Worlds Apart
Part II
By Miss Lydia

Chapter 4

Lydia rubbed her back stiffly as she got up. "Owww...these beds aren't the most comfortable things in Hyrule, are they?"

"What do you expect?" Gordon replied. "They haven't been slept in for seven years. I'm sure once we break 'em in they'll be fine."

Lydia straightened the sheets of her bed as Gordon got out of his, cracking every bone in his body along the way. Lydia was almost used to this – it was a daily routine of his to crack everything. She yawned and looked up to find that Link's bed was empty.

"Ummm...where's Link?"

"Uh?" Gordon yawned. "I dunno. You had him last."

"It was your turn to watch him."

"Bull. It was your turn."

Lydia scoffed and walked to the window. She whipped open the shutters and let the morning light flood in. The sky outside was not as blue as she'd like. It was more of a brownish-gray. At least it's still up there, she thought. Bringing her eyes down to ground level again, she saw Link leaning against the tree outside, staring at the sky.

"There he is," she said.

"Who?" she heard Gordon ask.

Lydia rolled her eyes. "The Easter bunny. Come on, let's go. Leave the door open. This place needs some air."

Link turned around slowly. "Oh, g'morning," he greeted.

Lydia walked forward and poked his ribs. "You're quite the early bird, aren't you?"

He poked her back and answered "Whaddya mean 'early bird'? You two sleep late."

"So what? It's good to get plenty of sleep."

"Yeah, but you two slept a good eleven hours. Look how high the sun is already."

"Well, your jolly old sun can go fly a kite for all I care. Now, don't we have a few places to visit today?"

Gordon appeared beside her and yawned again. "Where should we go first?" he asked.

Link looked at the sky again and said, "I suppose we could just start at Goron City, then work our way south and around."

"Let's go then," Gordon said.

"Hang on, I need my stuff," Link said, then ran into the house.

Lydia put her hands behind her back and looked at Gordon. "I tell you one thing," she said sternly, "that Ganondorf is in enough trouble with me as it is. If any other place in Hyrule is messed up...."

"I know, I know," Gordon concurred. "You'll shove a fireball right up Ganon's—"

"I'm back!" Link called suddenly. He appeared behind them with the Master Sword and his shield now draped over his shoulder.

Gordon sighed and said, "Okay, then, let's get the morning started."

"Don't you mean," Link said, "let's get the afternoon started?"

Lydia took hold of one of his ears and pulled hard. "Hey, you," she warned. "Enough about our sleeping habits."

Link pinched her hand hard until she let go. "Okay, okay, sorry."

"Ray Wing!"

***

Link looked around him. He was standing in the entrance to Goron City, and was expecting to see Gorons everywhere, just like the last time he had been there, seven years back.

But it was empty. Not a Goron in sight.

"Nice cave," Lydia said, standing right behind him. "Empty, but nice."

Gordon gently shoved her aside and looked around them. A cave, yes, in its own way. A fancy, three floored cave, with many tunnels leading out of this main area. He glanced at Link's back and said "I know I don't really have to ask, but, this place is supposed to be full of people, right?"

The silence fell then, and Gordon could have sworn it made a thunk on the floor.

"This can't be good," Lydia murmured as she crouched down and absently started drawing in the dirt with her finger.

"Where are they all?" Link asked, mostly to himself. He walked to the edge of the path and turned his attention the bottom floor. He stared for a moment at something neither of the sorcerers could see, then turned and backtracked to them.

Standing back up, Lydia raised her eyebrow in a questioning way.

"The room where the Goron leader is supposed to be," the Hylian finally said, "is completely sealed."

"Do you think they all ran away?" Gordon wondered.

Silence fell again. Another thunk.

"Perhaps...," Link mused, "but I have a bad feeling."

Lydia curled her lip, then turned her head back toward the entrance. "Do you think anyone else ran away? Like...the Zoras, maybe?"

Gordon swallowed the lump in his throat, then look at Link and said, "There's only one way to find out."

"Yes," Link said quietly. "Let's go there. Something's going on, and we have to find out just what."

***

Lydia and Gordon flew around the border of Hyrule until they could see the winding trails of Zora's River below them. It looked the same from where they were. Gordon even recognized the corner where that Tektite army had attacked them during their first visit. They landed at the natural bridges and noticed something that was different. Link held his hand out.

"Hey...is it...snowing?" he asked.

Sure enough, a chilly wind was blowing and snowflakes were rapidly falling around the entrance to Zora's Domain.

"It sure looks like snow to me," Gordon replied.

