Chapter 19: Into the Desert
The fourth and final cell was the trickiest of them all to find, but Link managed it, after wandering through the passages beyond that door nearest his cell. He'd incapacitated a few gerudo guards with carefully aimed (i.e., guided by Navi) arrows to specific pressure points, and found his way into another subterranean cell, staring around a mostly empty room.
He looked up at the hole in the roof, then over at the crates and the jars. No guard to be seen, but one was nearby, if not watching him.
"Hey, young man! Look over here, in the cell!" said the fourth and final carpenter, a man with a stupid haircut, and pink pants. This haircut was slightly less stupid than Ichiro's and Jiro's, and Navi decided not to mock it.
Link obediently walked to the door of the cell, and Navi kept watch behind him, as they had arranged.
"Wow! You must be really brave, to sneak past all the guards around here. It must be really exciting…I wish I'd had such a life. My friends and I snuck here into the thieves' camp, but they caught us. They didn't even listen to our pleas before they threw us into separate cells…well, I assume each of us is in a different cell. It really wouldn't be fair if I were the only person locked up by himself. But you hafta bust me outta here! I'm begging you, here. Set me free; I'll take even being a carpenter over spending the rest of my life in prison! But, watch out, because there's such to be guards…somewhere—"
"Link! Behind you!"
Link whirled, saw the guard leaping for him. He drew the Master Sword, and rolled to the side.
"…around here…. Watch out! Whoa!"
Link came up from his roll, thrusting up under her guard as he did. She winced, cried out, backflipped away, stared at him. Blood leaked from a wound somewhere near her stomach.
Link watched her, trying not to think about how wrong it felt, to fight human beings, when he was used to fighting true monsters. These were only people defending their home, where he was an intruder. If anyone was in the wrong, it was he, and that gave him pause, weakened his blows, slowed his attacks. He was not fighting at his best.
He remembered the parry attack, wondering if he could execute it when he'd never actually learnt it. Was there magic involved? As she sliced at him, he leapt into the air, coming up around her attack, around behind her, and slicing a gash in her back as he knocked the sword out of her right hand.
She fell to her knees, turning her head to follow the sword's arc through the air, but before he landed, and could take advantage of her vulnerability, she stood once more, holding her remaining sword in a defensive position before her.
She was breathing heavily, and in sorry shape. Link gritted his teeth and stared, almost unaware of what was happening around him, as he closed in once more. Slice right. Blocked. Slice left. Blocked. Slice up. She backflipped away, and he abandoned the attack pattern, moving to close the distance again. She clutched her wounded side with her left hand, switching her sword to her dominant hand in her moment of safety.
He leapt towards her, and she swiped at him as he leapt, slicing open his kokiri tunic, and his front. She gave him a mocking grin, but withdrew the sword, and stood back, ready, watching.
He grimaced, but steeled himself. He needed to remember that these were his enemies. Perhaps, remind himself that they willingly worked for Ganondorf.
He raised the hylian shield in front of himself, to block her blows, and watched her carefully, waiting for any real opening. She feinted a few times, then leapt backwards.
He blinked, unsure why she had done that, and then she leapt forward, as he had. He raised the hylian shield, hoping that it would hold up against the strength of her blow.
Her sword shattered. Her eyes widened, and she leapt back again, eyes jumping to her scimitar, at the other end of the room.
"You!" she said. "You'll never win! I'll sooner see our prisoner dead than free to tell our secrets to the world."
"He's had enough of this fortress, and just wants to leave. His fellows have all already been freed. From the sound of it, he doesn't even know any of your secrets, but—"
"Silence, intruder! Do not think you have won just because you have had some sort of success against me! You have earned the enmity of my sisters, for slaying me! They will not swift forgive you such an infraction. You will not live to leave here, though you save your friend."
Link sighed, shaking his head. He turned to Navi, whose arms were crossed as she glared at the gerudo. She seemed to have forgotten that the woman couldn't see through Navi's halo of light, and therefore didn't even know that Navi was, herself, a woman.
He withdrew his bottle of the medicine of life, and held it out to the woman, who knocked it away. Link caught it before it could break against the floor.
He tilted his head, and drank a sip of the potion. The wound to his front began to close, and even the kokiri tunic began to repair itself. The woman stared, wide-eyed.
"Drink," he suggested, holding it out to her again. She narrowed her eyes, but swiped the bottle from him, sniffed it, and then gulped it down greedily. When there was none left, she paused, staring at him with a more neutral expression. She seemed puzzled, now, rather than angry.
"What sort of man gives succour to his enemies?" she asked, still clutching the bottle.
"Maybe one who doesn't think they have to be enemies. Maybe one who sees a common humanity to both parties," Link said, staring up at the ceiling. The woman slowly rose to her feet, and bent over to set down the bottle.
"You give freely in a lair of notorious thieves. You are no ordinary man, then. Tell me, stranger, what is it that has brought you?"
Link glanced at Navi, who landed on his shoulder, posture loose and relaxed. If she wasn't worried, then he wouldn't be, either.
"I just…I came here to free the carpenters," he said.
"There is no selfishness to you, is there? You are not a man like other men. I do not see desire in your eye…there is something else…a righteous sort of will. I have never seen such a thing before…. I must tell the captain. Tell me, stranger, what is your name?"
Link tensed, remembering again that this was the place of Ganondorf's birth, the land he ruled. Dared he to give his real name, here?
But, what price might there be in lying? He'd seen no sign of Ganondorf's presence thus far. Maybe he was too busy conquering and laying Hyrule waste to visit his own people. Regardless, a mere physical description of Link would be enough to inform Ganondorf as to the identity of the man who had freed the carpenters, and defeated the gerudo guards.
"I am Link Sylvanus," he said. She narrowed her eyes, nodded, and backed up, leaping back through the hole in the roof, and leaving behind a silver key. He'd never seen her remove it.
He picked it up, and walked over to the carpenter's cell. As the previous three, this one too had his arms raised in a cheer. Link shook his head, grinning despite himself. He didn't know what he'd do next, but he'd successfully helped Juna's father, at least. He'd take some pride in that.
