Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda or any of the concepts from Inuyasha that I have put in this ficcie!

Ocarina of Time: The Three Goddesses Reincarnated

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Gerudu Desert

"No." Tessa grumbled as Maegan, Kristen, and Danielle tugged her arms forcefully.

"Come on! It'll be fun! You'll see Aaron!" Maegan tried to convince her. Tessa raised her eyebrow.

"I haven't seen him since last…er…winter…?" Tessa thought about it. Danielle rolled her eyes.

"Jeez, you're such a lazy bum." Kristen growled at Tessa, who glared back. "Just because you've been sick is no reason not to go to another town and hang out with our Wheatland friends!"

"But…but…but…" Tessa scrambled for any excuse to get out of it. She had promised Link that she'd come back after about a week of catching up in school. It was a completely miserable week, but she did get caught up. Now it was Saturday and her friends were trying to take her to see her faraway friends. Well, the town that was four hours away by car.

"Tessa, I'm sure Aaron and the others would be glad to see you." Sarah said from her sideline spot, Garry stood next to her, and James next to him. Along with them were Michaela, Chelsie, Caleb, and Alexis. It was the whole forenics team that Tessa got along with last year, but Tessa simply couldn't go with them.

"I can't, I still have a lot to catch up on." Tessa muttered.

"You can take a day off, after all you work too hard when you actually get your work." James grinned. Tessa glared at him.

"HAH! You don't have your parents on your case, simply because…" Tessa trailed off. She had almost blurted out about the whole world-travelling experience. "Simply because I'm sick a lot."

"You're lazy." Kristen muttered again. Tessa wanted to punch her in the face for saying that.

'Lazy?' Tessa thought. 'She doesn't have to help save an entire world from the dark side of power and protect the actual hero at the same time, with Goddesses breathing down her neck!' Tessa then thought about what she just said. "Haha, I wonder if Ganondorf is the Darth Vader of Hyrule…" Tessa stated out loud, not realizing she had done so.

"Tessa, what are you talking about?" Alexis asked. Tessa froze up, and began to laugh nervously.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. I'm just…talking gibberish!" Tessa laughed nervously some more. Her friends gave her looks like she was crazy, and shook their heads. Then, an idea popped up into Tessa's mind. She pictured the bloodied, dismembered hand and the eyeball which had begun to ooze blood and was split in half. Bile rose up and she forced her friends out of the way.

It was not a pretty sight.

"Oh…god…" Tessa groaned, not having to act because hurling was an unpleasant experience, with or without expecting it. "I'm sick again…" Her friends gasped, and huddled around her.

"We have to get her home!" A lot of other similar sentences were phrased, and Tessa simply went along with it.

'Haha, suckers…' She laughed in her mind. A lot of her felt bad about doing it, but her own pleasure and free time could be sacrificed to save another world from doom, right? When Ganondorf was defeated, she'd definitely make up for all of the lost time, but for now she'd just have to skip out on her friends, school, and other fun activities.

In no time, they had dropped her off, said goodbye, and headed to Wheatland. They promised to give her a picture of her Wheatland friends when they saw her next, and Tessa just nodded. Her mom stood behind her after a moment.

"You do realize you're losing touch with this world, don't you?" Susan stated. Tessa turned around to look at her mom.

"…Yeah. In a way I am." Tessa sighed. "It's just…I feel like I am a part of Hyrule's destiny, whatever it is, and I have to help see that world prevail in it's time of hope against Ganondorf." Tessa smiled somewhat weakly at her mother. "When it's all over, I'll regain what I had here in this world, but there's only one temple left, and then we have to fight Ganondorf. I'll come home then."

"What if you die?" Susan asked, her eyes showing her worry finally.

"If I die…I die for a bigger cause than something selfish." Tessa smiled. "That's about all I can say about that. I better get my stuff together and go."

Susan watched her daughter leave. Something about her leaving this time didn't feel like it did all of the other times, it was like…Susan sensed something was going to happen to Tessa, but she wasn't sure what. In a way it was her sixth sense, given to her when she became a mother. As Tessa came back, ready in traveling gear with a slightly large back-pack, Susan made sure to hug her.

