Link stared stupidly at the woman sitting on the polished stone throne, stunned by what Auru had been hiding from him the entire way here. These two were married. Auru, head scholar for Hyrule Castle and emissary to the Sages, was married to the Chief of the Gerudo. Why did he keep it hidden? Link had been fairly frank with him, not hiding too many details about himself. He looked back and forth between the two, not sure whether he was angry or not. Then the woman and her husband burst out laughing, and the young man found his face turning hot.
"You didn't tell him?" Hida laughed. "Oh, Auru. It was bad enough when you brought Shad here."
"Ah, but I never told him I brought Shad here! I told him nothing, other than what he needed to know." The older man seemed absolutely gleeful about the prank he had played.
"That was absolutely not fair." Link said, then realized he was whining. He crossed his arms and tried to not scowl at Auru, but failed. "I told you all about myself, and all you told me about yourself is some stuff about Zelda and how you've been doing work here for twenty-five years."
"Yes, it wasn't fair...but it certainly was fun." Auru said impishly.
"I agree." Hida said with a mirthful smile.
"Although...my best work does not seem to be here." Auru glanced around the room. "Where is she?"
"You missed her by a few days, and she had planned to be out for at least a week. I hope you and your pretty friend plan on staying for a while so you can see her when she gets back." Hida smiled broadly. "He looks like he's about her age, too. We should introduce them to each other."
"None of that, Hida. This young man is important, and so is his mission. He isn't here to marry Auren."
"Well, why not? Can't he do both?" There was no way of telling whether she was serious or not. She seemed like she had the same sense of humor as her husband, and even though Auru had mentioned that the woman didn't smile unless she became familiar with someone, she certainly seemed to smile a lot. Auru probably lied about that to be funny, too. "Look at him. If he's carrying a sword of that size, he must be strong, even if he's a bit on the thinner side. He most certainly would have strong children."
"Hello, I'm right here?" Link gave a small wave, a bit annoyed that she would talk about him like he couldn't hear. "I'm sure Auren is nice, but I'm not marrying her. I have far more important things to do than picking up a pretty Gerudo girl out here in the desert."
Hide narrowed her eyes at him shrewdly. She had dark green eyeshadow to match her lips and her loose clothing. "Oh? And then what would bring a young Hylian man out here? You're a warrior, not a scholar like Shad."
"It's complicated, but I can give you the short version. I need to do something important at the Arbiter's Grounds in order to defeat the leader of the army that has invaded both our lands." He wasn't certain if he should mention the Mirror of Twilight in front of the assembled warriors, or even that he was the Hero of Hyrule. He wanted to trust Hida because she was Auru's wife, but he wasn't certain he could trust the other women assembled in the room.
"You're either very stupid or very reckless. You've come here in summer, a month after the solstice when the desert is at its worst, and you're telling me that you plan on defeating the Bulbins by going into that haunted jail?" She leaned forward in her chair, orange eyes looking him up and down. "Remove that hood and come a bit closer. Let me look at you."
Link didn't want to remove the hood, not after what the guard outside said. However it was unavoidable, and sooner or later the Gerudo in the room would get a good look at him. May as well do it when he was in front of the chief. He took two steps forward and lowered his hood, and ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to make it look less messy, which he knew was fruitless but did out of habit. There was some murmured discussion along the walls of the room, but it was in the Gerudo language so he couldn't understand what they were saying. He could figure out the general idea; it felt like every eye was on him at the moment, assessing him.
Hida sighed. "Auru, why did you have to bring another handsome one? Shad caused enough problems."
Auru shrugged with a mild expression, palms up. "I have no control over how they look, my dear."
Hida closed her eyes and rubbed at her forehead, exasperated. "He's a warrior too...oh, dear..." Then she stood and swept her eyes along the walls at the assembled warriors, and announced something in the Gerudo tongue in firm tones.
"She just said that you're off limits, and they're to keep their hands off you." Midna informed him quietly. She understood Gerudo? That was interesting, but it was something he couldn't ask her about at the moment.
"What's your name?" the chief asked, still standing. Even though she was standing, the Gerudo in the room that were seated remained that way. It was different than how Hyruleans behaved around their king, which involved a certain amount of respect. These women were plainly lazing around in front of their leader.
"Link." The longer he stood in front of everyone, the more intimidated he felt. Speaking in front of a group of people was bad enough, but standing in front of them while they all judged him and made commentary was worse.
"That's a common name for Hylian males, isn't it? Well then...I think the three of us need to speak in private, Link. Come with me." She spoke a few words to one of her guards and then swept out of the room to the hallway on the right, the long aqua silk scarf she wore fluttering behind her.
He followed gladly, wanting to get away from the many pairs of yellow eyes that watched him from the shadows along the walls of the atrium. It made him feel like he was being watched by a room full of tigers. As he followed, he thought about how Hida looked compared to the other women. The others favored gold jewelry, but she wore Zoran silver set with aquamarines, which matched the silken aqua scarf tied around her neck. The rest had their hair tied up, but Hida's was down and flowing, and had waves of curls now that he could see it from behind. She had a more lithe and willowy build instead of the many muscular warriors he had passed. Hida was different, but not in any way that marked her as the leader. She was simply different from the other women as any person may be from others.
"Thank you." he said, a few steps behind her. There were many things to thank her for, but the phrase covered them all.
The middle-aged Gerudo stopped in front of a door and looked over her shoulder at him with a smirk. "You are certainly going to draw attention, so we can't talk out there. I figure the less my court hears your voice, the better." She shook her head and turned to her husband, who had been walking next to her. "Where do you keep finding these men?"
"Hyrule." Auru said with a completely straight face.
"You make it sound like Hyrule is full of attractive men." Hida said, pushing the heavy acacia door open in front of her.
"I came from there, didn't I?" The older man gave the faintest of smiles, and followed his wife into the room.
Hida gave a small laugh and shut the door once the three of them were what looked like an office of sorts. Once they were in she pulled Auru into an embrace. "You're here when the desert is the most dangerous and I'm angry with you, but I'm also happy that you're back." She said something in her own language, to which Auru answered in turn.
Feeling like a third wheel, Link moved away from them and looked around the room. There was a large table of dark wood with matching chairs around it, and the far end of it had a blotter, quill, and stacks of books. Scrolls and books were nestled in cubicles and shelves along one wall, and the other had a clay stove that warmed the room pleasantly.
The back wall was entirely covered in a large leather map that was beautifully drawn. It was of the Gerudo Desert and the lands surrounding it, extending from as far north as the mountains, as far south as the sea, to parts of Lanayru and Lake Hylia to the east, and the grasslands of Holodrum to the west. There were settlements marked in the lands other than Hyrule that he knew nothing of, although the writing was all in the squiggly Gerudo script and he couldn't read the names if he tried. There were also landmarks he didn't recognize, like a large canyon that marked the border between the desert and grasslands. There was far more to the world than he had seen, and it made him feel small.
He moved over to the stove, his fingers still cold from the ride through the desert, and extended his hands towards its warmth. Today was another strange day; he hadn't expected to speak to any Gerudo, and to have to rely on Auru to do things in the desert, but here he had met their leader and she was willing to hear him out. As he suspected, the women of the desert weren't anything like the terrible Hylian stereotypes. According to those stereotypes, Gerudo were crafty thieves, prone to lying, quick to fight, and hated men. That last one seemed especially stupid, since he knew that they had to breed just like any other race. They hadn't been what he had expected, because he hadn't known what to expect other than what little he had read from the book written by a Zora scholar.
