A/N: This is the first LoZ fic I ever wrote seriously. It actually was started about three years ago and has been finished on and off after having survived through three hiatuses and a serious consideration of scrapping. But I decided to give it another chance, and am actually quite pleased with the results. Rated PG-13 for violence and Link's surprisingly dirty mouth; warnings include angst, sadness, violence, Link/Zelda pairing (no citrus), and alternate realities. The timeline I'm basing things on is a quasi-alternate-reality of my own creation: I base most if not all of my Zelda fanfiction on the idea that all the deeds done and chronicled in the Zelda games (with the exception of the Wind Waker for obvious reasons) were the deeds of one brave young lad chosen by Destiny and the three Goddesses as the Hero of Time, the Legendary Hero. Oh. And I don't own Linky (more's the pity) or Zelda or any of the game's other characters. They are copyrighted to Miyamoto Shigeru-san and Nintendo, the lucky bastards. I own, however, sole copyright of each and every one of my original characters. Steal them and I will hunt you down and break your elbows. Remember: A vague threat is no one's friend.
-Act III-
A Hero's Return
2
There was a clank against the sturdy iron bars of the castle gates. Several angry-faced Hylians stood outside the gates, holding various farming implements and weapons, ranging from crossbows and swords to spears, pitchforks, and garden hoes. There wasn't a smile among them. And standing at the head of the group was none other than General Kiron, commanding officer of the Hylian Armies. He bore a deep scowl on his face.
The two Gerudo warriors standing on the other side of the gates gripped their long glaives firmly and glanced frequently at each other, unsure of what to do.
Kiron swung the spear in his hand at the gate once more, listening impassively as it clashed with the iron bars. "That's good timber, there," he muttered, inspecting the stout wooden spear for signs of damage. A rumble of tense laughter was his only response.
He watched through narrowed eyes as a third Gerudo came a short ways toward the gate, and then turned back around with the slightest change of expression, going back inside the castle.
Kiron betrayed no emotion, simply stood as if he had not seen the lone Gerudo's change of expression. Inwardly, however, he was exulting. It was only a matter of time, now. Soon, all the parts of his intricately wrought plan would fall gently into place. Very soon, everything would unfold.
There was nothing to do now but wait.
Kitara walked with practiced urgency into the throne room, her face taking on the carefully engineered cast of concern and anxiety she'd so painstakingly crafted for just such an occasion. She stopped a determinedly respectful distance away from the dais, and bowed deeply to the brooding King of Evil, who stared impassively down at her from his lofty throne. "What?" he asked bluntly.
"Majesty, pardon my intrusion, Most Esteemed, but-" she hesitated, yet another carefully practiced motion.
"Well?" Ganondorf led, somewhat impatiently. "Out with it, girl," he growled.
She flinched back, as if afraid. "There are some…restless villagers outside the castle gates, sire," she said quietly. "They look rebellious, and I thought that your Majesty might want to deal with them yourself."
"Then you thought wrong," Ganondorf said slowly, as if speaking to a child. "A petty little band of rebels is not worth my time," he explained. "Go," he told her, with a wave of his hand, "take care of the restless townspeople. I do not wish to be disturbed."
"As my Lord wishes," Kitara said, smiling and groveling as she bowed and scraped her way out of the throne room, an obscenely obsequious smile plastered onto her face. She backed out of the throne room, and turned toward the exit.
The smile fell from her face when Kitara saw the group of rebel Hylians outside the gate. She glanced hastily at the guards. "You, and you," she said, gesturing to each, "return to your normal patrols. I'll attend to the situation myself."
"But-" one started, earning her a nasty glare.
"I do not remember asking for opinions or arguments, Watchman," Kitara said coldly, her golden eyes burning. "Return. To. Your. Normal. Patrols."
Each word was snapped off short, leaving no question as to the meaning behind it. The two guards nodded, saluted, and left without saying another word.
Kitara turned back to the group outside the gate. "Now, what am I going to do with all of you?" she asked, as if talking to herself.
Kiron grinned. "Kitara, you're an absolute treasure."
