Hello all.
Wow, I'm on a roll. I'm trying to update as much as I can before I leave for a cruise to the caribbean for a week. Plus, I've had my good friend help type so updating is much easier when all I have to do it go back and read it making a few changes here and there. I also would like to say thanks to my regular readers. I deeply appreciate your reivews and I'm glad you put up with my many typos and stupid chapters that ought to be thrown out. Well, I've got to start studying so I dont fail the SAT's miserably.
Saira
-SecretRoom-
I know this is probably really stupid. I knew the ways of the Gerudo and when you were told to do something, you did it without question, but here we were creeping around Gerudo Fortress knowing that if we're caught we might as well kiss our butts goodbye.
"This way" Link whispered
"Goddess all three of you are so predictable" Nabooru said waiting for us around the corner. "And you should be a better role model for them" she scolded Link.
"Uh—"
There was a long moment of silence as she stood there making sure we didn't go. I could tell just by looking at her that she knew more than she was letting on and her previous outburst confirmed it for me. She started talking to Link but I was washed down by a vision. I stood in place but I knew they would notice.
My vision led me across the desert and then to a huge temple. At the entrance I saw Nabooru being sucked into a black and purple void as two ugly witches circling above. I came to and all three of them were looking at me strangely.
"Ah, I'd forgotten. You're the last. This is certainly going to complicate things"
"Why?" I asked
"If possible, hide your gift by all means"
"Why?" I pressed
"Men, Elves and all beings have killed for the Eyes of a Seer. And the fact that you're the last will provoke much danger. Has the Deku Tree told you nothing?"
I looked side to side at my brother and Dmitri then all three of us shook our heads.
"What exactly was he supposed to tell us?" Link asked
"About your lives. And Ruto didn't mention anything either? Goddess, am I the only one who even thought you'd like to know?"
"Enlighten us then" Dmitri said
Nabooru sighed. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what she was keeping from us. There was a reason it was kept. She started walking and we followed all the way to the dusty library.
"Saira, could you light some candles?"
"I swear all I'm good for is starting fires."
Nabooru suddenly slammed a thick book onto the table sending moldy dust in every direction from it. We all coughed and waved our hands hoping to dispel the filth.
"This book is one of many given to the rulers or higher beings in the worlds. Princess Zelda had it printed after your endeavors"
"Uh, we just started our endeavors so how could it already be printed?" Dmitri asked
"Saira, open the cover"
I did and dust fell off covering my hands. On the first page I read to myself
"'Destiny's Heroes'?" Link read aloud.
"The account of the heroes of each world. You and your sister are the heroes of Hyrule, but your stories are far from similar."
"Start making sense" I said
Nabooru took the book and flipped through the pages until she handed it back and I gasped at what I saw. I couldn't mistake the being on the drawn picture. Link, all grown up, fighting the Gerudo King. Nabooru flipped through more pages until there was one that was undeniably me only I wouldn't want to relive or live what I saw. I was screaming and light was pouring from me in every direction. I slammed the book shut.
"What is this?" I demanded
"Your life before you were given a second chance."
I don't know what came over me but I stormed out and kept walking. That book was lying. It had to be a lie. I would remember the kind of pain that picture represented. I would remember if my brother fought the most evil being to ever claim Hyrule. Shouldn't I remember? And if it wasn't a lie, how am I young now when I look at least 17 or 18 in the picture? Suddenly while all this was running through my head I slipped and landed hard on my back.
I knew what happened. Whenever I get man, frustrated or sad things tend to ice over around me. I just laid there in the hall until a young Purple Gerudo bent over me.
"Are you okay?" she asked more warmly than I expected from a Gerudo.
"Yeah, just felt like a lie down" I said as she helped me up
"I'm Leah"
"Saira"
Her face was covered by the mesh mask but the crease by her eyes said she was smiling. Wow. A Gerudo who actually knows how to smile.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked sternly
"That fact that you are" I said "I thought Gerudos forbid such behavior."
