It had been three weeks since Ganondorf had arrived in the valley. Missan was silently grateful that there had been no more incidents like what had happened in the Training Grounds since then. Despite this relative silence however, she was still ill at ease. There were mysteries about the young man, mysteries that could prove dangerous to her sisters. And while she had no solid proof, the Guard Captain had her suspicions that Nobooru was in some way involved, which only served to make her more anxious.
The two spent almost every day together, training, talking, eating, they seemed to be almost connected at the hip. Nobooru claimed that she was simply following Mistress Lussana's order of ensuring he was 'to Gerudo standards', but Missan knew that there was more to it than that. She saw the small, nervous glances that her sister made towards the man when she thought no one was looking, noticed the little 'tells' that Nobooru unconsciously showed when she had something big on her mind, even if she refused to admit it.
Missan sat atop the highest rooftop of the fortress, watching the sky darken into night and the torches come to life all along the fortress valley, and sighed deeply. "Why'd you have to bring such a complicated man here sister...?" She lamented quietly to herself, tucking one knee up to her chin, "I mean sure, he's cute... hell, maybe even hot in the right circumstances. But there's just something about him that I can't trust... Something in his eyes..." She allowed herself to trail off into another silence, once again alone with her thoughts.
It was his eyes, she decided, that made her the most nervous. They always seemed to be looking past you instead of at you, and they seemed like they belonged to some kind of ancient titan, not a twenty one year old man. Still... She thought, The others seem to all love him. Hell, half of the women here look like they already want his children, and he hasn't done anything yet. She sighed with a small chuckle. Ah who am I to judge... I was acting like that the day Nobooru brought him here.
"All the same... I can't let my guard down around him. There's something about him that's dangerous." She allowed herself a small moment then to just breathe and relax. This was her personal little spot, and it was her favorite time of the night, the sun's light had just vanished from over the clifftops, and the valley was bitterly cold from the evening wind that whistled through it.
As she sat, a movement caught her eye. Gazing down to the ground level of the fortress, she saw a figure, shrouded in the shadows of the night, move silently along the wall before slipping into one of the numerous passageways. "An intruder?" Missan was instantly on alert. Should I raise the alarm? She thought as she hopped off the roof, landing gracefully a level down, and then repeating the process until she was at the passage the figure had taken. No... there's only one. I can handle a single intruder.
She moved swiftly and silently up the hallway, her hand finding it's way to the hilt of the small dagger that she kept in her sash at all times, desperately wishing that she had a sword. She soon realized that the hallway she was in led to the supply rooms, which only served to confuse her and make her more nervous. Why would an intruder want to break into the supplies? Unless they are some kind of starving refugee... but then how did they sneak past the guar-WHAT?!
She had been so deep in thought that she almost missed the new passageway that seemed to have opened in one of the far walls of the storage room. It led into a dark hallway, lit sporadically by torches embedded into the walls, and all along the walls of the hallway, she could see carved murals that seemed to tell some kind of sweeping epic tale. The hallway itself stretched deep into the darkness, and Missan had to guess that it was carved into the very cliff itself.
"What the hell is this...?" She asked herself quietly. She stepped into the hallway, her eyes tracking to the carvings. There was a story told across their length she realized, A young man, born in the harsh unforgiving desert, raised by the spirits and the warriors of his tribe, he grew to become a king. Mighty in body, mind and spirit, the king set his sights upon the vast riches of the east. There, the soft weak people of the fields lived in idyllic ignorance of the darkness that the world could hold. The king approached the ruler of this peaceful lands, offering him an alliance. He offered the skill and expertise of his warriors in return for freedom to move through the eastern lands unhindered. However the Eastern king had a daughter, one who was wiser than her years, and who saw a darkness within the King of the Desert. The young princess gained the aid of an agent from outside the royal palace, and together, they worked to find proof of the Desert king's duplicity. They worked tirelessly, and soon enough, evidence came to light that the Desert king was also a thief without peer and a sorcerer of dark magics. The Desert king had used his skills and powers to interfere with the allies of the East in an effort to isolate the Royal family and steal their greatest treasure... The tale scrawled on, and on. It depicted the Desert king's rise to power, eventually even overthrowing the peaceful king of the East, however the Princess and her ally were able to evade his grasp for seven years. Eventually, the Princess' ally rose up, a mythical weapon in hand, and overthrew the Desert king, restoring the Princess to the throne.