She made a face. "If you say so," she said wryly, glancing nervously about herself. She opened the gate, moving as slowly as possible to avoid any sound. "Now hurry, all of you. I have to get back to the palace. I've been gone far too long as it is."
Kiron hustled his men inside the gates. He turned and grabbed Kitara's arm. "I wish there was some way I could thank you for all you've done," he said quietly.
She grinned. "Just the look on your face when you're about to cause trouble is reward enough for me," she said. "Honestly, though? Just overthrow his Tyrannical Majesty, and I'll be pleased as punch. I've been wanting to see him go down for a long time."
"I promise. Link will come back, I know it. And when he does, I'm going to help him relieve that bastard of his head," Kiron growled darkly.
"Ooo, I wanna see that," Kitara grinned viciously.
Kiron laughed. "I've got to go," he said. His men were waiting anxiously for him a small ways away. "Thanks again for all your help, Kit."
"No problem."
And with that, they went their separate ways; Kiron to some obscure part of the fortress, Kitara back to the castle proper to continue her work as a double agent.
She was feeling rather smug, and so it took her a moment to realize, when she entered the throne room, that fifteen Gerudo warriors were standing in a semi-circle around Ganondorf with their glaives, scimitars, and other assorted pointy objects all aimed with the dangerous ends straight at her heart. Kitara stopped, blinked, and scoured her mind for a good question to ask, all within three seconds. Two seconds later, the thought occurred to Kitara that maybe she should play dumb and see where things went. So that's what she did.
Kitara remained silent.
"Well?" Ganondorf said. "Surely you wonder why in the world I'd have our people holding spears on one of our own," he said quietly.
She shrugged, as if half witted. "You'd have a good explanation, Majesty, or you wouldn't do it, I suppose," she said, speaking slowly as if her mind were having trouble catching up with the idea that she was in very, very deep trouble. "I don't know or understand it myself, sire," she added.
"Oh, come off it, J'Kall," one of the Gerudo said snidely, whom Kitara recognized as one of the very Watchmen she'd sent back to the palace.
She cursed silently. Turning back to Ganondorf, she feigned what she hoped was a blank, confused expression and frowned. "My lord?"
He sighed. "forget the ruses, First Watchman," he said. "Second Watchman Nidra L'Diros saw you giving entrance to the Hylian scum," he grated. "It's an act of highest treason, and you will be punished most severely." He glared at her, but she didn't look away. Kitara would be damned if she was going to back down. He waved in dismissal. "Get her out of my sight," he said tiredly.
Nidra and two other Gerudo came forward and wrested her glaive from her hand and forced her arms roughly behind her back and forced her forward from the throne room. Down the hallway they continued in silence, the only sounds being Kitara's frequent cursing of Ganondorf, her captors, and most of the Gerudo race.
Nidra walked her down the dungeon stair and opened the door to one of the large, dark cells. She shoved Kitara roughly inside, laughing as Kitara stumbled and landed on her knees. "Filthy turncoat," Nidra spat.
"Fawning bootlicker!" Kitara roared as the cell door shut upon her. She ran forward, and, banging on the door, started shouting curses at Nidra and the rest of Ganondorf's…followers. After a few moments, she gave up and turned around, sinking to the floor with her back against the cold iron. A single tear of anger rolled down her face as she realized that Kiron, her best friend in the world, was completely and utterly on his own.
She only hoped he wouldn't end up dead.
"Hello?" a voice said, small and timid in the darkness.
Kitara shot to her feet. "Who's there?"
"Oh, good, there is someone else in here with me…" the voice sounded frightened and unstable. It also sounded chillingly familiar. "I've been alone so long…and the silence is dreadful…"
"You're not alone anymore…" Kitara said carefully. "But who am I speaking to?"
A figure stepped out into the dim light of the cell and Kitara gasped. She dropped immediately to one knee. "Majesty!" she cried, for before her, stood the true monarch of Hyrule, the Princess Zelda.
The Princess ran up to her and pulled her up off of the floor. "Don't do that, not here. Not anywhere." Kitara looked at Zelda, examining her. The princess was hardly a whisper of her former elegance-her gown, formerly a pure, almost glowing white, was torn and wrinkled, showing stains from the ironclad cell's inherent rusting tendencies, and the princess herself looked sad and hopeless. There was none of the light in her eyes that had always so charmed her subjects before. Kitara began to feel the least bit intimidated by the fact that Zelda seemed to have given up.
