Now it's time for Chapter 75, with the shocking news of what's become of her mentor, what will Sarami do?
"A-Are you certain about that name...?" Sarami asked Lady Sheeva of the Desert Wolfos as she was leading Link, Sarami and the group back to the town hall of Grinder's Ridge to further discuss matters with the illness her wolfos pack were suffering from due to the Ebony Sisterhood's power tonic.
"Positive, I was told her name and her location by one of my pack with his last breath." Sheeva said, "Her name is Granny Truttlo, and the one behind what's happened. She's in cahoots with your people making my pack sick with this illness!"
"You can't be serious, the rebels actually have Sarami's mentor working for them?" Nabooru whispered to Nemisa and Link towards the back of the group, as they went into the town hall building, "She must be using the Gerudo Blood Alchemy Arts book the rebels stole from Halei to develop the power tonic..."
"And they're testing it on monsters like that Hinox, as well as Sheeva's wolfo pack, and giving it out to rebels like that Faurugo woman from the Hall of Knowledge." Link grimaced.
"No..." Sarami spoke out to Sheeva, her hands trembling, "That's not true... there's no way my mentor would ever do something like all that!"
"Your... mentor...?" Sheeva asked.
"That's right, she taught me everything I know, she's a compassionate person who would never hurt anyone!" Sarami shouted.
Sheeva just stared at Sarami, narrowing her eyes and growling.
"So you are connected to that woman after all. That only proves it." Sheeva spoke coldly, "In that case, you too will feel the vengeance for my mate!" she snarled and swiftly lunged at Sarami, impacting her into a wall and holding her by her neck.
"Sarami!" shouted Link and the Gerudo in panic.
"Please... stop..." Sarami gasped out.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't consider you or any of these Gerudo working with the ones who hurt my people?!" Sheeva shouted with small traces of tears in her eyes, "I lost so many of my people to that illness, and your refusal to help those of us who suffer is only proof of your involvement!"
Those words stung horribly, as Sarami had regretted not being able to make much progress in her research. She thought she had hit a breakthrough when she found out the hypno candy could be countered with Ilite's asthma medicine, but the power tonic itself had more complications to it's composure, and at that point she wondered if there really was a cure for it...
And that only brought back the painful thoughts she had of not being able to do anything to help Gonaeti and her unborn child...
A single tear rolled down Sarami's cheek, which surprised Sheeva. She saw the doctor's body didn't shake or tremble, she didn't seem to be in pain or scared of what the wolfos might do to her...
It was then at that moment the wolfos leader realized there was something pressed against her neck. Her eyes looked down to a sword that was being wielded by Link.
"W-Wha-?" Sheeva spoke.
"I swear to you..." Link whispered quietly, giving the wolfos a cold angry stare, "If you so much as harm one hair on her head, I'll slit your throat open, you damn mutt."
Sheeva's eyes widened at the cold words Link spoke, a stark contrast from how mild-mannered and goofy he was a while ago. But she attempted to keep her composure.
"...do you really think you have a chance against us? We have you outnumbered." Sheeva stated, as her wolfos pack surrounded Link and the Gerudo growling viciously, "All I have to do is call out to them and they'll make you into our young's next meal."
"Heh, you sure about that Lady Sheeva?" Nabooru said, despite her worry for Sarami, she was bearing a confident smirk, "If anything I'd be more worried about the rest of your pack."
"What do you mean?" Sheeva asked.
"The Gerudo guards I have stationed outside are all members of my B-Block soldiers, and they've all been itching for a fight on behalf of the C-Block members your pack hurt earlier. All I have to do is give the word and we'll have wolf stew for the next couple of weeks." Nabooru explained, tapping at the scimitars strapped to her waist.
Sheeva paused, her eyes looking over at Nabooru and then to Link, seeing the sharp look in both their eyes. She then closed her own eyes and released Sarami, allowing her to drop to the floor.
"Hmph, well met." Sheeva said as Link moved his sword away from her. The wolfos watched as Link, Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa and Togau all ran over to Sarami to check on her.
