A/N: Mudora was very proud of his intensity-building paragraph near the end of last chapter, when Link was rushing toward Ganondorf. Did it turn out as good as Mudora thought, or was it really lame? Please let me know in a review. I love constructive criticism, especially from peers!

A Hero's Path

Chapter 18: A Goddess, and the Power of Silver

Link stood facing Zelda, floating in a white sky. Link had none of his equipment, just his ocarina. Zelda was holding a shiny blue ocarina. It was so beatifully crafted and painted, Link couldn't even believe that a professional could make something so perfect in everyway.

"Link, play this song in front of the altar in the Temple of Time," she said. She played a beautiful, slow song that sounded almost sad. Link listened very carefully, and matched every note perfectly on his ocarina. As he did, he saw a path, from the gate into town where he had just fallen, leading through town right to a large, magnificent building, built from perfectly cut, white stone. There was a vast, open doorway, and beatiful engravings all around the entrance...

Link woke on hard stone floor. Stone walls rose around him and met in a stone ceiling. There was a high window, impossible to get to, and a square hole in the top where he could see a higher, sandstone ceiling. He got the impression he had been dropped in the stone room from the hole in the ceiling, as he had a concussion. It was very hot and dry. Out the window he saw clear, blue skies. The blue reminded him of the ocarina Zelda held in the mysterious vision.

He groped for his ocarina around his neck, but it wasn't there. Nor were his sword, shield, pack, or any of his belongings. He didn't even have his boots or hat. And he noticed he was wearing his large tunic.

"Oh, now you wake up," he heard Navi say. She flew over to him from the corner of the room.

"Navi? Where are we?"

"In the desert of the Gerudos, dropped in the prison of their fortress. Even if you could climb to the window, its a forty foot drop to the ground below."

"But it's sand, right? That won't hurt."

"Oh, yeah Link. Tons of sand packed down from armies constantly marching over it can't hurt. That's another thing. Even if you landed without injury, the place is heavily guarded."

"Didn't you say Ganondorf's armies are all women? What do they know?"

"They know about fifty different ways to gut you with a spear or slice your head off with a sword. That's what they know!"

"Oh. And I don't have any weapons either."

"Yeah. Ganondorf captured you after knocking you out, you dork. Then he claimed your ocarina and the Spiritual Stones. Then some young woman took your sword and shield, and the rest went to other Gerudos."

"How do you know all this?"

"I've been spying. I followed from a distance, and then watched what they did to you."

They heard a door open and close, and a faint voice say, "Is he awake?"

Another responded, "Yes, Princess. He seems to be arguing with himself."

"Good," the first said. "I would like to speak with him alone. You may take a break, lieutenant."

"Thank you, Princess." They heard a door open and close.

"Hey, boy!" A voice shouted down at him. Link and Navi looked up to see a Gerudo woman staring down at them. She had dark skin and red hair, that was falling in front of her face as she peeked through the hole in the ceiling. "How are you feeling?"

"Beat up, robbed, and imprisoned!" Link shouted back. "I'm gonna kill all of you!"

"Oh, are you?" she said and laughed. "That will be hard to do without weapons, short stuff."

"Short stuff? It just so happens, I fought..."

"Gohma, Barinade, the entire population of Dodongos, and an army of skeletons?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"You had all the stones, and you're a Kokiri. I've seen your fairy buzzing all over the place."

"Some spying, Navi," Link mocked.

"It's hard not to stick out like a sore thumb when you shine like the stinkin' sun!" she said in her own defense.

The Gerudo dropped a rope into Link's prison. A good length of it hit the ground.

"Come on up!"

"What, are you gonna kill us for all the secret stuff we know?" Link asked, but he started climbing anyway.

"If I intended to kill you, you'd already be dead. We Gerudos have no qualms about killing defenseless enemies. An enemy is an enemy."

