Part II – Evil Sands

Chapter VIII – Orders

"Devika, you're going to hurt yourself again!" Manju yelled.

Devika, a fairly skinny girl, was too preoccupied arm wrestling to listen. On the other end of the table was Gita, a wall of muscle and sinew, who was sitting at that same table with the same opponent for the third time today. Manju, an averagely built Gerudo with a loose hair tail, huffed angrily and crossed to Kanta, a similarly built woman who leaned against a dark, shadowed wall.

"Can you believe this?!" Manju frowned at the two contenders.

"They say insanity is doing things over and over, expecting different results." Kanta added in monotone.

"Ha! You hear that Devika?" Manju yelled across to the arm wrestlers, "Kanta thinks you're insane!"

"I think I can do it this time! I can feel it!" Devika strained as she tried with all her might to budge Gita's anchored arm. Gita, on the other side of the wooden table, looked at Devika's red face and popped veins with a more abject boredom than effort. For at least five minutes her arm hadn't moved an inch from its upright position despite the immense effort Devika put into pulling, pushing, and even pleading for the arm to move.

Then, it did.

As impossible is it seemed, Gita's seemingly iron-clad upright position began to struggle and wane backwards. Devika had her eyes closed and was deep in concentration.

"Kanta, are you seeing this?!" Manju gasped, wide eyed and mouth agape.

"Perhaps it's not Devika that's going insane." Kanta slightly raised her eyebrows in the most intense show of surprise she could muster.

"What?" Devika opened her eyes to see if she'd made any progress. To her surprise, Gita's arm had gradually been pushed back enough to almost be touching the wood on Devika's side of the table.

"Oh goddess! I'm doing it! Ha ha!" She exclaimed as she crossed, illegally, to the right side of the table and began pulling down on Gita's arm, trying to use her weight to assist. The gravity seemed to help some as Gita's muscles waned again, getting closer to the wood on Devika's side of the table. The knuckles of Gita's hand were a breath away from the wood when they suddenly stopped moving. In fact, the entire arm had become as rigid as metal in a second.

"Pull harder Devika! You're so close!" Manju yelled with newfound vigor.

"Come on… just… a little… bit… more!" Devika begged for the victory.

But then she looked up at Gita's evil grin and realized exactly what was going on.

She had been played.

Before anyone could react, Gita launched her arm to the other side of the table and subsequently launched Devika clear over it and almost a yard away.

"Woah shit!" Devika shouted as she was thrown straight over the small wooden table.

"Oh, goddess!" Manju chuckled while Kanta smirked slightly but remained, arms crossed, leaning against the wall. Even Devika, who rolled onto her back after tumbling, was heartily laughing on the floor. Gita hadn't stopped laughing since Devika had left the table.

"I hope this laughter has something to do with the training I put you girls up to." A strong and familiar voice called from the compound. Immediately upon hearing her voice, the four women stood and scrambled together to salute their commanding officer.

"Lieutenant Nabooru!" all four spoke at once.

"At ease cadets." Nabooru commanded as she got nearer. The team of women bowed, walked over to the table, and assembled around it. Devika and Manju sat on the chairs on the sides, Gita stood behind Manju, and Kanta sat on the floor in the table's shade.

"Alright girls, I have three pieces of news for you. First, we are put on escort duty for another water run. They say that there won't be a sandstorm for a while so they want a good supply for when they start picking up again." The group simply nodded to the information given to them. "Secondly, we will be heading out after that to a raid on a ruin out north of the oasis. Its fairly new and we've got first scout and raiding. However, that will be in the future as plans have yet to be made." This time the women seemed to enjoy these orders. Yet they kept their respectful demeanor.

"Lastly, we have a new recruit on our team." To this, the women lost their excitement immediately and it was replaced with annoyed groans and sighs of contempt.

"Lieutenant, permission to speak freely?" Manju asked.

"Granted." Nabooru answered, knowing full well that she had basically asked for permission to be insubordinate.

