The dungeons in Ganondorf's castle were dark, freezing cold, and carried in
its atmosphere the sound and scent of Death. Piccolo was beginning to feel
sick again as Zelda pulled him farther through the bleak rooms and
corridors. Methkaphae followed them, walking casually, occasionally
giggling when Piccolo tripped over obtrusive stones.
"Hi, Zelda," muttered a weak prisoner from one of the cells they passed.
He appeared to be half man and half fish, and his flesh was a brilliant blue, but clearly he was ill. His ribs could be seen through his scaly flesh and he trembled as he waved to the young princess.
"Hello, Ice," Zelda chimed, beaming as she sped by.
"Who's he?" Piccolo asked.
"Ice. He's a Zora...it's real sad. He doesn't get enough water and he said he's 'diedrading'," Zelda replied, struggling with the final word.
For a moment Piccolo was confused, but he put the pieces of the puzzle together and corrected her, "Dehydrating."
"Yeah! De...hy....drating," Zelda repeated slowly.
Piccolo nodded and stumbled over another stray rock in his path. He suddenly stopped and Zelda strained to pull him forward, but Piccolo wasn't budging. The Princess yanked at his arm until Piccolo tossed her away.
"What's wrong?"
Methkaphae and Zelda both watched Piccolo carefully. His entire body was still except his twitching antennae and erect ears. Suddenly he turned and asked them, "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Methkaphae questioned.
Piccolo heard very clearly sounds of yelling, but he was too far into the dungeon to know what was being said. He tried to find the source of the noise, and bolted down one of the halls. His lungs screamed in protest. The yelling became louder.
"How dare you disobey me? I have taken care of you since your birth and you break all of my loose rules for you!"
Piccolo stopped suddenly and witnessed a horrific scene. Ganondorf held a Gerudo, one of his own people, above his head by her throat; she could do nothing but struggle for breath. Then Ganondorf dropped the girl and she fell to the hard, cold stone floor with a sound like snapping twigs. Crying out in pain, she clawed the air in Piccolo's direction as if begging him for salvation. The Gerudo King failed to notice her reaching for the Namek and pulled a dagger from one of his boots. She screamed for help, such a monstrous, discordant shriek that Piccolo fell to his knees, covering his ears with trembling hands. Drops of blood sprayed across his face and into his opened mouth as Ganondorf ripped at the girl's back with his dagger. And swiftly it was all over.
The body of a young Gerudo lay sprawled on the floor, her eyes opened and staring at Piccolo with dismal emptiness. Flecks of blood remained fresh in Piccolo's throat and corrupted his attractive face. His hands slipped from his throbbing ears and fell into his lap. In some method of mourning his scarred antennae drooped down over his expressionless eyes. There lingered a wave of silence in which Piccolo could only examine the gory corpse.
"Why?" he whispered softly, breaking the fragile silence.
Ganondorf suddenly twisted toward him, an irate look on his grizzly face. His arms were covered in blood up to the elbows and more thick splashes of the fluid painted his body and face in nauseating art. Heaving a sigh, his angry expression disappeared and he came towards Piccolo with arms spread expecting an embrace. Piccolo recoiled and shot the Gerudo King a cold- blooded snarl.
"Don't get near me!" Piccolo hissed.
Ganondorf glanced down at his arms and replied, "Oh...yes...I don't blame you." Almost embarrassedly he tried to wipe the blood on his cape.
"You just killed a child! She couldn't have been fifteen years old!" Piccolo yelled.
"Um...yes?"
"Why?" Piccolo growled, glaring at Ganondorf angrily.
"She set a prisoner free," Ganondorf replied. "Does that not deserve Death? And besides, Piccolo its not like you have never killed an innocent."
"When I was younger! I have changed entirely!" Piccolo roared in reply.
"And now my dear Namek would not even harm a cucco," teased Ganondorf. "Why don't we get cleaned up?"