The carpenter didn't give him a chance to consider his next move, running over and gushing, "Whoa! That was amazing! That was the most exciting fight I've ever seen! Who taught you how to fight like that? Can you teach me? I mean, ahem, I'm very sorry to have put you through such danger. I am Shiro, the youngest of the carpenters. If you rescue the rest of my fellow carpenters, the four of us together will repay you, somehow. Come see us at our foreman's tent, way outside the fortress!"
Still smiling at nothing in particular, Link stood aside, and the man raced out of the room. Link followed the man's progress with his eyes, with Navi staring straight ahead, as if deep in thought.
Now what?
"Well, I must say I'm impressed. For a man, you're not half bad," said a voice from directly behind him. He whirled around, to see a woman similar in appearance to the others, but her outfit was all in black. He reached for the Master Sword, and the hylian shield, drawing them, and holding them before him in a defensive position.
"Easy there, stranger. I am Ahatara Nuneole, leader of the prison guards. The exalted Naburu put me in charge, and trusted me to run this fortress. Imagine my surprise when I heard that a strange Man was beating my girls in single combat, and freeing our prisoners! Well, I heard the report from Taror, and I've been following you ever since. Surreptitiously, of course. You must have very good thieving skills to make it through our fortress, sneaking around unnoticed until my girls were alerted to the commotion their prisoners were making…. Yes, you're an impressive man indeed."
She folded her arms, and fixed him with a level stare. "All my life, I thought that all men were disgusting, cowardly beasts, except for the Great Ganondorf. But, you've proven me wrong. All men except for one, perhaps. Hmm…. Tell me, Link Sylvanus, what is it that you want?"
Link froze, uncertain. Just what was she asking him? She waited for him to speak, but he didn't know what to say. He couldn't admit the truth—that he wanted to defeat Ganondorf Dragmire, her king. Could he admit to wanting to go to the Spirit Temple, a guide, or some knowledge of the way? Or would it be better to hide his aims, entirely? For the moment, what he wanted was to escape this place without being thrown into prison, and to return to speak with the leader of the carpenters.
"Do you…do you know the way to the Spirit Temple?" he asked, kicking himself for saying it. He could feel Navi's frown.
"The Spirit Temple, hmm? Did you want to meet with the exalted Naburu, our great queen? It lies at the far end of the Haunted Wasteland. The guard at the gate knows the way. But, you won't ever get there unless your eyes can see the truth…."
She tilted her head back, and laughed. Link had no idea what was so funny. He was under the impression from the folklorist that the ability was rare among Hylians. Or was that why she had laughed?
"Not a common ability amongst your people, but the sheikahs and we gerudos are trained in such skills from childhood. Still…might as well give it a chance. But, to reward your skill…. Hmm. I know!
"You must want to join us, right? Alright. I'll make you an 'honorary girl'. With this proof of membership, you can go anywhere in our desert or fortress without being harassed. Be sure to stop by the Training Ground. I want to see if you have what it takes to reach our secret treasure…I personally think you do!"
She tossed a folded piece of paper at him. As he touched it, it burnt, as if dipped in some sort of poison. He was chastising himself for foolishness when he looked up at the gerudo guard, who smiled at him.
"If you want to reach the Spirit Temple, you'll need to head through the Haunted Wasteland, through the Desert Colossus. Don't forget!"
Would she still be speaking such words if she had poisoned him? He unfolded the paper, and stared. It had a rough sketch of his image, as well as his name, and a description of his appearance. The sketch and the information must have been made while he was talking to Shiro. The burning had been the certificate somehow acquiring his thumbprint; the gauntlets he wore were fingerless. Nuneole nodded to him, and then motioned towards the door.
"If you get lost, ask anyone. They'll be able to help you find anything. From now on, you can come and go as you please through the fortress."
He took a step back, and then another, and then sent the certificate away to his inventory, and turned and ran out of the fortress.
It was full daylight out. He cautiously watched the woman patrolling across the way—the one who had first arrested him, and ran down the slope, timing his passage that no one see him as he passed by the stairs. He stared at the tall portcullis blocking the way to the desert, and then at the tall lookout tower. None of those gerudos had ever seemed to pay any attention to him.
He ran out of the valley, at last, until he found Epona, still where he had left her, and he climbed back into the saddle, ignoring how his stomach squirmed at the thought of how he had left her behind.
She seemed healthy and calm, as if she had had plenty of food and water in his absence. Perhaps she'd…well, no, he had no idea where she'd found any food or water. The only source of water he was aware of was the pool across the broken bridge. Well, that and the roaring river, far below. And there was nothing growing at all, to his knowledge. But, the carpenters and the running man had to eat and drink something. Maybe they had taken care of her.
Except that they didn't know anything about that when he later asked them.
As he rode up towards the bridge, he was distracted by the loud thunking noise of hammers hitting nails. The carpenters were working on the bridge, and they'd already done quite a bit of work. They'd built the scaffolding they'd need to support the bridge as it was being built, and were in the process of stringing together slats of wood across the gap.
The head of the carpenters saw him as he approached, and gave him a smug smile, arms crossed as he watched the four carpenters work.
"Well done, kid! You've done me a big favour, I hope you know! Thanks to you, we can reconnect the Valley to the outside world. Mind you, that'll probably be more helpful to the thieves than to your average hylian, but they say the man who rules Hyrule now is a gerudo…I'll never support him, but I suppose it's good for business. I suppose I can't complain.
"You're a true hard worker…. If only my boys were like you…they say they've learnt their lesson, but I don't trust 'em not to slip. If you want to take up carpentry, my door's open. 'Course, I expect to see results! No point in simply switching out one lazy soul for another! Hmm. Well, let me know if there's something I can do to repay you."
There was the running man in the tent, who'd given him more help than the rest of the carpenters combined—and that was all unwitting, and all irrelevant to his quest. But he nodded, and walked over down to the builders, offering his assistance.
