Now, my stories have never contained any bad language so far, but, just so ya'll know, there will be a bit of cussing later on in this chapter. I don't intend to make this a habit, I just felt that it was the best was of showing how badly treated… Uh, well, you'll find out. Not much else to say… just, thanks BladeMaster and Rising Dragon for reviewing, thanks very much. You guys, my reviewers, are what keep me going.

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Chapter Seven: Light

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Ganondorf yanked back on the reins, making his large black stallion rear back with a loud whinny. This noise got the attention of the Gerudo in the watchtowers. Fear tangled their face with shock as they realized that Ganondorf, the King of Evil himself, was here to pay them a visit.

Wasting no more time, a Gerudo let loose an arrow at the dark man. The aim was rushed, and Ganondorf didn't even flinch when it zipped right past his face.

What fools, thinking they could fend off the Great Ganondorf with a measly arrow.

"Pah, a Gerudo, missing a still target with an arrow?" He cackled slightly. "There was a time when you Gerudo would beat your own if they missed."

It was true. Gerudo were excellent archers due to their exhausting practices of archery everyday. Missing a target was considered shameful, and a student would get beaten for such a thing. Ganondorf still carried scars from it, scars he remembered well. Look at them - scared to the point of missing because of him. Yeah, where's that whip now?

He looked at those Gerudo in the tower and remembered just how much he resented them. It was for all those beatings, that terrible life they had made him live, all the pain he has endured. He had been a child destined to become king of the Gerudo, yet the race had all looked down on him, mocked him, for being a male. How bitterly he held those memories in his mind…

He grinned as a thought crossed his mind. Why not? After all, he may as well have a little fun while he was out here.

Two more Gerudo launched arrows at him and Ganondorf simply raised his hand. The two arrows made an about-face in mid-air and returned to their respective owners, burying their sharp points into the Gerudo's skulls. Ganondorf chuckled slightly at those pathetic mortals, his horse levitating over the canyon and landing on the other side. He wasted no time now. Drawing his large sword from a sheath on the horse he charged the wall. With one deadly swing his blade connected with the heavy brick…

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Thunder. Something like the loud bellowing sound of thunder when it's very close. That's all Miroku and Teious heard at least. As soon as Ganondorf's blade met with the pale brick they were both blown back behind their hiding place by the immense power that emanated from the attack. There was nothing left now except rubble and remains of the Gerudo in the watchtowers.

"That… What the heck was that!" Teious exclaimed.

"Such raw power… Amazing," Miroku commneted quietly.

Teious gave his friend a half-shocked, half-annoyed look. "Amazing? Are you crazy! That is the guy we're up against!"

"I'm not saying it's a good thing," Miroku replied, making his way down the mountainside. "All I'm saying is that his power is amazing."

Teious followed after him, being careful not to slip or trip on anything. "Yeah, well, it just amazes me that you can be so calm about it." Sure, Teious knew that Miroku was calm about everything – he got it from being trained by Sheik – but this was just nuts. That…monster… just took down the whole wall and its towers with nothing but a single swing of his sword! How were they supposed to compete with that?

"Stop dawdling, Teious!" Miroku scolded, already at the base of the mountain.

Teious descended the rest of the way in a rush, causing him to trip over an unmoving rock. He rolled and crashed at the bottom, right at Miroku's feet. The half-skull kid shook his head wearily and walked over to the canyon.

After recovering from his little plummet-back-to-earth, Teious joined Miroku on the edge of the canyon and gazed down at the long drop. "Hope Isuke didn't get hurt when he fell."

"Isuke is tough. A little fall ain't gonna hurt him."

Teious shot him a peeved look.

Little fall. Right. It's only a, what, few hundred foot drop, right?

"C'mon. Let's get to the other side," Miroku reminded him.

Teious nodded and turned so that his back was to the canyon, intertwining his fingers and holding them out in front of himself. Miroku backed up a ways… then charged right at his friend. Reaching max speed, he hopped on top of Teious' hands and Teious, putting all his strength into it, flung his arms, along with his whole self, backward. The force rocketed Miroku to the other side of the canyon, we he landed safely and rolled back up to his feet.