Missan blinked, looking around suddenly. She had become so engrossed in the story told along the wall, that she hadn't realized where she had ended up. The hallway let out into an enormous chamber, torches along the walls, as well as a pair of massive burning braziers closer to the center of the room. At it's center sat a magnificently carved stone throne, sat upon an upraised dais. At the back of the chamber, was it's most impressive and imposing feature, a gigantic statue of the Goddess Din.
Missan shuddered as she gazed around, almost feeling as though the statue was watching her every move. Finally however, she was able to move once more, and began investigating the massive chamber. There wasn't much besides the Throne, The two large suits of armor that stood flanking the throne seemed to be her only company within the massive hall, a fact that Missan was acutely aware of.
As she moved through the chamber, a noise suddenly drew her gaze to the base of the statue. Moving swiftly, she flitted lightly across the room until she was at the statue's base, and there built into the stone, she found an expertly disguised doorway, still slightly ajar.
"I'm telling you, there's nothing in this one!" Missan's eyes widened as she heard her sister's voice drift through the crack in the door.
"Dammit! There has to be something!" A second voice sounded from what sounded like higher up, "I spent so long gathering these books, how in the hells can there be nothing of use in any of them!?"
That was Ganondorf! Missan realized suddenly. What the hell are he and my sister doing?
As she was trying to think of an answer, Nobooru's voice sounded again. "Oh don't you dare get all pouty at me now Dragmire. We'll find something. And if it's not here, then we'll go to where it is and steal the fucking thing. That's all there is too it, ok?"
Ganondorf's voice sighed, clearly frustrated, but otherwise retaining a level of calm. "You're right Nobooru... Thanks."
Finally, Missan's curiosity overcame her caution. She rose to her full height, put a stern expression on her face, and pushed the door open.
Nobooru turned with speed born from her endless hours of training, her hand flying to the sword she had left on the table in the center of Ganondorf's personal chambers. Bringing it up in expectation of attack, she quickly froze in shock at who currently stood in the doorway.
"So, sister mine..." Missan glared angrily at her, "Anything that you'd like to tell me?"
"Missan!" Nobooru recovered quickly, setting the sword down once more and forcing herself to smile. She stepped forward, "What are you doing here?"
"I should ask you the same damn thing!" Missan was angry, Nobooru could tell that easily, and the knife that the older woman held did nothing to ease her nervousness. "What do you think you're doing here? What even is this place?"
"Ok, Missan... You're really angry, I can see that. I'll answer you, just... y'know... put the knife away? Please?" Again, Nobooru tried to force a smile, trying to calm her angry sister, even just a little. Her words seemed to have the desired effect, as Missan glanced down at the blade in her hands, eyes widening in realization that she was waving a dagger at her own sister. The blade quickly vanished back to it's sheath, and Nobooru allowed herself a brief moment to breathe a little easier. "Ok... so what do you want to know?"
Missan gestured around them, "Just what the hell is all of this? Where did it come from? How did you find it? What are you even doing here? And why is he also here?" At her final question, she thrust an accusatory finger at the form watching them both cautiously from one of the upper walkways.
Gannondorf vaulted himself over the railing, landing in between the two women, and rose up to his full, towering height. "I think I should be the one to explain most of that Missan," He said with a small smile. "Your sister is only here at my request after all." Missan crossed her arms, scowling at him, while Nobooru simply rolled her eyes and flopped down onto the couch behind her. Ganondorf turned, gesturing for Missan to take a seat as well. "You may as well get comfortable Missan, it's a bit of a long story."