"Does it usually snow in these parts?" Lydia asked.

"The only place I've ever seen snow is in the Ice Cavern," Link said. "This is really strange..."

"You mean it doesn't snow anywhere in Hyrule?"

"Not that I know of."

"I know what that means. It mean's trouble."

"Very observant," Gordon said sarcastically.

Lydia bopped him on the head and turned to Link. He quickly put his arms over his head in his own defense.

"I'm not gonna hit you," Lydia said quickly. "What do you take me for? I just was going to ask if you can open Zora's Domain again."

Link lowered his arms cautiously. "Yeah, of course I can."

"Great!" Lydia said cheerfully as she bopped him on his now unprotected head.

Link gave her hair a hard tug before pulling out the Ocarina of Time. He played a short song and the waterfall parted. Lydia jumped to the door quickly ("Ladies first, guys!") and disappeared into the domain.

Link put away his Ocarina and turned to Gordon. "How do you put up with her?"

Gordon laughed and said, "My friend, it takes years of experience."

Staring. That's all that occurred inside the domain. Staring. Three pairs of eyes were staring all over Zora's Domain.

Link laughed in disbelief. "I don't believe it," he chuckled.

The domain was frozen over. The water was actually there this time, but it was ice. Solid ice. And once again, there were no Zoras in sight.

"Why must everything happen to the poor Zoras?" Lydia wondered, shaking her head.

"I guess it's like you with your car," Gordon said. "Worst luck in the world."

Link's attention was suddenly diverted from the ice. "…..What's a car?" he asked them.

"It's a horribly expense traveling thing that gets you from here to there," Lydia scoffed. "Just when you think it's in great working order, it breaks and costs you tons of money to fix."

"If it's such an expensive animal," Link said, "why don't you just get rid of it?"

Lydia shook her head. "I'll explain cars to you later, okay?"

"Well," Gordon broke in, "what's our next stop?"

Link, with his mind still on that expensive traveling animal Lydia talked about, said, "Um... the Kokiri Forest."

***

"This place looks the same," Lydia said, "except the fact that there are monsters everywhere!!"

Link drew his sword and looked around his hometown. No Kokiris could be seen. Monsters were scattered throughout town. He charged forward without a word and slashed the stem of an overlarge Deku Baba.

Lydia sighed heavily. "I'll bet there's no place untouched," she said. "Ganon's gonna get several more spells shoved up his—"

"Dammit!" Link shouted suddenly. "Where is everybody?" He quickly pulled out his shield and deflected a Deku Scrub's attack.

"That's a good question," Gordon muttered. "Where are all the Kokiri?"

Lydia looked around. Besides several monsters and a blond guy with a sword running around, there was nothing in the Kokiri Forest. It was totally dead.

She turned to Gordon to say something, but he had wandered off and was now entering one of the treehouses. Lydia followed him in, followed closely by relief. Inside were a couple of Kokiri kids. They were staring curiously at the visitors.

"Who are you?" a girl Kokiri asked. "How did you get past the baddies outside?"

"Oh...we're...um...," Lydia didn't really know how to answer. She didn't think 'weirdoes-from-another-dimension' would go over too well.

"We're sorcerers from Earth," Gordon said to her.

Oh, like that's any better? Lydia thought bitterly.

The girl turned to the other girl sitting by her. "You hear that? They can use magic!"

"We're looking for some ugly creep named Ganondorf," Lydia added. "Dark skin, red hair, about six feet, and a nose the size of a banana. Have you seen him?"

The two Kokiri girls suddenly shivered and huddled close together. "Please don't say that name!" one requested with a quivering voice.

"The Evil King is not to be discussed in the forest," the other one said with fear in her voice. "He has brought chaos to Hyrule."

"We know," Lydia sighed. "Believe me, we know all about it. We've seen some of it already."

"Has anyone done anything about anything yet?" Gordon asked the girls.

"Oh, no," the first one said. "No one would stand a chance against the Evil King. The legends say that we must wait for the Hero of Time to descend from the sacred realm to once again purify our world."

Right on cue, Link walked in breathlessly and said, "Oh there you two are. I think I got all of the critters out there." His tired face brightened when he saw the Kokiri girls. "Hey, alright! There are still Kokiri here!"

The second girl suddenly looked up. "Hey," she asked the first girl, "does that tall guy look familiar to you?"

Link looked very puzzled suddenly. "You mean you two don't recognize me?"

"You look terribly familiar," the first girl said.

