Ganondorf had also arrived in the nesting cavern, but he had come by choice, not because he had been captured. He was currently chewing on a tunnel bird bone that he had killed for dinner while searching for the others.
"Tch. Stupid heroes can't even defeat a few birds. Am I the only one who can actually do anything around here? I mean seriously-"
"Perhaps you should just abandon them."
"Shut up. I need them"
"That's silly. You only need them if you use the triforce seal. If you just defeat Muerte, it won't be a problem."
Ganondorf almost replied but then he realized he was talking to himself and shut up. The voices were getting worse again, and he knew it wasn't going to take long before he went entirely mad. His skin was already taking on a sickly tinge. He wondered how much it would speed up if he actually used gerudo sorcery; he actually almost tested it before realizing it was insanity talking.
Ganondorf sighed and rubbed his forhead, the triforce catching his eye as he did. He never had figured out how he got that. It had just appeared when the sages tried to execute him. He wondered if it was related to his insanity somehow. He shook his head, it didn't matter.
Suddenly, something caught the gerudo's eye. It was a stripe of obsidian. It ran up a nearby pillar. Hadn't Zelda said that the obsidian led them here? Ganondorf examined the pillar.
It was identical to the others (not including the obsidian stripe), except that this pillar was huge. The bird that would nest there would be enormous! And if this temple was like those of Hyrule, then the item would have a guardian.
Ganondorf grinned. So maybe the sages weren't total idiots.
Itzal sighed "I suppose I better search for Ganondorf now. Not that I would mind missing his presence for a while longer, but we probably need him."
Zelda nodded "I suppose. Thanks Itzal."
"No need sheikah. I'm already here."
Zelda and Itzal spun around to find Ganondorf standing between the pillars behind them, three bird carcasses slung over his back.
He smirked at their expressions "Hoping I was dead? Sorry to disappoint, but those little feathered freaks can't even scratch me." He tossed the dead birds to Itzal. He caught them, but not without quite some difficulty
"Itzal is it? If I have any talent in remembering voices, you were previously known as Cover."
Itzal nodded, sitting back down while trying not to drop any of the birds. Ganondorf strode over and plopped down on the opposite side of the fire.
"The birds got the twili and her puppy I see. Are they dead?"
Zelda shook her head "Injured."
"Anything permanent?"
Zelda shook her head again.
"How long will it take for them to heal?"
"They should be ready by morning."
Ganondorf nodded "I found the item. I'll show you in the morning. Roast yourself up some bird; I already ate so I'm going to sleep."
Before either of them could reply, Ganondorf was snoring. He hadn't even bothered to lie down.
Ganondorf was in a river, floating on the top like a piece of driftwood. He turned his head up, trying to see where he was. He was back in the gerudo desert, and the entire tribe was at the banks. They were drinking the water. He tried to shout out that it was poisoned, but he couldn't speak. They drank it, and then died, right before his eyes. Their bloated corpses fell into the water and floated past him, the eyes staring at him accusingly. But they kept drinking. Ganondorf tried to move, tired to warn them. And then there was only one Gerudo left, and his legs worked. He sprinted over to her, grabbing her hands and stopping her from drinking. "poison." She turned her face up to him, and it was Nabooru. She laughed and plunged the sage's sword into his chest. A dagger plunged into him from behind, and Ganondorf turned to see Chariton laughing at him from behind. Ganondorf felt his right hand heat up and suddenly they were the ones below his dagger. It was both of them at the same time. Utter revenge. And then it was Zelda under his dagger. Blood was flowing from her mouth like a river, but she was smiling at him. "I guess I was wrong. We won't ever be friends."
Ganondorf woke with a jolt, panting. He scowled at himself "That was stupid. You will kill them when the time comes. You have to kill them or they will kill you."
So why did it keep echoing in his head? Why did he feel so horrified by Zelda's blood-stained face? He shook his head and stood up. He didn't need them as companions. The only people that didn't think of gerudo as scum, no matter how much they acted otherwise, were other gerudo. He had learned that long ago.
He stood up and stared off at the edge of the cave. Somehow, the cave had day and night just as it did outside. It wasn't quite dawn yet, but he could see the outline of the tallest pillar.
He didn't need them, he could get the item on his own.
He left them, all dozing next to the campfire. He wasn't going to become like them. Like Link, who was a weakling without help, too much of a weakling to have defeated him. Like Zelda, who always had depended on others to save her, and couldn't save herself. No, he wouldn't become like them. He was Ganondorf, and he needed no companions.
Perhaps he would find use for them later, but he would use them as tools, and use them as little as possible.
Ganondorf nodded and set off for the pillar. He was Ganondorf, and he needed no companions.