"Nice one, Teious," Miroku complemented, dusting himself off.

"Thank you," Teious said, already backed up a good ways away from the canyon. He ground his foot into the dirt and kicked off, running as fast as he could towards the edge. He leapt off of the canyon side and instantly spun around, firing off a massive surge of light magic that served to propel him the rest of the way, to the other side of the canyon. He tried to land upright but his foot landed on a loose rock and it slipped, causing him to fall and land on his rump.

"Hurry up," was all Miroku said, dashing off through the rubble and into the path that lead to Gerudo Fortress.

Teious groaned and got to his feet after having another sloppy landing and ran off after his companion.

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Ever since he was a child, Isuke got mad easily. If he didn't get what he wanted, he'd get all mad and start screaming. When he got older he just got ticked off and would do stuff to embarrass his high-ranking father, since he was the zora that was usually making him mad. Otherwise he'd just beat whoever it was into a bloody pulp.

He had a serious temper, and it often lead to him getting into lots of trouble – life-threatening or otherwise. But right now he was pretty sure he'd never been more pissed off in his life.

Miroku, that little punk, had just gone and knocked him off a cliff. Isuke, the greatest Zora warrior ever, had been kicked off of a cliff like he was some piece of trash or something. Perhaps it was more his pride that was hurting than his side that had connected with a sharp rock on the way down from the cliff, but Isuke didn't care right now. Miroku was so going to get it when he got back.

The Zora warrior was floating on his back around the middle of Lake Hylia, recovering his strength for the long swim ahead. Perhaps if he had full strength he would've gone on a rampage out of rage and started crushing what was left of the old Hyrule ruins. At the moment though, he was content to just float there, letting the cool water and wind cleanse him and help him relax.

His hip had a jagged cut in it from that rock on the way down the mountain, but the bleeding had stopped so he figured it would be fine until he made it to Zora Domain.

There was a tunnel deep in the old Hyrule ruins that lead right through the underground waterways under Hyrule Field, all the way to Zora Domain which was completely on the other side of Hyrule. Although, he traveled underwater at a max speed of sixty-five knots and he could keep it up for an hour or so with limited body movement, so he'd get there fast enough.

After resting another fifteen minutes or so, he finally felt well enough to embark on the first stretch of his journey to the Domain. He dove under water and swam into the deep depths of the ruins, to the tunnel which he had traversed so many times before.

Glancing quickly over his shoulder, he opened his fins and flapped them down forcefully, taking off down the long, dark tunnel.

A few moments later…. A large shadowy figure made its way down and swam into the tunnel after him…

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Ganondorf's heavy footsteps echoed through the dead-silence of Gerudo Valley. Amazing, it was, that a race that had survived over thousands of millennia had been wiped out a mere half-hour. Blood ran like a flowing river through the fortress, draining from the bodies of Gerudo warriors that were lay sprawled all over the ground. Tattered limbs and such were all over, even heads that had been cleaved in two, brains leaking out and soaking the ground below them. Bodies with their heads ripped open, shoulders cut through, heads lobbed off, various limbs torn off and thrown everywhere… it was sickening.

Ganondorf seemed to be enjoying it though. Now that the massacre was over his eyes were drinking in the horror and gore the same way an artist might admire his latest masterpiece. But…what was this? Someone moving? Well, that would be taken care of shortly.

The King of Evil walked slowly over to the squirming body, his large sword resting on his shoulder, ready to swing down and decapitate the victim. Yet…something stopped him. The Gerudo looked up into his eyes, her own sorrowful eyes damp with tears, her cheeks still bore a shimmering trail that the tears before had traveled woefully down.

This girl was…

Her hand was clutched over her stab wound, crimson from the blood flowing from it. The wound was deep – she wouldn't linger in this world for much longer.

"Seirus… I…always hoped you'd … come back." Her dark eyes stared at him. They bore no hatred against him, only… sadness and pity…

Her head dropped back and the last bit of life drained from her eyes. Ganondorf stood over her… that name going through his head over and over.