"This, girls," Lydia said, "is the Hero of Time. We're traveling with him to save Hyrule."

The two Kokiri suddenly jumped up with excitement.

Link wasn't excited, though. "You two really don't remember me?" he asked again.

The second girl walked closer. "Give us a hint," she said.

Link thought for a second and said, "Well, I was the only kid without a fairy."

The two girls shouted "I knew it!" in unison.

"You're Link!" the first girl shouted.

"Where have you BEEN all these years?" the other asked.

"And how'd you get so big?!"

Link leaned against the door frame. "Well," he said, "it's a rather long story."

"Link," the first girl asked, "are you really the Hero of Time??"

"Uh-huh."

The second girl dragged the first toward the door. "Come on!" she shouted. "We need to tell everybody!" And with that, they dashed outside.

Lydia joined Link at the door. "Why didn't they recognize you?" she asked.

"I've grown up," he replied. "Kokiri don't grow up. Hylians do."

"They don't know you're a Hylian?" Gordon asked.

"Nah," said Link. "I was raised as a Kokiri, so they all know me as the weird kid without a fairy."

"Now that you mention Navi," Lydia suddenly wondered, "where is she?"

They suddenly heard the Kokiri girls scream. Link looked outside quickly. "Oh, crap!" he shouted. "I missed one!" Without another word, he drew his sword and ran out the door.

Gordon moved next to Lydia. "That was unusually decent of you," he said.

Lydia pretended to look puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

"I know that you couldn't care less if you see Navi again or not. You just want to be nice."

Lydia chuckled and said, "Man, can you see right through me or what?"

"After living with you for thirteen years, I can see through you like glass."

"Not clearly enough, though. I actually do care. Well, I care a little."

Gordon laughed. "No, you don't."

Lydia stuck her tongue out and escaped out the door as soon as she realized she was losing the argument. She spotted the Kokiri girls crouched on the ground nearby. Link was standing in front of them, trying to calm them down. He was still holding his sword.

Gordon walked up to him and gazed at the trembling girls. "Are they okay?"

"Yeah," Link replied. "They're fine. A Deku Baba had been hiding in the bushes and jumped them. They're not hurt, though."

"That's good."

Link sheathed his sword and looked at Lydia. "No, I haven't seen Navi," he said, answering her earlier question. "And I know you're only pretending to care."

Lydia crossed her arms. "Honestly, you two. Is that how low you think of me?"

"Yes," they both replied.

Lydia rolled her eyes and bent down to the frightened girls. "How are you two holding out?"

One of them managed to speak. "You see what the Evil King has done?"

"I know, I know." Lydia stood up and added, "Don't worry. As soon as I find him, he's gonna get a fireball in the—"

Link covered her mouth quickly. "Don't say it! They're kids!"

Lydia shooed his hand away. "I wasn't going to say—"

"Watch it."

".....All right, sorry."

Gordon shook his head and looked at the Kokiri. "We can't stay long," he told them. "But don't worry, we'll come back, okay?"

The girls nodded their heads. "We'll tell Mido you were here."

Link scowled and looked away when they said that name. That reaction didn't escape Lydia.

"Who's Mido?" she asked him.

"I'll tell you later," he muttered.

"Okay, fine. Looks like we have a deal to make."

"Huh?"

"If you tell me who Mido is, I'll tell you what cars are."

"Deal."

"Come on, you two, that can wait." Gordon said. "Let's move on to the next place."

"Hmm..." Link thought a bit. "Lake Hylia is our next stop."

***

Link and Gordon fearfully backed away from Lydia. She looked like she was ready to fire a Dragon Slave at the first one to speak to her.

"The market made me upset," she muttered sternly. "The Kokiri Forest made me angry. But this really puts the sauce on the taco."

She angrily looked around her again. Lake Hylia, her favorite place in all of Hyrule, was in a sorry state. The beautiful lake water was almost completely gone. All that was left was a pathetic excuse for a deep mud puddle at the bottom. Crows zoomed around overhead and there were several blue Tektites running around.

Gordon cautiously crept up from behind and reached out to tap her shoulder. Link quickly seized his wrist and mouthed a warning.

"If you don't want to die," he whispered, "don't touch her or talk to her right now."

"No, no," Lydia said quickly. "Talk to me, quickly. Hurry and talk me out of blasting Northern Hyrule to pieces before I actually do it."

Link braved the situation and jumped in front of her. He pointed a threatening finger in her face and said, "Don't you dare. Hyrule's in bad enough shape. You can blast stuff tomorrow. Not today."