"I thought I was your biggest enemy," Link said as he climbed out onto the roof of his cell. The area he now stood in was a stone platform surrounded on one side by sandstone that hung over it. There was a door in the wall. On the other side was railing, overlooking the entire fortress. The structure was halfway carved out of a sandstone cliff wall, and the rest was built from the stone Link's cell surrounded him in. It was a huge structure, and Gerudos kept careful guard of it at all times. It appeared as though nothing could penetrate the defenses of this castle.

"Don't flatter yourself, kid," the woman said. "Of course, you really gave Ganondorf a scare for a little while." Now that Link could see her up close, he saw she was pretty young, no more than twenty. She wore a faded pink top that covered little more than her breasts and large pants of the same color. She was covered in luxuriant, golden jewelry. She was very pretty, the last thing Link expected from the Gerudos. "But you are not my enemy."

"Link! It's the woman who got your weapons!"

"What do you mean I'm not your enemy? I saved all the people from Ganondorf's magic spells, and went around collecting the Spiritual Stones to help Zelda stop him from getting the Triforce!"

"Well you're a little late for that, boy. Thanks to you he has the Stones and the Ocarina of Time."

"He got the Ocarina of Time? Where'd he get it? Zelda said she'd protect it from him!"

"What are you talking about? You had it!" the woman said.

"Wha-?" Link touched his chest, and remembered Navi saying he had taken Saria's ocarina. "That's not the Ocarina of Time!"

"Link!" Navi said.

The Gerudo woman started laughing hysterically. "He doesn't have the Ocarina?"

"I don't know why you think that's funny," Navi said. "Your whole plan relies on that Ocarina."

"Not my plan, my father's!" Link and Navi just stared at her, wondering what her problem was.

She stopped laughing shortly, and regained composure. "Look, let's cut to the chase. First, let me introduce myself. I'm Nabooru, Ganondorf's oldest daughter, and second-in-command."

"So why are you laughing?" Navi asked again.

"Don't get me wrong!" she said. "Though we're both thieves and Gerudo, and we're both Dragmires, even, I'm nothing like my father."

"Oh. So there's good Gerudo?" Link said.

"Ganondorf is the most evil man in Hyrule, Gerudo or not. With his followers, he stole from women and children, and even killed people! You may not know this, but only one man is born to the Gerudos every hundred years. Even though our laws say that lone male Gerudo must become King of the Gerudo, I'll never bow to such an evil man! By the way, what is your name, kid?"

"Link. And this is my fairy, Navi."

"What kind of names are those?" Link and Navi stared at each other for a moment. "Well, anyway, I want to ask you a favor."

"Anything for a good Gerudo," Link said.

"He means, if you'll let us go, we'll help," Navi said, smacking him upside the head.

"Ow! That spot's tender..."

Nabooru walked to one corner and picked up a pair of boots Link hadn't even noticed. His hat was in one of them. He suited up, then thought to ask, "Just wondering, but, why'd you all change my tunic?"

"Change your tunic? You didn't even have two tunics."

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you," Navi said. "When Malon bathed you, she threw out your other one."

"What!"

"I argued with her, but she said she washed it three times and couldn't get the fish smell out of it. Not to mention it was all torn up. So finally she threw it out. I figured you would have noticed yesterday."

Nabooru laughed at the two of them. "You're really close, huh?"

"Nah, I hardly know that girl," Link said. "I don't know why she bathed me. Her best friend's a horse."

Nabooru gave him a funny look for a moment, then said, "I meant you and your fairy."

"Oh, yeah," Link said. "Yeah, I don't know where I'd be without Navi. She helps me through all the different things I have to do. She knows all the monsters..."

"So she helps you fight?"

"Kind of..."

"I tell him the opponent's weaknesses and stuff," Navi said.

"Good," Nabooru said. "Come with me."