He was lost in his thoughts, turning over his experiences in the desert in his head when a gold goblet was thrust in front of him. He jumped a bit, not expecting it, and looked down at the brown long-fingered hand holding it before tentatively reaching for it. He noticed that the palm of her hand and the underside of her fingers had lighter skin.
"It's spiced wine. Even summer nights get cold here, so it'll keep you warm. Just don't drink too much before you've eaten something. I won't tolerate a drunk male around my warriors, regardless of who or what he is." She didn't continue with that line of thought but instead smirked at him again, towering over him as she did so. Hida was nearly a foot taller than him, like most Gerudo. "You certainly are jumpy. Then again, the fox in the cucco coop would be, wouldn't he?"
"It's more like I feel like the single cucco cooped up with a bunch of foxes." He gave his warm wine a sip, and it tasted a bit like some of the spices he had earlier in Dai's cooking. "Thanks. I have no intention of drinking too much in a place where the women have uh...certain interests in me." Especially since his own interests were enhanced when he was drunk.
"Ran into some of the younger ones, did you? I'd apologize, but you may have gathered that we need to have children, and many of them. It has been difficult for us to maintain our population since Hyrule is closed off to us, and not only because we have a shortage of men. Our arable land is limited, and the trade we have with the Gorons of Holodrum is not enough to sustain us." She frowned. "And now those green beasts from the plains to the west came here. But the problems of my people are not why you're here...right?"
"Not exactly, but our problems certainly have crossed paths. There's a lot to explain." The door opened, and he turned his head to watch the white-haired Gerudo servant that had come out to help with their horses earlier. The woman carried in a tray of sliced oranges, flatbread and what looked like rolled up leaves stuffed with something. She smiled at him toothily, and despite being old, her teeth still looked healthy.
Hida said something to her in Gerudo, and the old woman nodded, set down the tray and left quietly. She pulled out a chair, sat down and gestured at the food. "Sit and eat something. I don't know what you've had on your way here, but a long ride can be tiring."
"Thank you." He sat and picked up one of the green wraps. After looking at it curiously for only a second, he bit into it. The leaf itself tasted pickled and salty, and the inside was stuffed with rice, meat and yet another spice he couldn't identify. Gerudo food was weird, but still good. "For me and my horse both. I'm glad that she can be stabled somewhere where they are careful with their horses."
"Figured that out, did you?" She delicately bit at a piece of flatbread as to not mar her painted lips.
"After riding across the desert, I realized that a horse is the difference between life and death here. Of course you're going to take good care of them." He reached for another one of the green wraps, having already devoured the first one. Whatever they were, he felt like he could eat the whole plate. "I'm not here to talk about horses, although I certainly could talk about that for a long time. I'm here to explain why I came to the desert."
He launched into his explanation. "It's the invasion by the Bulbins. It wasn't the Bulbins alone. For some reason, they decided to follow the orders of a man who came from the desert, but not in the way you think. His name is Zant, and he's from a place called the Twilight Realm, a different world entirely that's connected to ours by a magical gate called the Mirror of Twilight."
"I've heard of it, Hero of Hyrule." Hida smiled widely at him with a knowing expression. Her smile was quite pretty.
"How—"
"Your sword. There is no other sword in the world like the Master Sword. The books here aren't only for show, you know. I know much about your people and legends." She reached her hand over to place it on Auru's with a fond smile. "And of course, being married to a scholar, I have access to information the average person would not."
"You knew who I was when I was standing out there in front of you, didn't you?" If the Gerudo were any kind of threat to him or anyone else, he would have been alarmed that they had such a bright leader. Instead he was glad, and thought she was a bit like Zelda. He only hoped that the other women weren't quite as quick and had no idea who he was. After how the Gorons and the Zoras behaved, he had no idea how the Gerudo would react to the hero with the Master Sword.
"I suspected when I saw the sword, but then you told me your name. The hero always has that name." Her orange eyes examined his face, reading his expression. "I doubt anyone else that saw you today knows who you are. While there are women here who would know of you, they are certainly not going to stand in your way. If you've come to my desert, it's because your mission is important not only for your people, but my own."
Link relaxed. "I'm glad you understand. And since you understand, I think it's time you meet my companion." He put a hand to his chest. "Midna?"
The Twili formed out of shadows and stretched her limbs as she hovered in the air. "Finally."
Hida tensed up when the cursed creature appeared, and even though she carried no weapon she looked ready to respond as if she was holding one. Then she relaxed. "Auru?" The name was spoken as if the man was in trouble.
"Dear?" The man glanced at her over the rim of his goblet, mimicking her tone.
"You've brought shadow magic here as well? That's even worse than bringing the very handsome Hero of Hyrule." She crossed her arms, and while she was smiling her eyes did seem mildly annoyed.
"What can I say? No laws can contain me." The man shrugged lightly, unconcerned. Link was starting to like this flippant, jesting Auru. The man was a completely different person now that he was with his wife. Or perhaps more specifically, Auru was himself when he was with her. "I suppose you'll have to slap me in chains."
"Yes, you certainly would enjoy that, wouldn't you?" she said archly, and then she turned her attention to Midna. "All right. What are you?"
"Very frustrated." She stretched again and reclined in the air, tucking her hands behind her head. "Do you have any idea what it's like to have to hide away all day? On top of that, hide in the shadows of Mr. Sweaty over there?"
When Hida laughed, Link covered his face with a hand and sighed. "Great. I'm not even going to start with you. Introduce yourself."
Midna laughed and gave her usual bow. "My name is Midna, as you've heard. I come from the Twilight Realm, where Zant is from. He's the jerk that invaded here, and covered the land with a magical field...although I don't know if you could see it."
"We could. Hida and I both have some magical ability." Auru said.
"Finally, somebody else who saw it. We haven't run into many people who have. Magic's been sort of...removed from Hyrule." She floated over to the tray of food. "Ugh, this curse. You have stuffed grape leaves and I can't eat any. This is almost as bad as the wine at Telma's."
"Ah, so you're cursed. That explains how you look." Hida wrapped her long fingers around her goblet, which was almost empty by now. "I'm going to guess this Zant idiot cursed you?"
The Twili laughed. "I like how you call him an idiot right out of the gate. Yes he did, because I stood up to him. I didn't have the combined power of my people or Link and the Master Sword, so it didn't go well for me." She held up one small finger. "However, if we can go through the Mirror of Twilight, I know I can talk to my people and convince them to confront Zant. He killed our king and took over in a coup, and our king was popular. They'll be on my side for sure."
"I'm sorry about your king, and I can understand why your people would rally behind you in his honor." The Gerudo reached for the glazed clay vessel that looked almost like a tall teapot and poured herself more warm spiced wine. "I can speak for both Auru and myself and say that we would be happy to guide you through the Arbiter's Grounds to the Mirror, but there's a small problem. Bulbins are camped in my city, and the land north of it. North of the town is where the Arbiter's Grounds lies. Not only that, but the green brutes have been there for a year. A whole damned year my people have had to hide away, outnumbered by these invaders."
Hida's brows knit together in a scowl, and she stared past Midna at the map behind her, her orange eyes angry. "A whole year without our home. A year of hiding away in scattered tribes, thrown to the winds in such a way we haven't seen since the Hylians slaughtered my people. This ancient town and fortress only holds about four hundred people, and perhaps only two hundred of those are capable of fighting. There are other smaller towns hidden here or there, but we are not organized. We can't win against the Bulbins, even though much of their force went into Hyrule. There are still thousands remaining here, and we simply do not have the numbers to do anything other than harass them." She fixed her eyes on Link. "If you have any ideas, I'm open to them. I certainly haven't thought of anything over the past year."