Kitara smiled, but it felt broken. "Cheer up, Majesty," she said lightly. "We'll be out of here soon. Link will-"
"Link?" Zelda asked bitterly. "He'd dead," she told Kitara shortly. "He can't help us now. Nothing can. Ganondorf's won, and we're all going to suffer for it."
"No," Kitara whispered. "It can't be…"
"It can, and it is," Zelda replied curtly. "I can't sense his presence anymore…" she said faintly, her eyes filling with tears. "He's gone…it's like someone tore a big, gaping hole in my heart. He's dead, Kitara. He's dead because of me, and I never-" Zelda broke down and started to sob.
Kitara held the shaking princess while she wept.
"He's gone, and I never once told him what he meant to Hyrule…what he meant to me…"
For once in her life, Kitara was absolutely speechless. She was shocked enough by Zelda's idea that the Hero of Time was dead, but her further admissions had thrown Kitara even further off. So she just stood there. Suddenly, an idea came to her. "He'll come back, Princess," she said confidently.
"What?" Zelda asked, bringing her tear-streaked face up to gape at Kitara.
"He'll come."
"How do you know?" Zelda asked. "I can't even feel his presence anymore. How do you know he's not dead?"
"Because if he were, that tyrant who thought I worked for him would be a lot more confident, and he would have killed you by now. Why do you think he's keeping you here?"
Zelda's sky-blue eyes widened as she realized where Kitara was going.
"Exactly, Princess. He's keeping you as bait. He knows Link isn't dead, and he knows that the Hero of Time will stop at nothing to get to you. He's keeping you alive to get at Link. He wants Link to come back."
It made sense. Zelda smiled. "I can cling to that, I suppose. I'd be a little more at ease if I knew for myself Link was alive, but I suppose this will do until I have solid evidence." Zelda looked at Kitara, as if seeing her for the first time. "Tell me," she said curiously, "how did one of Ganondorf's own Fortress Watchmen of the First Rank come to be imprisoned in the Hyrule Castle dungeons?"
Kitara made a face. "He caught me sneaking General Kiron and his men inside the gates," she said dolefully.
"What?!" Zelda laughed, surprised and delighted.
"Yup. I've been a double agent for years now. Ever since our people were preparing for the seal to be broken on Ganondorf's prison, I've been spying for Uncle Kiron."
"Uncle?!" Zelda echoed, astonished.
"He's been one of my best friends since I was little. When we were on good terms with your people, he would come to visit me whenever a trade convoy came through. He always brought me presents, too. So in the past month, while the Hero of Time has been missing, I've been sneaking Hylian soldiers inside the castle gates so they can run raids on the palace. I've always considered it an honor to be a part of anything that irritates Ganondorf."
Zelda burst out laughing uncontrollably. "Are you serious?"
"Very," Kitara said with a vicious grin.
"Whose idea was this in the first place?"
"My spying?" Kitara asked. Zelda nodded. "Well, you probably won't believe this, but the whole thing was the scheme of Exalted Nabooru, Holy Sage of Spirit."
I'd believe it," Zelda said dryly. "Let's not take that 'Holy' thing too far, Kitara," she laughed. "Nabooru is corrupt if anyone ever was. I'm quite unsurprised that she dragooned you into doing that."
Kitara couldn't help but laugh. "You speak of her as such a…"
"Schemer? Thief? Sneak?" Zelda finished helpfully. She leaned forward. "Tell me," she said curiously, "just exactly how long have you actually known Nabooru?"
Kitara laughed harder. "Apparently, not long enough." She shook her head. "What Exalted Nabooru told me, though, was that I was to infiltrate Ganondorf's ranks and keep an eye on things, to take whatever opportunities arose. Since the Sages themselves dared not go near him, she wanted to have a pair of eyes and ears for the Sages purpose."
"And have you heard from her?"
