Part II – Evil Sands

Chapter X - Ruins

"Do you have any jerky left, Gita?" Devika whined from behind the group.

Gita gritted her teeth, "We ran out an hour ago and you've asked me the same question every ten minutes. The answer remains the same; NO!"

Three days after their narrow escape from the sandstorm, the company finally received their supplies and orders to carry out a raid on a nearby ruin. Except, the ruin was a full 3 days away, which was in no way nearby. At least that's what the scouts said it was supposed to take. It had been almost four full days now and the group had not seen a single hint of a ruin on the horizon. They had also run out of travel snacks, due in no small part to Devika herself. Food was strictly rationed so the team would survive, but snacks were a personal treat. The only person who had anything to gnaw on was Manju, who noisily chewed on her six-hour old sugarcane piece.

"Manju," Devika droned like a pet begging for scraps, "can I just get a cut of that sugar?"

This time Nabooru snapped her head around to stare daggers at the girl, "Devika, you blew through everyone's snacks before any of us could enjoy them. What makes you think that-"

But, to everyone's surprise, Manju took out her dagger and sliced off a small bite-sized chunk of her sugar cane. The chunk flew through the air to Devika, who greedily jumped to grab it and began nibbling in tiny increments in an attempt to make the morsel last longer. Nabooru rolled her eyes and turned her gaze forward again.

"Shank you Manshu." Devika said between nibbles. Manju merely huffed in response.

"Well that's something you don't see every day." Nabooru spoke again from the head of the group.

"Oh, come on," Gita scoffed, "we all know Manju has a soft spot for-"

"Not that," Nabooru interrupted, pointing ahead from where she'd stopped, "that!"

The group looked to where her finger indicated and was treated to a gigantic dune partially covering a structure of sandstone and clay bricks. From the top of their dune they could see make out a corner of the mostly buried structure. Ganondorf guessed that, due to the nature of the corner that was revealed and the steepness of the walls, the structure must've been like a pyramid in structure, but with the majority of the ruin buried under the sand, it was impossible to say for certain. The violently whipped around the dunes edge, revealing a lot of the entrance to the ruin and even a stone effigy that guarded it. The statue looked to be a cobra made out of one whole piece of stone coiled around a long staff.

Nabooru looked at the sky and made a dissenting sound. "It's almost night. Let's make a camp at the entrance and wait until first light. That way we can spend the hot hours in the ruins and out of the sun."

"Aren't you the least bit curious?" Ganondorf raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, extremely. But I'm not exploring underground caverns in the heat."

"Besides, there's a lot out front to look at." Gita added, "Get a feel for what we're up against."

"You expecting trouble, Gita?" Ganondorf shifted his gaze to her.

"Heh," Gita huffed, "I'm expecting anything."

A little fire made all the difference in the icy cold of the desert night. Kanta had found some old dried out wood near the wall of the ruin that must've been part of some ancient collapsed scaffolding. It burned really bright and fast so they had to pile it high on the coals. They made sure to strategically place their fire close to the wall, making the frigid wind miss them completely. They also used the fire to heat up their rations to try and make the cured meat and bread a bit more palatable. Nabooru had somehow been able to pilfer some tea ingredients and was currently brewing some for the group in the hot embers within an extra waterskin with metal sewn into the bottom. It was a little makeshift for a kettle, but it got the job done.

"Hey, Ganondorf," Devika shouted suddenly, "What do you think that statue is of?"

"I don't know Devika," Ganondorf said in an overtly mocking tone, "I think it's a butterfly!"

"Oh, come on, don't be like that." Devika playfully punched his shoulder, "Like, what do you think it means or whatever."

"I think it means 'Don't fuck with this ruin like you don't fuck with a cobra'."

"He's got a good point, Devika." Nabooru chimed in, "The original builders probably thought a giant stone cobra statue would scare off raiders like us."

"Well then, they obviously didn't have Gerudo here when it was built." Manju scoffed, "And if they did, it's probably already raided and we're all wasting our time."

"Stop being so negative," Gita scolded, "Artifacts still catch a good price and there's no way raiders would've taken everything. I mean," she motioned to the huge entryway that towered over them, "look at the size of the damned thing. It must go on for miles."

"Well maybe the statue has a clue on it that tells us where to go." Devika cut in, still transfixed by the effigy, "Someone should check it out."

"Not it." Kanta said quickly

"NOT IT" The rest of the girls shouted as fast as they could.

"Wait, not it!" Ganondorf tried to get in with the rest of the crowd but, upon realizing that he was too late and in fact "it", released a long groan, "Ah crap."

"Gotta be quicker than that private." Manju snickered, "Now get your butt over there and tell us what you see."

"And how exactly will I see? The sun's already almost gone and I can barely see the statue as it is."

"Just take some fire and light it up over there." Chastised Devika, "Quickly, before we all fall asleep."