Seirus…Seirus…Seirus…

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"Seirus! Get your ugly ass over here!"

Gerudo Fortress, quiet some years ago, was where the older Gerudo was screaming for 'Seirus' to come to her. A young Ganondorf, somewhere in his early-teens, rushed over to the barking woman, dragging a large sword behind him.

"Y-yes?" He asked quietly.

"Yaitess tells me you were late for your sword lesson. Why?" She asked sternly.

"I…I was practicing my archery," Ganondorf replied, his head low, not looking back at the imposing eyes before him. Because of this he failed to see the fist coming strait at his face, knocking him off his feet and onto the dusty ground.

"You men are nothing but useless pieces of shit," she growled, giving him a good kick to his side. "Your archery hasn't improved either! Your damn aim is off all the time!"

Ganondorf groaned in pain, rolling over and cupping a hand over the blood flowing from his nose.

"GET UP!" She shrieked, jabbing him in the stomach with her heel. "Go on! Get that sad-ass face of yours out of here before I really get pissed off!"

Ganondorf got up slowly and limped off, many of the Gerudo snickering at his pathetic display.

Seirus… that's what they called him. In the desert tongue it meant 'worthless' or 'pathetic'… and that's what they all thought of him. Gerudo thought all men were dirt, and, even though he was destined to be King of the Gerudo, they thought the same of thing about him and had no trouble showing it at all.

He hated this place. He hated them. He hated everything.

Although, there was one thing he loved. It was going out in the mountains at nighttime and silently training with his sword. He found it to be relaxing, almost comforting. If anything, it was an escape from his horrible life of abuse and torture.

Ganondorf knelt down in a dark corner and curled up, resting his chin on his knees. He wanted to get away…to leave this place and never come back…

"Hey, Seirus…?"

Seirus… Coming from that sweet voice Ganondorf really didn't mind being called it. He knew she didn't mean anything by it, to her it was nothing but an innocent nickname.

Ganondorf felt comfortable around her, so he slowly uncurled and looked up at the young Gerudo female, whose tender green eyes looked into his with compassion. Her name was Lila, and she was his one and only friend in this cursed wasteland.

She bent over and looked him in the eye, her red locks slipping over her shoulder, slightly covering her face. "Seirus, what happened?"

Ganondorf looked down at the ground and muttered, "Reya happened."

"She beat you again?" Lila asked, taking out a bit of cloth and using it to clean his bloody nose.

He nodded sadly.

"What for this time?"

"Same as last time," he murmured, letting Lila dab at his nose. "My archery isn't good enough and I was late for my lesson."

"Oh…I see," she remarked sadly.

"What is it!" He growled. "Don't they have any respect for their future king!"

Lila put a comforting hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down. "They're scared of you, Seirus, that's why they do these things to you."

Ganondorf cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

"They're scared of what you may do once you're king so they're trying to keep you in line by beating you up and scaring you. They want to control you, Seirus, that's what it's all about."

"It's not just because I'm a man?" He asked her.

"Well…" She gave him a hug. "That too. You men are pretty stupid, most of all you," she joked.

Ganondorf cracked a smiled and stood up. "Oh really? Well, at least I can beat you at sword-fighting."

"Like heck you can!"

"Wanna find out?"

"Right here, right now."

"Get ready!"

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"Lila…" Ganondorf's rough voice said, as he stared at her dead body. Dead by his own hands. What was this feeling creeping up on him…? It was an old feeling, something he hadn't felt in the longest time.

Sadness?

Ganondorf, the great King of Evil, felt sadness? There was something wrong here. Something was tugging at his stone heart, and he felt like it was making it soften.

What the HELL was happening to him!

He grunted and rushed off to his steed, anxious to find that temple and get some answers. Not without taking one look back at Lila's body though.

Turning forward again, he yelled at his horse and took off forward, into the darkness of the desert.

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Miroku and Teious stepped lightly up the stairs leading to the higher ground in Gerudo Fortress. Miroku found the stench of blood sickening, and if he wasn't so used to the smell already he probably would've keeled over and puked right there. By looking at Teious, he could tell the taller lad was having some difficulty with the smell too, and he didn't even have Miroku's heightened sense of smell.