"Nothing bad," Kitara said. The look of uncertainty in the princess' eyes made Kitara speak once more. "Highness, if he weren't coming back, don't you think Holy Rauru would know? Or at least have ventured a guess?"
"I suppose," she replied dubiously. "Oh Kitara, I hope you're right."
"He has to be alive. Just keep that with you. The only reason you're still alive is because Ganondorf doesn't know if Link's dead. If he knew for sure, you would be dead as well."
As much as it was a chilling statement, it was something for the heartbroken young princess to cling to - a thought for the future, a reason to believe, to live…
To hope.
-Act III-
A Hero's Return
2
There was a clank against the sturdy iron bars of the castle gates. Several angry-faced Hylians stood outside the gates, holding various farming implements and weapons, ranging from crossbows and swords to spears, pitchforks, and garden hoes. There wasn't a smile among them. And standing at the head of the group was none other than General Kiron, commanding officer of the Hylian Armies. He bore a deep scowl on his face.
The two Gerudo warriors standing on the other side of the gates gripped their long glaives firmly and glanced frequently at each other, unsure of what to do.
Kiron swung the spear in his hand at the gate once more, listening impassively as it clashed with the iron bars. "That's good timber, there," he muttered, inspecting the stout wooden spear for signs of damage. A rumble of tense laughter was his only response.
He watched through narrowed eyes as a third Gerudo came a short ways toward the gate, and then turned back around with the slightest change of expression, going back inside the castle.
Kiron betrayed no emotion, simply stood as if he had not seen the lone Gerudo's change of expression. Inwardly, however, he was exulting. It was only a matter of time, now. Soon, all the parts of his intricately wrought plan would fall gently into place. Very soon, everything would unfold.
There was nothing to do now but wait.
Kitara walked with practiced urgency into the throne room, her face taking on the carefully engineered cast of concern and anxiety she'd so painstakingly crafted for just such an occasion. She stopped a determinedly respectful distance away from the dais, and bowed deeply to the brooding King of Evil, who stared impassively down at her from his lofty throne. "What?" he asked bluntly.
"Majesty, pardon my intrusion, Most Esteemed, but-" she hesitated, yet another carefully practiced motion.
"Well?" Ganondorf led, somewhat impatiently. "Out with it, girl," he growled.
She flinched back, as if afraid. "There are some…restless villagers outside the castle gates, sire," she said quietly. "They look rebellious, and I thought that your Majesty might want to deal with them yourself."
"Then you thought wrong," Ganondorf said slowly, as if speaking to a child. "A petty little band of rebels is not worth my time," he explained. "Go," he told her, with a wave of his hand, "take care of the restless townspeople. I do not wish to be disturbed."
"As my Lord wishes," Kitara said, smiling and groveling as she bowed and scraped her way out of the throne room, an obscenely obsequious smile plastered onto her face. She backed out of the throne room, and turned toward the exit.
The smile fell from her face when Kitara saw the group of rebel Hylians outside the gate. She glanced hastily at the guards. "You, and you," she said, gesturing to each, "return to your normal patrols. I'll attend to the situation myself."
"But-" one started, earning her a nasty glare.
"I do not remember asking for opinions or arguments, Watchman," Kitara said coldly, her golden eyes burning. "Return. To. Your. Normal. Patrols."
Each word was snapped off short, leaving no question as to the meaning behind it. The two guards nodded, saluted, and left without saying another word.
Kitara turned back to the group outside the gate. "Now, what am I going to do with all of you?" she asked, as if talking to herself.
Kiron grinned. "Kitara, you're an absolute treasure."
She made a face. "If you say so," she said wryly, glancing nervously about herself. She opened the gate, moving as slowly as possible to avoid any sound. "Now hurry, all of you. I have to get back to the palace. I've been gone far too long as it is."
Kiron hustled his men inside the gates. He turned and grabbed Kitara's arm. "I wish there was some way I could thank you for all you've done," he said quietly.
She grinned. "Just the look on your face when you're about to cause trouble is reward enough for me," she said. "Honestly, though? Just overthrow his Tyrannical Majesty, and I'll be pleased as punch. I've been wanting to see him go down for a long time."
