Next chapter: attempted resurrection of Ganondorf.
------------------
I was thrown down onto my feet.
"Here's the boy. You remember our agreement?"
I turned to my new owner, the one who bore Ganondorf's name. It was the beautiful girl. She looked quite pleased with herself.
"You remember our agreement?" the auctioneer repeated, keeping a firm hand on my collar.
"Of course. Any favours you require. And I won't have your head removed. Now, give me the boy."
She hadn't yet unlocked her eyes with mine. I shuddered. It was as though she was boring into my soul, ripping apart the flesh to see the raw, naked spirit beneath. When I tried to look away, I found it physically impossible.
"I require payment too."
Nahashi waved a hand irritably. "It will be dealt with."
"If it isn't, I'll take him straight to your sister. By the end of the week."
...my free will melting away like an ice cube in a flame...
The auctioneer released her grip. I was drawn forward on stumbling steps.
"Just cash?"
"Just cash."
A hint of hesitation entered her eyes. She broke off the connection to look at the woman. I blinked, aware of myself once more.
"We have a few magical artefacts we're looking to get rid off," Nahashi offered.
The auctioneer was a cold businesswoman. "Visit a pawn shop then."
And she stalked off.
Nahashi turned back to me. I shut my eyes quickly.
"What are you doing?"
"You have bewitching eyes."
Her fingers pressed gently against my eyelids, trying to pry them apart. I snatch at her hand but it suddenly wasn't there.
"Do they scare you?"
"I prefer to have my wits about me. Especially around..."
"Around what, boy?"
Suddenly, her body was pressed against mine. I staggered away from her as she started laughing at my discomfort.
"Around Ganon's child? You've got nothing to fear; I hated my father. I DO like you though."
Her mischievous laughter grew close and I snatched out at where it was coming from. My hand caught nothing.
"We're different from our fathers, y'know. You don't have to fight me."
Again, with a devilish laugh, she pressed herself to me and, as I stepped back, I collided with the wall, trapped. She seized the opportunity, and I was crushed against the stone. I could feel her, every curve, every beat of her heart in her breast, the pulse of her blood through her body, the heat of her skin. Her lips brushed mine...
She broke away.
"Of course, if you don't want to..."
"My family would kill me."
"So? Who cares? They're hundreds of miles away. Do you think your father cared?" She sighed. "Never mind. Leave it. Lets go hunting instead."
---------------
We did. I was terrible.
Usually, I'm a good hunter. But that's back in the Lost Woods, on horseback, using bows and throwing spears.
Gerudos, it seems, hunt with knives and claws. On foot. In the dessert. And there's a difference between a few frightened forest rabbits and the Ravenous Desert Bugblatter Beast.
I waded through the sandstorm, knee deep in sand, as bodiless roars and hunting screams raged around me.
Shielding my eyes against the merciless waves of sand, I saw the blurry form of a beast run past, a deep gash in its side, back legs buckling with exhaustion. Nahashi leapt on the thing and started hacking murderously at it with the knives tied to her arms. They rolled away into the storm.
"Nahashi!" I yelled, chasing after her. "Nahashi!"
But everywhere I looked was just orange fuzz.
In the distance, the faint echoes of an enraged yell, tossed about by the winds.
"Nahashi!"
A shape was bounding towards me. I raised my weapon. A metre away, and it was still a blur.
"I got a leg!" the thing I'd just been about the stab said excitedly.
Something was thrown at me. I caught it. One end was a trotter, the other a bloody stump.
"I'm gonna go catch the rest of it."
For a long time, I saw and heard nothing of her. It's difficult to say how much time passed but, eventually, it got so dark I could barely see my hand in front of my face.
I crouched in the raging storm, as the penetrating desert chill started to seem into my body. My skin was raw, burnt, and bleeding.
So this was her plan. To leave me to die in the desert. I'd actually been stupid enough to trust her.
Just as I thought I was going to curl up and die, something landed on me and rolled me over in the sand.
"I got it!"
She waved a carcass in my face. It had been stabbed so many times so viciously, there wasn't much left of it.
"Great. C-c-an we go b-b-back now?"
"You cold?" she asked from where she sat proudly on my chest.
How could she not be cold? Most people wore more on beaches. Most people wore more in showers.
"J-just a b-b-b-bit."
----------------
"Its an old outpost," Nahashi screamed back. "We use them on long hunting trips."
The building was a stump of a tower, ten metres wide, its golden stone walls worn smooth by years of abrasion. The Gerudo went to the base, shovelled away some of the sand that had heaped up against the side, and kicked at the metal panel she uncovered.
"In here!"
A ladder led down a tunnel that dropped down into the tower. At the bottom of the ladder there was a darkened room.
"Lights!" Nahashi commanded. Torches burst instantly to flame, filling the tiny room with warmth and a flickering red glow.
We each heaved sighs of relief and shook the sand from our hair. I took off my boots and a ton poured out.
"Still cold?"
"Freezing."
"You know what we do when we're cold in Gerudo Fortress?"
"Play chess?"
"Nope." She moved closer, the carcass dropping from her fingers and sliding seductively down her leg. "Shall I show you?"
REMEMBER THE EYES, DUMBASS
"You don't want to watch, huh?" she smiled, when I clamped my eyes shut. "Fine by me."
"I told you: I promised my family I wouldn't."
"They'd never know," she teased. "Come on. You know you want it. I know you want it. Think of it as helping International Relations."
I paused.
"You think my parents would be proud of that?"
"Sure they would."
She wrapped her arms around my waist and sank her head onto my chest.
"Think of it as helping to keep Royal Blood going."
"I feel like I've been tenderised. Maybe some other time."
"I'll be gentle."
I gave her a doubtful silence.
"I'll try," she corrected.
