It was two days later when the silent caravan reached a bustling Kakariko. The villagers, upon seeing the arrival of their long vacated Princess, stared in shock and pushed themselves to the sides of the road, where the horses neighed in frustration at being kept in crowded corners. Children who were too young to know any formalities burst into bouts of joy at the sight of their fairy-tale heroes; but their laughter died when Nabooru, brilliant but cold, rode by in the rear, stern-faced with the thought of what lay ahead.
Epona walked slowly behind Aloarn's steed, and Link took the moment to gaze around at the awe-struck civilians that lined the road. This time, his hood was not up; the face of the Hero of Time was looked on with both admiration and shock - many thought they would never live to see him again. It was this sort of thing that made Link squirm. He did not like his name known by every pair of lips, to be a marvel shown about as a trophy. To be remembered was one thing; to be renowned for deeds he had done; but Link didn't want the publicity of a living hero. At this moment he remembered the incident at the bar, and through the dense crowd caught the eye of the barman. When he saw the soldiers and the two Gerudo in the group he shook his head dismally at the Hero. He mouthed only one word to Link, a word Link dreaded to hear uttered out loud.
"War?"
He nodded to the man and he shook his head, retreating to the momentary sanctuary of his inn. Link, preoccupied with the sudden onset of such a brutal term, barely noticed that the caravan had stopped. Epona halted and he moved his gaze to Aloarn, who had slowed and now walked beside him.
"There is someone in the path," she whispered to him. Link looked ahead to see Zelda dismounting in front of the village well. She embraced a dark form, taller than herself, plated with armor. It was only when Link saw the white locks of hair and the bold impression in her face did he realize that Impa stood in waiting.
The Hero and the Advisor dismounted. Nabooru slid from her horse and commanded the soldiers to remain on their steeds, not wanting them to interfere. Impa's gaze turned first to Link, who she sought with a rare smile. In all of Impa's years toiling in the depths of tombs, unraveling the mysteries of the spirits, only Link had the same idea of the horrors of Hyrule's departed dead.
"Link," said Zelda softly as he approached. "Impa has news for us. A shadow passed over this town last night - a shadow that came from the Desert."
"He has been here, then," said Aloarn, her gaze shifting around the town. "You can see the fear he has left in their hearts. What business does he have in Kakariko?"
"He came to find me," spoke Impa suddenly, stepping forth from the shadows beside Zelda. "It is not safe to discuss anything here. Zelda, command your soldiers to stay the night at the Inn. Tell them I will be guarding you. Tonight we must climb Death Mountain, for the shadow has not yet left the Gorons."
Zelda twitched slightly but nodded her consent to her caretaker. She left briskly and Nabooru grinned at Impa.
"You can't stand them either, can you?"
"I've worked my whole life with castle guards. They are useless in this situation. Why did she bring them, and why has she returned? And Link, why have you come forth after living in disguise?"
"Zelda has changed, Impa," said Link decisively. "She is no longer the Princess you knew. Her thoughts are of appearances and wealth; but there are good reasons for her return. The shadow that passed over this town is an old foe of ours, one we thought was sealed away. We will need her help to defeat him again."
Impa paused, and her gaze fell on Aloarn. Aloarn caught her eye for a moment and bowed slightly to the Sheikah out of deep respect, though she knew not who she was. Impa smiled at her and shook her head, encouraging her to stand up.
"Zelda has grown apart from herself," said Impa slowly. She was studying the blonde lock in Aloarn's hair. "I know longer feel a power in her. I fear her wisdom has been crushed since I last saw her."
"I also have felt a lack of truth in her," said Nabooru as Zelda waved away her soldiers and came trotting back, holding her nose high into the air as citizens called out to her in greeting. "Yet nothing can be certain. She carries the Triforce of Wisdom, and that is something we cannot deny."
"Yet she left for Ter'zai," said Impa slowly. Her gaze faltered slightly. "...she abandoned Hyrule."
"Not now, Impa," said Nabooru hurriedly. Zelda trotted up to them, graceful but carrying an annoying air of superiority. She did not speak, but nodded to Link, casting a breif glance over the two Gerudo, and waited patiently beside Impa in a serious silence. Aloarn ground her teeth slightly at the conceited air of Hyrule's Princess.