Piccolo nodded and got carefully to his feet, unable to take his eyes off of the corpse.
"I've got a wonderful idea! Why don't we share a hot bath in my magnificent bathroom?" Ganondorf suggested.
Piccolo threw him an almost pitiful glance and turned to walk away. The images of the Gerudo's death flooded his thoughts and burned into the back of his eyes. He would never forget her cries for help, directed towards him, that he left unanswered. Ganondorf set a massive hand on Piccolo's shoulder as some sort of comfort and said, "Piccolo, join me. Remember the fun you had destroying? Can you not remember how you enjoyed being evil? Lover, we can enjoy it together, years of fun and nothing could stop us if we worked together."
Piccolo took a deep breath. "Not now, Ganondorf," he responded desolately.
"I realize you have been through a lot today. Are you feeling any better?" Ganondorf questioned, remembering suddenly that Piccolo had been ill.
Piccolo shook his head once, a heartbreaking expression on his face.
"Will you consider my proposal?" Ganondorf asked, a pleading tone in his voice.
Piccolo nodded once and muttered, "I will consider, but that means nothing."
"Perhaps I should escort you to your room?" Ganondorf suggested. "Because already you are heading in the wrong direction. Would you like a bath as well? Or some water?"
Piccolo replied quietly, "Water, yes. Bring water to Ice, your prisoner. He needs water. I need Earth."
Piccolo collapsed.
~*~*~~*
Everything was warm. Piccolo opened his eyes slowly and saw immediately that he was in his room. The fire was blazing before him and he was covered in blankets. Someone lay beside him. He knew without turning his head that he was wrapped securely in Ganondorf's arms. While Piccolo did not need to roll around he did and came face to face with sleeping Ganondorf, a blissful smile on his face.
"Why are you sleeping with me? Didn't I tell you to stay out of my room in the mornings?" Piccolo muttered angrily.
Ganondorf moaned in his sleep and tightened his grip on the smaller Namek. With a sigh of defeat, Piccolo relaxed and allowed himself to be smothered by Ganondorf's snug, burly body. A diminutive grin tugged at the corners of Piccolo's lips as his face was buried in Ganondorf's thick neck. The Gerudo King's flaming red hair smelled strongly of sand and heat, Piccolo could almost see with his nose the Desert of Ganondorf's birth.
"Do you love me?" Ganondorf mumbled quietly, still half asleep.
Piccolo heaved a sigh. "Sometimes I think I do."
Ganondorf opened a single topaz eye and asked, "When?"
Piccolo smiled slightly into Ganondorf's muscular chest. Ganondorf would never stop bothering him unless he got an answer. Finally Piccolo replied, "Well, like now."
The smile on Ganondorf's face grew to the point of showing off perfectly white teeth. He leaned in towards Piccolo, but the Namek pushed him away, shaking his head. Ganondorf pouted and leaned in once again more carefully to kiss Piccolo's forehead. Palatable, satisfying taste flooded into Ganondorf's mouth. Lust raged in his veins, he persisted to steal the taste until Piccolo forced him off.
"Stop it," Piccolo demanded.
Ganondorf stroked Piccolo's soft cheek with his long black nails. The Namek squirmed in his arms but he kept a firm grip. It seemed like forever that Ganondorf had been waiting for a moment like this with his beloved Piccolo. The atmosphere would have been so much more appropriate with chains and blood, at least Ganondorf felt so.
"What happened last night? After I fainted?"
"Well...let's see, I brought you up here and got you all of these blankets. Then I made sure Ice received the extra water and I came up here to lay with you," Ganondorf replied.
"You actually gave him more water?" Piccolo asked, shocked. He hadn't expected Ganondorf to listen to him.
"Of course, Piccolo. You asked me to, didn't you? It is a way of apologizing for what happened in the dungeons. You should not have witness that, and I feel guilty that you did," Ganondorf explained.
Piccolo smiled at Ganondorf tenderly and struggled to free himself from Ganondorf's embrace in order to get to his feet.