The Gerudo were in quite the bind. Their numbers were already low due to the closed border and their difficulty in finding mates, but then the Bulbins came in and invaded their only city. With their people scattered, the desert tribe had no way of reclaiming their home. Their low numbers only made things worse, since they couldn't risk losing what able-bodied women they had. He had hoped that when he came to the desert, there would be no problems here, the majority of them being in Hyrule. How wrong he was.
"I admit, without more information about the Bulbin forces in your city, I don't have many ideas." he said. "That doesn't mean we can't think of a solution. I'm sure it's possible."
"Not unless you can return to Hyrule and convince some of your soldiers and knights to come out of hiding and help us." Hida knew about the magic culling, then. Auru would have told her about it. She probably knew a lot more about the inner workings of Hyrule Castle than the average Hylian. "Unless you plan on going alone. You walk with the grace of a warrior, but I doubt even you and the Master Sword can take on thousands of Bulbins."
"That's a bit of a high bar for me to fight at once, yes. So far, my record is eighteen...well, that I can remember. There was this one time I was in this rage and it had to be almost twice that. It was hard to be sure. I was more concerned with rescuing the injured child that the Bulbins had taken than keeping track of my kill count."
"By yourself?" Hida raised a dark red eyebrow.
He shrugged. "Yeah, by myself. When it was eighteen Bulbins, I used arrows, my sword, a boomerang, bombs...I even grabbed one and threw one in front of my horse so it would get trampled. I get creative, I guess. It was different when I fought closer to thirty. Then it was only my bow and my sword and shield, but they were enough. And I was angry because the child was my adoptive brother, so I took it a bit personally and let that rage push me forward." It went far beyond anger, but he wasn't going to tell Hida that. Simply calling it a "rage" and mentioning how important Colin was seemed to be enough.
"I can see those weapons on you, as well as a clawshot, so I believe you. There are many warriors in the other room that can't make the claim of killing thirty-something enemies, let alone by themselves." She smiled. "And many of them can use both their blades and a bow. Archery is something all Gerudo warriors learn, but we don't tend to use anything else like bombs. We don't get 'creative' as you call it."
"Creativity is our specialty." Midna said, sitting down on the table and folding her little legs in front of her. "You need to be; both when you're really outnumbered, and when you don't want to kill if you don't have to. Like the time we had to make it up Death Mountain to meet with the leader of the Gorons. They were preventing anybody from getting close, and one hit Link pretty good. To be fair, he wasn't trying to fight the Goron, only talk to him, so he wasn't ready."
"He still cracked my rib." Link shrugged. "That's why Midna used her power to throw the Gorons around and out of our way while hiding in my shadows, and I moved my body to make it look like I was doing it. I also 'wrestled' one of their elders to earn their respect that way."
"It would have gone better if only you had admitted you were hurt, you damn bullhead." She turned to Hida and grinned her fanged grin at her. "Of course, he did other crazy things in their mines while hurt other than killing thirty or forty Bulbins...he shot the eyes out of beamos, which are these constructs that shoot fire. He killed a dodongo by stabbing it through its mouth when it was about to breathe fire on him. He thought to trip up the imprisoned monster we had to fight with its own chain, so he could destroy the magic controlling it without killing it. Then there was that long swim underwater with about a dozen Bulbins firing arrows at him…" She sighed. "That last one was when I realized he was stubborn enough to do what he needed to do no matter what. This guy never gives up."
Auru was looking at Link respect, but as Midna described the trip through the mines, Hida began to laugh in delight, and even clapped her hands together. "Wonderful! I wish I could have seen it. That was only in Goron lands, yes? I'm going to guess that the Hero of Hyrule has done other things."
The two of them recounted other things that they had done, or more specifically, that Link had done. Link casually admitted that he had become unreasonably angry when Bulbins attacked his friend in the wagon he was escorting, and he killed eighteen of them and wounded their king. He also mentioned the time he threw King Bulbin off the Eldin Bridge, and Midna added that he still had broken ribs at that point. She then launched into the story of how the bully of the guard didn't want to let Link into Castle Town, and how he had managed to disarm the man and throw his weapon into the moat without drawing any weapons of his own.
Then they moved on to the story of the Zora Temple and the fights that had happened there, where he had shocked himself with live electric arrows in order to fire them at a group of Lizalfos standing in water. There was of course the mention of Midna being eaten by the giant frog, and Link deciding to save her by getting eaten himself, and Ralis pulling him out of harm's way with the clawshot. That and the story of Ralis doing the same thing while fighting the giant eel made the King of the Zoras seem like he didn't contribute much, which Link insisted the Zora most certainly did and fought well. Midna made sure to add to each story he told and mention how reckless he was, and how every time he had a crazy idea, it worked out in the end.
Hida and Auru listened, both impressed. That wasn't the effect that Link had been hoping to have on them, and he doubted Midna did either. If he was going to think creatively and find a way to get the Gerudo their city back, their chief needed to know the kinds of things he managed to do before when the odds were not in his favor. Solving the Gerudo's problem with the Bulbins would solve his own problem and let him access the Arbiter's Grounds. Of course, thinking up a plan to remove the Bulbins wasn't the same of actually doing it. He very well might go back to Hyrule to gather forces in order to fight the army here.
As if the army in Central Hyrule wasn't already a problem.
"All of this sounds fitting for the Hero of Hyrule. I would expect nothing less." Hida said approvingly. By now the tray of food was empty and much of the wine was gone. The latter was due to Hida and Auru, the former far more due to Link. "Now that you've eaten most of what was meant for the three of us, I imagine you are quite tired."
He felt a bit guilty, even though she was obviously kidding. "Sorry about that. I'm eighteen and I tend to eat a lot like anyone my age."
"Trust me, I know. My daughter was a teenager not too long ago." She turned to Auru. "She's out scouting the Bulbins, after bringing a message to one of the northern tribes. They've come here, but she hasn't yet. It was her plan to gather her archers and watch the Bulbins for days to figure out how much food they have. After a year they've must have run out of supplies. Maybe at this point, they're weak and starving."
"If they are, it wouldn't make things that much easier. Even a weak Bulbin can still fire an arrow, and it only takes one arrow to kill." Link yawned and covered his mouth. "Excuse me. I'm not normally up this late."
"Oh, that's right. Hylians don't normally stay up past midnight, do they? We keep different hours here in the desert in order to take advantage of the cooler times." Hida stood. "Come with me. There are a few empty rooms here that we've been using for visiting subchiefs, since no one else stays on this floor other than myself and my daughter. You will stay in one of those." She didn't openly say it, but the implications were clear: I do not want to put you near my warriors. He wanted to hope that she trusted him, but perhaps the ones she didn't trust were her own people.
"I'll stay with Link." Midna said. "I can't sleep due to my curse, so I tend to stay near him while he's asleep."
"Ah, I see. There are plenty of books in the room. I make sure my visitors have things to do in the hottest part of the day. Or when they're cursed and can't sleep, I suppose." She reached out and put a hand on Auru's. "Wait here and I'll be back with more wine. We have some catching up to do."
The warm look they gave each other was not lost on Link, who followed Hida out of the room once Midna hid in his shadows again. They were middle-aged, yet the two of them behaved like a much younger couple. From the sound of things, Auru was unable to visit as often as he'd like. Absence makes the heart fonder after all.
The room she led him to was directly on the opposite side of the building, but the Gerudo brought him through the back hallway and past the kitchen and servant's area, quite obviously to prevent the warriors from knowing where he was going to be sleeping. His suspicions were confirmed when Hida brought him into what was to be his room.