Impa led them from the town in haste; she seemed unwilling to meet the questioning stares of passerby and relocated the group to the only spot that remained unoccupied - the Kakariko Graveyard. The empty shack beside the tombstones had not been touched since the death of its owner. Ripped clippings and prices for tours were still hanging off the sides of the building, and Zelda shuddered as she caught sight of the cobwebs and dust that hung in clouds around the small structure. She stopped before reaching the door.
"Surely we can discuss these things in some other spot?" she insisted, not even daring to touch the doorknob with her perfect white gloves. "Impa...can we not stay at the inn? No one would spy on us in Kakariko. They are a...trustworthy people." As she said this her gaze fluttered over Aloarn. A fury rose in her chest and died away again.
"Do not suggest - "
"Patience, Aloarn," said Nabooru. She turned back with a glare at the Princess. "We came here to discuss without others around us. You will stay and hear the tale Impa has to tell - "
"Nabooru, peace. I can easily tell Zelda later at the inn. Link, if you and -" she paused and Link remembered his manners.
"Aloarn, Advisor to the Gerudo," he said hurriedly, placing Aloarn before him. She bowed again, this time with more confidence, and Impa nodded.
"Very well. Nabooru, take Zelda back to the inn and stay with her until my coming. Link, Aloarn, I will tell you the tale first, and tomorrow we must begin our way up Death Mountain. The power of Darunia fades in my heart; I fear the worst. If all is what I believe it to be, then we have little time. Go, Zelda, and I will meet you later."
Zelda nodded and turned, but waited for Nabooru to take the lead. Nabooru shook her head at Impa and the Sheikah mouthed an apology to her Gerudo friend. In a moment both women disappeared into the night, and Impa led Link and Aloarn past the first row of gravestones and into the broken house.
Vulhal licked her fanged teeth and swayed from side to side. The trees bowed silently before her, defenseless to the spears of the Banished. The woods grew, but the growth made them weak; the Outcasts were dying ever so slightly, but it was what kept them strong. Her one eye moved in all directions, ever watchful for threat. But the bridge into the Kokiri Forest was abandoned, and the cunning and stealth of the Banished Gerudo warrior took over.
She slid silently down and embankment and began to climb up the other side. Behind her, women in disfigured armor followed, hissing and gnashing their yellow teeth. They scrabbled the ground with fingernails that had been uncut and grew like claws from their bony hands; their stomachs almost ran along the ground like snakes, their backs parallel to the brown earth, shoulders tensed and ready to strike. Following the lead of Vulhal they crept towards a clearing where the trees grew more sparsely. Makeshift houses had been built in the branches of large oaks, with rope ladders that dangled, all too invitingly, from their doorways.
Vulhal looked back at a Gerudo with a red breastplate and clicked her tongue. The women took a pouch from her pocket and picked a piece of stray wood off the ground. Scattering a powdered sand mixture onto the wood, she breathed a spell of death against it. The wood burst suddenly into flame, and the women crawling up behind them grabbed sticks and lit them off of her own. Vulhal took a branch and crept farther forward. The fires were bright and a few Kokiri were emerging from their homes in confusion.
Mido stepped out of his tree house and rubbed his eyes sleepily. His fairy hovered over his shoulder, and he could feel the fear in her voice.
"Mido...Mido? Are those...are those fairies? Mido?"
Mido's brain came to a stop. The lanterns that were being lit in the forest were not fairies, were not spirits. As he gazed at them, the closest came into full view.
The one eye of Vulhal glared in devilish ecstasy as he stared, dumbfounded. She screamed a death cry that awakened every sleeping Kokiri; armed Gerudo poured into the forest and threw their torches into the unresisting trees. Mido yelled for the other forest children but his cry was lost. He choked and stumbled down the ladder from his tree, only to come face-to-face with the one eyed, disfigured woman who had thrown the first torch.
The bloodlust filled her yellow eyes and she reared forwards. Around them, the Kokiri screamed in torture and the forest went up in smoke.
"The shadow has passed Kakariko, and I have no doubt that it is Ganon who embodied that form. If this is the case than Darunia must have led his people to the sanctuary of the Fire Temple in hopes of escape. Ganon will not be able to stand being so close to one of the forces that defeated him."
