To mix things up a little, from this point forward you can enjoy shifting points of view, a' la Wheel of Time. The main PoV will always be Ganondorf, of course, but this will give you the opportunity to see the story from the eyes of many other characters as well. Enjoy chapter 4, and please review!

Note: Sorry about using horizontal rules for scene shifts. It's all this blasted site lets me use.
Miranii was restless. Why did the others simply talk and wait? They had to take action, and find her son!

"There is no sign of Karil. The entire village has been searched," reported a young Gerudo. "On the floor of the gate tower, the letter 'H' and an incomplete 'W' were scrawled into the wood. It was probably done with her scimitar. We can only assume that she and Ganondorf have been taken into the Haunted Wasteland."

"Fine," said Miranii, shortly. "Then why are we still sitting here?"

The girl looked taken aback, surprised at the usually kind Miranii's heated response. She stammered to reply, but Hama saved her the trouble.

"You know better than any of us the dangers of the desert," she said, in a firm but sympathetic tone. "I know you have not forgotten-"

"That isn't important!" Miranii became even more agitated by Hama's drawing up of old memories. "That is my son out there, and your future King! If he was in the Thirty Towers of Mudora I would be cutting through the Old Guardians to find him, and I am certainly not going to let some pissed-off sand stop me!"

Hama's voice was as calm as ever, yet somehow her demure tone seemed to carry even more force than Miranii's frantic screaming. "I do not propose to let anything stop us. I am only suggesting that we be sure that this is an organized search. The desert swallows the unwary."

Finally, Miranii calmed herself. "You are right, as always. Let us organize two groups, and we shall meet at the gate."

When the two search parties stood at the huge iron barrier, Miranii was heartened by the concern the Gerudo showed for her son. Each party was composed of eighteen women. Excluding the young and elderly, and Kirandorf himself, who was away from the village, this group represented the entire tribe. Hama raised her voice to address everyone in attendance.

"You have all been warned since childhood of the dangers of the Haunted Wasteland, but few of you have faced them firsthand. Today marks the largest Gerudo exodus into the desert since our ancestors originally colonized this valley in ages past. When we enter, there will be a flowing river of sand. Do not enter it! Jami and Talrin will lay their planks, and we will cross with those." With this, she nodded to the two women in the back of the audience, each carrying an extremely long wooden board.

"When you cross the river, you will notice a white flag. These were put up when the Gerudo originally crossed the Wastes to mark the correct path. Wander from this path, and it is likely you will never see your home again. Our groups will search as follows. My group will follow the flags until we reach a small stone structure – the shrine to the desert spirits. We will search there. In Miranii's group, each woman holds a length of rope." The ropes the women carried were tightly coiled, but unwrapped would extend to a long distance. "You will split up into twos, and each pair will be responsible for one flag. One woman will tie an end of the rope to the wooden post, and the other end to herself. She will then search the circumference of that flag post, as far as her rope will allow her, while the other woman remains at the post to ensure that end of the rope does not come loose. After you have searched, follow your rope back to the flag, and remain there until either Miranii or I, or another group, meets up with you. Is everybody clear?"

There was a resounding "Yes," and Hama gave the signal for the gate to be opened. Miranii inspected the sand that the bottom of the iron bars were once buried in, and looked to Hama. "This is the first disturbance in this sand for months. The gate has not been opened recently."

Hama raised an eyebrow. "Strange... yet I do not doubt Karil's message. Ganondorf did get into the desert somehow."

Hama and Miranii each raised a hand simultaneously, and gave the order to move out. Both groups set off into the desert, with the Gerudo that were too old or young to join remaining at the entrance to await their return.

They had been searching for over an hour with no sign of Ganondorf or Karil. Of course, the harsh winds obscured footprints within minutes, so short of finding the missing Gerudo themselves, there was little chance of clues. Miranii and her partner, Alara, were searching the final flag post before the shrine. After circling for the fifth time, Miranii followed the rope back to the flag, and cursed in frustration. Alara attempted to comfort her.

"There are eight other groups searching the flags, as well as Hama's group at the shrine. I'm sure one of them must have found him."

Miranii sighed. "Thank you for trying, Alara, but we don't even know how massive this desert is. Searching by the flags only covers the tiniest fraction."

"Yes, but looking elsewhere would only result in more people getting lost."

Miranii did not reply.

Minutes later, Hama's group arrived at the flag. Hama was looking grim.

"You have not found him?" Miranii asked her, already knowing the answer.

"No." Something else was obviously troubling Hama. Looking at her group, Miranii thought it seemed smaller.

"You haven't seen Yuma or Pelaa pass this way, have you?" Hama asked.

Both Miranii and Alara shook their heads.

"Dammit," Hama cursed. "I spread my party too thin while searching. I waited for them, but they did not return to the shrine. There is already more missing, and we can search no further. We must head back, Miranii."

"There is something more than angry sands at work here," said Miranii. "I'm going to search the Desert Colossus."

"That's suicide, Miranii," warned Hama. "There are no markers to lead you there. You'll simply be lost in the desert like the others."

"Kirandorf goes there all the time," stated Miranii. "That proves that it is possible."

"The path to the Desert Colossus is a secret given only to the King of Thieves. He knows the path. You do not."

"Regardless, I must try. I will not give up on my son!"

With that, Miranii pushed past Hama and ran into the obscuring sands. The Gerudo looked at Hama, wondering if they should give chase. Hama cursed again, and shook her head. "That is five people missing now. I will not afford another. We return to the village."