Ganondorf, curious himself but still annoyed about the impromptu voting process, got up and set off towards the statue. He took with him a few logs, some tinder, and a long branch from the fire that still had some glowing embers on its end. He quickly rushed over to the statue, built himself a small fire with the tinder, and placed the logs on either side so they could both fuel the flames and direct its light onto the huge statue. The stone effigy was massive up close, the cobra stretched far above him and he could barely touch the animals lower jaw on his toes. The light and his close proximity revealed that the stone was once incredibly detailed in its carving and some of the craftmanship was preserved by the sand it was entombed by.

"Well?" Devika called from her seat by the large and much warmer fire, "What do you see?"

"It's big, old, worn down, and made of stone." Ganondorf shouted back. "Kinda boring if you ask me."

"So just a snake around a pole? Nothing else at all?"

"Well, the pole looks like it was broken at the top. If it had something up there it's gone now."

"You see anything buried nearby?" Manju spoke up, suddenly invested, "Maybe it's like a pike or spear. Heard somewhere that ancient people loved those kinds of weapons."

"No… nothing around." Ganondorf relayed over as he scanned the surrounding sands, keeping as close to his warming fire as he could, "If it's in the sand, it's buried really deep." Then something at the statues base that caught Ganondorf's eye, "Wait, I think there's writing on it."

"Now it gets interesting!" Devika's voice betrayed her excited bouncing.

"It's probably not even Gerudo letters. I doubt it even resembles anything near our language." Manju dismissed once again, groaning as she lay down on the floor.

"Now wait, let me dust this off a bit and see if it's legible." Ganondorf placated them.

He blew on the stone and brushed it lightly with his hand. What the sands revealed was a large stone epitaph with an assortment of seemingly random shapes chiseled into its face. As he removed more sand, the shapes started to become more familiar until they finally took the form of, to his surprise, Gerudo letters. The erosion was fairly thorough, but Ganondorf could swear that the carvings the sands had spared took the same swooping strokes of the Gerudo alphabet. Because Gerudo letters were all meant to be created with one stroke of a brush, it was easy for someone to write them down. But carving them into stone presented such a challenge that even master stone masons shied from the task. The letters that survived the years were so evenly spaced, Ganondorf could only imagine the expertise it would have required to chisel it all down.

"You're not gonna believe this," Ganondorf called to the group, "but, it looks like Gerudo letters!"

"You're shitting me!" Devika laughed.

"What does it say Ganondorf?" Nabooru's voice echoed through the chilling air.

"I can only really make out a couple letters. It's all too worn away."

"Well then just give us what you can make out. We'll all make guesses, it'll be fun!" Devika said and all the girls murmured in agreement.

"Alright fine," Ganondorf began with the first most letter he could sort of make out, "Um, the first one looks to me like… a 'B'."

"BASTARD!" Devika enthusiastically shouted, immediately followed by everyone's laughter and a snort from Kanta. Ganondorf chuckled by himself but then became painfully aware of his isolation from the group.

"C'mon Devika, be serious." Manju said between giggles, "It obviously isn't enough to go by. There's too many words that start with 'B'."

"Can you make anything else out?" Nabooru shouted to Ganondorf.

"Uhh…" he stalled, "the next letter looks like an 'E'. 'B-E' something. The rest is way too damaged to make out."

"Ooh," Devika mused, "The words got to be 'Behold'. I mean, look at the size of these ruins!"

"Could be 'Beware', a warning of sorts." Nabooru added pensively.

"It also could be a prayer like trying to invoke the 'Benevolent' sand goddess." Kanta shyly chimed in but just as quickly withdrew.

"We need more to go on Ganondorf. What else is there?" Devika impatiently shouted.

"The next one looks like a 'T' on the next line but that's all I can make out. There's something before and after it but the rest is all too far gone."

"Well that sucks." Devika groaned.

"Wait!" Ganondorf yelled back as he looked closer, "There's something way after it like another word. Looks like… 'T'… 'R'… 'I'… that's it. 'TRI' something."

"Tri… tri…" Manju mulled it over in her mouth like a candy.

"Triumph!" Devika shouted, "It's gotta be triumph!"

"I was just going to say that." Manju pouted.

Devika was all too proud to gloat about it, "It would say 'Behold the triumph of the Gerudo'!

"Or it says 'Beware, traps will triumph over you'." Nabooru countered.

"Why would the place be wide open if it wasn't meant to be entered?" Manju rebutted.

"Maybe it was closed at some point."

"Or maybe you don't have all the answers and don't know everyt-"

"Next!" Gita yelled to Ganondorf, cutting the rest of the conversation short.

Ganondorf sighed and looked at the shallow grooves in the light of his small fire. The flames helped to highlight the markings, making the shadows stand out. But the fire was small and at the mercy of the wind, making its light flicker and the shadows dance.

"I think… um… It looks like another 'B' and another 'E'."

"C'mon, you have to give us something more!" Devika impatiently shouted.