"You okay Dr. Sarami?" Aviel asked worriedly.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine, she didn't hurt me." Sarami nodded.
"Listen you," Nabooru then spoke angerly to Sheeva, "I won't condone you attacking Sarami and trying to take away Link. We Gerudo have had a bad reputation as thieves and killers in the past, and we're doing everything we can to distance ourselves from those old ways, don't force us to make an exception this day."
"Don't you intimidate me Gerudo." Sheeva said narrowing her eyes, "You wouldn't be so strong if you didn't have your soldiers at your side."
"Heh, I have no shame in having my friends support me." Nabooru chuckled, "But if you want to see my own power I can demonstrate it to you."
"So be it." Sheeva said, "I have a proposition for you, in regards to the Hylian male, and the situation with that Granny person."
"Oh?" Nabooru raised an eyebrow.
Later, Link and the group, along with the Wolfos clan, were all outside of the town area, gathered around an abandoned cattle fence, as Nabooru and Sheeva were in the middle of the fenced in area.
"Alright, so how are we going to be doing this?" Nabooru asked.
"This is will be a one-on-one battle, whoever brings the other to their mercy is the winner." Sheeva said, stretching out her limbs and claws, "If I win then I claim the male as my mate, if you win then we'll tell you about the doctor's hideout. If you're afraid for your life you can flee out of the fenced area, and it will be considered a forfeit."
"Fine by me, I won't be running." Nabooru smirked.
Link meanwhile was sitting on his knees on a wooden podium with a sign around his neck with 'first prize' written on it.
"I don't recall agreeing to being the award." Link said flatly.
"Go Nabooru!" cheered Aviel.
"Stick it to that flea bag!" shouted Togau.
"I don't know why Lady Nabooru's agreeing to this." Nemisa said leaning against the fence, "We could just beat these mongrels all up and force the information out of them."
"Because she doesn't want to do that, Nabs just wants to show Lady Sheeva her resolve." Sarami said with a knowing smile, "Don't worry, she's got this!"
"Well if you say so..." nodded Nemisa.
The wolfos meanwhile were all sitting or leaning against the fence, waving the fists and howling out for their leader Lady Sheeva.
"If you're prepared, then let's begin." Sheeva said, baring her claws.
"Bring it then." Nabooru said with her scimitars ready.
With that the battle started, and Sheeva lunged at Nabooru with her claws. Nabooru swung out with her swords and blocked the attack before swinging her right sword. Sheeva took a step backwards to avoid it, then sidestepped to avoid the left sword. She darted at Nabooru from the side with her fangs, but Nabooru jumped away to avoid her attack. Sheeva then bound into the air and lunged at Nabooru, but the geurdo rolled just under the wolfos leader at the last minute, then did a backwards kick into her from behind to make Sheeva stagger forward.
"You're good..." admitted Sheeva, "But I'll prove to the male who the superior tribe is!" she then turned and swung her claws, while Nabooru swung out her blades.
The two of them started striking and deflecting each other's attacks quickly. Sheeva bashed away one of Nabooru's swords and swung her claw, managing to get a slash on Nabooru, but that gave the gerudo a quick chance to slash her across the arm. Sheeva staggered out howling out in pain.
"You're gonna have to try harder then that!" grinned Nabooru.
Sheeva snarled and dashed forward right at Nabooru, but just as the Gerudo swung her scimitar, Sheeva then leaped over her and landed behind her, swinging out her claws to strike Nabooru from behind. Nabooru quickly turned and brought up both her swords to block the attack, but then Sheeva instead did a long kick to send her backwards.
The wolfos took that opportunity to snap at Nabooru with her fangs, but the gerudo brought up her sword, allowing Sheeva to bite down on it instead. Nabooru tried to push the sword forward to cut Sheeva, but her jaw was too strong, so Nabooru instead swung up her knee, bashing the wolf in the jaw and slashed her again. The wolfos howled in pain and quickly did some back-flips to keep her distance.