She explained to him what she was doing when she bound his hands. She was leading him through the fortress inconspicuously. Navi didn't trust her, but she hid in Link's hat anyway. They went around through the castle and came out in the sandy courtyard, then went out the large portcullis into the desert. Link found it strange that no one even bothered to ask her why she was taking Link out of the fortress.

Link had never seen so much sand before. There was always small amounts around the river in the Lost Woods, but all he saw was sand in any direction. They started walking, and got far out from the hill the fortress was built inside. The sun burned upon them as they walked in the vast ocean of sand. When they got a good distance away, Nabooru took the ropes off Link's wrists.

"I'm not the only 'good' Gerudo, Link," she said. Link took off his hat as Navi flew out, and tucked it into his belt. His head was getting hot. Fortunately, his clothes were loose so he didn't get too sweaty. "There are a lot of us. Almost half of the Gerudos secretly work for me."

"I thought all of them did. Your Ganondorf's right hand lady, right?"

"Yes, but he knows I'm rebellious. Why shouldn't I be, I'm a teenager." Link nodded. "But I'm more rebellious than he knows. His greed for Hyrule is causing a rift in the Gerudos. There are those as greedy as he, who want to rule the world like he does. But there are also those who think we should really sign the king's treaty and live in peace with the other Hyrulean races."

"And you're on the good side?"

"I'm queen of the good side. I've organized an underground army of Gerudos."

"An army? I thought you wanted peace!"

"It's too late for that. My father's deposed the king and taken Hyrule Castle Town. Now we've decided we must strike back with force. We know now there cannot be peace while Ganondorf is alive."

"So..."

"We also know that we cannot defeat him now. He has dark magic, granted him by Twinrova."

"Twinrova?"

"I told you Link," Navi piped in. "Twinrova is the witch that created everything that is evil."

"Oh right, she's the mom of Gohma."

"You know your religion," Nabooru congratulated.

"Oh, Navi knows just about everything," Link said.

"Well I wouldn't say everything," Navi said meekly.

They stopped at a point in the desert where a row of red flags on wooden posts crossed their path. It went in both directions as far as Link could see. A few yards ahead were some Gerudo women.

"What's this?" Link asked.

"The River of Sand," Nabooru said. "A section of the desert you can't walk across, or you'll get sucked into the sand." She shouted out to the Gerudos, "Princess Nabooru, and the prisoner, Link!" The women dropped long wooden boards past the row of flags in front of them.

"Come on," Nabooru said, walking across the make-shift bridge. Link walked behind her. "These are some of the 'good' Gerudos, Link."

"Where are we going?" Link asked. They started walking past the Gerudo guards and further into the desert. More flags appeared a little way further, and they followed the flags across the desert.

"Beyond this path of flags is the Desert Colossus, a temple in the shape of the great goddess of the sands of time."

"The sands of time?"

"Yes. We Gerudos worship her, though we do not know who she is. Like the River of Sand, she is invisible, and she leaves no trace, but her works are evident."

"What do you mean?"

"Time is the greatest thing in creation. Thee moving of the sun and the moon, night and day. The hours fly past as the clock soldiers count them. Someone made time. In the accounts of creation, never is either Din, Farore, or Nayru credited with creating time. And yet is in more control of us than even the goddesses themselves. So we worship her, the Goddess of Time."

"Why are we going there?"

"Because, Link, the temple has been abandoned for several years now. My father cut back on our worship for building the armies and preparing for the great war to claim Hyrule. Now, we use it to plan against him. Inside, however, is an old Gerudo relic that may be our greatest weapon against Ganondorf."

"What is it?"

"Hush, we're almost there. I'll show you." They journeyed a while longer, talking of things. Nabooru took great interest in Link's adventures. More than anything she enjoyed his battles and seemed to just accept the slow parts of the story as she awaited the more interesting. Link talked until his throat was completely dried, and he begged for something to drink. Finally, they reached a small stone building at the top of a dune.

"This is the Desert Colossus?" Link said.