"I mean… It's really hard to make out. I think this one's an 'S' at the end of that word, but it might be another word altogether, I don't know!"

"BAH, now it's just repeating itself. This is too hard!" Devika groaned.

"Despite being the one who suggested it." Manju scoffed under her breath.

"What was that?!"

Manju became unexpectedly silent and simply stuck her tongue out at Devika playfully.

"I'll show you to be quiet!" Devika yelled as she leapt at Manju. The two rolled on the floor together, trying to get the advantage. Gita and Nabooru rolled their eyes while Kanta scooted out of their war-path.

"Ganondorf!" Gita called over to the isolated boy, "Get over here, we have to discuss something!"

Excited by the permission to rejoin the group, Ganondorf suffocated his little fire and bolted back to the larger one. He stopped halfway to pick up some more firewood and finally realized how dark it had become. Their little game couldn't have taken more than a few minutes, but the surrounding sands were pitch black and the only light around, other than the group's fire, were the stars. He paced himself slightly to enjoy their random arrangement for a bit before sitting down at the fire next to Nabooru. She handed him a small wood bowl filled with the light pink tea she had been brewing. She then poured one for Gita and Kanta, before serving herself.

"What kind?" Gita asked as she accepted the bowl.

"Toasted safflina buds and sage. Nothing fancy."

Gita and Ganondorf both sipped at the same time and bathed their tongues in the sweet liquid. It had a pronounced sugary flavor thanks to the sage but the real body of the drink came from the toasted safflina buds, which infused the water with a rich berry-like aroma and slight earthy undertones. The drink made Ganondorf's body melt into its warm feeling which began to radiate from his stomach through his whole body. However, an additional ingredient brought the whole experience together and left a very pleasant aftertaste in his mouth. The ingredient was familiar but, for some reason, the name of it escaped him. The him and Gita looked at each other and exchanged knowing glances.

"There's definitely something more." Ganondorf hinted.

"Do I detect something sweeter than sage along with the safflina?" Gita asked, though her eyes betrayed that she knew the ingredient already.

"Oh, you know." Nabooru teased, smirking slyly "Just a little honey for taste."

"And how in Din's name did you get honey? I thought the caravans stopped carrying it."

Devika and Manju noisily rolled behind the group, shouting expletives at each other, before their conversation could continue.

"I… stole it."

Gita nearly spat her tea out, "You stole from the reserves?!"

"What? No! Of course not, I'm not stupid. It's from one of the trading men. Stole about three jars worth."

"So, they are keeping goods from us. Fuckers." Gita swore, shifting her weight to her other side.

"Not a bad haul." Ganondorf commented.

"… and a hive box." Nabooru smugly examined her fingernails.

At this the others were taken aback and even Kanta rose her eyebrows in surprise.

"You're joking! An entire box full of bees and you didn't get caught!?"

"Sadly, it was just combs, no bees. But enough honey and wax to last us a while."

"Wish we had some of those bees here so we could make our own honey. Then we could rely on the caravans a little less and quit risking being found out for stealing from them." Gita mused.

The others solemnly nodded and sipped their tea, except for Ganondorf. He'd known that the compound had been trading less, what with the caravans being late or even absent altogether. But hearing that they were deliberately withholding merchandise that was normally traded freely, stirred a newfound primal anger in Ganondorf. And seeing the others simply nod as if this was a normal occurrence and there was nothing they could do, only stoked the fire within him. His face drifted to the tea in his bowl, but his eyes were focused on the thoughts in his head.

"Hey!" Nabooru yelled at the two brawlers rolling in the sand. Devika and Manju both froze in place mid-fight and Ganondorf was snapped out of his self-imposed trance.

"Come and have some tea. It's getting cold."

The two nodded, made their last offensive faces at each other, and strolled separately to the fire to receive their tea. They were silent, but the looks on their faces as they sipped betrayed their enjoyment of the concoction.

However, their distraction was short lived and Ganondorf's mind returned to the caravans again. Something about the situation turned his stomach and he was almost unable to enjoy the tea that Nabooru had been kind enough to provide. Almost. But there was a question that nagged his mind about the whole thing.

"So… Why don't we trade with the lands outside of the desert?" he thought out loud, not realizing that it was silent. He suddenly realized that all eyes were on him and the expression on their faces were as if he had just insulted them all.

"We've tried." Kanta finally broke the silence, pouring herself more tea, "The other kingdoms seem to only want to trade for goods, not gold. And even when we are able to trade, we can't travel with as much as the caravans can. And what we get from trading and even stealing, it's not enough for everyone."

"And before you ask," Manju interjected without Ganondorf's prompt, "we have been sending scouts to investigate these problems. Kanta's sister is one of them. Most we can come up with is that we suspect that the caravans are organizing or being organized against us."

"Just makes me want to steal from them even more." Nabooru growled from over her bowl. The others simply nodded and sipped their tea. All save for Ganondorf who was, again, lost in thought.