"Hmph, let's see you deal with this then!" Sheeva said as she brandished her claws, swinging them out with such incredible force that it actually cut through the wind and actually make bladed waves right at Nabooru. She was caught off guard by the attack and was slashed up by them.
"Gaaah!" Nabooru shouted in pain, stumbling backwards, "What was that?"
"A technique of my late husband, the Wind Slash." Sheeva explained, "Using the force of my claws to manipulate the wind into an unstoppable bladed weapon."
"Impressive..." Nabooru spoke, she charged in as Sheeva shot off some more of her wind slashes.
Nabooru jumped and dodged out of the way of the slashes to avoid them before clashing right against Sheeva's claws. She then quickly dropped down and smacked Sheeva's leg with her blade, causing the wolfos to stagger, and Nabooru to get an opportunity to slash her again. Before Nabooru could do another attack through Sheeva suddenly grabbed the gerudo by the head and slammed her into the ground face first.
"Nabooru!" Link shouted.
"We have to help her!" Aviel said, reaching for her crossbow.
"Don't!" Nabooru shouted out to Aviel as she was struggling to move, "This is our battle!"
The wolfos all howled out in anticipation of Sheeva's victory, as the alpha female grinned wickedly, "You Gerudo are nothing compared to us. You may have been strong once, but you've grown weak over time, and you're an inferior leader compared to me!"
Nabooru narrowed her eyes, recalling the rebels having told her very similar things before.
"I will win this duel, we shall avenge our pack by striking down that cruel doctor, and your king shall become my beloved mate." Sheeva added.
Nabooru clenched her sword's handle firmly, but then she smirked lightly and spoke to Sheeva.
"Heh, we may no longer be the thieves and killers of the desert we once were... but don't you dare call us weak!"
It was then Nabooru knocked Sheeva off of her and went in slashing. Sheeva tried to deflect her attacks but Nabooru was getting the upper hand. Sheeva backflipped away and shot off some more wind blades, but Nabooru started striking back with her swords, actually driving back the wind attacks which surprised Sheeva. Nabooru then spun in with a rapid series of slashes across Sheeva before decking her across the face.
"So much for your unstoppable Wind Slash!" Nabooru said.
"Graaahrr, enough!" Sheeva shouted, "I'll end you here and now!" she then shot at Nabooru with her teeth bared and her claws out, but Nabooru charged in with her twin scimitars. There was a loud clash, and Nabooru came to stop behind Sheeva.
The wolfos paused in motion for a second, before screaming out in pain from blood flying out from her wounds, the red liquid staining her white fur.
"N-No... I failed..." Lady Sheeva muttered as she collapsed in defeat.
"Take that as a show of strength from the Gerudo!" Nabooru grinned.
With that, Link and all the Gerudo cheered out for Nabooru's victory as the wolfos all looked in shock at their great leader falling in battle to the gerudo woman.
"Congratulations Lady Nabooru!" Aviel said cheerfully as Nabooru came up to everyone.
"As strong as ever I see." smirked Nemisa.
"You're not hurt, are you Nabs?" Sarami asked looking at the cuts on her body
"Nah, nothing I can't walk off." Nabooru grinned, she then looked to Link and the 'first prize' sign on him.
"That was a great battle Nabooru, congratulations!" Link said standing himself up, only for Nabooru to take him by the back of his head with one hand and pull him into a deep kiss.
"Woah!" Aviel gasped, putting her hands to her cheeks.
"Fufufu... as expected of Nabs." Sarami giggled.
"Heh," Nabooru chuckled licking her lips, then sporting a grin, "Just needed to claim my prize!"
"Woah..." Link said with his jaw dropped as the others laughed out.
Meanwhile, Sheeva got herself up as the wolfos all gathered around her, all whimpering and trying to clean her wounds by licking them. Sheeva looked over at Nabooru, who despite the wolfos going all-out against her, seemed just no worse for wear.
"Ugh, I was so soundly defeated by that Gerudo woman..." Sheeva groaned, "Is that really her true strength and resolve...?"