"No. This is a rest stop. You said you were thirsty. Follow me." She led him to the entrance to the hut, which turned out to be a pit that they climbed down on a ladder. At the bottom was a well, a few Gerudos, and a pile of treasure.

"This is my company's secret hoard we keep from my father." Nabooru went to the pile and pulled out a few things. Some of Link's things. The Kokiri Sword in its sheath, on its bandoleer, and his Hylian Shield, to be specific.

"One of the up sides of being Ganondorf's second is second choice in plundering. Some of the others got a little more of your stuff. Unfortunately, I'm the only high-ranking Gerudo in the rebellion."

"A little more of his stuff" turned out to be his sack, which was empty except for his three bottles, all still full of milk.

Link popped the cork off one of the bottles and turned the bottom up over his mouth. He stopped before it was empty and made a sour face. He spat it all over the room and shouted, "Talon gave me nasty milk!"

"No Link," Navi said. "That's what happens when milk gets warm."

Nabooru fetched him water from the well and had him drink it. He drank about four buckets full. It was cool and refreshing, and quickly washed the nasty taste out of his now wetted mouth. He went outside the hut and dumped his jars in the sand, then went back down, rinsed them out, and filled one with water. He put on his sword, shield and pack. At Nabooru's suggestion, Link's bottles were strapped to his belt and his bag was used to cover the metal shield to keep it from getting as hot. Then they got back on the path.

Over the next dune they saw a magnificent sight in the distance: A woman, sitting inside a rock pillar. Her hands were stretched out toward them. They were so far away, and yet they saw her clearly. She had to be about forty to fifty feet tall.

"That is the Desert Colossus, Link," Nabooru said. As they walked closer, Link noticed people moving around and going about their business all around it. They only showed how large the structure was. Link and Navi had never seen something so large carved straight out of stone before.

The sun was starting to set behind the dunes. "Hurry, Link," the princess said.

They hurried to the entrance of the statue. At her feet was a doorway. They entered and Nabooru stopped. In the lobby of the temple was a staircase leading nowhere. Up the stairs was a carpeted area. On one side was a large square section of wall that was patterned differently than the rest. On it were two hand-shaped indentions. On the other was a small hole at the bottom of the wall. There were decorated signs on either side of the staircase. On the side near the hole it read, "If you want to proceed to the past, you should return here with the pure heart of a child." The sign on the other side read, "If you want to travel to the future, you should return here with the power of silver from the past."

"What does all this mean?" Link asked after he'd read the signs aloud.

"I don't know for sure," Nabooru said. "This temple was made for the Gerudo sage long before the Hundred Years War. What I do know is that the 'power of silver' refers to the weapon we're after."

"Is it a sword?"

"I don't believe so. Whatever it is, it is said that the owner will be as strong as two or three warriors."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Read the signs. It says in the 'past' you need the 'pure heart of a child'. Only a child can fit through that hole in the wall. Our best scientists can't figure out what the opposite wall is for, but they say you need the power of silver. From the past. I believe the 'power of silver' is through that hole. But it is a great relic, so there may be traps. You are a strong warrior for one so young. Can you get it for me? Together we can defeat Ganondorf!"

"I'll do it!" Link said.

"Link!" Navi said. "We can't just..."

"Navi, why don't you trust anybody?" Link said. "Don't you think this is a littlee elaborate, even for Ganondorf, to send me into a death-trap?"

"I guess so. But you think the 'power of silver' opens the door on that wall, right, Nabooru?"

"Yes."

"Then haven't your warriors tried to open it? After all, you have two or three warriors, right?"

"It won't budge."

"Navi, give it up and let's go."

So Link made to crawl through the hole. Navi refused to let him go without her checking first. She went through, and came back saying it was just a passageway, so there was no way to tell. So Link crawled through. It was such a short hole that he couldn't make it with out dropping all the way on his belly. Even then, he had to remove his shield and have Nabooru pass it to him through the hole. Then he replaced it and prepared for his journey.