"Let's say, hypothetically, that I take you at your word and choose to believe you." Missan finally said almost two hours later, "What does all of this mean for the Gerudo?" Her eyes flashed dangerously as she stood up and walked around the ground floor of Ganon's library.
The man still sat in one of the large, comfortable chairs, his fingers steeped together, and looking completely calm. "Well, to be honest, I would like the Gerudo to join me in taking down Link. And if that means biding my time until they are ready to accept me as their King, then that is a very small price to be paid." He smiled slightly, "However, I do not intend to reveal all of what I just told you to many other people. Maybe Mistress Lussana, but not many others need to know. I know that it is a lot to take in, and even more to take essentially on faith." He chuckled, rising to stand as well, "To be perfectly honest Missan, I'm a little surprised that you're being as... accepting of my tale as you are."
"Oh don't misunderstand Ganondorf." Missan practically snarled as she suddenly rounded on him, her eyes were furious despite her calm voice, "I still haven't decided whether you are completely insane or not. Unfortunately, enough of your story matches with old Gerudo legends that it almost fits." She started pacing once more.
Ganondorf shrugged, turning his gaze to Nobooru, who had occasionally piped in her own commentary over the past few hours, but had otherwise sat and quietly reading the book in her hands. "Think you can convince her Nobooru? I'm not sure I'm getting anywhere..."
"No surprise there." She snorted, suppressing a small chuckle, and setting down the book. "Missan, I can vouch for him." She said, rising and moving to her sister's side. "I've been through close to a hundred books in this library since he first showed it to me, and the information in them is all accurate. It fits with his story as well."
For a few minutes, Missan said nothing. She simply walked around the large living quarters, examining the ancient books, the ornate decorations, and the sheer power that seemed to permeate the air. Finally, she heaved a defeated sigh and turned back to Ganondorf, who had once again seated himself and waited quietly for her reply. "Very well Ganondorf Dragmire. I believe you. But there is one final condition to my accepting what you have told me." The young man raised an eyebrow in question, but otherwise said nothing. "I want to see it." She said, moving until she stood opposite him, the large table in the center of the room between them, "I want to see the Triforce of Power. Then I will believe all that you have said tonight as truth."
She expected him to either stumble, and give the farce up, or to smirk and produce the proof with some kind of air of arrogance. She did not expect the oddly somber and unusually serious expression that he now gave her, and judging from the way Nobooru suddenly seemed to stiffen at the sight of him now, Missan realized that she may have made a mistake. "Of all of the ways that you could have asked me to prove myself Missan... you asked of me the one thing that, for the sake of all the Gerudo, I cannot do here... I'm sorry."
"Why not?" Nobooru asked from where she sat, her book set aside and seemingly forgotten, while Missan's eyes narrowed suspiciously at Ganondorf. "I thought you said that the Triforce was 'within you' or something?"
"It is." He nodded, standing up, "But the three Triforce are all still connected. If I reveal my piece, it will resonate with the other two. That would essentially be like posting a giant sign in front of Link that says 'I'm right here! Come and kill me and everyone around me!'" He shook his head, "I will not do that to the Gerudo."
Nobooru tapped her chin in thought. "Ok, how about this..." The other two turned to look at her, "Tomorrow morning, we go out into the desert. We can call it a training exercise, or whatever you'd like Missan. But we go out, until we're a few days out, and far enough from the valley that Link and his lackeys won't be able to trace us back, and you show us there."
Ganondorf smiled and nodded, Missan's eyes narrowed, but at last she nodded as well. "Agreeable, if what you are saying is true, than I thank you for not wishing to put the Gerudo in danger."
"The Gerudo are my people, just as much as they are yours Missan. I may have been raised away from them, but Gerudo blood flows through me, and I will always honor that." Ganondorf crossed to her and extended his hand, "You have my vow on that matter. So, shall we call a truce for the night?"
Missan let out a small chuckle, taking his hand in a firm-gripped shake. "Very well, truce. If only because you have my sister won over to your side." They both grinned wryly before releasing the handshake. "So then, I suppose that I should take my leave and pretend like I never saw this place?" She asked with another chuckle.