"I would remain in here most of the time, if I were you. You may wander the fortress, but I wouldn't recommend it unless someone you trust accompanies you. Midna does not count because she remains hidden." she said, stepping the room and shutting the door behind him. It was lit by lamps, the servants having prepared it already. "You have a pretty face and move gracefully. While most women here are honorable, not all warriors are willing to take 'no' for an answer. We don't want to make you a reluctant husband, do we?"
"Not really, no." He looked around the room, taking it in. It was large and rectangular with a wood and glass divider that separated the rest of the room from some other area. The narrow windows had curling, patterned grates and thick scarlet curtains that could be drawn over them. There was a bed situated along the back wall next to the divider, a chest made of some wood he didn't recognize at its foot, and a bedside table and a lamp that was capped with colorful glass. In one corner was a vanity with a chair, meant for ladies to do their makeup, and nearby a small table with bottles of oils and perfumes. There were plenty of books at a desk, but he knew just from looking at the spines from across the room that he would be unable to read them. He should probably learn Gerudo one day.
Hida tapped a near-opaque amber glass divider with her fingers. "Past here is a tub and sink, and this ancient fortress has some of the technologies of our ancestors. Hot water as well as cold comes from the taps here, so having a comfortable bath is quite easy." She crossed her arms and leaned on one leg, standing in a bit of a messy slouch. "You might want to consider taking one. You smell of man sweat and horse."
"He always smells like that." Midna said with a giggle, not appearing yet.
"I do not." he retorted, and she didn't respond. "Thanks for your hospitality. I understand it's a bit awkward to have a man here that isn't your husband, so I appreciate you putting up with me. From what you've said, having Shad here was difficult."
"He wasn't much older than you at the time, but my goodness was he popular. It's the blue eyes, I think." She pointed at her face. "Our eyes are always shades of red, orange or yellow. Blue is as far as you can get from that." Hida reversed her hand to point at him. "And your eyes are as blue as a sapphire, not to mention you have light-colored eyelashes that match your hair. You're going to be trouble, young man. I'll be sure to have someone bring you tea in the morning, but keep your door locked until then." The chief put a hand on her hip and frowned, looking down at the floor and away from his face. "While I want to trust the warriors here to behave, the temptation of a young man available in a room all by himself may be too much for some, if you get my meaning."
That comment was chilling. The way she said it and the fact that she wouldn't even look at him made the comment all that much worse, since it confirmed that she did not trust her warriors. He wasn't sure what he would do if any of the tall warrior women tried to come into his room and force themselves on him. He hadn't even considered that could happen to him. The worst part of it was the implications of a Hylian harming a Gerudo in their lands, even if it was in self defense. It would complicate things, but at the same time he wasn't going to let a brute of a woman have her way with him. "If that happens, I'd have to no choice to defend myself. I don't want to hurt or kill any of your people."
Hida raised her eyes from the floor to meet his again. "Oh? Do you believe that you can best a group of our warriors? I understand that you've defeated Bulbins and Lizalfos, but my people are something else."
Now it was his turn to look away. "When I have to protect myself or others, I become as strong as I need to be." he said quietly. "Yes, I do think I can fight off a group of Gerudo, although I would have to kill them. I'm not proud of that fact." He flickered his eyes back up to her. "I'll lock the door and stay put."
She looked at him carefully, looking a bit concerned. "You're serious. Then I can't doubt you, even though you are still so young." Her face softened a bit. "I understand that this basically makes you a prisoner in this room, but it's only for a few days until my daughter returns. By then we may have the information we need. Patience, please. If you'll excuse me, I haven't seen my husband in nearly two years." Hida opened the door and left, closing it behind her. Even though she was the leader, she had said "please". The woman had only known him for a little over an hour, yet she respected him.
Midna materialized next to him after he latched the door and reached out to pat at his arm. "It'll be fine. If any of the Gerudo try any funny business with you, I'll give them a black eye." She punched at the air with her magical hair for emphasis.
While I alone am incapable of causing harm as Midna can, I would alert you if any danger approached, the sword said. This time when it spoke, it made a small musical tone of five rapid notes. Since it didn't always make that sound, the Master Sword was likely doing it to get his attention. That is correct, Master. If what I say is of the utmost importance, I shall use my alert sound. It repeated the fast series of five silvery notes. It is in Hyrule's bests interests that you remain safe and healthy, and if you are unable to respond to environmental dangers appropriately I will give you warning. This does not apply to your own questionable actions, such as intentionally getting eaten by a large frog. All right, that was fair.
As kind as both the sword and Midna were being, he still felt somewhat sick at the implications of what Hida had said. "I appreciate the two of you looking out for me. Not that I can't look out for myself…" He rubbed at his arm awkwardly, outwardly uncomfortable with his thoughts.
"Are you all right?" Midna asked, moving to hover in front of his face. "You're not worried about Hida's warning, are you? The door's locked, and I know you weren't lying when you said you could take on a group of Gerudo on your own if needed."
"I'm not sure. I feel kind of-" Link shook his head, avoiding eye contact with her. "—disgusted. Offended. Not really afraid but...anxious. I don't think anybody would be able to do that to me, but the very idea that somebody would want to makes me really uncomfortable."
"This is something I can't relate to for once, but I'm still here for you. I would feel weird about the whole thing too, and I know I can most certainly defend myself just like you can." She put a hand to the side of his face and gave a warm smile when he met her eyes again. "I've got your back, buddy. I understand how you feel."
"Thanks. I know our minds don't work the same way, but it's good to hear that you understand." He turned to look at the bed. "I think I'm going to skip that bath until morning. Today has been exhausting...again. I think it's time I pass out."
A loud banging roused him from one of those strange-half dreams built from memories where nothing makes sense. It was an amalgamation of the various things he had done as the Hero of Hyrule so far, but out of order and in the wrong places. At first he thought it was part of the dream, but when there was a woman's shout a few seconds later he sat up suddenly and faced the door, able to see it in the dim light of the one remaining lamp that Midna had kept lit.
There were two female voices on the other side of the door, speaking loudly to one another, the kind of unintentional volume that comes with drinking too much. One gave a loud, drunken laugh and said something in Gerudo. Then she pounded on the door again. "Hello? Is the man in there? We want to see him." He had announced his name to the entire room earlier and yet she called him "the man". The woman saw him as a thing and not a person, and it went in line with what Hida had warned him about.
Link leaned down to the side of the bed where he had left the Master Sword, but Midna floated over from where she was reading nearby and put a hand on his to stop him. She shook her head and gave him a kindly pat. She was right; the door was locked.
While this exchange was going on, the door handle jiggled and there was some discussion in the other language, and a drunken giggle. "Are you in there, male? We promise we just want to talk!" He turned his head to stare at the door, feeling anger begin to burn in his chest. These women were disgusting, and while he normally would not hit a woman, he certainly wanted to punch these two in their mouths. He considered figuring out who they were so he could do just that later, but then there was a louder bang and the entire door vibrated. It repeated, and there was a grunt on the other side of the door. The idiots were trying to kick it open, or perhaps ram it with their shoulders. To hell with figuring out who they were to punish them later. He was going to go kick their asses right now.
Midna decided to take the situation into her hands, and gave an angry shout in Gerudo at the two drunken fools on the other side of the door. As she did so, aqua runes similar to the ones on her arms formed around her neck, and her voice was no longer high-pitched. It sounded like a normal woman's voice...or more specifically, Midna's normal voice.
There was a startled word that had to be Gerudo profanity, and some hurried discussion behind the door. A second voice asked a question in a halting, cautious tone. Midna crossed her arms, her face calm even though her tone was angry, and she said something else in her distorted voice. It sounded like a threat, and the two women on the other side of the door treated it as such. They both abashedly uttered the same word that was quite clearly an apology, and then there was the faint sound of footsteps retreating down the hall.