"We don't need any help," said the one wearing white pants. "Just give it a couple more days, and we'll be done!"
A couple of more days? What was he to do in the meantime?
"Say," he said. "You were in the camp for a while. What can you tell me about the gerudos? Not you, Saburo," he said, as the man opened his mouth, considered, nodded, closed his mouth again.
"Well, I overheard them saying something about a Temple far out in the desert, where their second-in-command, Naburu, lives…."
Shiro trailed off, seeming uncertain, and Ichiro picked up the tale.
"Supposedly, Naburu was a lone wolf thief. They say she got a reputation for kindness—she had a code; she never stole from women or children. But, I guess they managed to convince her to abandon her morals. She's Ganondorf's second-in-command…I've heard horrible tales even in Kakariko Village about the things she'd done. Burnt an entire town down, I heard."
"As for the gerudos in general," said Jiro, seemingly trying to inject some levity into their grim conversation, "I heard they're experts with horseback-riding, and the bow. They say you can't be a master archer unless you've passed their rigorous training. They greatly respect people who are good horsemen, and archers. Should've thought of that before we went…. Never held a bow, myself…."
"All I know is, once this job's through, I'm not coming back even if headman does get another call for the area. Not I!" Saburo said. They all nodded emphatically, in unison. It was, Link decided, rather disturbing.
He gave them his thanks, and then returned to Epona, thinking. He could spend the rest of his journey trying to figure out how to make his way through the Haunted Wasteland (or even trying to bypass the portcullis without being noticed by the guards), or he could take Nuneole at her word, and see if his membership card was legitimate. Maybe they'd throw him in jail, but at some point, he'd have to take a risk, and it was better that than forsake his quest.
He nodded to himself, mounted Epona, and rode back to the fortress. He was sure, now, that any gerudo who tried to steal Epona would be sorry. Epona was not a horse who would let herself be stolen.
Now that he wasn't constantly wary of being thrown into prison (they'd have to drag him off Epona first, in addition to any other problems; he would not go quietly), he saw a winding path leading up a slope. A sign of concentric circles hung on a rope above the path. An archery range? He couldn't help but climb the hill. He admitted to being won over by Jiro's talk of "mastery" of the bow. Horseback archery had never occurred to him.
At the top, he noticed first the concentric circles arranged against the cliff face, many ringed, with a small red dot in the centre, perhaps the size of a clenched fist, with alternating rings of white and red surrounding it, three of each colour. There was a line of seven such rings, as he saw more clearly as his approach revealed the wider field. Beneath them were such jars as he'd seen in the guardhouse outside Hyrule Castle Town. At the end of the slope, the cliff face through which the sloping pass had cut stretched on to left and right. At each end, a target like the others, mounted high on a fencepost. How did the gerudos come by so much wood?
There were supply crates here and there, and a woman with a sprightly mare sat on such a crate, under an awning. Her hair was shoulder-length, and not tied back into a ponytail. She looked older than the guards. Perhaps, there was some significance in the fact that she wore white—white pants, and a less-revealing white shirt. Her arms were crossed, yellow eyes narrowed at him. Perhaps, when gerudo were no longer in the prime of their youth, they were sent to fulfil other duties, such as manning the archery range.
"Hey, newcomer!" she said, and he could hear her wide grin in her voice. He could see her wide grin, too—unlike most of the gerudos he'd seen thus far, she didn't wear anything over her mouth. Well, that probably confirmed that his membership card was good.
"That's a fine horse you have there. I wonder where you stole her from…but you don't have to tell me. You must be here to try your skill at the archery range! Kick your horse into a gallop and see how many points you can rack up. A hundred points for breaking a jar, or hitting a bull's-eye. Don't worry; we've plenty of jars. Pay me twenty rupees and you can play. If you get a thousand points, you'll get a reward, but I doubt a novice like you can get even half that."
He frowned at the derision in her voice, turned to Navi, who was swinging her legs against his shoulder, kicking him more sharply than she strictly needed to. She thought that he was wasting time and money.
"Alright," he said, nodding and handing over twenty rupees in the form of a red rupee. He might as well see how he did, right?
"You've got a time limit. Five minutes to ride around the ring and back here, so ride as hard as you can. And you've got an arrow limit: only twenty arrows. I'll give you the arrows. Leave your quiver here."
He glanced at Navi, who sighed. "I'll look after them. If she steals them, somehow, I'll know, and we can get them back. I have my ways. If you're going to do this, you'd best do as she says."
Link nodded, closed his eyes, and focused. The bow and quiver appeared together in his hand. He took out the arrows, instead, showing the woman that the quiver was completely empty. She raised an eyebrow, but then huffed. "Fine. But I'll be counting all of your shots. Don't try anything tricky!"
She handed over twenty arrows, and then nodded to him. Link nudged Epona's sides, and she started to walk. He nudged her again, and again, and she understood precisely what he meant, setting off at her fastest gallop. He wished that he'd notched an arrow first, and then reconsidered that wish. He might have hurt Epona if he had. He tilted the bow, notched an arrow, and tried to aim. Easier said than done. Everything whipped by so fast!
He managed to shoot off three arrows before he passed out of range of the targets installed in the walls. None of them hit even the edges of the target boards. He frowned, set his face in determination, and notched another arrow, taking aim at the centre of the target at the height of the post.
He had slightly longer to try this, but Epona was also constantly in motion. He loosed another arrow, saw it approach the target, but was already notching another arrow. By the time he heard it thunk, they'd ridden past, and were passing round the back of the target. He realised for the first time that these target-poles were two sided. He aimed again, slowly, and loosed another arrow, and then notched a sixth, shooting at the targets as he approached them.
He heard one strike true, and another, and another. He hit four of the targets on his return trip, and then he spun to face the other target where it sat atop its pole. He fired off two arrows, and then another one at the back. He returned to the stall, and the woman stared at his panting horse, and raised an eyebrow, her otherwise flat expression making it quite plain that she was unimpressed. That was a lot harder than he'd thought.