A few of the Wolfos however, growled angerly at Nabooru who was busy focusing on Link. The three of them then ran at the Gerudo leader in order to attack her from behind and avenge their leader.
"Hey wait, stop!" Sheeva exclaimed to the three.
"Nabooru watch out!" Link said in surprise at the sight of beasts, darting around his friend and bashing one wolfos away with his shield, while Nemisa and Togau clobbered the other two, leaving the three beasts sprawled out on the ground.
"Hmph, trying to get in cheap shots, you cowardly beasts?" Nemisa asked as she pounded her fist into her palm.
"Paws off of Lady Nabooru!" Togau shouted to the dazed wolfos.
The group looked up to see more Wolfos all snarling and moving towards them. The group were prepared to fight back, but the beasts were halted by a loud shout.
"Enough!" shouted Sheeva, getting herself up and staggering forward, "Me and the Gerudo leader had an honorable battle and I lost! Do you not remember what our alpha leader said before about duels of honor?!"
The wolfos all turned to their leader and whimpered, backing away and allowing Sheeva to stand up and stagger over to Nabooru and Link.
"You fought bravely despite my power. Well done." Sheeva told Nabooru.
"Heh, I just fight for what I believe in." Nabooru smirked.
"Lady Sheeva, do you need for me to look over those injuries of yours?" Sarami asked.
"...no, it's not necessary." Sheeva said, "I should be fine."
"Lady Sheeva, we had a deal. You need to tell us where the doctor's base is located." Nabooru said.
"..." Sheeva looked downwards, seeming to be hesitant to say it, "I... don't know if I should..."
"Hey comeon!" Togau said, "We had a deal! Lady Nabooru tanned yer rear end, so you gotta tell us already!"
"..." the wolfos was still uncertain, until Nabooru spoke up.
"Tell me Lady Sheeva, is this about your mate?" she asked curiously.
Sheeva's eyes widened at how sharp Nabooru was in reading her, and she let out a sigh of defeat, "I'm worried if I tell you... I'll never be able to avenge his death..."
"He really meant the world to you, didn't he?" Nemisa asked.
"Yes, I owed him so much..." Sheeva nodded, "After I first was cursed and turned into a Wolfos, I was lost for the longest time.. I tried to go to Hyrule for help but I was chased out by the Hylian knights at the border. I wound up wandering Gerudo Desert for weeks, unable to do anything about what I had become. It was then I was attacked by fearsome monsters, but was saved by some Desert Wolfos. They took me to the old caves where we used to live, and it was there I met the alpha male of their people."
Sheeva had a reminiscent look in her eyes as she continued, "He offered me a place as a member of his pack, I didn't have anywhere else to go anyway so I stayed with them. Overtime I bonded with the Wolfos, and learned to care about them like the family I never had. I grew in strength, and became recognized as one of the strongest in our pack. I eventually challenged the alpha male to a duel of honor, and while I lost, he admired my strength and decided to make me his mate."
"It was a strange experience at the time for me, as someone who was once human, mating with and carrying the offspring of a wolf, but he was a kind and noble being, and treated me with more respect and love then any human ever did. And when I became pregnant, I fell in love with each of my pups I carried, and we continued to have many more after that... all the way until that damned Hinox took his life."
"I vowed when my mate died to that Hinox that I would avenge him... I fought you so that we could have a new alpha male who would help strengthen and lead us to strike down the one responsible... but I failed... I failed my mate... and my people today... I don't know what to do anymore..."
Link frowned and looked to Nabooru, who just stood without a word to say.
Sarami meanwhile looked to Sheeva, contemplating what she said, as she thought back to her past...
Flashback - Fourteen years ago
"Oh Granny, I finished the shopping!" a younger Sarami called out as she came into the Kakariko Potion Shop, "And here's your change."
"Very good Sarami," Granny said looking over the groceries to see it was exactly what she ordered.
"Well I'm going to get to cleaning." Sarami said, going off with a duster, before being stopped by a firm grip of Granny's hand.