"I promise. Link will come back, I know it. And when he does, I'm going to help him relieve that bastard of his head," Kiron growled darkly.
"Ooo, I wanna see that," Kitara grinned viciously.
Kiron laughed. "I've got to go," he said. His men were waiting anxiously for him a small ways away. "Thanks again for all your help, Kit."
"No problem."
And with that, they went their separate ways; Kiron to some obscure part of the fortress, Kitara back to the castle proper to continue her work as a double agent.
She was feeling rather smug, and so it took her a moment to realize, when she entered the throne room, that fifteen Gerudo warriors were standing in a semi-circle around Ganondorf with their glaives, scimitars, and other assorted pointy objects all aimed with the dangerous ends straight at her heart. Kitara stopped, blinked, and scoured her mind for a good question to ask, all within three seconds. Two seconds later, the thought occurred to Kitara that maybe she should play dumb and see where things went. So that's what she did.
Kitara remained silent.
"Well?" Ganondorf said. "Surely you wonder why in the world I'd have our people holding spears on one of our own," he said quietly.
She shrugged, as if half witted. "You'd have a good explanation, Majesty, or you wouldn't do it, I suppose," she said, speaking slowly as if her mind were having trouble catching up with the idea that she was in very, very deep trouble. "I don't know or understand it myself, sire," she added.
"Oh, come off it, J'Kall," one of the Gerudo said snidely, whom Kitara recognized as one of the very Watchmen she'd sent back to the palace.
She cursed silently. Turning back to Ganondorf, she feigned what she hoped was a blank, confused expression and frowned. "My lord?"
He sighed. "forget the ruses, First Watchman," he said. "Second Watchman Nidra L'Diros saw you giving entrance to the Hylian scum," he grated. "It's an act of highest treason, and you will be punished most severely." He glared at her, but she didn't look away. Kitara would be damned if she was going to back down. He waved in dismissal. "Get her out of my sight," he said tiredly.
Nidra and two other Gerudo came forward and wrested her glaive from her hand and forced her arms roughly behind her back and forced her forward from the throne room. Down the hallway they continued in silence, the only sounds being Kitara's frequent cursing of Ganondorf, her captors, and most of the Gerudo race.
Nidra walked her down the dungeon stair and opened the door to one of the large, dark cells. She shoved Kitara roughly inside, laughing as Kitara stumbled and landed on her knees. "Filthy turncoat," Nidra spat.
"Fawning bootlicker!" Kitara roared as the cell door shut upon her. She ran forward, and, banging on the door, started shouting curses at Nidra and the rest of Ganondorf's…followers. After a few moments, she gave up and turned around, sinking to the floor with her back against the cold iron. A single tear of anger rolled down her face as she realized that Kiron, her best friend in the world, was completely and utterly on his own.
She only hoped he wouldn't end up dead.
"Hello?" a voice said, small and timid in the darkness.
Kitara shot to her feet. "Who's there?"
"Oh, good, there is someone else in here with me…" the voice sounded frightened and unstable. It also sounded chillingly familiar. "I've been alone so long…and the silence is dreadful…"
"You're not alone anymore…" Kitara said carefully. "But who am I speaking to?"
A figure stepped out into the dim light of the cell and Kitara gasped. She dropped immediately to one knee. "Majesty!" she cried, for before her, stood the true monarch of Hyrule, the Princess Zelda.
The Princess ran up to her and pulled her up off of the floor. "Don't do that, not here. Not anywhere." Kitara looked at Zelda, examining her. The princess was hardly a whisper of her former elegance-her gown, formerly a pure, almost glowing white, was torn and wrinkled, showing stains from the ironclad cell's inherent rusting tendencies, and the princess herself looked sad and hopeless. There was none of the light in her eyes that had always so charmed her subjects before. Kitara began to feel the least bit intimidated by the fact that Zelda seemed to have given up.
Kitara smiled, but it felt broken. "Cheer up, Majesty," she said lightly. "We'll be out of here soon. Link will-"
"Link?" Zelda asked bitterly. "He'd dead," she told Kitara shortly. "He can't help us now. Nothing can. Ganondorf's won, and we're all going to suffer for it."