"That was pathetic! Tell me you were holding back! I've never seen such a disgraceful display…ugh. Well, you hit seven targets, out of nineteen shots, for 570 points. I counted; somehow, I doubt that you did. Each of the red circles around the eye is worth a different amount. The closest ring is worth seventy, the middle ring is worth fifty, the outside ring is worth thirty. And now I have to go and retrieve the arrows that actually hit a target. It shouldn't take long. Come with me; I'll show the brilliance of my family, the Kivan! Come!"
Hesitant, head spinning, feeling out of breath himself from the recent race, he swung off Epona, rubbing her mane as he slid off, and whispering thanks and praise in her ear, as he swung down to the ground. She was already almost recovered, which could not be said of him.
He gaped open-mouthed the first time the gerudo in charge of the training course ripped an arrow out of the white ring right outside the bull's-eye, and it left with an odd, sucking sound, leaving no hole as sign of its presence.
"These targets are made of a special material, the recipe passed down in my family, which is why I'm in charge here. You might not see me looking, but I definitely see that stupid expression you're wearing, newcomer. Shut your mouth before the desert bakes it! We're near enough! Ha!"
She reached into a fifty point white ring, and pulled out a second arrow. Link raced over, unbidden, to the target in the middle of the line, pulling the shaft of the another arrow out of a white ring to the right of the bull's-eye, meeting no resistance as it came out easily, with that small popping.
He ran to the second target, and ripped out another arrow, and then ran for the target on top of the pole. Navi had decided to abandon her post guarding his arrows to fly over to see what had him this fascinated. She sighed, frowned, and flew up to the top of the target.
"And how are you going to get these out?" she asked. He frowned, and turned to his right, starting a bit when he saw that the gerudo woman was standing there, holding out her hand. He dropped the arrows into it, blushing, shuffling his feet, and looking away.
She walked over to the post, climbed onto one of the crates, and leapt. Maybe she was too old to be a guard, but her agility was still remarkable. She yanked out the arrow, bracing herself on the rim of the circle, and then switching arms, and reaching for the other arrow. These two had both embedded themselves in the very centre.
"Well, at least the shots where you took the time to aim hit dead centre," she said, voice level and not at all breathless as she dropped gracefully down, as if what she had done required no effort at all, nor thought. Link thought of the gerudo guards, and thought he understood a bit, at least. Navi flew over to land on his shoulder, and the gerudo woman narrowed her eyes, staring at the faerie, but said nothing.
Link barely kept himself from voicing the many questions he now had. He followed her to the other mounted target, and watched as she climbed onto the crate, leapt up, grabbed two arrows, pulled them out, then switched arms and reached for the last arrow, all with casual ease. She dropped down lightly onto her feet, and walked back to her awning. Link followed, in a bit of a daze.
"That was amazing!" he couldn't help saying. "Those targets…and the way you swung and snatched the arrows…I've never seen anyone do anything like that!"
She shrugged. "Anyone can do it. But, I suppose hylians don't take training as seriously as we do. Living where we do, it's important to be prepared for anything. With our lifestyle, we need great agility and flexibility. I'm nothing special. My grandmother, now, she was an amazing markswoman…she created this archery range, and passed it down through our family. Well, do you want to try again?"
He blinked at the abrupt subject change, but nodded eagerly.
Navi sighed. She knew full well how much focus Link would give a task once his sights were set on something. He might go only five or six rounds now, but he would be back.
It was considerably more than five or six rounds later that he stopped for the night, allegedly on account of it being too dark for the gerudo woman to approve of the game. She didn't entirely trust her eyesight enough to ensure that he didn't cheat, she claimed, but both Navi and Link privately suspected that she was just too tired and hungry to keep up her post. She was yawning, and they could hear her stomach from several feet away.
Link pestered her with questions about gerudo food and lodging. She explained that there was a more homely settlement hidden deeper inside the fortress, where children were cared for and trained, and the gerudos slept, and socialised after a long day's work.
Somehow, he talked her into showing him where the tavern was, and they spent several hours, with her, increasingly incoherent, gradually opening up, telling him stories about her grandmother, and her childhood, And her own first experiences with the archery range, as a child.
"Still did better than you, ha!" she murmured, head approaching her table. Link took a moment, when she fell asleep where she sat, to wonder if this was typical behaviour for her, or if someone ought to see her home. It wasn't that he doubted her skill, really, or competence; he was sure that she could take care of herself…but in her slightly less…coherent…state, he wasn't sure that she'd be fine.
At length, he settled for falling asleep in a nearby chair, trying to figure out what to do.
She was far more coherent come morning, rising to her feet, bound for the mess hall. She sat with several of the purple-wearing guards, while Link hung back, nibbling on a leaf of something he'd pulled from his inventory as they were walking.
She raised an eyebrow at him, and then shoved him down into a seat, grabbing a bowl and filling it with some of the delicious-smelling stew Link had noticed earlier. He felt his face heat up as he stared at it, as she procured a spoon, and stared expectantly at him.
She was not the only one staring expectantly, and no one had tried to arrest him yet. The chatter died down completely, until he took a bite, discovered that it was as good as it smelt, and gave them a small, shy smile that had several of them beaming at him as though flattered. He remembered that gerudos had only one man born to their race every hundred years, and ordinarily went to Hyrule Castle Town for boyfriends. He should be very careful.
But, he left the fortress back to the archery range without being harassed, more relaxed today than previously. He noticed a building guarded by another short-haired woman wearing white. There was a sign next it, and a gate covered a tunnel leading down underground.
The owner of the archery range shrugged. "That's the training ground. When you get more competent at the bow, you should go there and try to make it to the heart of the course. If you can do that, you'll learn the special skill taught only among our people."
Even Navi looked intrigued at this news, and Link was already turning over what manner of skill this might be.
However, first they had to spend a few hours working at the training course. It took five minutes to run Epona around the track, but with each try, Link's proficiency markedly improved.
The first time, he'd hit seven targets, with four bull's-eyes. The next few times, he'd worked on improving his speed, on aiming more quickly, and the other targets he hit crept into higher digits.