"Oh, they do but I'm not exactly high up in the Gerudo ranks so no one looks twice at me. But if I ever reach the status of Nyssa or Nabooru I'd have to be more careful" she said
"They the bosses?"
"Only Nabooru. Nyssa is below her"
"Ah"
"Saira!" Dmitri said running up. Leah immediately lost her smile and sheathed her scimitar.
"Down Leah. It's just my friend Dmitri"
"But he's a boy"
"Yeah I hope" I said but she didn't get the joke. "It's okay. Dmitri is alright"
"Strange" Leah said putting away her scimitar
"So, Saira are you alright?" Dmitri asked
"Yeah, just got a little confused"
"Well, Nabooru doesn't want you running off"
"Okay. C'mon Leah"
"I can't" she said
"Why not?"
"A Purple can never go before the great Nabooru unless summoned" she said fearfully.
"Oh, okay, well I'll see you around then"
We went back to the library and Link had his head in the book reading.
"Saira, good" Nabooru said but she hid her relief.
"There's no danger"
"There's always danger. Especially since you're a Seer"
I scoffed
"She may be right, Saira. I've been going through this and it seems a lot of people want us dead"
"Still want you dead" Nabooru said. "With that in mind, I'd like to ask all three of you to stay in Gerudo fortress. Perhaps even learn some useful fighting skills."
Link and Dmitri immediately started laughing.
"Saira" Link said "fight? Oh that's—"
"—Ha ha. That's laughable" Dmitri added
"I see" Nabooru said coldly but unless I'm blind, she winked at me. "You two will be assigned to my finest"
They stopped laughing. Even they knew that the Gerudos were known as fierce fighters; warriors of the strictest nature.
"That's really not necessary" Link said
"Rest up boys. We'll start tomorrow" Nabooru said leaving the room.
"Well, this should be fun" I said cheerfully before attempting to find our room. It didn't take long for me to get lost. After awhile I heard two Gerudos whispering around a corner and stayed hidden.
"I heard Nabooru talking" one said
"About what?"
"Supposedly the older one in green is the old Hero of Time. Nyssa said he was sent back to live a normal childhood"
"What? So he's the one who killed the King?"
"No, Ganondorf is not dead. Apparently he's stuck in the dark shadow void"
"What about the girl?"
"His sister and pretty special too. She's the last Hylian Seer"
"Cant be!"
"Yes, imagine what a prize that would fetch"
"Some are still loyal to him" Nabooru said quietly scaring me when I saw her looming.
"To Ganondorf you mean?"
"Yes and many hate to bow to me because I refused to bow to him when he was King."
"I've heard stories about him."
"He was corrupt. True Gerudos prize thievery but we never kill. I would never bow to a murderer such as him"
"How'd he end up in the shadow void?"
"Your brother with the help of the sages" she said
"Aren't you one?"
"Yes, but let's not spread that around"
-"Dmitri, where are you going?" I asked hearing him sneaking out that night
"Out. Care to join?"
I smiled and took his outstretched hand. We snuck past every guard and despite a few close calls and my extreme clumsiness we made it to the very top of the stone fortress.
"I was wondering when you two would show up" Link said lying there already. How he could have been missed was a shock to me but I was glad he was there.
"Sorry, but Miss Klutz held us back"
"So I'm not what you'd call graceful. Nobody's perfect"
"Shh" he hissed. "You can see almost everything from up here"
That you could. I looked about and I could see Kokiri Forest far in the distance recognized by the twinkling of lights that were really faeries waiting for a new Kokiri child. I saw smoke rising from Death Mountain towards the left and the red rooftops of the houses in Kakariko Village. I could even see the turrets of the castle. Castletown below it was just as silent as the rest of Hyrule. Barely visible was Lake Hylia reflecting the bright round full moon. Course you couldn't see anything past the desert because of a storm.
After looking around for a bit we laid down in a triangle so that Dmitri was lying on my legs, Link on his and me on Link. For a few hours we laughed at the stupid stories we'd come up with to explain how the people were immortalized in the stars.
"You think we'll ever do anything great enough to get up there?" I asked when we'd calmed down.