"Sarami-dear, there's an oddly large amount of change compared to how much they typically charge..." Granny muttered darkly.
"Um..." Sarami sweatdropped, "They were having a discount...?"
But Granny was staring at her with an intimidating glare, and within minutes Sarami found herself on her knees being whacked on the back with a stick.
"I told you to quit shoplifting, you brat!" Granny scolded her, "You remember how I had to apologize to the general store owner after last time?! People are already untrustworthy of the Gerudo as it is without you making it worse!"
"I'm sorry! I thought if you had more money then you'd be in a better off to treat people!" Sarami cried out as Granny whacked her again, "You do so much charitable work for everyone even if it puts so much stress on you!"
Granny lowered the stick she had been wielding and sighed, "Well I guess I do tend to do that a lot, even at the expense of my well-being, but I suppose that's part of my work as a doctor. When I see the happy face of my patient after I'm done helping them, it fills my old heart with warmth... and I just find it far more rewarding then any money I receive for it."
"Granny..." Sarami whispered.
As someone who spent her younger years as a thief and just stole everything she wanted, seeing someone like Granny who valued people's health and happiness above all else was baffling. But it was then Sarami thought about her time carrying the baby she was going to have, the desire to hold and protect her, the happiness she felt from that, and the immense sadness she felt when her child had died before she could even get the chance to do so...
"Well, I better get back to my work, just reflect on your actions." Granny said, shuffling off to her desk, and started going through some books while Sarami went to the cleaning.
Eventually though, Sarami then wandered over to what Granny was working on and peeked over her shoulder, looking to see just what she was always reading about.
"Um, did you need any help with this?" Sarami asked.
"Why child, when did you take an interest in this sort of thing?" Granny asked.
"I dunno." shrugged Sarami, "Can I help you with it though?"
"Well..."Granny pondered, "Go apologize to the merchants and we'll talk."
Overtime Sarami was quickly immersed into the work of medical science and practice, at first it was treating basic cuts and bruises, mixing potions and proper bedside manner. But Sarami soon advanced quickly to more intense lessons, and she grew into Granny's apprentice over the next months.
"Granny, what books are these?" Sarami asked, as she looked trough some boxes she had been told to move to the basement.
"Oh those are just some books I bought from a traveling merchant on advanced alchemy. I mostly just used them for their healing recipes." Granny said.
Sarami said nothing but flipped through one of the books, seeming to take great interest in it.
"Could I possibly borrow them from you?" Sarami asked curiously.
"Ho ho... What am I, a doctor or a librarian? Help yourself." Granny chuckled.
Over the next few weeks Sarami took to spending her free time reading through the books, and experimenting with what was written using whatever potions she could buy with her spending money. It was a hit or miss effort, and often she'd get scolded by Granny for causing explosions. But Sarami didn't let that discourage her, so she kept trying to find ideal ingredients to use for her experiments.
One day Sarami was working with Granny to mix some healing potions together. They were red, green and blue variations, and Granny was working on mashing some type of jelly into a bowl to make them.
"Granny, what did you say this jelly was made from?" Sarami asked examining a bottle of it.
"They're made from Chu Chus." Granny explained, "Slime creatures that live out in Hyrule Field. They're pretty harmless for the most part and can be destroyed with little effort, but those alchemy books gave me information on how to use them to make good healing potions."
"Hmm..." Sarami contemplated what she saw a chapter in one of the books, "Do you think they could used for more then just healing potions though?"
"What do you mean?" Granny asked.
"Well take a look at this," Sarami said, showing her the book she was reading, "By extracting this gland and breaking it down, I think it could produce the same effect as the Chu Chu's original ability!"
"That... could work actually!" Granny said with wide eyes, "That's pretty observant of you Sarami-dear!"
"Only because I learned from you!" Sarami said nodding.
"Well I wouldn't say that, I never would had thought to using that sort of procedure myself, I think you may have a little drive then me in this regard." chuckled Granny, "I think you should focus more on this Chu Chu alchemy research!"
"Alright, I will!" nodded Sarami.