The Twili gave a short sigh and shook her head, and then turned back to Link. "See? I've got your back." Her voice was high-pitched again, the extra runes on her neck gone.
"I'm glad you said something. I was seriously considering going out there to beat the crap out of them."
"I could tell. You tensed up, and it wasn't because of what they were saying, since I know you don't speak their language." She floated over and gently patted him on the head. "Don't get too angry about it. It's taken care of."
"I still want to know who they are so I can teach them a lesson." He rubbed at his face. "Everything about this situation is weird. I'm several layers of uncomfortable right now, built up on a foundation of anger."
"It's all right, Link." She smoothed down his hair soothingly. "It's done. Lay down and rest."
She was right. As much as he wanted to retaliate, it was entirely possible those two women were only behaving that way due to being drunk. In any case he couldn't go chasing after them to challenge them to a fight. There were far more important things for him to do the desert. Still feeling offended and slightly angry, he lay back down and shut his eyes. It was a while before he was able to sleep.
When he opened his eyes again, Midna was seated on the writing desk next to the door, reading a different book. Light filtered through the narrow windows, but it wasn't direct sunlight. The canyon walls were too high for morning light to reach the buildings within it. It was hard for him to tell what time it was due to this, but he estimated it was sometime in the morning.
"How do you know the Gerudo language?" he asked her, still laying on his side, not having moved after waking.
She looked up from her book, which looked identical to a book from Hyrule save the gilded alien letters on its spine. "The Interlopers weren't a single race. They were made up of the four races of humans that live in Hyrule: Hylians, Sheikah, Gerudo and ordinary humans. Through the centuries, our scholars have tried to preserve the history and cultures of the races." She closed her book and gave him a grin. "You never questioned why I speak Hylian, you know. Did you assume we speak the same language in the Twilight Realm?"
He frowned, never thinking of it that way. The mixture of the languages and isolation could have made the Twili develop their own language by now. He must have been making some kind of face, because she laughed at him.
"I'm teasing. It's the same language." The imp tapped the closed book with one hand. "Not everybody can, but I learned how to read, write and speak Gerudo."
"Thanks for last night." He said, sitting up in bed. "I probably was going to do something stupid. It's harder for me to keep my temper when I'm half-asleep."
"We don't want to get in trouble while we're here. I'll remember that, even if your emotions make you forget it." Midna floated up and over to him. "How are you feeling? Still angry?"
"A bit, but I accept that I have to let it go." He looked at her neck, remembering the way she had used shadow magic to distort her voice into sounding like a normal woman's. "Midna...was that your real voice last night?"
"I think it was pretty close. While I know I can use magic to do that, I doubt I could keep it up for long." It was a shame, because the voice she had used was a deeper alto, smooth and rich. It was quite the lovely voice, and made him think of Zelda's, even though the princess' was softer. A lot of things he discovered about Midna reminded him of Princess Zelda, even though she quite obviously wasn't a princess.
He smiled. "If that's your voice, it's pretty. Now I really want to meet you in your regular human form."
Midna laughed, putting a hand to her mouth and turning her back to him as she moved back to the desk. "Oh, are you hitting on me now?" When she turned back around to sit she was grinning widely.
His own smile turned into a grin and he opened his mouth to joke around with her, but stopped when there was a polite tap at the door. It wasn't the loud banging of last night, but a polite knock. It was probably not the same women that had tried to break in last night, which was a good thing. Link had said he needed to let it go, but he still secretly felt vindictive about the whole thing.
"Young man?" an aged voice said politely from the other side of the door. "It's morning and the sands are not yet hot. Would our young guest like some tea and bread?"
Midna stood up on the desk with a frown and enhanced her voice to sound deeper again, speaking in Gerudo. She was being overly cautious. The fact that she wanted to defend him so intently filled his chest with warmth. She was looking out for her friend.
"There are no tricks, although I wonder why a woman is in there with you." The older woman had answered in Hylian. "If that is the case, may I ask if you are at least decent?"
"Oh, boy." He laughed, realizing what the woman had assumed. "No, it's nothing like that. We'll let you in." Still, he made sure he was covered from the waist down by the blankets. It wouldn't be right to let women see him in his undergarment.
Midna shrugged. "I guess the others needed to learn about me sooner or later." She floated over to the door and undid the latch, which thankfully did not break in the middle of the night. When she opened the door with her hair, the same older servant woman from last night walked in with a tray. Just outside, standing against the wall next to his door was a warrior holding a spear, dressed in green. She did not turn her head to look into the room as Midna shut the door.
"Oh my, what are you?" the old woman asked, eyeing Mida. She didn't seem terribly alarmed.
"Cursed. But I'm this guy's friend and partner, and we're working on fixing my problem." She shrugged. "The voice you heard was mine, so he wasn't busy entertaining a lucky lady last night. I'm fluent in Gerudo, and since Hida had warned Link about how some warriors may treat him, I took matters into my own hands and threatened them."
"It's a good thing she did. I was seriously considering going out there and fighting them." he said, watching as the woman brought over the tray to the ornately-carved bedside table and set it down. It had a plate of sticky-looking flatbread and a tall silver teapot with a few etched glasses to drink from, the extras for potential guests. Keela and Dai hadn't used glass vessels to drink from, but had metal cups that had no handles. This tea service seemed fair fancier.
"You certainly look like you could be tough in a fight, even though you're a little slip of a man." the old Gerudo said with a smile. "Just because you're small doesn't mean that you aren't strong. I'm sure those muscles aren't for show. My husband's weren't either, when he was younger. He was a swordsman, like you. Now he's just as thin and gray as I am."
"That woman outside my room is a guard, right?" He asked, watching as she carefully poured a glass of the pale tea the Gerudo favored.
"She is." The servant set down the silver teapot. "After two drunk warriors tried to force their way in here, the visiting subchief in the next room over heard the noise and confronted them. Hida heard the um, discipline and came to stop whomever was fighting in her halls. After everything was explained, she appointed a warrior to guard your room, and you." She reached out and kindly patted his hand. "I hope you weren't frightened by those drunks. You seem quite young, swordsman or not."
"I wasn't frightened, I was offended. It does make me feel better to hear that the two that drank too much got in trouble. I admit I wanted to teach them a lesson." He reached for the tea, and tried to figure out how to hold it without burning his fingers. Glassware did not seem to be ideal for holding hot tea.
"Put your fingertips of one hand on the top of the glass, and the others on the bottom when you lift it." the old woman instructed. "It will be a while before Hida is ready to speak to you again. She was up quite late and is still asleep. You're welcome to leave this room, as long as you remain in the fortress. The guard will accompany you, but I'm fairly certain the two rowdy warriors from last night are sleeping it off and won't give you trouble."
"All right, thank you." he said, blowing on his tea.
The woman bowed and exited the room quietly. The guard did not look into the room as the older Gerudo left, even though she likely had heard the conversation about Midna. Link carefully sipped at his tea while the Twili floated back over to sit on the edge of the bed near him. "It looks like they have things under control."
"Yeah." the tea did not have any honey in it, and had something of an herbal, flowery flavor to it. He found he far preferred it without the sweetness. "I'm pretty grateful to that subchief, whoever she is. I think I'll go and thank her later."
"You should bathe first. I wasn't kidding when I said you smelled sweaty."
He snorted and rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry I offended your sensitive nose by sweating in a desert in the summertime. I know you don't like to be near me when I'm what...what did you call it? Moist?" Using that word in particular made it sound all the more unpleasant.