"Piccolo, every time I try to kiss you, you pull away. Why? Is it that you don't love me?"
Piccolo rolled his eyes and muttered, "Ganondorf, don't be ridiculous. We aren't supposed to kiss. First of all, I am a Namek. We don't kiss at all. Second of all, you are a man and should therefore be kissing a woman."
"Don't be so analytical, Cutie," Ganondorf snickered.
"Excuse me? Get off! Leave me alone!" Piccolo cried, leaping to his feet and pointing at the metal door in the corner, dwarfed by the gargantuan fireplace.
Slowly, Ganondorf stood and beamed innocently at Piccolo. Piccolo glowered at Ganondorf, threw his head back and screamed in frustration, a child having a temper tantrum. Ganondorf took a step closer to Piccolo and dragged the Namek into a cuddle.
"Why couldn't Vegeta have been kidnapped? He deserves this...." Piccolo sighed unhappily.
His complaining didn't last long, however. He was soon consenting to the embrace and Ganondorf bent down to kiss Piccolo's forehead again. Piccolo glanced up into the face of the Gerudo and craned his neck to reach Ganondorf's height. They were so close that they breathed into each others face. To Piccolo, Ganondorf's breath smelled clean and crisp like fresh fruits and vegetables; he wondered if Ganondorf's mouth tasted so fresh and stretched upwards to find out himself.
A dissonant sound echoed through the large empty room as the metal door was thrown opened, interrupting the intimate moment. A Gerudo woman announced, "Lord Ganondorf, your breakfast is ready."
"Yes, of course. I'll be down in one second," he replied.
"I didn't...intrude, did I?" she asked nervously.
"Of course not! What would I be doing with this damned prisoner? Let me finish my threats and I will escort myself to breakfast. I am not a child, I don't need you women helping me through my own castle!" Ganondorf roared, his voice suddenly harsh and detestable.
"Yes, sir."
She scurried out of the room, forgetting to close the door on her way out. Ganondorf left without another word and Piccolo was left alone, panting for breath and with a strange new feeling flowing in his Namekian blood.
"Hi, Zelda," muttered a weak prisoner from one of the cells they passed.
He appeared to be half man and half fish, and his flesh was a brilliant blue, but clearly he was ill. His ribs could be seen through his scaly flesh and he trembled as he waved to the young princess.
"Hello, Ice," Zelda chimed, beaming as she sped by.
"Who's he?" Piccolo asked.
"Ice. He's a Zora...it's real sad. He doesn't get enough water and he said he's 'diedrading'," Zelda replied, struggling with the final word.
For a moment Piccolo was confused, but he put the pieces of the puzzle together and corrected her, "Dehydrating."
"Yeah! De...hy....drating," Zelda repeated slowly.
Piccolo nodded and stumbled over another stray rock in his path. He suddenly stopped and Zelda strained to pull him forward, but Piccolo wasn't budging. The Princess yanked at his arm until Piccolo tossed her away.
"What's wrong?"
Methkaphae and Zelda both watched Piccolo carefully. His entire body was still except his twitching antennae and erect ears. Suddenly he turned and asked them, "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Methkaphae questioned.
Piccolo heard very clearly sounds of yelling, but he was too far into the dungeon to know what was being said. He tried to find the source of the noise, and bolted down one of the halls. His lungs screamed in protest. The yelling became louder.
"How dare you disobey me? I have taken care of you since your birth and you break all of my loose rules for you!"
Piccolo stopped suddenly and witnessed a horrific scene. Ganondorf held a Gerudo, one of his own people, above his head by her throat; she could do nothing but struggle for breath. Then Ganondorf dropped the girl and she fell to the hard, cold stone floor with a sound like snapping twigs. Crying out in pain, she clawed the air in Piccolo's direction as if begging him for salvation. The Gerudo King failed to notice her reaching for the Namek and pulled a dagger from one of his boots. She screamed for help, such a monstrous, discordant shriek that Piccolo fell to his knees, covering his ears with trembling hands. Drops of blood sprayed across his face and into his opened mouth as Ganondorf ripped at the girl's back with his dagger. And swiftly it was all over.
