Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

Chapter 13 Lake Hylia

It was nearly a year before Ganondorf recovered from his wounds. He did have a limp, and his arm gave him pain if he over used it, which he often did. The sun and the desert climate induced a quicker recovery. Anyone who looked at him would never know that he had been so near death's door. The harrowing experience seemed to have changed him. He didn't wear as much black as he used to. He got into the habit of wearing looser clothing of a lighter color. Even in demeanor, he had changed. He smiled more often, although he did brood a great deal. His temper seemed colder than ever. That hadn't changed.

The shock of missing so many people had subdued him. Had subdued them all.

Nabooru's companionship seemed to be blossoming into more than just pity for the fallen soldier. She still visited him daily, prepared meals for him, swept his floors. He had gotten into the habit of surreptitiously regarding her, as if she were a key component to some plan he was hatching.

"Nabooru." he addressed her one evening. "You seem to like my company." He knew this statement would annoy her, but he was merely observing her behavior. To his surprise, she blushed.

"I'm just helping out." she muttered.

"The time for helping me out passed about 6 months ago." he said drily. "Why are you still here?"

She got offended and stubborn. "Okay, I'll go then."

"Don't be such a child." he snapped, annoyed at the games she played. Well at least she wasn't stabbing him in the back like she used to, he mused. I ought to be thankful for that.

But he had said the wrong thing. He sighed when her back became ramrod straight with indignation. This wasn't what he had intended. He tried again. "Nabooru, listen to me. What I really mean, is that we seem to be spending a lot of time together. I mean. What I want to say is, well..."

She looked at him expectantly. When was the last time he had been at a loss for words? She wasn't going to help him out with this. She folded her arms and waited for him to struggle with whatever he was trying to say.

"Look, I want to tell you everything, but you have to trust me. Will you come with me to Lake Hylia?"

She just looked at him.

"As my bride." he said, looking directly at her.

She felt all the blood leave her face. When was the last time he mentioned that? She had stabbed him in the back the last time he had tried to make her his bride. No, wait, that wasn't the last time. The last time had been on the battlefield...but he had let her go then, and told her to have nothing to do with him. Had he changed his mind? She began to feel a knot form in the middle of her being. She had become close to him in this past year. They had shared meals together. She had done his laundry when it needed doing. She realized, that he was right. She was playing wife. She had not gone away when he didn't need her anymore. Why had she done that? Yet the cruel things he had done...she realized they were faded memories, yet they still served as a caution.

"You've got to say more than that if you want any kind of answer." she finally said.

He got up from his chair and came to stand beside her. She stepped away a little, but he place a hand on her elbow to prevent her from flying the coop altogether. "I'm the only Gerudo man left alive." he said quietly and intently. "I will say the same thing to you now as I did back then. I can have my pick of women, and I chose you. I haven't been able to let it go, and the only reason I let it go last time was..was that evil thing inside of me. I don't know what happened to it, but its gone. It's been gone for a whole year. I woke up here, and it was gone. You've got to know...You have to trust me, I didn't put it there to begin with. All the evil I did in the name of power and conquest...It wasn't me. I would never have done it." He said this last thing quite vehemently, and she cringed. He let go of her elbow. "You don't have to answer right away." He said, a great deal more calmly. He turned away from her and walked back to his chair. She left the room without answering.

If she didn't comply, he planned to...he crumpled his hand into a fist. His eyes flashed dangerously. He would forcibly take her down to the lake. Whether he returned with or without her. He sank into the chair with a groan. That was the old Ganondorf. He couldn't do that sort of thing...If she didn't want him, he'd have to continue with his plan without that sweet memory. Why had she stayed with him for so long? he lamented. She wanted him. He knew it. But she didn't know it. Crap! This was giving him a headache. Why couldn't things be more simple?

The next day, he left. He launched himself gracelessly onto the saddle, adjusted his gimpy leg, and headed to the Lake. To hell with Nabooru he thought. He had packed enough provisions to last a month. He beat the horse into a lope and headed out, his back straight. He was never coming back. He set his lips into a grim line. There was blood to pay, and the King of Hyrule would pay it. As the only avenger of the Gerudos, Ganondorf realized that he had quite a job ahead of him.