"Are you sure about this Sarami?" Granny asked, standing alongside Chester, who was now grown into an adult tiger, as Sarami stood at the door to the potion shop. She had a bag of numerous potions and books strapped around her shoulder. Sarami looked out in the distance, seeing Gerudo Valley far beyond Hyrule Field.
The war had just ended a few weeks ago with the Gerudo losing, and there was talk about a new Hylian Parliament forming to establish new laws, including one law being passed to banish the Gerudo off the land of Hyrule. Granny and the Kakariko residents had done what they could to keep Sarami's presence in the village secret during the war, but the gerudo doctor knew she could only stay for so much longer before the knights found her.
"Yes, the war is over, but the Gerudo are suffering right now. I have to go back to Gerudo Valley to try and help them!" Sarami said.
"Hm, but would they accept you, what with you being exiled?" Granny asked with concern.
"It doesn't matter, I have to go to their aide and help them recover." Sarami said, "After all, I'm a true doctor now, right?" she added with a smile.
"Ho ho ho, of course you are." Granny said, "Go on then, and help your people."
"Right." Sarami said, then turned back around, knelled and give Granny a firm hug, "Thank you Granny, for everything..."
Granny paused a bit, before she smiled warmly and hugged Sarami back, "Of course Sarami-dear. Now get a move on before the carriage leaves."
"Okay." nodded Sarami, she turned to Chester and saw he was in tears and sniffling over Sarami leaving, she smiled lightly and pet the tiger on the head, "You be a good kitty, okay Chester? You take care of Granny!"
Chester nodded and the people of Kakariko waved goodbye to her, as Sarami turned and went off to the carriage to leave for Gerudo Valley, and her people...
End Flashback
Sarami had a hand to her chest, her memories of her life with Granny, as well as her hopes of saving Gonaeti and her unborn child went through her mind. She nodded to herself and turned to the wolfos leader.
"Listen Lady Sheeva," Sarami spoke out, "Granny Truttlo is the one who took me under her wing when I had given up on life... she saved me without even being asked to, and helped me turn my life around. She's like family to me, and I'd like to get a chance to speak out to her. In fact, with Granny's help we may even be able to cure your people!"
Link came up to Sarami's side and nodded, "This isn't about just rescuing Granny either, but all the Gerudo rebels. Despite what they're trying to do to us, they're still our people. We want to save them so we can put a stop to all this, and so they can someday join with us as a family. Take this from someone like me, a Hylian who became a part of the Gerudo. Just give us this chance to help our people, and yours."
Sheeva's eyes widened at both their words, she looked downwards. She recalled when she had nowhere to go after being turned into a wolfos, and being taken in by her mate. How she cared so much about all her pack, even the ones who turned against her thanks to the illness. She took a deep breath and nodded to Link and Sarami.
"...very well, we'll give you this chance. Remember this however, if your mission fails, then my people will show that Granny Truttlo and the ones behind this no mercy." Sheeva said.
Sarami smiled gently, "Thank you so much."
The wolfos leader turned her head away and snorted, "Hmph, just be happy I'm being so generou-"
Sheeva was then cut off by an unfamiliar sensation, Sarami had stepped forward and placed her hand on top of Sheeva's head, and was rubbing it affectionately.
"Aww! You're such a sweet doggie when you're understanding!" Sarami said happily.
"I... um..." Sheeva stammered.
Sheeva's eyes were sunken in, her body was froze up, and she could feel the sensation of her tail wagging like crazy behind her. The Wolfos all panicked at the sight, and started running around trying to figure out what to do about their leader's predicament.
"Lady Sheeva is completely subdued." Link said sweatdropping.
"Wow, what an incredible technique!" Aviel gasped.
"Jeez, that would had made my fight with her way easier." Nabooru commented.
And that ends the chapter. Next time the group head off to the rebel laboratory where Granny is, but little do our heroes know what kinds of strange things await them there!
Thanks everyone for your support! Leave a like, follow or comment at your leisure, your feedback is always encouraged!