The body of a young Gerudo lay sprawled on the floor, her eyes opened and staring at Piccolo with dismal emptiness. Flecks of blood remained fresh in Piccolo's throat and corrupted his attractive face. His hands slipped from his throbbing ears and fell into his lap. In some method of mourning his scarred antennae drooped down over his expressionless eyes. There lingered a wave of silence in which Piccolo could only examine the gory corpse.
"Why?" he whispered softly, breaking the fragile silence.
Ganondorf suddenly twisted toward him, an irate look on his grizzly face. His arms were covered in blood up to the elbows and more thick splashes of the fluid painted his body and face in nauseating art. Heaving a sigh, his angry expression disappeared and he came towards Piccolo with arms spread expecting an embrace. Piccolo recoiled and shot the Gerudo King a cold- blooded snarl.
"Don't get near me!" Piccolo hissed.
Ganondorf glanced down at his arms and replied, "Oh...yes...I don't blame you." Almost embarrassedly he tried to wipe the blood on his cape.
"You just killed a child! She couldn't have been fifteen years old!" Piccolo yelled.
"Um...yes?"
"Why?" Piccolo growled, glaring at Ganondorf angrily.
"She set a prisoner free," Ganondorf replied. "Does that not deserve Death? And besides, Piccolo its not like you have never killed an innocent."
"When I was younger! I have changed entirely!" Piccolo roared in reply.
"And now my dear Namek would not even harm a cucco," teased Ganondorf. "Why don't we get cleaned up?"
Piccolo nodded and got carefully to his feet, unable to take his eyes off of the corpse.
"I've got a wonderful idea! Why don't we share a hot bath in my magnificent bathroom?" Ganondorf suggested.
Piccolo threw him an almost pitiful glance and turned to walk away. The images of the Gerudo's death flooded his thoughts and burned into the back of his eyes. He would never forget her cries for help, directed towards him, that he left unanswered. Ganondorf set a massive hand on Piccolo's shoulder as some sort of comfort and said, "Piccolo, join me. Remember the fun you had destroying? Can you not remember how you enjoyed being evil? Lover, we can enjoy it together, years of fun and nothing could stop us if we worked together."
Piccolo took a deep breath. "Not now, Ganondorf," he responded desolately.
"I realize you have been through a lot today. Are you feeling any better?" Ganondorf questioned, remembering suddenly that Piccolo had been ill.
Piccolo shook his head once, a heartbreaking expression on his face.
"Will you consider my proposal?" Ganondorf asked, a pleading tone in his voice.
Piccolo nodded once and muttered, "I will consider, but that means nothing."
"Perhaps I should escort you to your room?" Ganondorf suggested. "Because already you are heading in the wrong direction. Would you like a bath as well? Or some water?"
Piccolo replied quietly, "Water, yes. Bring water to Ice, your prisoner. He needs water. I need Earth."
Piccolo collapsed.
~*~*~~*
Everything was warm. Piccolo opened his eyes slowly and saw immediately that he was in his room. The fire was blazing before him and he was covered in blankets. Someone lay beside him. He knew without turning his head that he was wrapped securely in Ganondorf's arms. While Piccolo did not need to roll around he did and came face to face with sleeping Ganondorf, a blissful smile on his face.
"Why are you sleeping with me? Didn't I tell you to stay out of my room in the mornings?" Piccolo muttered angrily.
Ganondorf moaned in his sleep and tightened his grip on the smaller Namek. With a sigh of defeat, Piccolo relaxed and allowed himself to be smothered by Ganondorf's snug, burly body. A diminutive grin tugged at the corners of Piccolo's lips as his face was buried in Ganondorf's thick neck. The Gerudo King's flaming red hair smelled strongly of sand and heat, Piccolo could almost see with his nose the Desert of Ganondorf's birth.