Nabooru stood on the bridge watching him ride away. Then she walked to the edge, and launched herself off, tightening her body so that she fell like a lance into the water, with hardly a ripple at all. If she followed the river, she'd get there before he did. She smiled in anticipation, wondering what his reaction would be. After she had left his room last night, she had hovered by the doorway and peeked in to watch. She saw him finally flop himself into the chair and express a great sigh. He seemed so sad...But she had expected him to wait for her answer. She saw him ride away this morning with a ton of stuff on the pack horse. She realized he wasn't returning. What was he up to? she wondered. Was the prospect of her 4th rejection too much for him? She doubted it. He had been wearing black.

She swam into the Lake and headed for the beach. The entrance to Zora's Domain was inviting, and she met a few Zoras, but did not exchange any words with them. After the long swim, she dragged herself up onto the narrow beach and lay down for a while, catching her breath. She looked around, and spotted him just entering. She stood up and waved. He brought his steed to a full stop, staring at Nabooru. Then he dismounted and came toward her, a puzzled look on his face. Now what? he wondered. Is this another game?

Her clothing was stuck to her body, which gave him a full idea of what she looked like without anything at all, but she seemed unaware of the picture that she presented to him. He felt something inside of him break at the possibility that she was here to agree to his proposal. It wasn't possible...but what other reason was there for her presence? His steps quickened without him realizing. She swam down the river...What a crazy bitch! he realized. She jumped off the bridge!

He didn't say anything. He came right up to her and put his arms around her as if she was the life preserve and he the drowning man. He didn't let go right away, but when he did, it was only for an inch, just enough to tilt her head upwards...he could taste the lake on her mouth.

She found the shock of his lips on hers to be an overwhelming experience. Far from the forceful rapacious selfish kiss that she had been half-expecting, this was the total opposite of that. She could feel something coming from him that seemed to make her think that he cared about her. Besides that, he smelled of leather and horses and sun. Her senses drank this in. The feel of his arms around her made her feel sheltered and desired. Something within her responded like the sun on ice. The closeness and heat from his body was a thing she decided she could welcome.

He suddenly stopped kissing her and held her at arm's length, his fingers digging into her shoulders. "By Nayru, Nabooru, tell me that you came because...tell me that your here because...O by all that is holy, Nabooru, why are you here?"

He suddenly seemed really really angry, and she was still reeling from that kiss. In a small voice, she answered lamely: "I wanted to surprise you."

He half-collapsed onto the sand. "You stupid stupid wench." he finally said, as if her answer had taken the wind out of his sails. "You could have been killed!" Then, in a cold and quiet tone, he said: "Sit down."

She did as he told her, trembling in the cool breeze. He put his sun-warmed jacket around her shoulders. "Well," he began. "That wasn't the answer I had been expecting, but since you pulled that jack-ass stunt to get here, I guess it's just as good." and he began to tell her the story of the black gauntlets. He spoke without emotion.

"When I was 18 I went out into the desert, trying to recreate the adventure I had when I was 9. When I finally got to the place, I saw that it hadn't changed much. I wandered around pushing blocks, fiddling with different booby traps, fighting off flaming bats and these weird creatures that sucked the clothes off you. Then I reached this one room, and it wasn't empty. Two witches sat there, cackling away. I hadn't expected anyone to be there. They thought I was pretty bold to have come there alone. They began to torture me. One would burn me to the bone, and the other would freeze me to my soul." He stopped speaking for a moment and cleared his throat. "They drove me mad! I finally got to the point where I told them that I would do anything for them, just stop it! I felt as if I was going to die. I mean, it must have gone on for a couple of days at least. That's what it felt like anyway. Oh that pleased them very much. They hung me from the ceiling and started talking about giving me the black gauntlets. They took the silver ones off and put the black ones on..." He paused only slightly. "They were gruesome. They were worse than any torture I could possibly imagine. My skin turned green and scaley, my bones came right out of my elbows. This seemed to please them even more. "Its Ganon" they said. They let me down, but my memory started to fade. Next thing I know, I'm wandering in the desert and there's blood all over me and bodies everywhere. I took the gauntlets off and vowed never to put them on again. And I kept that vow until the Battle last year. I did go back to the Spirit Temple once to ask those witches for the silver gauntlets, and they gave them to me. I wanted to fight them then, but they had this ability to team up and become one person. It was really weird. But it didn't matter. The black gauntlets, or something the witches did caused this really powerful blackness to rise up in me. I can't explain it. It's like black lightning."

"Why are you telling me all this?" she wondered out loud.

He went to the pack horse and started setting up his little camp. She naturally assisted him as she had for the past year, but he brushed her helping hands away. "I'll do it thanks." he said. He started a little fire and began preparing dinner. "You better change out of those wet things." he said

"I'll just stand by the fire." she said

He shrugged. "The reason i'm telling you all this is because I'm planning on putting the black gauntlets back on."

