Part II – Evil Sands
Chapter V – Preparations
As Ganondorf walked out of the education room, he felt as if his face was glowing a bright red. It wasn't the fact that a Gerudo model was used, Ganondorf had bathed with nude women all his life, and it wasn't even their using him as "a rare opportunity to glimpse the male form", as the instructor put it. He was more than happy to be the center of attention for the moment. It occurred after the class when he finally realized what the true meaning behind Nabooru's comment concerning him bunking with her instead of her current roommates. Now whether or not she was serious about her comment was entirely unknown, but it was that uncertainty that made his face glow brighter than hot steel.
Ganondorf didn't really have much time to dwell on the prospect as he saw his mother walking uncharacteristically fast down the hall towards him. There was urgency in her loud footsteps and panic had set into the lines in her face.
"Mom, what's-" Ganondorf could barely speak before Rila grabbed his arm as she rushed past. They zipped past crowds of Gerudo going in every direction, weaving in and out of the cluttered hallways.
"No time to dither about Ganondorf, we have to get you ready for this ceremony before anyone can take actions to delay or cancel it. We have to get the scroll from the archives, go to my room for your garb, and go to the western entrance where I've sent one of my friends to bring the ceremonial weapons. Then, if all goes well, we can do a quick recital then-"
"Mom!" Ganondorf cut her off while still keeping pace alongside her, "Everything is going to be fine. Why are you so panicked?"
Rila took a slightly less frantic breath and slowed her pace a tad as she adopted a hushed tone, "I received word that Naberna may be planning to undermine the festivities. The sooner we get everything together, the less Naberna can mess up."
Ganondorf reciprocated the quieted volume, "You have sisters spying on Naberna?"
"My son, once you are king I will explain the delicate nature of Gerudo politics but, until then, I just need you to trust me."
"Because I have a choice, right?"
"With the sharpness of wisdom comes to sharpness of tongue." Rila said under her breath, "Just follow."
Coming up to the archive room, Rila and Ganondorf immediately realized something was off. The door was ajar, suggesting that either the person last in there was in a hurry to leave the area or didn't care enough to close the door all the way. Though nothing could've prepared them for the shock of seeing the inside of the room.
The opening of the door scattered loose scrolls from its arc as the two walked into the disheveled archive room. Entire shelves of scrolls were knocked to the floor and even some cabinets were pushed over, their insides of Gerudo law and culture spilled carelessly onto the ground. Some scrolls were left where they fell but some were opened on the floor and a few others were thrown across the room, probably in an effort to distract from what whoever did this ransacked the room for.
"Sands beyond." Rila gasped in horror and shock.
Ganondorf was no less appalled by the scene before him and stood blinking incredulously as if the illusion would end if his eyes re-adjusted.
"Who could've done this?" Ganondorf asked as his thoughts pieced themselves together. But Ganondorf didn't get an answer. He didn't really need one as he knew the name as the question formed entered his head. Before Ganondorf could ask what her next move was, Rila had already peeled around, grabbed his arm, and began rushing off in the opposite direction of the archive. Her speed seemed to have doubled as they now ran through crowds of Gerudo in the hallways instead of around them.
"We have to hurry to my quarters. Naberna will hit the armory next."
"Why your room?"
"Because your mother is smarter than Naberna. Always remember that."
As they rounded a corner and saw Rila's room, Ganondorf could feel his mother's sigh of relief in her grip on his arm. The curtains were completely drawn and there was no person in sight around the entrance. When they came to the curtains, Rila immediately checked a side of the cloth that was lightly tucked into a wide gap in the rock of the entrance.
"We are ahead of her. Nobody's checked my room."
"How do you know?"
"If anyone went into this room the cloth would've fallen out of this crack in the frame. Come, we don't have much time until she realizes what I've done."
Walking into the room, Rila made straight for a chair in the corner and hurriedly pushed the bed out of the way with it. When she set the chair down she jumped on top of it and started feeling the ceiling. A few tense seconds and a hidden panel clicked under her hands. She pushed and, with surprisingly little effort, a door made to look like the ceiling went up on hinges. When the hidden door was fully inside the compartment, Rila jumped to grab the ledge of the hole and pulled herself up into it.
"Ganondorf!" Rila called from the darkness, "I need a light in here!"
Rila's son quickly ran to grab one of the lanterns and stood on the chair to hand it to his mother. Her hand momentarily poked out of the darkness to grab the handle of the lantern before taking the light into the hidden space. As Ganondorf stepped down from the chair he heard a strange and muffled clanking coming from the hole.