"If you'd like." Ganondorf replied with a grin, turning to make his way to the stairs and climb to the next level of the chamber. "Or, if you'd like, I somehow don't think that I'll be sleeping much tonight, so you're welcome to use the bed here and relax a bit. It's entirely up to you." He moved to the chair he had been using before Missan's arival, and sat back down, opening the book he had left there.
Missan turned to Nobooru, who sat smiling up at her with a smug look of triumph on her face. "And you little sister? What are you doing?"
Nobooru chuckled, picking up the book that she had been reading earlier. "I've been learning how to read these languages. They're fascinating, and the things written in some of these books are incredible. I'm staying." She relaxed back into the comfort of the chair she sat in, and opened the book, "But I would take Ganondorf up on that bed offer if I were you, that thing is sinfully comfortable."
Now that she was sure that there was no danger, Missan swiftly changed gears to the 'playful older sister' mode that she usually loved to play. "Ohhh?" She grinned teasingly, suddenly behind her sister and wrapping her arms playfully around her shoulders, "You've spent the night in Ganondorf's bed have you little sister? Do tell..."
Instantly, Nobooru blushed bright scarlet, her skin almost matching the color of her hair. Ganondorf meanwhile chuckled lightly, shaking his head and settling down to read.
The next morning, three cloaked figures exited the valley through the main gate leading towards the deeper desert. They walked in a small line most of the time, Ganondorf leading the way, clearly already having a destination in mind. Hours stretched out as they walked until night finally fell, but the would-be king seemed inclined to continue, seemingly unaffected by the day's march.
"Oye Dragmire," Nobooru finally called out as the sun fully set, "I know that you don't feel exhaustion like us mere mortals, but it's getting late. If you insist on going farther, let's stop for now and get some sleep yeah?"
"Not here." Ganondorf said simply, pointing to a rock formation further ahead. "It's never safe to try and make camp on the open sand. We can stop once we reach the rocks." His words were met with tired groans, but neither woman argued against his logic, and so three hours later, the group collapsed in a small grotto that the rocks had hidden. The little cavern was open to the night sky through a large gap in the rock formation, however there was still enough of a ceiling that there would be plenty of shade during the daytime for any life to hide away from the sun.
"Goddesses..." Missan chuckled to herself mirthlessly. "You are brutal on the march Ganondorf. I haven't had to keep up that kind of pace on the open ground for years."
To his credit, Ganondorf scratched the back of his head, clearly somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry... Used to moving on my own." He smiled sheepishly, "Tell you what, we'll stay here tomorrow and move at night. That should make things slightly easier if nothing else."
His suggestion was eagerly accepted by his companions, who quickly set about putting together a small fire as he prepared a meal. Sometime later, the three of them lay in sleeping bags, gazing up at the starlit sky. Eventually, Missan spoke up, voicing a question that she knew was also on her sister's mind. "Tell me something Ganondorf, where exactly are we going? I know that we're traveling until we're far enough from the Valley that we can't be easily tracked back, but it seemed today like you have somewhere specific in mind."
The young man smiled softly as he traced the various constellations with his eyes. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you picked up on that. You and your sister are perceptive." Tucking his hands behind his head, he continued. "I do indeed have a location in mind, but it's a bit of a surprise. We should be there in about two days or so, if we can keep up a similar pace as we did today."
Nobooru suppressed a shiver at the thought of their brutally efficient trek, they had covered easily forty kilometers. And while that could barely be called an inch in the enormity of the desert's size, it was still an incredible distance for a person to travel by foot. "Must be one hell of a place for you to be so eager to get there." She said dryly.
"You won't be disapointed, I promise." He chuckled lightly at her tone. "Now try to get some sleep. As you mentioned, it's been a long day."
Three long days and nights later saw the three of them cresting a large sand dune just as the sun was beginning to rise. True to his words, the group had rested by day and traveled by night after their first day, but also true to his words, Ganondorf had set a hard, fast pace for most of their journey, clearly eager to reach their destination.
