Day XIV

The desert.

"BLOOD!"

A voice rang out into the hall of the house of Nefyret late that morning, as Kaysho arose from his slumber, bandaged and bruised, but alive and once again in a place of normalcy. The shout had come so unnaturally from his mouth that he spent his first few moments awake and safe wondering if he'd actually said it, or had dreamed himself saying it instead. But soon enough the thought was pushed to the back of his mind as Ganondorf shakily entered the room,

"Kaysho?! …Kaysho, oh!" Ganondorf exclaimed, and didn't even make an attempt to contain his relief and happiness. He through himself into the room and sat down where Kaysho lay, and smiled broadly, "You're alright!!"

Kaysho shook at first, overwhelmed by Ganondorf's excitement, but then the keaton too beamed back at him, "As are you! And…he-he's gone! O, Ganondorf, master, I am so glad! But…how…where…?"

"He?" Ganondorf asked, "…oh…what we saw-"

Nabooru stepped into the doorway, and looked down at Kaysho. She didn't let any sign of relief creep onto her face, but her stare was less fierce than usual. Behind her stood her mother, with her arms crossed and her eyes closed.

Kaysho smiled to her, but then looked around confusedly, as if to ask where they were.

"This is…" she started oddly, as because talking to an animal was an oddity itself.

"This is Nabooru and her mother, Healer Nefyret's home." Ganondorf finished for her quietly, "…They saved you, Kaysho!"

Kaysho paused, remembering. Remembering the blood, the waters, and the one who called himself the Beast of Deceit. 'To save me from something so powerful…' he thought, and then looked up at Nabooru. He tried to stand, but found it difficult. After a long silence, he managed to stand with skinny, trembling legs. And all only to meekly bow his head and say, "I'll forever be in thanks."

Both Nabooru and her mother took the comment oddly, unaccustomed to such humility, so in reply each nodded somewhat awkwardly.

"It's morn now, Prince," Nefyret said dully, "So as the sun rises and sets, come eat a meal so that you can last a day's journey home," a breakfast invitation to get them to leave sooner.

This did not fool Ganondorf at all, and instead he only smirked slightly. It seemed that he was about to decline, but Kaysho, who had sat back down, smiled at the offer. Ganondorf looked silently from Kaysho, then glanced at Nabooru, "…Alright." He stood up, and then picked up Kaysho, "I thank you." But unlike Kaysho's thanks, Ganondorf's seemed to lack true humility. But that was the Gerudo way. That was normal. Generations of the sands beating on the hard worked backs of laboring women in fruitless fields had worn the spirit of the desert people.

With the two women cooking and serving, as good hosts would do, the boy and his keaton were soon each given a bowl of rice, and for the Prince a small bowl of little, odd-shaped apricots; they weren't very well grown, but fruit in itself was a rarity. Nefyret didn't stay to partake of the meal, but Nabooru sat down at the small table with her own bowl of rice, and started to quietly eat. Ganondorf and Kaysho looked at their food for a moment, and then when they were moderately sure that Nefyret was no longer in the room or surrounding rooms, Kaysho sniffed his bowl of rice, then pushed it aside to Ganondorf, and he in return gave Kaysho the bowl of fruit. Nabooru smirked, "Jackals don't stick their noises up." She said to Kaysho, slight playfulness in her smirk, "You're lucky the Prince spoils you."

Kaysho blinked, confused. "Aah…ah, I'm sorry. …Would you like one?" He asked, while picking up one of the fruit by clipping it's stem between his front teeth.
She blinked, paused awkwardly, then sighed and reached for it, with a slight smirk, "...Thanks."

Ganondorf watched them both for a second, then looked down at his two bowls of wheat rice, then unenthusiastically picked up his spoon and started to eat. Though at first Ganondorf didn't seem to want to eat, or think partaking of food important, he soon seemed to realize just how famished he was, while eating an entire bowl, then moving on to the next.

Kaysho watched, then smiled to himself and ate his own meal. Nabooru merely raised her eyebrows slightly and narrowed her bright eyes, then munched lightly on the fruit she'd received.

Ganondorf finished and said a muttered word of thanks for his meal. He glanced at Kaysho; he was still eating, so Ganondorf instead turned his attention to Nabooru. He gazed quietly at her, sort of in the absentminded manner of a child staring into a pool of water, or watching lightning streak across the sky. She merely tried her best to ignore him.

Finally a smiling keaton's head emerged from the bowl of fruit, and he thanked Nabooru and the absent Nefyret for the meal. Ganondorf stood up and picked up Kaysho after him, but then paused at looked down at Nabooru, who seemed to be in a dream-like state, and hadn't risen from the table. Ganondorf paused, then put his spare hand lightly on top of hers to get her attention. "…Goodbye."

She blinked and looked up at him, "You're…leaving?"
"I am." He replied simply, and let his hand fall away.
"….Take care." Nabooru said calmly, then stood and bowed her head to him.
Ganondorf paused, then sighed and muttered, "You don't have to do that," and then turned and walked out of the room. He found his way to the entrance and stepped outside, then started to look for his horse, since he'd completely disregarded the steed the night before.
Nabooru eventually came to the entrance of her home and watched them from the doorway. Ganondorf eventually found his black stallion, set Kaysho atop, and then mounted himself. Kaysho looked back at Nabooru, then, like their first meeting, smiled to her. Ganondorf looked down at Kaysho, then, following the keaton's gaze, he looked back down at Nabooru, who returned the intent look.
Ganondorf stared silently for a long moment – as did she – before he sighed and a small smile came to his face. "……Thank you." Upon saying it, Ganondorf could not hold his gaze any more without a look of embarrassment coming over his face. So, he instead faced for ward, then snapped the reins of his steed and rode into the sun.

