A/N: This chapter's quite a bit longer than what we're all used to. I wanted to make up for making you wait, and I'm taking a bit of a break after this. I have to finish my book, and I'm almost done. When it's finished, I'll be writing a lot of fanfiction, because I can't start the sequel until I know if I'll have to edit anything out, etc… If it gets published, I'll let you all know what it's called. GAH! Then you'll find out my true identity!! GASP!! Perhaps I won't tell you, after all… Thanks again, guys!
"What was that?" Quinn demanded.
Falen shrugged.
"Go see!"
"Fine, fine. Tou-chy." Falen made his way over to the door, taking his time just to spite Quinn. He pushed the door open and his mouth dropped in shock. "She's gone!"
Quinn gave a start. "What do you mean, she's gone?"
"Just what I said!" Falen called back. "Come look!"
Quinn, Link, Lute, and Cassandra all rushed over behind Falen and stared into the empty room.
"I don't believe this!" Link shouted.
"What's that?" Cassandra asked, pointing at a small piece of paper on the floor of the room. Lute went in and picked it up, his eyes scanning it.
"This is insane!" he cried. "Ganondorf kidnapped her now!"
"This is insane," Cassandra agreed fervently.
Link, on the other hand, looked perfectly happy. "That's okay. I know where Ganondorf lives. See, the Sages let him out of the Sacred Realm on the condition that he'd undergo therapy."
"Doesn't look like it worked," Lute said sarcastically.
"I don't think so, either," Link nodded. "But I know where he lives! We can get Zelda!"
"And we can go home!" Falen said happily.
"Oh, no you can't," Cassandra said. "You started this mess. You're coming with us!"
Quinn shot Falen a death glare. Falen shrugged and grinned lopsidedly.
Outside, Ruto was sitting on Aranel's back, looking pouty and upset. "What took so long?" she demanded. "Where's Zelda? Did they do her in? Who are those guys? Why did you leave me here?"
"We've had another setback, Zelda's been captured by Ganondorf, no, they didn't do her in, these are the kidnappers, and I didn't want to listen to you yap," Link said, answering all her questions.
"So what are we doing?" Aranel asked.
"We're going to Ganondorf's," Link said simply.
They all climbed onto Aranel's back, and Link directed the ebony dragon to Ganondorf's house. It was just a little cottage on the edge of Hyrule Field, near Lake Hylia.
Link went up to the door first, the others right behind him. The blonde hero gave them a dazzling, heroic (or so he thought) grin before knocking on the door.
A couple seconds later, the door opened, and a tired-looking man stood before them. He had greenish skin, and his spiky red hair flopped limply around his head. In his hand was a mug of steaming coffee. He narrowed his eyes at Link for a moment, as if trying to place him. Then, he said, "You look familiar. Did I try to kill you before?"
Cassandra gave a small whimper and grabbed Lute's arm. The prince looked equally frightened. Ruto gave a squeak, and Quinn glared at Falen for the trillionth time that day.
"Sort of," Link said. "Don't you remember, Gan? I'm Link. You know, the Hero of Time? I foiled your plans for world domination."
Ganondorf's eyebrows sprang up in recognition. "That's right! I remember you now. Listen, man, I hope you didn't take that personally. I mean, a villian's gotta do what a villian's gotta do."
"No problem," Link grinned.
"So, uh…why are you here?" Ganondorf asked. "And who are your friends?" Just then, there was a shattering sound. The smile disappeared from Ganon's face instantly. "Just a sec," he said. He walked back inside, muttering under his breath, shutting the door slightly behind him. They all stood tense as he began to shout, "Listen, kid! I didn't burn down your house! Stop throwing rocks through my window!" There was a pause. Then – "Oh, yeah? Well I hope your new house gets infested by Skulltala, you little brat! Now get off my property!"
Ganondorf came back to the door to see his visitors looking shocked and surprised. "I'm sorry about that," he apologized. "It's just that they really get on my nerves. Every single day, at least one ghost or person comes around here and destroys something of mine, saying that it's because I killed them or their family members or destroyed their homes, villages, blah, blah, blah. It's incredibly annoying. I mean, just last week some old man came and blew up my well! Can you believe that? He blew up my well!" He shook his head and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "You know, I'm being so rude. Please come in." He stepped back from the door and gestured for them to come inside. They all went in.
Before they closed the door, Aranel boomed, "I'll return later. I have somewhere I need to be."
"That's fine," Lute called. They heard him flap off as Ganondorf shut the door.
"May I have a word with you?" Link asked Ganondorf. The Gerudo nodded obligingly. As they stood at the other end of the room, Link asked, "Are you still a hit man?"
Ganondorf arched his eyebrows in surprise. "That depends. Who do you want me to knock off?"
Link silently pointed at Ruto.
Ganondorf looked at him pityingly. "How much are you willing to pay?"
Link, however, didn't answer this question as he noticed everyone's eyes trained on him. "Let's discuss this later."
"Okay," Ganondorf said.
Just then, there was another knock at the door. Ganondorf sighed and walked over to it, preparing for the worst. He was very taken aback to see that it was actually a couple of Kokiri holding a clipboard. "Can I…help you?" he asked.
"We're taking a survey," the boy said. He was the one holding the clipboard.
"What kind of survey?" Ganondorf asked suspiciously.
"We want to know what you think of how the Kokiri are treated here in Hyrule."
"What about it?"
"Well, do you think they are under-appreciated, unaccounted for, and virtually unloved?" asked the girl.
"Yes," Ganondorf said, deciding to agree with them.
"Would you be interested in helping us with our revolt?" asked the boy.
"Revolt?" Ganondorf cried. "You're planning a revolt?"
"That's right!" the girl chirped. "Would you like to take part?"
"I have no business with anti-governmental affairs!" Ganondorf yelled. "Get off my lawn!" And with that he slammed the door shut.
"You'll pay for this, Greeny!" the boy shouted. "We don't take rejection lightly!"
"So, why are you here?" Ganondorf asked as they all sat down around his kitchen table.
"We have reason to believe that you kidnapped the Princess Zelda," Cassandra sat formally.
Ganondorf looked surprised. "I did not!"
They all glared at him a moment, and then Link said, "You're telling the truth."
"How do you know?" Lute asked.
"If he did have her, we'd have seen her by now," Ruto said calmly. "I mean, his house only has one room."
"True," Lute said, astonished by how observant she was.
"Yeah! Zora's Domain is like, a gazillion times bigger!" she giggled.
"So much for observant," Lute muttered.
"Who are you guys?" Ganondorf asked suddenly, glancing at Quinn and Falen, who'd said nothing this whole time.
"We kidnapped Zelda first," Falen said.
"And then someone kidnapped her from us," Quinn finished.
"So why do you think I did it?" Ganondorf asked.
"We found this after she disappeared," Quinn said, handing him the note.
Ganondorf studied it a moment. "But I didn't write this," he said.
"You didn't?"
"No! That's not my handwriting!"
"Let me see," Ruto said, snatching the note from him. After a few seconds she said, "Weird as this sounds, this looks like Rauru's handwriting."
"Rauru?" everyone chorused.
"Who's Rauru?" Lute asked.
A/N: Hee, hee!! Hope you liked! :D My little sister Alu came up with most of the Ganondorf scene. Ha ha!
