Here's chapter 5 everybody! Sorry about the cliffie from chapter 3, but that's what keeps the suspense, you know? (Read: There'll be more, cuz I like 'em!) Thank you so much for sticking with me this far, and please keep it up, because there's a lot farther to go! I love the reviews, keep 'em coming!

Pain...

Noise...

Laughter...

Slowly, wincing at the constant pain in his head, Ganondorf brought his eyelids apart. He turned his head, ever so gradually, to take in his surroundings. He was in a dark chamber. It seemed to stretch very far either way, though darkness prevented him from seeing just how far. Behind him stood a dilapidated stone statue, so tall that it stretched toward the unseen ceiling above. It depicted a beautiful and slender goddess, a great snake coiled around her body. Looking off to his left, a movement caught his eye, and he gave off a cry. Two women from his village, Yuma and Pelaa he thought, swung by ropes tied around their necks. They had both been scalped. Blood was caked around their faces as it had run down from the exposed skull.

"We needed their hair for a new potion," an old woman's voice echoed from seemingly everywhere in the endless chamber.

"I think we may have cut a little too close. What do you think sister?" another, nearly identical voice intoned.

"They stopped protesting eventually, so I guess they don't mind!"

Both voices cackled uproariously. "Kekekekekekeke!"

"But don't worry, Ganondorf. We won't kill you. We have some very special fun planned for you."

The shadows in front of him seemed to crawl backwards, and a figure became visible as the darkness receded behind it. Miranii stood on the ground, both hands bound above her, although Ganondorf could not see any ropes. Her head hung on her chest, and Ganondorf feared the worst.

"Mommy!" he cried, and threw himself toward her. His body jolted, but did not move forward. The same invisible bindings seemed to hold him in place. To either side of his mother, the owners of the voices hovered into view on broomsticks. Ganondorf's mind realized immediately that these witches, one with hair of ice, the other with hair of fire, were those of the fairy tales his mother would tell him in bed.

"Twinrova..."

The blue-haired witch cackled again. "Kekeke. It would appear our reputation precedes us, sister."

"It is not surprising, Koume," replied the fire witch. "We are, of course, the most powerful and beautiful witches in all of Hyrule."

"Right you are, Kotake. How the other witches must envy us. Like that potion-making wannabe in Kakariko village."

"She's a good friend of mine, Koume! We've known each other for 300 years. Hold your tongue!"

"Of course, the ugly ones always make the best of friends. I'm not like you, Kotake."

"I don't believe you would say that to your own sister! We both know I am the younger and more beautiful!"

"We're twins you fool! Neither is younger!"

Ganondorf watched with a mixture of fear, revulsion, and bewilderment as the witches seemed to have forgotten about him entirely. He tried again to struggle against his invisible bonds, which he immediately realized was a mistake, as it brought both the witches' attention back to him.

"We are forgetting our little friend, sister. There are much more important things to worry about than which of us is the prettiest," Koume stated.

Ganondorf gathered up an immense amount of courage for one so young. "W... What are you going to do to me?"

Kotake gave him a cold smile. "Our motives are far too complicated for a three year old, no matter how intelligent."

Both witches raised their hands, and Ganondorf's left foot took a step forward. Then his right. Then his left again. No matter how he resisted, his feet kept moving. As he neared his mother, his left hand began to rise. He was holding a dagger that had not been there before. Its cruel blade was wavy, curling back and forth to a sharp point. It seemed to be cut from some type of black crystal, and gave off a sinister glow. The hilt boiled in his hand, yet despite his best efforts, he could not unclench his fist from around the handle.

"Did you ever notice how every Gerudo male, as rare as the little leevers are, is left handed?" the blue witch asked her sister casually, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened all day.

"I did, actually. Such a strange little trait. Of course, everything about the Gerudo males is strange."

"Augh!" Ganondorf gave a cry as his hand carried the dagger above his head. At the sound of her son's pain, Miranii stirred. Opening her eyes, she raised her head from her chest to look from her son, to the witches, and back to her son. Tears welled in her eyes, but she understood instantly. She would not be weak.

"I love you, Ganondorf."

"No Mommy! Don't say that!"

Ganondorf's hand moved slowly down toward his mother, shaking violently as he resisted with every ounce of his being. Tears streamed from his eyes, and he screamed and shouted and cried, begging the Goddesses to make it stop.

"Be strong, my son. I'll always be with you, and I'll always love you. This is not your fault." Miranii forced a small smile onto her face, and beyond the tears in her eyes, she seemed so calm and secure.

"Stop Mommy! Stop stop stop! You can't! I can't! Stop!"

"Playtime's over," Kotake said with glee, and both witches thrust their arms downward. Ganondorf's arm mimicked the motion, and thrust the dagger through his mother's breast, into her heart. His entire arm then twisted, turning the blade full circle inside his mother's body.

"...love...you..." she sputtered, and her head sank. Blood seeped down the dagger and coated Ganondorf's arm.

"No! Mommy! Mommy! Aauggghhh!" Ganondorf's cries degenerated into a guttural, indecipherable amalgamation of sobs, curses, and screams. The bonds on both of their bodies released, and Ganondorf fell to his back with his mother's body on top of him. The blood continued to run from her wound, creating a warm puddle over and around him.

"Kekeke. The first act is complete," cackled Kotake, as both witches drifted toward the pair on the floor.

"What is going on here?" a deep voice filled the room, causing both witches to twist around. A bright light formed at the source of the voice, and tore toward the hags like lightning. They careened out of the way with their brooms, and with a hiss, simultaneously shot blasts of heat and cold toward the intruder. The figure ran forward, twisting between the twin blasts like a dancer, and seized both broom handles. Spinning once more, he brought both together, the witches mashing together with a sickly sound of cracking bones. They shot again, forcing their assailant to release the broomsticks and fall backward to avoid the energy. They flew away at top speed, heading towards the exit of the chamber.

"Damn you Kirandorf!" they shrieked in unison. "This is not over!"

With a grunt, the man turned and stood over Ganondorf's prone form. He was a monster of a man, muscles bulging from every part of his body. His short hair was snow white, and he wore a close-cropped beard of the same color, contrasting his olive skin. He was draped in a black traveler's cloak with a white cape. Looking at the young boy weeping under his dead mother, he frowned.

"I am sorry that you had to endure this, Ganondorf. As King, it is my duty to protect all of my people, and I have failed miserably. I have traveled all of Hyrule, and yet forgotten of my duties to the Gerudo. I will raise you myself; it is too little, but it is all I can do for you now. You will become a strong King; stronger than I, and revenge on those accursed Witches of Twinrova will be yours. This I promise."

Ganondorf heard not a word of this. Only two things penetrated the agonizing throb in his head: his own sobbing, and the steady dripping of his mother's blood onto the stone floor.