As he crossed under the gate and into the sands, a smile crept across Nabooru's face as well, and she turned away into her home and closed the door behind her.

"Kaysho…."
Morning had turned to day and day was slowly giving way to the evening, and Ganondorf has slowed his horse's pace to a steady walk.

"Yes?" Kaysho replied, and looked up at his master.
Ganondorf paused, then stopped the horse completely and looked down at Kaysho, "What…happened…to you? After…after that thing attacked us and left…you were unconscious. I…took you downstairs and bandaged you….but then, you wounds started bleeding anew, and fresh wounds…they came out of nowhere…!"
Kaysho stared, "That's…I was…with you? ……But…I was elsewhere…"

Ganondorf blinked, "Elsewhere? Impossible, you were with me…" He paused, "Perhaps…a dream?"
"….Perhaps," Kaysho said slowly, in an unsure tone. "It did seem…like such a strange place. A dreamlike place…perhaps. But then…a dream that…made me shed real blood?"
Ganondorf paused again, then sighed, "I don't know….I know of no magic that could do…something like that. Are you sure you're alright now, Kaysho?"
"Yes, I am sure." Kaysho said, and twitched his ears a bit.
Ganondorf nodded back, then sighed and looked to the horizon, and watched the sun gradually set. "…What did you dream about?"
"A place…" Kaysho began slowly, "….it was dark…very dark, and cold. There were dark waters…and beneath my feet the finest of sand. It….the beast…he was there. He's the one that did those things to me."
"The Beast?" Ganondorf looked down to Kaysho again, and blinked in slight confusion.

"It…the spirit that attacked us." Kaysho explained, "It…frightening. He was so cold! It felt like I was touching…something dead! It…came out of the water, a long skinny body, eyes…eyes like hell! He spoke to me…then……seemed displeased. He attacked me……pain...painful. Then…then I was on top of the waters. They were dark, and everything was getting darker……he was standing there above me, and I was dieing…" Kaysho shuddered slightly, then looked up to Ganondorf, "Then he spoke once more, and told me……he called himself 'The Beast of Deceit.'"
"The Beast…of Deceit?" Ganondorf repeated, then stroked Kaysho's head and neck to comfort him, "…oh, Kaysho. I'm so sorry…I couldn't…I couldn't protect you."
Kaysho smiled, and shook his head and wiggled his ears, "No…you did protect me, of course. Was it not you who cared for my body while my soul was elsewhere?"
Ganondorf chuffled for an instant, and then smiled back, "You're never angry. ……What else did it…er, The Beast, say?"

Kaysho pondered that question for a moment, while Ganondorf ordered his horse into a trot again – the animal had been growing impatient, and snorted to let them know so. Kaysho clung to Ganondorf, while answering, "He….he wanted to see something…or someone. As if I was the wrong person. It was so strange…!" Kaysho paused to consider more, "He asked for…'The Morning and The Evening Star'. Whatever that is…it must look like me! Because for a long moment, he looked at me, and he wasn't angry! But he suddenly realized, and got angry with me for being there…very……so very angry. He yelled and screamed…such a horrible sound, I thought my ears would burst…'Get out, get out! Why are you here? …Where is The Morning and The Evening Star?' Is what he kept saying."
"…Star? The Morning and The Evening Star?" Ganondorf repeated after Kaysho, as the Spirit Temple was just starting to come into their sites, "Weird……are you sure he looked at you?"
"Oh, yes, yes!" Kaysho nodded vigilantly, "Very sure! Because his eyes were so very frightening! I felt as it he were gazing into my soul!"

Ganondorf frowned for a moment. "…Frightening eyes…like they were gazing into your soul, says you?" He asked Kaysho. Then, for just a short moment, he thought of the dream he himself had experienced, quite a long time ago. He wasn't sure why it had come to mind – maybe just because they were speaking of a subject matter concerning dreams. But nonetheless, an image of the other Kaysho he had seen came into his head. It too had a piercing gauze…Ganondorf remembered those dark, dark blue, empty eyes. "His eyes. Were they…blue, perhaps?" He asked Kaysho, on the whim thoughts.
Kaysho paused, and then answered passively, "…No. Red."

"Oh…alright." Ganondorf responded, and dismissed the thought.

Soon enough, they reached the Spirit Temple, just as the sun was touching the sands of the horizon, and the stars were staring to rise out of the colored sky. Ganondorf led his horse away, then came back and set Kaysho down at last on the temple's steps. Kaysho stood and stretched his legs, while Ganondorf sat down on the steps next to him and stared up at the sky. The sunset was a beautiful one; a mixture of oranges, red, pinks, purples, and hazy blue.
"It will grow cold soon…" Kaysho said, blinking, "Should we not go inside?"
"…Yeh." Ganondorf sighed and stood up, "It's just that…." He paused, while Kaysho waited patiently, re-testing his legs out by walking around the steps in small circles around Ganondorf. "…Kasyho…I think there's something very wrong…about this temple. I don't know what…but…" he looked down to Kaysho, "…this place just isn't right anymore."

I am he, the one called Kaysho.

I am the Morning and the Evening Star.