"According to that book we already have, but the stars are for the dead" Link said
I don't remember falling asleep that night but the sun's bright rays woke me up or maybe it was because Nabooru, Nyssa and several guards were standing over us.
"You're not as stealthy as you think" Nabooru said with her unwavering expression. "Plus we could see that goddess awful green tunic from a mile away"
"Hey!" Link retorted
"Come"
We followed them to a large filed of sand where Gerudos were sparring everywhere. Those in Red were teaching ones in White and Purple. I looked for a moment to see if Leah was there but they all looked the same. Once Nabooru was spotted they all stopped and stood army-like
"Sonja! Viera!" Nabooru called
Two Gerudos in White but short hair and vests ran forward and tilted their heads in a small bow.
"Link, Dmitri, I've asked Sonja and Viera to teach you. Nyssa"
Nyssa turned confused "Yes?"
"You're with Saira"
If the Gerudo weren't tan and known for their lack of expression, Nyssa would have certainly been red and furious. Nothing could describe the rest of the day for me except…disaster. Link was a natural and this fighting business. He was still whooped by a Gerudo at least a year younger than him but he matched her better than any of the others expected. Dmitri fought with a style all his own, but his style actually got him to ground a Purple if only for a moment. He paid dearly for it later.
I, on the other hand, dropped the wooden practice scimitar more times than I can count and balance is definitely something I don't have. Nyssa ended up stabbing her own in the ground and walking off in protest. There is one thing I accomplished though; I could spin a dagger for a few seconds. I know, wow, right?
And so that's how we passed time in Gerudo, or that's how Link and Dmitri passed their time. Fighting isn't my forté and never will be. I'm not sure why I'm so bad. Maybe I just haven't found a good enough teacher that motivates me enough. Course, Dmitri didn't devote all his time to perfecting his style but we noticed there were a lot of locked doors in Gerudo Fortress. We set to getting through all of these after a few weeks of walking past them.
"Here's a good one. This is a good lock so there's gotta be something good" Dmitri said as we came to another locked door. Most of them were just closets or didn't have anything of real value or interest. Dmitri was my teacher but I never knew where he picked up his notable talent.
"That's what you said about the last one" I said as I handed him a funky looked metal pin he jabbed into the lock. He said step by step what he was doing until we heard the familiar click meaning we had unlocked the door. He shoved it open, and I very nearly screamed if Dmitri hadn't covered my mouth.
"It's nothing Saira, just some old armor."
I sighed deeply seeing he was right. "What room is this?"
"I don't know. Let's have a look around"
I summoned my trademark light bead, but there wasn't any more of interest than the black leather armor.
"Wait, look." Dmitri said going to the book case. "Put out your light"
I quelled the bead and walked over to him. He waved his hand in front of the edge of the book case and a line of light went by as he moved his hand.
"How did you see that?"
"I have very good eyes. There's a room or hallway behind this bookcase." He said
"Hmm, there's always a trigger. If Ganondorf was the last king, he wouldn't be dumb enough to make it a book" I said walking away from the bookcase looking for something out of place. I heard a scraping sound behind me but ignored it
"Don't be too sure. The King must have had sand for brains if a 10 year old knows better" Dmitri said. I turned and he had pulled down a book opening the case. "Echo!"
"Echo. Echo. Echo" his voice sounded in the enormous room behind the bookcase.
We walked inside but there was no need for light on my part. There were torches of blue fire all along the walls. Blue fire never goes out unless magically put out or if it is used to melt things. The room had runes on the walls and on books. Everything had a heavy layer of dust making most everything hard to decipher. Unfortunately there was a table with straps meaning it wasn't a desk. There were brown stains and I walked away not even wanting to guess.
"What is this place?" Dmitri asked
"My guess is Ganondorf's private room."
"How did you get here?"
"What do you mean Dmitri, you were right there with me" I said impatiently as I examined a book.
"Um, Saira, I think we're in trouble"
"Good assumption"
I dropped the book recognizing Nyssa's fierce tone.