"With all due respect ma'am, our outfit is already full. I don't think we have room for a stray."

"And we work together better than all the other teams. We'd need to train this newbie and that takes so long!" Devika spoke out of turn.

"Girls!" Nabooru stopped them before they could start, "Our outfit is small and one more soldier won't kill you. As for training, we sparred personally. Trust me, he needs none."

Kanta looked up at that last point, "He?"

As soon as she and the rest of the group understood who Nabooru was talking about, Ganondorf could be seen walking towards them in his new soldiers' uniform. White sirwal closed at the ankles, green curved and pointed shoes, and a modified Gerudo top that wrapped around his chest and over one shoulder. He wore a scimitar and dagger at his hips, both of which were curved in their Gerudo design. He stopped next to Nabooru and placed his hands behind his back, studying the women in front of him.

"Ladies, this is Ganondorf. I'm sure we need no introductions in that regard." The women simply nodded in reply, "Ganondorf, these are your new squadmates. Kanta, Gita, Manju, and Devika." Each nodded when their name was called, identifying themselves.

Kanta sat in the shade of the table and was closest to Ganondorf. If it weren't for the subtle movement of her head, he would've never even seen her. She wore a sirwal that was a rocky brown that blended into the dark and light alike. She also wore a top of the same color, but it had been modified to include a hood and sleeves. The hood went around her head widely and came to a peak like a bird's beak by her forehead, hiding her soul gem. Her sleeves came down to just below the elbow but were wide enough to fit two arms into. When she stood and moved to the side she removed her hood to reveal tightly woven dreadlocks and incredibly dark skin, even for a Gerudo. She stopped just behind Devika, clasped her hands behind her back, and stared straight ahead with no emotion in her eyes.

Manju resembled Kanta closely in terms of body type. However, her attitude and overall atmosphere more than made her differ. She was sitting in the chair that Devika was thrown from on the right of the table. She balanced on the chairs back legs with her feet up while glaring at Ganondorf as if to tell him to leave now. Her prominent scowl was on full display as her hair was pulled back into a tail and adorned with a large red jewel where it was held. She wore the traditional Gerudo top and sirwal but much of it had been stitched up and patched. Ganondorf could even swear he saw a scorch mark somewhere.

Gita, was the tallest and largest of the group. Her arms, legs, hell, her entire body was so toned and muscly it put Ganondorf's to shame. She had obviously trained to wield the largest and heaviest of Gerudo weaponry with ease and grace. The top of her uniform had no sleeves and fit tightly across her chest while her sirwal bottom was closed off at the knees instead of her ankles. Her hair was kept free and reached the middle of her back. Although she stood behind Manju with her arms crossed, her smirk and relaxed eyes softened her appearance considerably.

Devika, was definitely the youngest of the group. She was shorter and thinner than the rest of the women, but that only meant that she was faster than them. She wore the classic Gerudo top, sirwal, and shoes but they were very brightly dyed. Her top was a vibrant green, her sirwal was a sun bleached purple, and her shoes were a light red that teetered on orange. Her hair was cut short at the shoulders and framed her dismissive face. Although she was sitting to the right of the table in Gita's old seat, her foot tapped feverously and her fingers danced on her kneecap.

Ganondorf didn't notice it, but as he was studying the new team Nabooru had been briefing them.

"… our new orders. But until then I want this entire outfit to be ready for any assignments in the meantime. We leave at 0800 tomorrow with or without you. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" all four women said in unison.

Nabooru turned to Ganondorf and snarled, "Is that understood, cadet?"

Ganondorf, taken aback by the sudden show of authority, saluted and pronounced proudly, "Yes ma'am!"

Nabooru held his gaze for a little longer then took her leave. Ganondorf turned to where he expected the group to still be but, to his surprise, they had all gotten up and left as soon as their lieutenant had. All Ganondorf caught was each of their backs walking away from him.