Midna laughed and reached across the room from the bed to the desk with her hair to grab the book she was reading earlier. If she could reach things like that, why bother floating around the room? Maybe just to be excessive. She was something of a showoff at times. "Enjoy your breakfast. That bread smells good."
It was rather good, and while he had gotten used to eating breakfasts with eggs of late, the flatbread was heavy enough to fill his stomach. It was coated in cinnamon and honey, and left his fingers sticky. He was sticking one of his fingers in his mouth in an attempt to remove the excess honey, and he eyed the glass divider next to him. Hida had said they had plumbing here. It probably was better for him to wash his hands instead of trying to lick it off. He decided to get out of bed and investigate the other part of the room.
The other side of the glass wall had more polished stone on the floor and walls, with a tub made of dark stone set directly into the floor itself, brass fixtures arched over one side of it. There were no pumps, but knobs to turn instead. "Hey, Midna? Have you ever seen something like this? It's pretty cool."
"I went to look while you were sleeping, and yes I have. We have proper plumbing in the Twilight Realm, since we can't draw water from wells or underground reservoirs like you do in Hyrule. It's hard to dig a well when you're on a floating island, so we pressurize the pipes by putting our water sources up in towers higher than our buildings. That's why the taps have knobs, not pumps. It's pretty similar to what the Zora had in their temple. We heat our water too, although we use magic for that. I don't know how the Gerudo are doing it here." There was a faint rustle as she turned a page. "But that doesn't matter. They don't smell like the people in Hyrule. Gerudo are probably like us Twili and bathe daily."
"I imagine people would bathe daily if it wasn't such a pain in the ass to heat up and haul water to a tub. The system that the Gorons built in Kakariko isn't the norm." He opened what looked like a privy and saw that it involved water in some way as well. At least his room had something like this and he didn't have to find someplace else to do his business with all these women around. "Most of the time I bathe with cold water because I can't bother."
"And most of the time other Hylians don't bother to bathe, by the way they smell. Your kingdom has some really stinky people. It would be nice if they bathed more, even just how you do in the morning with a little water."
"I thought you said I stunk." He looked at himself in the large square mirror that was situated above the stone sink, which had brass taps that matched the tub. There were a pair of unlit lamps on either side of the mirror, although he felt he had enough light to see without them when he turned on one of the taps to rinse his hands. It certainly wasn't like he needed to put on makeup, unlike his female hosts.
She waited until after he had turned off the tap speak. "I said you smelled like sweat. I didn't say that you stunk. There's a difference." There was another papery sound from the other side of the divider. He had no idea how she could read and talk at the same time, since he was unable to do that. "Sweating from being in a volcano or out in the desert isn't the same as not bathing for well over a week, which I'm pretty sure describes that idiot guard outside Castle Town."
He came back around the divider to look for his dagger. Shave first, bath after. "To be honest, I was thinking more about what he was doing than what he smelled like." In fact he didn't think too much about it in general, although he tended to notice how Ilia smelled. That was different. "Maybe I'm used to it, and you're not."
"I guess. Go get cleaned up. I'm going to finish reading this Gerudo poetry." She waved a runed hand at him without looking up from her book.
"Is it erotic poetry?" he asked, remembering the joke she had made in Kakariko.
Midna sighed and didn't answer his question, joke or not. "Go take your bath."
Once he had taken care of his whiskers, and figured out how to adjust the temperature properly by turning on both taps, he did as he was instructed. There were a number of scented soaps and oils on a table near the tub, and most of them smelled like the kinds of things he didn't want his own self to smell like. Some of them were flat out perfumes to be thrown into bathwater, and Link found some of them so strong he wrinkled his nose. Eventually he found soap that was similar to the one he had found by the sink, and settled on using that. Midna was quiet on the other side of the divider, and from her behavior she probably was reading some kind of smut. Whatever. She had already hinted at a sexual side of her personality, so her reading something like that was in character for her.
He sat in the hot water until he noticed his toes starting to get wrinkled, and then stupidly got out of the wrong side of the tub. His wet feet skidded on the polished stone floor and he almost fell. That would have been a terrible way to hurt himself: crack his head on a stone floor just because he was an idiot and didn't step out of a bathtub onto the carpet laid out for that very purpose.
"You're using the more interesting parts of your vocabulary." Midna said, hearing him swear about it. "You okay over there?"
"Oh, perfectly fine. Just slipping on the floor and smashing my head because I walked on polished granite with wet feet." He tried not to be angry with himself, but like always it was difficult.
"You didn't really hit your head, did you?" Her voice came closer. "Do I need to come in there?"
"Absolutely not. Stay over there." He grabbed for a nearby towel to cover himself just in case she did come around the divider. Just because she saw his rear end once didn't mean she had to see everything else. "I didn't actually fall."
She laughed lightly at his reaction. "I'm not coming in there to peek, you good boy. Gosh, you're such a prude sometimes."
He glowered at the divider between them as if he could glare at her through it, and felt his face become warm. She was right, he was a prude. There were far too many things he felt were indecent and inappropriate, and outside of that one time on Death Mountain he did his best to be gentlemanly. Not that he was about to confirm what she was saying. She was the one reading erotic poetry, after all.
After he dressed and manged to comb his hair in a way that actually looked decent, he strapped on the Master Sword. There was no need for him to bring the rest of his gear with him, but he felt that he should keep the sacred sword with him at all times. The sword didn't say anything in response to that thought, but instead he could sense that it agreed with him. The two of them were meant to be together.
He put his hood up, leaving the long green hat behind, and motioned to Midna to hop into his shadows. "Let's go meet our nice neighbor."
"You're going to introduce me to her, too? Is it fine if all these Gerudo know about me? So far we've been pretty careful to make sure I don't scare people." She blurred and melted into the shadows of his body.
"I doubt we'll scare these ladies. Considering they've been fighting the Bulbins and not the Shadow Beasts, I don't think they'll see you as an enemy." He did plan on introducing her a bit at a time, just as he planned on speaking to various warriors here and there in order to introduce himself. He wanted to be known as something more as "man" or "male".
The guard did turn her head to look at him when he stepped out into the hall. "Good morning." she said politely, her long curly red hair gathered in a tall ponytail near the top of her head. She was close to seven feet tall and had thick biceps.
"Good morning. Thanks for looking out for me." He looked at her carefully, and thought he recognized her face. He had seen so many dark-skinned faces with red eyes and aquiline noses that they were starting to blur together, but he remembered this one. The only difference was before she had no makeup, and now she had painted her lips pink and wore a similar color on her eyelids. "Were you the guard that spoke to Auru outside last night?"
She smiled toothily, towering over him. "Do you mean the guard with the armor? That's my little sister. I'm surprised you noticed. Normally Hylians think we all look alike."
"Normally Hylians are idiots when it comes to the Gerudo. Not this Hylian, though." He guessed that they would look alike if nobody paid attention to their features and only noticed the red hair and eyes, but even those varied quite a bit. Hina's hair was dark and the color of wine, but this guard's hair was nearly ginger, and her eyes were golden like a cat's. "I'm sure that you ladies don't think I look like Auru."
"No, not at all, even though you both have blue eyes. Your faces aren't even the same shape. The same goes for that other young man that he brought here four years ago." She adjusted her hands on her spear. "Where are you planning on going? I know you were told to stay in the fortress, but I think if you wanted to go to the stables to see your horse that would be fine. I'll be with you."
"I wanted to meet the subchief who persuaded those two drunks to leave me alone last night. She saved me the aggravation of having to take care of it myself."
