled.
"And Raab the Boar guides my arm," Ganon intoned in response. The battle had begun.