"No," Kitara whispered. "It can't be…"
"It can, and it is," Zelda replied curtly. "I can't sense his presence anymore…" she said faintly, her eyes filling with tears. "He's gone…it's like someone tore a big, gaping hole in my heart. He's dead, Kitara. He's dead because of me, and I never-" Zelda broke down and started to sob.
Kitara held the shaking princess while she wept.
"He's gone, and I never once told him what he meant to Hyrule…what he meant to me…"
For once in her life, Kitara was absolutely speechless. She was shocked enough by Zelda's idea that the Hero of Time was dead, but her further admissions had thrown Kitara even further off. So she just stood there. Suddenly, an idea came to her. "He'll come back, Princess," she said confidently.
"What?" Zelda asked, bringing her tear-streaked face up to gape at Kitara.
"He'll come."
"How do you know?" Zelda asked. "I can't even feel his presence anymore. How do you know he's not dead?"
"Because if he were, that tyrant who thought I worked for him would be a lot more confident, and he would have killed you by now. Why do you think he's keeping you here?"
Zelda's sky-blue eyes widened as she realized where Kitara was going.
"Exactly, Princess. He's keeping you as bait. He knows Link isn't dead, and he knows that the Hero of Time will stop at nothing to get to you. He's keeping you alive to get at Link. He wants Link to come back."
It made sense. Zelda smiled. "I can cling to that, I suppose. I'd be a little more at ease if I knew for myself Link was alive, but I suppose this will do until I have solid evidence." Zelda looked at Kitara, as if seeing her for the first time. "Tell me," she said curiously, "how did one of Ganondorf's own Fortress Watchmen of the First Rank come to be imprisoned in the Hyrule Castle dungeons?"
Kitara made a face. "He caught me sneaking General Kiron and his men inside the gates," she said dolefully.
"What?!" Zelda laughed, surprised and delighted.
"Yup. I've been a double agent for years now. Ever since our people were preparing for the seal to be broken on Ganondorf's prison, I've been spying for Uncle Kiron."
"Uncle?!" Zelda echoed, astonished.
"He's been one of my best friends since I was little. When we were on good terms with your people, he would come to visit me whenever a trade convoy came through. He always brought me presents, too. So in the past month, while the Hero of Time has been missing, I've been sneaking Hylian soldiers inside the castle gates so they can run raids on the palace. I've always considered it an honor to be a part of anything that irritates Ganondorf."
Zelda burst out laughing uncontrollably. "Are you serious?"
"Very," Kitara said with a vicious grin.
"Whose idea was this in the first place?"
"My spying?" Kitara asked. Zelda nodded. "Well, you probably won't believe this, but the whole thing was the scheme of Exalted Nabooru, Holy Sage of Spirit."
I'd believe it," Zelda said dryly. "Let's not take that 'Holy' thing too far, Kitara," she laughed. "Nabooru is corrupt if anyone ever was. I'm quite unsurprised that she dragooned you into doing that."
Kitara couldn't help but laugh. "You speak of her as such a…"
"Schemer? Thief? Sneak?" Zelda finished helpfully. She leaned forward. "Tell me," she said curiously, "just exactly how long have you actually known Nabooru?"
Kitara laughed harder. "Apparently, not long enough." She shook her head. "What Exalted Nabooru told me, though, was that I was to infiltrate Ganondorf's ranks and keep an eye on things, to take whatever opportunities arose. Since the Sages themselves dared not go near him, she wanted to have a pair of eyes and ears for the Sages purpose."
"And have you heard from her?"
"Nothing bad," Kitara said. The look of uncertainty in the princess' eyes made Kitara speak once more. "Highness, if he weren't coming back, don't you think Holy Rauru would know? Or at least have ventured a guess?"
"I suppose," she replied dubiously. "Oh Kitara, I hope you're right."
"He has to be alive. Just keep that with you. The only reason you're still alive is because Ganondorf doesn't know if Link's dead. If he knew for sure, you would be dead as well."
As much as it was a chilling statement, it was something for the heartbroken young princess to cling to - a thought for the future, a reason to believe, to live…
To hope.