By the fourth try, every one of his arrows found a target, if not the bull's-eye, and he'd settled for merely hitting a mark every time for his next three tries. But then, he'd redirected his attention to hitting as accurately as he could, trying to find some sort of balance between speed and accuracy. He found his eye and judgement improving. He could sight along an unnotched bow as well as a notched one, learnt to judge the angle of his strike without needing to watch and carefully sight, from the position of his arms.
And his score began to rise, at what the gerudo woman acknowledged was remarkable speed. On his eighth try, he managed to get over a thousand points. The woman raised an eyebrow at this, and shook her head.
"I've never seen such a hopeless case…but I've also never seen anyone improve this fast. I suppose you weren't that hopeless, after all. I guess that means I can't call you hopeless, then. Instead, you shall be called…inspirational. A miracle man who shoots as well as a woman, perhaps. Truly worthy of the honour of being called an honorary woman. Take this as a token of my respect!"
She handed something over to him—whatever it was was either very big, or heavily wrapped. He unwrapped the paper around it to reveal an empty bottle. Ah. Fragility, then.
"I doubt you understand just how important these are, in a desert. Treat it with care, and don't break it! And come back and try your hand again! I expect marked improvement! See if you can get over a thousand five hundred points. Or, I suppose, if you have the money you can try right now…."
Link hadn't mastered the bow yet. He could feel it. He wouldn't be satisfied until he could get two thousand points, at least once. He nodded to her, and handed over another twenty rupees, and the woman grinned.
By now, Epona knew how this worked; Link never ceased to be amazed at how readily she understood his thoughts and desires. She bolted without prompting upon hearing the gerudo woman cry out "go!", and they raced along the course, Link trusting her to know the way as he aimed the bow at the bull's-eye of each target in succession. He hit the target atop the pole his customary three times, and then they had ridden around it and were heading back. He sent a shot each at the targets ranged across the wall, and had three shots left for the final raised target.
"I stand by what I said before," said the gerudo woman, nodding to herself. "You've improved drastically. Eleven bull's-eyes, and a final score of 1,570. I hadn't expected you to succeed so quickly, I'll confess. You've reached heights of progress most of our trainees only dream of. And you've got a lot of spirit. We respect that, here. I see how you got your membership card. I couldn't understand it, before."
She leant back, and laughed, long and hard, as both Link and Navi stared at her. "Well, I know how you are by now. Come around with me, and help me collect your arrows. I've got a special gift for you, boy."
"My name's Link," he said, deciding that it couldn't hurt; already Ganondorf's third-in-command knew. "Link Sylvanus."
He stared down at the ground, scuffing his shoes, as she stared at him. She nodded to herself, and held out a hand. He stared at it, perplexed.
She sighed, and bowed, low, and he bowed in return. "I am Tarasha Kivan. I suppose you deserve to know that much. Although how it took you so long to introduce yourself…."
"Sorry!" he squeaked. "I didn't know you cared! I mean, in Hyrule, people who run…establishments such as this…or any, really…never stop to introduce themselves, and don't expect their customers to, either. I just thought maybe it would be alright, since you keep calling me boy, and I could only refer to you as 'the woman who runs the archery range'. Rather long, and somehow disrespectful…."
He shrugged. He could feel his cheeks burning, as he stared down at the ground, analysing the composition of the soil. "Red earth", indeed. It was as if only Din's hand had touched these lands.
Tarasha laughed again, and strode forth, already heading for the targets sitting on the cliff walls. Link looked up, saw her ahead of him, and ran to catch up. By now, it required no thought to climb over the short fence separating the course from the jars sitting on their crates, and to rip the arrows out of each successive target. He may have only hit five bull's-eyes in this part of the course, but that was still better than he had. Every one of his shots had hit a target, and only two of them had hit the outermost rings. Still….
He was calculating how many more times he ought to try the course. Unless he was mistaken, he had approximately two hundred rupees left. He needed to buy more life medicine (for approximately one hundred rupees), all told, say, which left one hundred rupees. He sensed that the Gerudos' Training Ground would probably be another place he would have to pay to enter, first because it was blocked off by a fence, with a woman standing guard beside it, and because it contained the "secret treasure of the gerudos". How much it cost remained to be seen, but he suspected that this was one of the places that he'd leave for later to explore. His priority had to be making his way to the Spirit Temple. At a certain point, his training did more harm than good, and his horseback archery had improved his ordinary archery, he knew. For now, it would have to be enough. It was time to head for the Spirit Temple.
Twenty minutes later, he and Tarasha had collected all of the arrows, and Link picked up the arrows he had deposited in a pile yesterday—the faerie arrows that came from the Forest, the sheikah arrows that came from the graveyard, even a couple of zoran arrows from under the water. They were replaceable, perhaps most valuable as a marker of how far he had traveled in his quest. Staring at them reminded him of how much progress he'd already made. Tarasha raised an eyebrow, and made to say something, but Link interrupted her.
"Don't worry. I'll come back. I want to see if I can hit all bull's-eyes, at least once," he said, smiling broadly at his own progress. Navi slapped her forehead, shaking her head at his nonsense, but said nothing. Tarasha raised both eyebrows.
"Truly an admirable goal," she agreed. "However, if you'll recall, I said that I had a gift for you. This gift…it's a family heirloom, passed down to me from my mother, and to her from my grandmother. Nevertheless, I've never met anyone I felt worthier of bearing it than you. It is an extraordinary quiver capable of holding fifty arrows. It's said to have been blessed by the Great Faerie who lives by the Spirit Temple.
"Of course, this was many decades ago. No one has seen her for a while. I wanted to give it to you as a sign of our friendship, and as an apology. You've been a good friend to me, Link Sylvanus—better than my old friends, who never even come to visit me up here. You seem a decent soul, and I trust you with this. I know you will not misuse its power. Hold out your hands, now."