The tall Gerudo laughed, which was more of a girlish giggle. It seemed out of place considering her size. "I like how you say 'persuaded'. She beat them good, so if you see any warriors with bruises, you'll know who wanted to get into your pants. I doubt you'll need to beat them yourself." Unlike Hida, his guard didn't seem to doubt his physical ability. "Her name is Sumati, and she has no tolerance for warriors that can't be respectable. It was all the worse because they were from her tribe, but none of us are blaming her for their actions. I hope you don't either."
"No, of course not. I want to thank her. Is she awake?" He looked down the hall, wondering which direction Sumati's room was in.
"It's likely, so it won't hurt to go there. Follow me." She went to the left, leading him to the next door down. This one was also made of acacia, the wood oiled and lacquered to bring out its swirling patterns. The tall woman knocked politely and said "Sumati?", followed by something in Gerudo. After a voice on the other side of the door responded, the guard switched to Hylian. "There is someone here to see you."
"Why are we speaking Hylian?" the woman on the other side of the door asked, opening it. She blinked when she saw Link, and then grinned. "Oh, that's why. Hello!" Sumati wasn't as tall as the other Gerudo, and in fact was only a few inches taller than he was. For what she lacked in height, she made up for in bulk; the woman was built like a brick house. Her arms, torso and legs were well-muscled, she had broad shoulders and hips, and instead of the flowing silks and loose cotton that the other Gerudo wore, she wore tight-fitting leather leggings and a triangular silk top that showed off her physique. The clothes were dark blue, as were her lips, and she wore her short fiery red hair swept over in a side part, the curls slicked down with oil and clipped with a pair of golden barrettes accented with lapis lazuli.
He responded to her grin with a pleasant smile. "Good morning. I wanted to come over to say thank you for handling my 'visitors' last night."
"Ah, yes. That." She stepped back from the door and gestured for him to enter. "Please, come in. Rennie, you can go get some breakfast. This young man is safe with me."
The guard bowed slightly. "Thank you. I'll return in a bit." She hefted her spear up onto her shoulder and continued down the hall towards the kitchens.
"Don't worry about her, she'll be able to find you later. You are the only male here that isn't Auru, after all. Rennie and her sister are two of Hida's best warriors so no one will bother you, but I'm even better than they are." She continued to grin at him through her painted lips as he stepped into her room. It was identical to the one he was staying in. "No one would dare lay a finger on you when you're with me."
"That's good, because I would have had no choice but to defend myself." He waited until she closed the door and spoke a bit more quietly. "And I don't want to hurt or kill any of your people, regardless of the reason. Besides, I'm a bit of an idiot when I drink too much myself."
Sumati threw back her head and laughed loudly, her laugh far more masculine than the cute little titter that Rennie had. "Who isn't an idiot when they drink too much, right? Although I doubt the hero of his people would try what those two did." While he hadn't done anything too horrible to Ilia, the fact that he had no control over himself still bothered him. Thankfully, she did not give him a chance to respond to that. "After Hida told me who you are, I had no doubt that you could beat them black and blue if you wanted to. She doubted you because of your size, but I don't. Just because you're a smaller Hylian doesn't mean much. I'm a smaller Gerudo, and very few can beat me in a fight."
She certainly looked like it. Her brown skin had a slight greenish cast to it, almost olive-colored, and her arms and even her torso had the pale scars of old wounds on them. Sumati also dressed far more like a warrior, not wearing long earrings or extra gold jewelry like most of the other women. She only had on simple lapis studs in her ears, a pair of golden bracers on her forearms, and a golden torque around her neck. Between that and her close-fitting outfit and short hair, there was very little for an opponent to grab onto in a fight.
"Good things come in small packages, right?" he said with a more genuine smile.
"Exactly!" The Gerudo took a few steps towards him. "I didn't get to see you yesterday, since I've been busy with all this damn paperwork in this damn room." She gave a gesture to the desk, which had a pile of papers, one of which had ink that was still wet. "Politics! What a yawn. Let me look at this pretty Hylian face of yours instead. Take down that hood, will you?"
"Sure. Go ahead and gawk and gape and stare to your heart's content. Just know that I'm not interested in anything." He put his hood down, this time not feeling uncomfortable. This woman felt a lot more like a peer than a potential mate.
That was why he was surprised when she reached out to cup his chin with one of her large hands and tilt his head this way and that, looking at him carefully with her crimson eyes. He didn't expect her to reach out to touch him. All he could do was endure it. "Hmm, yes. It would have been so much worse if they had gotten a look at you this close. Such long eyelashes. Eyes the color of sapphires, hair the color of gold, good jawline...and you even have your ears pierced. Not many Hylian men wear jewelry." She let his face go and nodded, putting her hands on her hips. "It's a good thing I beat the living hell out of them. They would not have left you alone, and then we would have had an unfortunate situation on our hands."
"I'm glad you realized that too. I really don't want to be making any kind of political faux pas while here in the desert."
Sumati gave a grunt. "Too late for that. You're here illegally. No men! There's a reason we keep our husbands in Lakeside. After one of our males became king and browbeat the rest of us into obeying him, no men are permitted."
"What happens if a male Gerudo is born? That happens every few generations, right?" He thought of the fragment of Power that was in the hand of a young Gerudo that probably existed right now in this massive desert. With any luck, the young man with Ganondorf's soul wouldn't have the same personality.
"Who knows? It hasn't happened in over two hundred years. Nobody has had a male child since my ancestor decided to force the Gerudo into invading Hyrule." She rubbed at the back of her neck. "I'm still not proud of being his successor. Oh. But we shouldn't stand here to talk. Would you like some tea?"
"Um. Sure." The comment caught him off-guard, but it made sense. Ganondorf likely would have fathered children, if he was a male Gerudo. Link had a seat in a a comfortable upholstered chair across from the desk, arranging the scabbard of the Master Sword so it wouldn't be in his way. "Sorry, you threw me for a loop. I guess I hadn't thought about Ganondorf having kids."
"You know exactly who I'm talking about, huh?" The woman went to the bedside table and poured out two glasses, putting a wedge of tangerine into each. "I know your kings would have liked to have stomped out Ganondorf's extended family, but that's hard to do. The man had many, many children. Quite a few of us are descended from him because of it." She gave a regular smile instead of a wide grin and handed him a glass. "Yet my tribe is the only one who has people with the surname of Dragmire. It's the tribe's name, and why he had it, not the other way around."
"If he was the king, then why are you a subchief and Hida's in charge?" He took a sip and was pleased that she hadn't added honey to her tea either. At least somebody around here had sense. "Was there a political struggle? Or are you not supposed to talk about that?"
She took her own glass and sat in the chair at the desk after turning it to face him. "No, it's not a secret. There were two factions when he was king. One was led by him, and one was a group of renegades led by Hida's ancestors. The second group actually started out as a group of thieves, fitting that stereotype we Gerudo have." She chuckled. "Their skills were what kept them alive and out of his reach..and out of the reach of your kings. Us Dragmires took to the desert to live as nomads, but due to those Bulbin assholes parking their green butts in our city, I'm rejoining my tribe with Hida's. The other tribes plan on doing the same. Our numbers can't be scattered across the sands like that if we have any chance to survive with the Bulbins here."
"A good plan. Hida's working along with our princess in order to open relations between our races again." Zelda was doing that before she poured herself into Midna's body and became comatose, but now she wasn't doing much of anything.
"So I hear. You've had your questions, now let me ask one. Be honest with you answer, will you?" She raised her red eyebrows. "Who was the woman you took to your bed last night? Hida had told everyone that you're off limits."
Link laughed, not feeling as embarrassed as he thought he would. "Nobody. I'm being honest, and there's a really good explanation." He patted his chest. "It's time."