"Do you love me?" Ganondorf mumbled quietly, still half asleep.
Piccolo heaved a sigh. "Sometimes I think I do."
Ganondorf opened a single topaz eye and asked, "When?"
Piccolo smiled slightly into Ganondorf's muscular chest. Ganondorf would never stop bothering him unless he got an answer. Finally Piccolo replied, "Well, like now."
The smile on Ganondorf's face grew to the point of showing off perfectly white teeth. He leaned in towards Piccolo, but the Namek pushed him away, shaking his head. Ganondorf pouted and leaned in once again more carefully to kiss Piccolo's forehead. Palatable, satisfying taste flooded into Ganondorf's mouth. Lust raged in his veins, he persisted to steal the taste until Piccolo forced him off.
"Stop it," Piccolo demanded.
Ganondorf stroked Piccolo's soft cheek with his long black nails. The Namek squirmed in his arms but he kept a firm grip. It seemed like forever that Ganondorf had been waiting for a moment like this with his beloved Piccolo. The atmosphere would have been so much more appropriate with chains and blood, at least Ganondorf felt so.
"What happened last night? After I fainted?"
"Well...let's see, I brought you up here and got you all of these blankets. Then I made sure Ice received the extra water and I came up here to lay with you," Ganondorf replied.
"You actually gave him more water?" Piccolo asked, shocked. He hadn't expected Ganondorf to listen to him.
"Of course, Piccolo. You asked me to, didn't you? It is a way of apologizing for what happened in the dungeons. You should not have witness that, and I feel guilty that you did," Ganondorf explained.
Piccolo smiled at Ganondorf tenderly and struggled to free himself from Ganondorf's embrace in order to get to his feet.
"Piccolo, every time I try to kiss you, you pull away. Why? Is it that you don't love me?"
Piccolo rolled his eyes and muttered, "Ganondorf, don't be ridiculous. We aren't supposed to kiss. First of all, I am a Namek. We don't kiss at all. Second of all, you are a man and should therefore be kissing a woman."
"Don't be so analytical, Cutie," Ganondorf snickered.
"Excuse me? Get off! Leave me alone!" Piccolo cried, leaping to his feet and pointing at the metal door in the corner, dwarfed by the gargantuan fireplace.
Slowly, Ganondorf stood and beamed innocently at Piccolo. Piccolo glowered at Ganondorf, threw his head back and screamed in frustration, a child having a temper tantrum. Ganondorf took a step closer to Piccolo and dragged the Namek into a cuddle.
"Why couldn't Vegeta have been kidnapped? He deserves this...." Piccolo sighed unhappily.
His complaining didn't last long, however. He was soon consenting to the embrace and Ganondorf bent down to kiss Piccolo's forehead again. Piccolo glanced up into the face of the Gerudo and craned his neck to reach Ganondorf's height. They were so close that they breathed into each others face. To Piccolo, Ganondorf's breath smelled clean and crisp like fresh fruits and vegetables; he wondered if Ganondorf's mouth tasted so fresh and stretched upwards to find out himself.
A dissonant sound echoed through the large empty room as the metal door was thrown opened, interrupting the intimate moment. A Gerudo woman announced, "Lord Ganondorf, your breakfast is ready."
"Yes, of course. I'll be down in one second," he replied.
"I didn't...intrude, did I?" she asked nervously.
"Of course not! What would I be doing with this damned prisoner? Let me finish my threats and I will escort myself to breakfast. I am not a child, I don't need you women helping me through my own castle!" Ganondorf roared, his voice suddenly harsh and detestable.
"Yes, sir."
She scurried out of the room, forgetting to close the door on her way out. Ganondorf left without another word and Piccolo was left alone, panting for breath and with a strange new feeling flowing in his Namekian blood.