Link hesitated, and her eyes narrowed. He made a small, startled sound that made Navi laugh, but slowly reached out his hands. A beautiful quiver made of tan leather fell into them. He stared at the silver and turquoise threads woven throughout in zigzag designs, and looked up at Tarasha, silently asking if she was sure she wanted to do this. It looked very valuable, and was clearly a treasured possession.
"Go on, take it. It's not doing me any good; we Kivan pride ourselves on our accuracy. We've less need for a big quiver than the other women. But you have the look of an adventurer about you; one who sees much use of arrows, with fewer chances to replenish your stock. So, I'll give you twenty arrows free of charge, just this once, and you can think of us as you go off on your adventure. Deal?"
Link swallowed hard, undeserved guilt threatening to overwhelm him. She and he were in truth enemies, easy though it was with the gerudos' sudden welcoming behaviour to forget. They were on opposite sides of a war. But perhaps, just perhaps, there was nothing preventing him from also being friends with some of them, at least, and hoping that if it came to blows, they never met on the battlefield. Perhaps, he'd even find a way to make her forgive him when all was said and done, and the truth came out.
"I…I don't know what to say. Thank you," he said, looking up to meet her gaze, trying to express everything he was thinking, while hiding it at the same time. He pulled the arrows he'd acquired on his travels out of the quiver he'd won in Kakariko Village, and while he was doing that, Tarasha shoved a few handfuls of arrows in as well. Truly, his quiver showed the extent of his travels. He had arrows from every corner of the world, from Death Mountain to Lake Hylia. He struggled to smile.
"Thank you, Tarasha. I hope to see you again soon. You're a really amazing person."
He gave her his best smile, and did not let it drop until he'd mounted Epona, turned away, and was riding back down the slope.
The next step in his quest was to approach the guard in white standing at the base of the ladder leading up to the lookout tower. She greeted him with a friendly smile, despite her crossed arms, and a nod, and a cry of "Hey, newcomer!" When asked about passage through the Haunted Wasteland, she unfolded her arms to point straight up with her entire arm, and he took her point, climbing up the tall tower, until he stood before another woman with shorter hair, yellow eyes, and white clothes.
"Hey, newcomer!" she said, turning to look at him. She'd been peering out across the sands. He could see them now; they roiled as water bubbled, as snow flurried, they blocked all vision, and they never settled, as far as Link could see.
"If you're up here, you must be looking for the way across the desert. I'll open the gate for you, but be careful out there. Let me fill you in. First of all, don't bring your horse. She seems to be a truly fine animal, but the best horse in the world wouldn't survive a trek through that desert. Sucks all the life out of everything, it does. The trek to the Desert Colossus, and the Spirit Temple, shouldn't take more than two days. Get a water sack from Sutifi at the base of the ladder, before you head through.
"To make it safe through to the Spirit Temple, you must first overcome two trials. The first is known as the River of Sand. If you come too close to it, it will suck you in. We girls can leap over it, but I don't know what you'll do. Just be sure you don't touch it; you'll recognise it when you see it. You have to go over it. If you can walk on air, somehow, that would be really useful."
She gave him an enigmatic smile, as if she'd guessed how he'd traversed the valley fortress.
"After you cross the River of Sand, follow the bright red flags until you reach the shelter we've constructed. You can refill your water bag at the well there. We recommend that you spend the night there, and continue on in the morning. That will give the second trial plenty of time to show his face.
"A long time ago, an old Gerudo King had his spirit stolen and sealed away, buried deep under the ground, in the Haunted Wasteland. It's said that the desert is so treacherous on account of his anger and hatred, but the queen his wife bound him to the desert, and forced him to guide those with the mark of our people to the Desert Colossus. He was so duplicitous that he was bound to the monument in the heart of the desert, and forced to lead the way to the Spirit Temple, unable to travel anywhere else. But, little is known of what happened after that, only that the Spirit Temple had to be abandoned. Only recently, the great witches, Komei and Kotakei were able to make it safe to visit again. But, it has fallen into disrepair in the interim."
She leant forward, face grim, tone flat, as if to emphasise the sincerity of what she was about to say. "Be very wary when it comes to the Haunted Guide. He will do everything he can to trick you, to wear you out, and to lead you into danger. For instance, as you approach the Desert Colossus, you'll start to encounter leevers, vile, living cacti that can do a nasty amount of damage if they run into you. He'll lead you into their path. And he'll take as much time as he possibly can, but he's bound by his wife's curse that he can't take over a day to make his way to the Temple.
"He will not wait for you; consider yourself forewarned. You could easily become lost in the desert, never to find your way back to shelter. Keep him in sight! If you can do all these things," she finished, straightening up. "You should have no trouble making it to the Spirit Temple."
As he stared at her, dazed and stunned, she clapped her hands, twice, and the portcullis rose. He climbed down, unthinking, until he was surprised to feel solid ground underfoot. He turned to the woman at the base, Sutifi, and tried to remember what he was supposed to say. There was a favour he was supposed to ask of her, wasn't there?
She giggled. "Oh, don't worry. You'll be fine. As long as your Eyes can See the Truth, you should have no trouble following the Haunted Guide. It's said that he was a sheikah, long ago, and that he was the one who cursed our race so that only women are born to our people. I don't know if it's true or not, but it explains the wards set up around the old well house, doesn't it? Both sheikahs and we gerudos are raised being taught how to see the truth. I don't know if that's true of you hylians."
Link wanted to say that he didn't know either, but his tongue seemed to have swollen his mouth shut. Instead, he watched, speechless, as the woman handed him a huge barrel of water (which he sent to his inventory; he had the image of it, standing in the corner next to that barrel he had imagined years ago).
"You'll be fine! Just keep in mind all of her warnings. Go on!"
He wondered if they still hated him, despite his membership card, and were trying to see him killed by their inhospitable desert. It sounded a death-trap.
He walked under the raised gate, somehow pushing his way forward through the howling wind trying to flay him alive.
He pressed forward for at least five minutes before the sky abruptly cleared, and he could see where he was going. Still, he discovered that, even without a sandstorm howling in his ears and flinging sand in his eyes and mouth, walking in the desert was a difficult task.
