Chapter One-

The Escape & The Accident

Narisina lifted the latch on the door of the stable. The heavy wooden door groaned loudly as it swung open. She waited for a moment to make sure the guard had not woken up and then stepped into the cool stable. The smells of hay and horse filled her nose as she walked through the isle between the sleeping horses. It took her only a moment to find Suishira, her beloved horse. Two horses down she found Serinna's horse, Gallivespia.

They followed her to the door where Narisina collected their saddles and bridles. They walked out of the stable and a little ways down the road to the place where Serinna was waiting for them. The Gerudos carefully saddled their horses and put their bridles on.

Both of the horses were beautiful. Suishira was as black as a keese's wings, except for a stripe of white running down her right hind leg. Gallivespia was a descendent of a horse stolen from the Lon Lon Ranch. She was a rich, dark brown mottled with gray.

After they prepared the horses for the journey ahead, Serinna and Narisina walked down the road away from the stable. As they passed the archery training area the horses pricked there ears and snorted. The women saw this, knowing that it meant someone was nearby, and drew their weapons. They walked into the shadows by the side of the dirt path and found the man who had helped the prisoners escape.

He stepped out of the shadows with his sword in his hand ready to fight the two trained warriors. Narisina saw his face clearly in the moonlight and remembered the way she felt when she had first seen him. She suppressed her feelings, knowing they were what had gotten her into this mess.

Link rushed first at the red cloaked guard, hoping to beat her easily as he had before, but she was more prepared now. She stepped aside and he ran past. He turned and brought his sword down. She blocked with her sword. He tried to hit her from behind, and she jumped out of the way.

After several minutes of fighting with no success, Serinna decided to step in and save the poor man the embarrassment of being beaten so badly. She took the end of her spear and knocked his feet out from under him.

"I had this under control, Serinna," Narisina said in her native tongue. "I did not need any help."

Link laid on the ground where he had fallen with two swords and a spear pointed at him. His sword had been knocked out of his hand and lay on the path several feet from his hand. The guard in red said something to the other woman, but he did not understand her. Then she spoke to him.

"Don't make a sound." She spoke with a heavy accent, but Link had no trouble understanding her. The guard dressed in purple offered her hand to help him up. As he rose he was able to see her clearly. She looked like all the other Gerudo women except for her hair. She wore it in the traditional Gerudo style, but instead of being red, it was as black as caw feathers.

They lead him down the path to a place far enough from the fortress where they would not be heard. "Who are you?" the dark-haired Gerudo asked him.

"I am Link, the Hero of Time." The two women exchanged glances and then began to laugh. They spoke to each other for several minutes in the Gerudo language and then switched back to Hyrulian.

"You, the Hero of Time. I do not believe it. The Goddesses would never choose a whelp like you to defeat the evil king. You must me joking with us." Link picked up his sword from where it had fallen and handed it to them.

"Now do you believe me?" he asked.

"It is the Master Sword! He was not lying," the dark haired woman exclaimed.

"You must forgive us." the woman in red begged. "I am Narisina, and this Serinna. Up until now we were Gerudo guards. We are leaving because we would rather die than live under the rule of the vile men they call king."

"If you would please allow us to come with you," Serinna continued, "we would be very grateful."

"I would be honored if you would join me," Link said.

"Do you have a horse, Master?" Serinna inquired. Link pulled out his ocarina and played the simple melody Malon had taught him so long ago. Narisina and Serinna watched as a beautiful brown horse with pure white mane and tail run up the road to Link. He patted her nose and leapt on to her back. The two women followed his example and mounted their horses.

They quietly rode past the fortress and down the road that lead out of the Gerudo's civilization. Their horses followed the path as they had done many times before. Narisina turned toward her old home and spat. Unlike Serinna, she would not miss it at all.

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Roux pushed the long pole into the soft mud at the bottom of the river to steer the raft around the Ottoroks that had appeared at night fall. Marina lay asleep on the smooth wood. her arms were wrapped tightly around the bag she had taken with her. She was using one of Roux's old shirts as a pillow. The cow stood beside her, asleep.

Roux thought happily that he would soon be rid of her. For the past three days that had been collecting samples for some experiment the nutcase she worked for was conducting. For the past three days she had not stopped talking, except for when she was asleep. Roux was the type of man who appreciated silence.

A small group of keese flew above him. He ran his hand over the top of his tall leather boots to make sure his knife was still tucked safely inside. It was. He would protect Marina. He was being paid to, but his evil side almost wished he could let them attack.

The moon sparkled on the water of the river. It had an almost hypnotizing affect on Roux. He felt his eyelids growing heavier, and he was soon lying fast asleep by Marina.

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"Roux!" Marina screamed, waking him up. He sat up just in time to see the waterfall that connected the river with Lake Hylia. He reached for his pole to stop them, but it was to late. The raft went over the edge spilling Roux, Marina, the cow, and all of their supplies into the icy waters. The raft hit the bottom and broke into many small pieces.

Marina dragged Roux to the shore. She thanked Din that they had not been hurt and that she had managed to hold on to her bag. The cow had shaken the water from her fur and was grazing by the edge of the water. Roux sat up and coughed. He looked out onto the water and became dazed. Marina tried to help him up, but he just sat there repeating "My raft. My raft." Not even his horse, Bela, could snap him out of it when she came galloping up to see her master.

Marina grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. She lead him into the laboratory.

"This was no time for a swim, Marina. We have work to do," the scientist said as they walked through the door. Marina sat the still dazed Roux on the bench by the small table. She set her bag on the table and handed the vials to the scientist.

"Here are your samples. I'm going upstairs to change." She walked over to the door that was hidden behind the aquarium in the corner of the small room. A few minutes later she reentered the room wearing a long blue-green skirt and a white blouse. She was surprised to find Roux sitting and chatting with the scientist. She did not know how he did it, but her boss had snapped him out of his daze.

Marina and Roux left the scientist to his work and spent the day fishing and collecting their belongings which had eventually drifted onto the sand by the water's edge.