The sheer anger slowly melted away from Lydia's eyes. "Sorry," she said, "I always say stuff like that when I get really mad."

Gordon sighed and put his arms behind his head. "You say a LOT of stuff when you get mad. This is nothing new."

"How often do I threaten to blow up a large chunk of land? That's how mad I am right now."

Link stared toward the hole that was supposed to be Lake Hylia. "This is a pretty bad sight," he said, "and I know this is your favorite spot. Just don't fire any Dragon Slaves for a while, okay?"

"Get me out of here and it won't happen."

"Then let's do just that," Gordon said. "Let's move on. What's next?"

"The Gerudo Valley," Link replied. "But if we go there, I can't really tell you if anything has been changed. I've never been in there."

"Why not?" Lydia asked.

"The Gerudo are a race of female thieves. The valley is their fortress hideout. No one, and I mean no one, is allowed in there. These women are really mean."

"If the women are that mean, I can't imagine what the men are like."

"Um...there are no men."

Lydia's eyebrows twisted in confusion. "You....You mean the entire Gerudo race is female?"

"Yeah."

"How is that even scientifically possible??"

"I don't know, I don't know," Link answered quickly, waving his hands. "But don't bother trying to figure out how it works. I tried that once and gave myself a headache."

"No men whatsoever. That makes no sense to me."

"Well, actually, one man is born every 100 years. And the Gerudo laws say that the lone male Gerudo must become their leader."

"Then there should be one male Gerudo amongst all those women," Gordon suggested. "Do you know who he is?"

"Yes. His name is Ganondorf Dragmire."

Lydia jerked alert. "You mean our Ganondorf? The creep that did this to my lake?"

"Uh-huh. That's our man."

"Yeah," Gordon said thoughtfully. "I was sorta thinking about him. He's not a Goron, Zora, or Kokiri, but he doesn't look Hylian either. I was wondering where he came from."

"He's the lone male Gerudo, the leader of the entire race."

Lydia absently scratched behind her ear. "I find that strangely fitting, and I don't like it."

Off to the west, the sun was beginning to set. Gordon turned and squinted his eyes as he watched the sky turn red. "Wow...is it that late already?"

A mocking, even sarcastic smirk crawled across Link's face, and his eyes narrowed and turned to Lydia. "It doesn't help that someone sleeps so much."

"Watch it, Long Ears," she replied coldly with her eyes meeting his gaze.

Link sighed loudly, then stretched his tired arms. "Let's head back. That way, we can go to bed early and start at a reasonable hour tomorrow."

The trio took off in flight back north to Kakariko Village, but not before Lydia leapt into the air and landed hard on Link's toes.

***

Ganondorf's going to be a serious problem for us, Lydia thought

She sighed and looked up at the dark sky over Kakariko village. Clouds were closing in fast. She could see most of the sky from where she was. She was stretched out on the grass with her head propped up against the tree.

"Actually," she breathed to herself, "I'm a little scared. This guy has the freaking Triforce of Power, for God's sake. How are we going to defeat him? Sure, we're the 'team of bone-crushing heroes', but we're going to need something extra. Looks like I'm going to have to continue to work on my secret weapon..."

She yawned and looked at her watch. It was almost 11:30. She was too tired to think any more. She pulled herself up off the ground and headed back toward the house. When she got closer, she heard a lot of noise coming from inside the house. There was a lot of banging around and shouting. It sounded kinda like....a fight!

Lydia ran to the house and swung the door open, ready to break up a fierce battle. What she actually found was a rather humorous scene. Link was sprawled on the floor, with Gordon sitting on his back. He was twisting Link's arm back into a rather painful-looking position. Link was fiercely banging on the wooden floor with his free arm.

"I give up! I give up!" he kept shouting. "You win! Uncle! Uncle! Get off me!"

Gordon rolled off and stood up victoriously. "I told you not to mess with me. I wrestle like the pros."

Lydia started to laugh. "Do you guys realize what time it is? Get ready for bed, already."

Gordon proudly trodded off and started fluffing his blankets and pillow. Link walked toward Lydia and stood by her.

Lydia tugged his ear. "What were you two doing? You were making a lot of noise."

Link pulled her hair and said "The kid wanted a little wrestling match."

"Cocky little guy, isn't he?"

"But he doesn't fight fair. He's really squirmy so you can't get a good hold on him, and he bites. I got him in a hold and he bit my arm. Does he do this stuff with you?"

"Oh yeah, all the time."

"How do you put up with it?"

"My friend, it takes years of experience."