He raised his feet, set them down, felt the sand trying to pull them down, and down, and down. He almost thought he'd already encountered the river of sand, but then he came to a place where sand rushed along, as dirt carried down a rushing stream, except…there was no sign of water, just the sand, rushing from right to left. Across the way was a wooden pole with a red flag on top, flapping violently in the breeze, and a few storage crates. He withdrew the hookshot, aiming at the pole, first. The hookshot hit, fell to the ground, and lay there for several seconds before Link realised that, yes, it had hit the pole, and no, it hadn't been able to latch on.
He redirected his gaze, and his tool, to the supply crate, and rotated the disc again. This time, he felt the tug of the chain growing taut, and then he released the disc and was pulled across the river of sand.
He turned to look back at it, now seeing more clearly the way the ground sank as if around a riverbed.
What would have happened if he'd fallen in?
He shrugged, shuddered, shook his head, and looked around for a second flag. He found one, ahead and to the left aways. He set his feet and, staring at the flag, began to walk towards it, yanking his feet out of their covering of sand. They were buried very quickly, despite the lack of visibly agitated sand.
When he reached the flag, he saw another through the haze of lazily drifting sand. (Was that the origin of the sand covering his boots; did it turn invisible as he approached; why hadn't he noticed it in the air, except from a distance?) He set out for the next flag, only seeing the next one when he was almost atop this one.
And it continued thus, on and on, seeming endless, until Link wasn't even sure that he wasn't just going back and forth among the same handful of flags over and over again. The oppressive heat made thought almost impossible, and he several times had to rest, dipping an empty bottle into the water bag in his inventory, and drinking it down.
Eventually, between two flags, an unusual formation came into view. As he came closer, he saw how a ramp curved up onto a tall platform sticking out of the sand. He climbed onto the rough stone of the ramp, and nearly sagged in relief when the ground no longer sank under his feet. At the top of the ramp was a plaque with words written on it. He stared at the plaque.
"Haunted Guide: He'll lead you through the desert, but he won't wait for you. Look for him at this meeting spot, and when he sees that you notice him, he will lead you across the desert. Be careful, and good luck!"
He didn't like that phrase "good luck", tacked onto the end of the message. It sounded as if the gerudos left even their own to fend for themselves against the ghost.
He very deliberately did not stare around at the desert, instead turning away, noticing for the first time the hole cut into the centre of the monument (tomb?). He climbed down the ladder into a cool, subterranean room sheltered from the sun, high above. He could see the two unlit torches only because of Navi's ability to cut through darkness and light. He drew out a gerudo arrow, clamping a hand over the arrowhead, and filling it with flame, before taking aim at the left-hand torch. By the time it hit, he was already filling a second arrowhead with fire. He aimed the second arrow, and shot it at the second torch.
By the light of the two torches, he could see that the underground chamber was some sort of layover area, with jars stationed around the room, and an uncovered well over to the side—water bubbled up from some sort of hidden spring, clear and fresh. Link knelt down and scooped up water with his hands, and Navi heard him and flew over, diving in. He smiled, despite himself.
Vibrant colour returned to her halo, and he realised that the desert was taking its toll even on her. That was some impressive heat; she hadn't seemed concerned with the crater. Did it matter that he wasn't wearing the goron's tunic? He slapped his forehead, switching out the red tunic for the kokiri one. Down here, the difference in temperature was negligible, if present at all.
After filling the water barrel again with water, he lay down next to the well, and fell asleep, awakening to discover that in the desert, the only different between day and night was that one was scorching hot, and the other freezing cold. He shivered, and rubbed his arms, and Navi turned to him, concern plain in her eyes. He pulled out a blanket, and lay back down, and made no complaints.
The next day, after he'd eaten breakfast, he climbed back out of the hole, still wearing the goron's tunic, and approached the plaque once more. He read the message again, taking a deep breath, and then looked up at a poe floating close to his face. It gave an evil chuckle, and beckoned him with a hand, and began floating away, chanting:
"I'll be your guide on your way,
But coming back, I won't play.
I'll show you the only way to go;
So follow me, and don't be slow!"
It cackled, spinning around in circles as it floated slowly around the desert. Link followed, trying to stay close to it. It led him on a spinning meandering path. They crossed the occasional flag or supply crate—perhaps the same one, several times, but Link saved his energy, not even glancing at Navi, where she clung to his shoulder, running full tilt after the poe, who must be the guide. He did not relish the thought of being lost in the desert, even knowing that he could escape at any time.
Suddenly, green, spike-covered blobs began to burst through the ground, rushing towards him from all directions. What he originally mistook for flowers sitting atop the mounds were actually opening and closing mouths.
He ran to avoid them, not daring to take the time to engage them. He followed the "guide" instead, doing his best to keep it in sight. He could feel Navi clinging to his shoulder, but then she launched off, determined, and flew over to the poe, fixing her gaze upon it, halo glowing green.
The poe still led them on a merry chase, and Link felt himself growing weaker and weaker, goron's tunic or not. The heat was eating away at him.
But, as a chill began to seep into the air, a ridge with a narrow pass cut through it appeared. The poe disappeared, and Navi fluttered back onto his shoulder, breathing heavy. Link ignored the leevers sprouting from the ground, pulling out the medicine of life, and pouring some into his hands. Navi stared at him, and slowly understood. She fluttered into his hands, halo almost white, and scooped the red liquid into her mouth. Slowly, her colour began to return.
Link, meanwhile, kept in constant motion, dodging the leevers by walking out of their way as they approached. He noticed that they seemed to only travel in straight lines.
When Navi was glowing once more, he drank the rest of what he'd poured into his hands, and they set off, Link only slightly revived, through the pass, into a broad expanse. To the left was a grove of small, strange trees, with fronds like ferns at the top, and no other leaves or branches. There were several mounds that reminded him of the protruding pillars in the reeves the Hero of Winds had encountered.