"This…is awful…" Teious stared at all the bodies. "He completely massacred them…"

Miroku looked at all the bodies in sadness. So many lives lost today… He had grown up in a war-ridden world, but never had he seen such a massive amount of death in such a short time. But, there was nothing he could do for them.

They were dead, he wasn't. He could still do something to stop this madman.

"We need to go look for survivors," Teious said, starting towards one of the buildings.

Miroku watched Teious run to an entrance, and he just turned and started walking towards the gate that lead to the desert.

"Miroku! C'mon!" Teious' voice pleaded.

"There are no survivors, Teious," Miroku muttered as he walked. "I will no longer linger here with the stench of death."

"But…"

"Stay if you want," Miroku interrupted. "The only ones among the living here are us… no one else. You'll only find more death."

Teious gave a hesitant glance into the darkness that lead deep into the fortress. Miroku stopped and looked over his shoulder at Teious, who continued to gaze into the darkness. What was he thinking? Was he actually scared of what he might find in there? Miroku turned completely around and looked at his childhood friend.

Interesting, really. He had been surrounded by death all his life but now it seemed Teious was afraid to go in there. Afraid was it, or maybe just tired? Perhaps he just didn't want to have to face anymore death. Miroku told him no one was left alive, and now he didn't want to go in. Maybe he was tired of facing death.

"Teious," Miroku spoke calmly yet loud enough to break Teious from his trance. The taller warrior looked away from the entrance and at his friend. "Come, we will lose Ganondorf if we linger much longer." Miroku motioned for him to follow and ran off towards the gate, his dark cloak flowing out behind him.

Teious nodded and, without looking back, raced after Miroku.

So much…death…

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It pained her to think of it. Her kind was living in luxury and bliss while all of Hyrule was in the state it was. They would be eating fruit and drinking fine wine, while these poor Hylians were forced to eat stale bread and drink mucky water. Her kind would be resting on lavish beds and soft pillows – these people living underground had nothing but straw. Sometimes not even that.

Zara was tired - Tired of everything.

She was leaning against the cold stone wall of an empty training room. Her hands had not yet been cleansed of the blood from the baby she had delivered earlier. But… life, sometimes, was taken away as soon as it came to be. The mother had died giving birth to the baby. It was a blow, but what really killed her was when she couldn't keep the baby alive… when its frantic, pained, screaming finally stopped and it fell completely limp in her arms.

Nothing could've prepared her for that. Nothing in the world. Zara couldn't do anything but stare at the beautiful baby that had been taken so quickly from this world. Tears had quickly come and she couldn't handle it anymore. She didn't want to have to handle it… Her body violently shook as hot tears streamed down her face. She keeled over and her stomach ejected was little was in it all over the stone floor.

What could she do? She remembered feeling lost, staring around the room as if she was a little child dropped into a dark and confused world, and she couldn't get out.

Her whole body shook…she felt light-headed. One last look at the lifeless baby, the baby she couldn't keep alive, was all it took to send her off. Her vision faded into darkness and…that's all she could remember.

What happened after that? She woke up a little later, only to find that the husband had been so grief-stricken by both losses he had then and there pulled out his dagger and plunged it into his own heart, taking his life.

She remembered that the idea seemed tempting at the time. How could death be worse than what they were all living right now? Why should they keep living?

Hope.

Something commonly described as a tiny light that flickered in a vast darkness. The one light that remained when all other lights go out. Zara could think of nothing better to describe it. She felt like she was running around in the darkness, searching franticly for that small glimmer of light - If she could get but a small glimpse of it she knew she could keep going.

Where was it though? Where was that light?

She was tired. She didn't want to think about it anymore. Rest…and she would be able to help out better.

Zara slid down the stone wall and curled up in the corner. Right now, more than anything, she wished Isuke's warm smile was there to comfort her like it always did.

As her mind and body relaxed she slowly drifted off into a deep sleep, praying that one day soon she would find that light…