I shrugged. "OK. What the sacred realm."
------------------
I was thrown down onto my feet.
"Here's the boy. You remember our agreement?"
I turned to my new owner, the one who bore Ganondorf's name. It was the beautiful girl. She looked quite pleased with herself.
"You remember our agreement?" the auctioneer repeated, keeping a firm hand on my collar.
"Of course. Any favours you require. And I won't have your head removed. Now, give me the boy."
She hadn't yet unlocked her eyes with mine. I shuddered. It was as though she was boring into my soul, ripping apart the flesh to see the raw, naked spirit beneath. When I tried to look away, I found it physically impossible.
"I require payment too."
Nahashi waved a hand irritably. "It will be dealt with."
"If it isn't, I'll take him straight to your sister. By the end of the week."
...my free will melting away like an ice cube in a flame...
The auctioneer released her grip. I was drawn forward on stumbling steps.
"Just cash?"
"Just cash."
A hint of hesitation entered her eyes. She broke off the connection to look at the woman. I blinked, aware of myself once more.
"We have a few magical artefacts we're looking to get rid off," Nahashi offered.
The auctioneer was a cold businesswoman. "Visit a pawn shop then."
And she stalked off.
Nahashi turned back to me. I shut my eyes quickly.
"What are you doing?"
"You have bewitching eyes."
Her fingers pressed gently against my eyelids, trying to pry them apart. I snatch at her hand but it suddenly wasn't there.
"Do they scare you?"
"I prefer to have my wits about me. Especially around..."
"Around what, boy?"
Suddenly, her body was pressed against mine. I staggered away from her as she started laughing at my discomfort.
"Around Ganon's child? You've got nothing to fear; I hated my father. I DO like you though."
Her mischievous laughter grew close and I snatched out at where it was coming from. My hand caught nothing.
"We're different from our fathers, y'know. You don't have to fight me."
Again, with a devilish laugh, she pressed herself to me and, as I stepped back, I collided with the wall, trapped. She seized the opportunity, and I was crushed against the stone. I could feel her, every curve, every beat of her heart in her breast, the pulse of her blood through her body, the heat of her skin. Her lips brushed mine...
She broke away.
"Of course, if you don't want to..."
"My family would kill me."
"So? Who cares? They're hundreds of miles away. Do you think your father cared?" She sighed. "Never mind. Leave it. Lets go hunting instead."
---------------
We did. I was terrible.
Usually, I'm a good hunter. But that's back in the Lost Woods, on horseback, using bows and throwing spears.
Gerudos, it seems, hunt with knives and claws. On foot. In the dessert. And there's a difference between a few frightened forest rabbits and the Ravenous Desert Bugblatter Beast.
I waded through the sandstorm, knee deep in sand, as bodiless roars and hunting screams raged around me.
Shielding my eyes against the merciless waves of sand, I saw the blurry form of a beast run past, a deep gash in its side, back legs buckling with exhaustion. Nahashi leapt on the thing and started hacking murderously at it with the knives tied to her arms. They rolled away into the storm.
"Nahashi!" I yelled, chasing after her. "Nahashi!"
But everywhere I looked was just orange fuzz.
In the distance, the faint echoes of an enraged yell, tossed about by the winds.
"Nahashi!"
A shape was bounding towards me. I raised my weapon. A metre away, and it was still a blur.
"I got a leg!" the thing I'd just been about the stab said excitedly.
Something was thrown at me. I caught it. One end was a trotter, the other a bloody stump.
"I'm gonna go catch the rest of it."
For a long time, I saw and heard nothing of her. It's difficult to say how much time passed but, eventually, it got so dark I could barely see my hand in front of my face.
I crouched in the raging storm, as the penetrating desert chill started to seem into my body. My skin was raw, burnt, and bleeding.
So this was her plan. To leave me to die in the desert. I'd actually been stupid enough to trust her.
Just as I thought I was going to curl up and die, something landed on me and rolled me over in the sand.
"I got it!"
She waved a carcass in my face. It had been stabbed so many times so viciously, there wasn't much left of it.
"Great. C-c-an we go b-b-back now?"
"You cold?" she asked from where she sat proudly on my chest.
How could she not be cold? Most people wore more on beaches. Most people wore more in showers.
"J-just a b-b-b-bit."
----------------
"Its an old outpost," Nahashi screamed back. "We use them on long hunting trips."
The building was a stump of a tower, ten metres wide, its golden stone walls worn smooth by years of abrasion. The Gerudo went to the base, shovelled away some of the sand that had heaped up against the side, and kicked at the metal panel she uncovered.
"In here!"
A ladder led down a tunnel that dropped down into the tower. At the bottom of the ladder there was a darkened room.
"Lights!" Nahashi commanded. Torches burst instantly to flame, filling the tiny room with warmth and a flickering red glow.
We each heaved sighs of relief and shook the sand from our hair. I took off my boots and a ton poured out.
"Still cold?"
"Freezing."
"You know what we do when we're cold in Gerudo Fortress?"
"Play chess?"
"Nope." She moved closer, the carcass dropping from her fingers and sliding seductively down her leg. "Shall I show you?"
REMEMBER THE EYES, DUMBASS
"You don't want to watch, huh?" she smiled, when I clamped my eyes shut. "Fine by me."
"I told you: I promised my family I wouldn't."
"They'd never know," she teased. "Come on. You know you want it. I know you want it. Think of it as helping International Relations."
I paused.
"You think my parents would be proud of that?"
"Sure they would."
She wrapped her arms around my waist and sank her head onto my chest.
"Think of it as helping to keep Royal Blood going."
"I feel like I've been tenderised. Maybe some other time."
"I'll be gentle."
I gave her a doubtful silence.
"I'll try," she corrected.
I shrugged. "OK. What the sacred realm."