He ignored them, setting off across the expanse, straight ahead, to where a massive monolith loomed out of the sand. He was barely coherent, but didn't dare to stop further to recover. The leevers were constantly popping out of the earth, sinking back down to reappear elsewhere.
He stared at the grey boulder he noticed out of the corner of his eyes off to the right. It was very conspicuous, sitting where it was, next the cliff face.
His mind was growing hazy, he was beginning to forget what he was trying to do, and the boulder intrigued him. He pulled out the Megaton Hammer; hit it as hard as he could. It shuddered, splintered, but did not break. He hit it again, with his remaining strength, and it shattered into so much rubble, revealing a square tunnel leading into another world.
Link staggered thoughtlessly into the tunnel, hoping that the shade would save him from the desert sun. He was sweating profusely, but he barely noticed the stinging in his eyes through the burgeoning haze.
There were no leevers here. He fell to the ground, catching himself on his hands, sinking into a kneel, and drinking the bottle of water he'd filled the night before, at the spring. He filled it again, through the too-complicated process of summoning water-in-a-bottle, imagining the bottle in his inventory scooping out water from the barrel, and then calling the bottle into his hands. It took too much energy. He drank another bottle of water, and rocked back on his knees.
Only now did he faintly realise that the ground beneath him was chilly, maybe the cold of stone, maybe the cold of ice. After the desert heat, they were indistinguishable to him.
But, the floor beneath his legs was grainy as sand, and white as snow. The walls were a shimmering expanse of darkness. There was a walkway, blue tiles set into the white packed earth, ending at a short flight of steps, with a dais upon which was painted the triple triangles of the Triforce. He could see the two green torches flanking the spring standing before the steps. He'd accidentally found the faerie fountain. Well, not quite accidentally.
He pulled out the refilled bottle of water for Navi, and she drank deep, and then peered at him, reproach plain in her eyes. He took the hint, and drank down the rest, crawling slowly on hands and knees towards the edge of the fountain. He didn't trust himself to walk.
He knelt on the Triforce, and took out the Ocarina of Time, playing the familiar Song of Power, "Zelda's Lullaby", the first song he'd learnt on this quest.
He barely noticed the Great Faerie, clad as the others in vines, with her three segments of red hair, as she spoke to him.
"Welcome, Link! I am the Great Faerie of Magic! I will teach you the magic spell known as Nayru's Love. It will protect you from physical attacks, and magical attacks, alike, but you'll still feel the impact, so watch out, lest you find yourself knocked off a cliff…. Hmm. But, perhaps you'd be a bit more attentive if you weren't at death's door. I will restore your vitality and magic. Hold on!"
Pink light surrounded her, and then leapt from her hands to surround Link in a circle of streaming petals, that settled into a ring of pink light. He felt his mind clear, his legs strengthen, his vision sharpen. He became aware of his surroundings, an overpowering thirst, the sweat soaking his undershirt and leggings. Navi, too, changed colour, returning to her usual bright blue, giving a relieved sigh, and fluttering several times in circles in the air.
"Ooh! Link! You almost got us both killed! We should have made the trip at night! Although…I suppose neither of us truly understood what we were getting into…."
Navi bit her lip, and landed heavily on his shoulder. He flushed and looked down at the ground, too embarrassed for several reasons this time to look at the Great Faerie.
"Nayru's Love is a very powerful spell of protection. But it, too, has its limits. If you fall into a pit of lava, you'll still die. Be careful. To invoke the spell, clap your hands, and then force them out to the sides, imagining a protective shield growing from the point you clapped your hands…surrounding you…protecting you, and say, 'Great Goddess Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom, I ask your aid! Protect me from harm, and guide me to the safe path'. Or, of course, you can replace those pronouns with the names of whomever else you might feel needed protecting. Be careful; unlike the other spells you have learnt, this one requires constant focus to maintain. The moment you forget about the spell, it will drop. Don't take it for granted. Because it is maintained by your constant concentration, you won't be able to use any other magic spells that would break your concentration. This even includes a charged spin attack, I suspect. Anything that uses magic….
"Well, I've told you what you need to know. Let's see you use the spell!"
Link stared straight ahead, unseeing, but then his shoulders sagged. The Great Faeries, truly they were all the same. He slammed his hands together, testing his renewed strength, and murmured the prayer to Nayru under his breath, forcing his hands apart and to his sides, and imagining a shield expanding around him as he did. The world seemed to take on a bluish tinge. It was intriguing. Navi was the only thing that looked just as she had before.
He drew the Master Sword, and the hylian shield, swinging the sword a few times at an imagined foe, always conscious of the spell tingeing the world blue around him. He sheathed the Sword and shield, and looked back up at the Great Faerie. A surge of warmth flooded his body, and he felt his magic energy being restored. He closed his eyes, and felt the barrier drop.
"Nayru's Love is a very useful spell, but as I said before, it has its limits. Foes can still push you around, but blades, and even enemy magic, will pass right through you. You might still feel the impact knock you back, however.
"I noticed that when you arrived, you seemed to have both been affected by the heat. The desert is a perilous place, best traversed at night. A faerie's light is sufficient to light the way to this location. But, you should also keep in mind what I am about to tell you: there is, near here, a grove of palm trees, next to a depression worn in stone, uncovered by sand. During the rainy season, it is filled with water, and faeries frequent it. If you know of a way to fill that basin with water, you would provide a means of relief for yourself, should you ever be in danger of dehydration again. Good luck, Link Sylvanus! When battle has made you weary, please return to see me…."
And, with the familiar, high-pitched laugh, she spiraled back down into the springs. Link stared.
"A way to summon rain?" asked Navi. "Does she mean the 'Song of Storms'?"
Link considered the idea, taking a moment to try to figure out how plausible it was that the Great Faeries knew what Songs of Power he knew, and did not know, and what they did. The answer was a shrug, naturally. It was possible. It was also possible that she'd meant something entirely different.
He walked out into the chill of a desert night, avoiding the leevers that sprang from the ground with comparative ease, heading for the pond the Great Faerie had mentioned.