Midna appeared next to him and gave the Gerudo across the room a small wave. "Hello." When Sumati muttered something under her breath in her native language, Midna put her hands on her hips. "I most certainly am not. What a mouth on you."
"You speak Gerudo? Ha! I guess that wasn't a good first impression. Sorry, but you caught me by surprise. I didn't expect somebody to come out of Link's body. I ought to remember my manners." She leaned forward in her chair in half a bow. "My name is Sumati Dragmire. You are?"
The Twili returned the bow. "My name is Midna, and I'm Link's friend and partner. Not romantic partner, mind you." She gave a smirk. "I don't currently have the proper anatomy for that due to this curse put on me."
"Like you'd even stand a chance with me." He crossed his legs and delicately sipped at his tea.
"Like I'd even want to in the first place." She floated up to jab him in the chest. "You're just too much of a good, sweet young man for somebody like me."
"I won't deny it. At least I don't read erotic poetry."
Sumati laughed. "I can see you two get along well! If you can't poke fun at your friends, it's not a real friendship. I get it now. Two drunk idiots decided to try to break in, and when Link wanted to teach them a lesson, you had the better idea of pretending they had the wrong room and threatening to break their legs."
"Is that what you said to them?" Link asked the imp.
"More or less. I told them they woke me up, they had the wrong room, and if they didn't cut it out I was going to break their legs." She floated closer to Sumati, and raised her palms up in a shrug. "I had to do something. I know they wouldn't be able to hurt him, but I didn't want him to get in a fight. Besides, I could see how much the very idea of it bothered him. Nobody wants their friend to feel that way, you know?"
"Oh, I understand. I have some good friends that I would walk through fire for." She set down her half-empty tea glass on the table and placed her hands in her lap in a more reserved, feminine way. "I'd like to hear about how you two met. Hida was up late with her husband last night, so she isn't going to show her face for a while. We may as well kill time and share stories."
He didn't want to dwell too much on the reason Hida was up late, so he was happy for the change in subject. Taking turns, he and Midna told the subchief of how they met while omitting the wolf part, how the Twilight Invasion happened in Hyrule and Ordon, their mission, their interactions with the Light Spirits and the various races, and him pulling the Master Sword. Sumati listened intently, laughing at some parts of the story, somberly staring at the floor for others. They would have kept his parentage secret, except Sumati knew about it. Auru had told Hida, and Hida had told her. It was probably fine for people outside of Hyrule to know who his parents were. After all, he was speaking to the descendant of Ganondorf Dragmire. The irony that he was the descendant of the previous hero was not lost on him.
"You do realize you can't get to the Arbiter's Grounds with Bulbins swarming the area like fleas on a dog, right?" Sumati asked.
"I do, and I'm currently working on that problem. I admit I don't have a solution yet, but give me some time and I'll probably think of something. My odd brain eventually comes up with solutions to problems, even of those solutions aren't ideal." He had set his glass down, the tea long gone. Telling Sumati of everything took nearly an hour. "If I had the resources, I'd march right back into Hyrule and get an army. Unfortunately we have our own invasion problems, with Bulbins camped right next to our main city."
"Not just Bulbins." Midna said. "Transformed Twili and Hylians. Zant put a curse on some people that turned them into evil black beasts, and they can transform anyone they touch into Shadow Beasts just like them. They've managed to transform Gorons, Zoras, Bulbins, Moblins, even some animals."
"They can't transform Midna or myself, however." He was about to go into details, but there was a polite knock at the door and he shut his mouth.
"Sumati? There's a youngling here asking for any chiefs to come to the throne room, since Hida isn't present." Rennie's voice came from the other side of the door. "She just rode in and said it's urgent."
"Duty calls. Oh well." The Gerudo rose to her feet. "It's been nice chatting with you two. I enjoy your company now that I've gotten to know you, but duty calls."
Link stood and when he did so, Midna merged with his shadows again. "Do you mind if I tag along? Hida mentioned that there was a party of scouts out there investigating the Bulbins. It might not have anything to do with that, but it's still important. I try to stick around when important things happen."
"Suit yourself." She pulled open the door, and the guard was patiently waiting outside with her spear. "Aren't you going to put your hood up?" she asked him as he came to stand behind her.
"Nah. People here need to get used to seeing me if I'm going to get anything done. Besides, you yourself said nobody would dare trying anything with you or Rennie near me."
"He's not wrong." the tall Gerudo with the spear said as they stepped out in the hallway. "To tell you the truth, I'd like to see what happens when they do try. Look at how he walks."
Self-conscious, Link looked down at his feet as he walked. They were moving as feet move. He didn't get it. "People keep saying that, and I admit I'm a bit light on my feet, but I don't get what the big deal is."
"You move like a warrior. In fact, the way you move is quite similar to the way Hida does. She fights with twin blades, not a single one, but she is also quite light on her feet." Sumati herself did not seem all that light on her feet, and walked with the confident swagger that some well-muscled men do. "All right, let's see what this messenger has to say."
It was a short walk to the atrium of the fortress, which perhaps could have been called a palace if it wasn't built so solidly. There were a few of the assorted warriors in the room, idly chatting or playing cards. Even though there were fewer women lining the walls behind the thick pillars of the large room, there still had to be nearly a hundred. They didn't look to Link as he entered, and instead were focused on the single young Gerudo waiting in front of the throne with her arms crossed.
She was medium height for one of her race, which meant that she was nearly a foot taller than Link. Her skin was a more golden brown, and unlike the other well-muscled warriors in the room, she was willowy and slender. Her hair was a darker red, closer to maroon, and was tied up in a flowing wavy ponytail, all except for two narrow braids that hung down next to her ears. Link didn't have to ask who the young woman was; her stance, her build, her dark hair, and the features of her face all looked like Hida's. This was undoubtedly her daughter.
"Auren." Sumati greeted her as she stepped into the front of the room. She did not sit on the throne, but instead stood in front of Hida's daughter.
"Sumati." Auren nodded, and looked past Rennie to lay her amber eyes on Link. Her mouth parted slightly in surprise, or perhaps shock. Other Gerudo had given him that look, but never looked him in the eye like that when doing so. And unlike the other Gerudo he had seen, Auren was not well-maintained, at least not at the moment. Her brown cloak and red clothing were dusty, she wore no makeup, and her bow had hastily been thrown up over her shoulder. Because she seemed far closer in age to him, and because she hadn't gone to great lengths to enhance her appearance, he found her far more attractive than the other Gerudo he had seen so far.
"Auren?" The subchief leaned forward to snap her fingers in front of the young woman's face. "Auren! Focus!"
"Uh, sorry." Auren blinked and tore her eyes away from Link. "I didn't expect to see him there. He's not important right now, though. I had hoped to find my mother, but for some reason she's not here."
"Your father is here so she's likely with him." Sumati crossed her muscular arms. "You wanted me here, so I'm here. Explain. And continue to speak Hylian so our guest can understand."
The young Gerudo's demeanor changed, and even though she appeared tired she was suddenly excited. "I was scouting the city and the area around it to the northwest with a few of my archers. We were trying to figure out how the Bulbins haven't run out food yet, and while we did notice something strange closer to the Arbiter's Grounds, that wasn't what sent me back here immediately." She grinned with her eyes wide as she spilled the news. "What sent me here were the Bulbins themselves. Get this: their numbers are reduced. I mean, seriously reduced. There aren't thousands anymore, but hundreds. Hundreds! And no signs of the rest of them anywhere. They don't outnumber our people now!"
Author's note: Take a break if you've been binging, okay? Rest your eyes!
Finally we get to one of my favorite characters, Sumati! She's so much fun to write, it's a shame she's only in a small part of the story.