She sat down and stopped fidgetting. "W-what?" she was completely puzzled.

He was 1/2 a motion away from removing the saddle from his horse. He paused. His shoulders slumped abit, and he leaned his forehead against the saddle. After a moment, he resumed his task, and he talked as he worked. "I can't bear it anymore, Nabooru. The emptiness at the Hideout." He staked the horse a little ways off and started to attend to the pack horse. He brought the animals a bucket of lake water each and carefully monitored how much they drank. Then he tended the meal at the fire and poked a stick into the flames. Sparks flew upward into the darkening sky.

Nabooru shivered. The little fire wasn't helping her much. He noticed, but said nothing. Standing in the hot desert sun, then plunging into the ice cold water, then swimming across a lake, he knew, couldn't possibly be good for anyone. He handed her a plate of hot food and watched her eat. He had brewed a dark liquid which he poured into two mugs. He handed her one, and again, observed while she sipped at it. Not one word of thanks passed her lips, but she ate and drank all that he offered her.

"I know that the women constantly look for their children. It's hard to watch." he said when he had done eating. He took her plate and cup and walked to the lake's edge. He scrubbed the dishes and pots with sand, and rinsed them thoroughly.

Nabooru didn't say anything. It was all his fault anyway. The King of Hyrule had been extreme because Ganondorf had tried to get the triforce. He may as well have killed the Queen and Prince himself. She had even heard the rumor that the King was now entirely blind. And that was because of Ganondorf too.

He brought the plates back and noticed her rebellious demeanor. "I know what you're thinking." he said quietly. "You think it's all my fault." He sighed. "Well, I can't get away from that one. It is my fault. I didn't start the war, but I very nearly finished it. With the Triforce I could have ruled the land! I could have stopped all the stife! I could have evened the odds!"

He was going to rant, she realized. Man, it was the same thing every time: triforce, triforce, triforce. She curled up beside the fire and placed her head onto a rolled up canvas. She closed her eyes. I feel so tired. she thought. She fell asleep almost right away.

In her sleep, Nabooru developed a fever, and began experiencing a strange dream. In the dream, she was once again at the battlefield, but instead of being on it, she was above it, as if she were a bird. She could see the flames starting. She could feel the wind rising beneath her brown wings. The wind seemed to have purpose. She felt something heavy that she grasped in her talons: it was the silver gauntlets! She realized that she was Kaepora Gaebora. She could sense a pit of blackness rising from beneath, and knew that the black gauntlets had been activated. She flew higher up, and saw that the flames had spread alarmingly. They seemed to eat the land like acid. She saw the wind chase the flames toward the Kokiri forest, and with her night-vision that all owls had, she saw in the distance, a woman carrying a child toward the forest. She was in the direct line of the burn. The wind had its own mind, its own objective. The wind had a murderous intent, and Nabooru could sense this with her wings.

From afar, she saw the woman turn her pale face toward the oncoming flames. She hesitated. All manner of beast leaped at her in their fright to escape. She stood still. In her heart, Nabooru saw this woman was pure and good and kind. The child she carried on her back emmanated a peaceful and sure strength. The owl could see the doom that awaited her...but the woman did a strange thing. Instead of running away in panic, she ran toward the raging flames. She caught the fire on her stick, made a quick about face, and ran before the onslaught. She lit the grass on fire infront of her and followed the charred remains until she stood in a great swath of blackness. The raging fire that began on the battle field was rendered impotent. Nabooru felt complete and utter astonishment as she gazed down on that heroic woman. Then she saw the white bones of a stalchild rise up from the ground behind her. The talons slashed the woman in the back, and the owl could hear the child cry. From afar, Nabooru saw the woman turn to face the skeletal puppet, and saw the talons buried into her heart.

Like an stone, Nabooru fell from the sky, the urge to assist this doomed woman overwhelming...

Nabooru woke up beside Lake Hylia. Ganondorf was close by, his expression anxious, one hand on her shoulder as if he'd been trying to rouse her for some time, but had been unable to. Her body felt like lead. An incoherent moan came out of her mouth. Ganondorf scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the tent he had finished setting up. He laid her softly onto the bed he had made from the tall grass that he had gathered in the nearby field. Her body was like ice. He removed the damp clothing. In the dim light of the moon, he saw Nabooru, then covered her with all the warm, dry blankets he could find. It was a sight that would not leave his memory for a long long time. It was something he could take with him to the depths of the hell into which he intended on going.