At the top of the dune, Nobooru let out a loud groan as she took in the vista before her. "Nope." She said, slumping to the sand beneath her. "Nope! I'm done. There's no where that we'll be able to stop and sleep anywhere near here. And we're in the goddess damned Spirit Wastes! Why the hell did you drag us into the freaking Spirit Wastes Dragmire!?"
Ganondorf chuckled, casting his gaze around, searching for something. "I'm actually impressed you noticed." he said with a smile as Missan sat down beside her sister, "Not many people can really tell when they're in the Spirit Wastes. Not until it's too late anyways."
"Yeah well most people don't have to deal with Poe spirit's trying to drag them away while their so called guide is a fucking juggernaut on the move!" Ganondorf simply smirked, causing Nobooru to glare even harder. "Oh screw you Dragmire. Why the hells are we even out here in the middle of fucking nowhere anyways?"
He allowed himself another moment or two to smirk before turning and pointing out across the valley of sand below the dune upon which they stood. "You see those rock formations?"
Nobooro looked, finally noticing that there was a long line of rocks that seemed to form a long half-circle, probably about a half mile in diameter at it's widest point. "Yeah. So what? I can tell even from here that those things won't give us any cover. They probably only come up to my chest at the highest."
"Maybe now." He said, taking a step down the dune, "But they weren't always so." Nobooru and Missan glanced at each other confused. "This is where I wanted to bring you. This is where I will show you the Triforce of Power." He took another step, "It's been centuries since I last cut loose with this power...I'm actually looking forward to it."
He walked a few steps more, unfastening the glove on his right hand as he moved. Once he was a few meters from the two women, he stopped, bringing his fist up and holding it before his eyes. It was then that Missan noticed the wind. It seemed to be blowing inwards, towards Ganondorf, swirling around him like some vortex. It started lightly at first, but within a minute the mighty desert wind howled around him like a hungry beast, begging it's master for a scrap of food.
Ganondorf was unmoving, his eyes closed and fist held before himself like some powerful statue. And then he began to glow. The gleam of red began from the back of his right hand, where the sisters could just barely make out the sigil of the triforce just before the light grew so bright that they needed to avert their eyes. He raised his fist above his head, the wind seeming to move with it, and then with a roaring cry, he took one final step, and punched.
The world exploded. Nobooru and Missan were knocked over, sand hurling itself away from the unbridled might of the living incarnation of the Goddesses' Power. Across Hyrule, the earth shook and trembled in fear and awe at the demonstration. It rose into the air in a massive torrent, erupting forth like some kind of hurricane, of which he was the eye.
Within Link's throne room, the tyrant of Hyrule howled in pain as the Triforce burned against his left hand like a brand. Guards rushed to their kings side, only to be thrown away by waves of force that seemed to wash off him like the tide. "I know where he is!" The king screamed to the heavens. "I can feel him again!"
In a wooded copse somewhere between Castle City and the Desert, a masked traveler shrieked in sudden surprise as a blue light streamed from beneath their clothing. Shiek slumped forward after a moment, bringing herself back under control. "Ganondorf... what are you up to now?"
Back in the desert, Nobooru and Missan had to dig their way clear of the sand that had been thrown across them like a blanket. As they emerged blinking into the light of day again and looked around, their eyes seemed to bulge out of their skulls. Where before, there had been sand stretching endlessly before them, broken only by the line of a rock formation, now, almost as though some colossal titan had reached down and scooped out the sand, there was a deep, walled valley. What they had thought to have been just a long semi-circle of rocks was in fact the tops of a steep cliff edge that ran the length of the valley's perimeter. And there, at the far end...
"I-is... is that...?" Missan tried to ask, her voice catching in her throat as she witnessed something that had been considered legend in her grandmother's grandmother's time.
"It is." Ganondorf said with a smile as he turned back to face them both. "Missan, Nobooru, Welcome to the Gerudo Spirit Temple."