"Ganondorf, honey," Rila called from the hidden area, "You're going to have to catch some things, alright? Be ready."
Ganondorf got into position and called to Rila, "Ready!"
The first thing that came down to him was a helmet within a cloth sack. As much as he wanted to look at the piece itself, Ganondorf heard more things sliding across the floor of the hidden room. So he set the helmet aside and readied for another drop. The next package that fell from the opening clinked loudly as if it were chain mail. Falling into his arms Ganondorf felt seven pieces of armor connected by pieces of cloth and metal. Three more bundles followed after containing shoes, gauntlets, and padding.
Rila dangled her feet outside the hole before dropping to the floor with the last package in her arms. The last bundle in her arms made her grunt with exertion as it looked very heavy. Even with the weight in her arms already she still stooped down and picked up as much as she could carry and motioned for Ganondorf to do the same. Once they were laden with armor, Rila led Ganondorf back to the entrance to her room.
"Now we make it to the western entrance. Follow closely."
Again, Rila led Ganondorf through the maze of halls and corridors only this time Rila wasn't holding her son's hand and the halls were eerily empty. It was a stark contrast to the full bustle they were charging through moments before. Rila's route to the forward entrance was not a well-travelled one but there would've been at least somebody in the compound. The two exited the inner area and used an almost untraveled hallway that led to the western entrance. When Rila finally stopped rushing she immediately set to work unwrapping the pieces of armor and laying them down on their wrappings while motioning for Ganondorf to do the same.
With the armor out of its coverings, Ganondorf was able to marvel at the exquisite craftsmanship. The helmet was engraved the whole way around the face with Gerudo lettering and had a large plume of blood-red tassels that hung off the back like hair. The gauntlets were made with tiers of scaled steel on the top and lined with high grade leather all around. The chest piece was sculpted to fit a man's physique and had the Gerudo symbol emblazoned on it in gold and copper. The lower body armor that covered his pelvic region and his legs was really seven pieces joined together with chainmail and more leather. The pieces were a codpiece, two thigh protectors, two knee guards, and two foreleg covers all made of interlocking and interweaved gold and steel. The greaves were little more than copper shoes that locked the wearers feet into place.
But the most striking of the armor was the shoulder guards. Two stone spaulders, connected by heavy steel reinforcement to even the load on the back, made the bulk of the armor's weight. They had a small bit of gold inlaid into the stone forming the Gerudo symbol, but the entire shoulder was made of rock thicker than Ganondorf's thumb. Everything was adjustable with sliding metal sizers and untied straps and the armor itself was polished to an unnatural shine.
As the two finished laying out the armor in the order that Ganondorf was to put them on, a woman burst through the doorway holding a long sack with sword hilts poking out at one end.
"Rila!" the woman gasped between breaths.
"Chetana!" Ganondorf's Mother shouted excitedly, "And you have the swords!"
Before Chetana could catch her breath, Rila ran to her friend and ensnared her in a tight embrace.
"Thank the goddess you're swift." Rila sighed with relief.
"There wasn't too much trouble"
Rila's embrace ended as suddenly as it began and she led Chetana to the armor on the floor, "You help Ganondorf into his ceremonial armor and I'll go get ready myself."
"You're not staying?" Ganondorf protested.
"I am the mother to the prince. I get my own special garb and everything. You'll be fine, I'll see you before the ceremony to go over your lines and motions with Chetana, alright?"
Ganondorf was apprehensive but ultimately nodded as if he had a choice in the matter.
Rila smiled her warm inviting smile, "I love you, my son."
And with a swish of her ponytail she disappeared down the hallway towards the compounds inner entrance.
"Alright Ganondorf," Chetana clapped her hands and rubbed them together, "Let's get this armor on you. We've got 'til sundown before the ceremony can-"
"Wait," Ganondorf cut her off, "Sundown?! Isn't it noon right now?"
"A little after but yes. The armor is more complex than it looks. It will take some time for it to be put on and for you to get used to its unique weight distribution. Then, we practice the ceremony until you can do it in your sleep. Then, goddess willing, you become the new king after the ceremony commences flawlessly. I've got instructions here so how about start at step one?"
Ganondorf groaned and walked over to Chetana who produced a scroll from her pocket and began looking over the armor and muttering to herself. Hopefully all this fuss was worth it.