"But he holds the Triforce of Power!" said Aloarn fiercely. "Fire is his ally! He may draw strength from such a source -"
"Not while Darunia is a Sage, Advisor," said Impa. "But there is another matter. The Code of the Gerudo, the Scrolls - have both of you read them?"
Link and Aloarn both nodded, though they did not know how this applied to the situation.
"Good," said Impa. She stood and looked out the broken window of the shack, her expression one of deep understanding.
"Aloarn," she said suddenly, locking eyes with the Gerudo. "Do you know who your father was?"
Aloarn shook her head, misunderstanding. Link looked from Impa to the Gerudo in slight confusion.
"It shouldn't matter who fathered Aloarn -"
"It does matter," said Impa firmly. Her eyes were boring into Aloarn, who studied her with bewilderment. "The Code told of a second shadow, of the betrayal of a Sage. How the Triforce can replace itself in another."
There was silence to this. Link, his mind flashing to the night at the bar, looked on the back of his hand as if to see the Triforce glowing intensely against the darkness in the house. Predicatably, there was nothing, and he looked back to Impa, who had opened the door to the shack.
"Remember what I have said, and do not take everything for what it seems. Me'lkmar's ashes are scattered far and wide over Hyrule. Link, if you have need, you know the path. The eyes of death can see the life of tomorrow."
She left instantly to return to Zelda, and Link sat in silence, brooding over her words.
The house was one room, and small. Inside it was arguably cleaner than outside, apart from several spider webs that hung from ceiling corners. In one corner stood a desk piled over with deteriorating scrolls of paychecks, taxes, burial information, and several notes and letters written to unknown correspondents. Link sat in a slightly uncomfortable chair that was situated in front of the desk, a though someone, after all this time, was going to sit own and study the neglected papers. Aloarn sat crossed leg on a low mattress across the room where she gazed out the window at the dark clouds that hovered above the village. A few drops of rain were beginning to slide down the glass of the window.
"Din's strength is in fire," she spoke suddenly. Link looked at her when he heard this, and walked over to the mattress. Sitting beside her, he waited for her to go on.
"He loved the power of fire," she whispered. Her green eyes clouded with the faintest comings of fear. "He...he used to torture the women with it."
She shivered and Link put his arm around her. This time she did not hesitate, but fell into his shoulder so naturally that Link had to concentrate almost all his thought into slowing down his heartbeat.
"It's alright," he whispered. "He's not going to hurt you. Not here."
Aloarn looked up at him and smiled faintly, taking a much deeper sense of comfort in his words. Then she lowered her head onto his shoulder and there was a long moment of silence. Finally, Link felt her shift in his embrace.
"This is against the Code, Link," whispered Aloarn. The rain outside was beating softly against the house in a steady, calming rhythm; Link closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall, trying his best to pick out the appropriate thing to say, trying to focus on what needed to be done the following day and the dangers that lay ahead. But when he opened his eyes, so many feelings came rushing into him that he almost felt his heart explode.
She was gazing at him with emerald eyes, eyes that bore through his soul and called for him; eyes that made his body go numb and his insides turn. Her hair was falling softly around her perfect, bare shoulders, around the edges of her graceful neck. He felt himself losing control and closed his eyes again in a desperate attempt to escape her beauty - and attempt that failed as soon as his voice drifted to his ears.
"...Link?"
When he opened his eyes, she was sitting up, having pulled herself from his arms. Her look was one of worry, and Link realized that she must have had no idea what pains he was going through to resist. Quietly he looked away and folded his hands together.
"Your right. It is against the Code. An outside male must never embrace a Gerudo. I should not dishonor you."
Aloarn watched him as he closed his eyes and lowered his head. His blonde hair fell about his handsome face in waves, his gorgeous blue eyes hidden. She longed, for this moment, to stare into them for reasons she did not know; he was picking idly at his gloves now and the rain in Aloarn's ear was causing her such difficulty in her emotions that she couldn't bear it. Honor or dishonor, the Code did not apply to her in that moment.
Link felt it only a few seconds before it happened. The height of the mattress shifted and he knew Aloarn had moved, but he dare not open his eyes. The next moment, he felt the light pace of her breath against his lips,and he lost control.