"Tessa…if you don't come back, just know your family loves you."

Tessa was confused, but hugged her mother back anyway. "I love you too, mom." Then, Tessa left for the shed, and down the well. Susan felt tears stream down her cheeks, and went inside.

On the other side of the well, Tessa climbed out using the rope. Tompton and Epona were already set up for the journey to the desert. Malon and Talon were talking to Link, and they all seemed to be waiting for her. Tessa grinned and walked up, Malon was the first to see her.

"Ready to go?" Malon asked. Tessa nodded, and hitched her bag up on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I can't wait to go to a desert. It's nice and warm in deserts." Tessa grinned. The other three gave each other a look.

"Well, here's the thing. You have to be alert there. The desert is where Ganondorf's tribe resides. The Gerudu. They're a thieving clan made mostly of females, so Ganondorf is a rarity among them, but they're definitely hostile." Talon explained. Tessa nodded.

"Well…we've battled a lot…I'm sure that Link and I will be fine." Tessa said. Link nodded, and they both saw that the other two seemed to relax a little.

"That's true. In any case, just be careful and come home in one piece!" Malon playfully punched Link's shoulder. Tessa laughed, and mounted Tompton. Link got on Epona, and they turned to head out of the ranch.

"Take care!" They shouted, and rode off. Tessa followed Link in the direction completely opposite of Kakariko Village, and the trip continued in silence. It wasn't until dark approached that they made camp and began to cook dinner. Tessa decided to bring some stuff from her world so that Link could taste some more of what her food was like.

"So, what is this?" Link asked as he looked at some round-shaped bread and some meat, with some lettuce and tomato. Tessa giggled.

"It's called a cheeseburger. In fact, it's very popular in my world, and in my opinion very delicious!" Tessa grinned. "Just eat it!"

Link looked at the cheeseburger apprehensively, before taking an experimental bite. He seemed to like it, because he kept on eating it.

While they ate, Tessa thought. They hadn't mentioned the kiss since it had happened, but it was still on Tessa's mind a lot. It had taken her a whole week to figure out that she did like Link in that way, but she didn't know how to bring it about. She studied him for a moment.

'I wonder if I just imagined it…that would be typical.'

"Tessa, what took you so long to get back here?" Link asked curiously. Tessa didn't register the question, but then waited to answer as she chewed.

"A few of my team mates, or friends, wanted to take me to see a few friends in another town called Wheatland. It took me a while to throw them off. I'm sorry if I kept you waiting." Tessa explained. Link shrugged.

"I was just curious."

Silence rang again. It wasn't long before they finished their meals and started to set up a place to sleep. Navi fluttered around slowly as she tried to see what the both of them were doing. She was tired and bored at the same time. It wasn't before long that they went to sleep.

Many of the days continued on like this, but at least conversations were added once in a while. The land became more and more bare and more desert-like, until they found themselves at a broken bridge with a very large drop down into a river ahead of them.

"Oh…that's not good." Tessa stated, and hopped off Tompton. Link dismounted as well and they both looked over the edge, although Tessa only kind of peeped over the edge.

"Don't tell me you're scared of heights as well?" Link asked. Tessa simply nodded.

"I'm terrified of them, actually. There's no good explanation for it, I just am that way." Tessa grinned. "So do you have any ideas as to how to get across this giant…gap…"

Link sat there, and thought. "Epona can jump this…Tompton can't." Link said. Tessa looked horrified.

"You're kidding me." She stated bluntly. Link shook his head.

"Epona is an amazing horse. Although Tompton and you have somewhat of a connection, we can't take her from here on out. We'll have to send her back to the ranch."

"How, pray tell, are we going to do that?"

"Well…unfortunately we'll have to dump the tack. She'll only be inconvenienced by it." Link stated, and unbuckled the girth of the saddle. Tessa went for the bridle, and Tompton was free in no time. Link then gave Tompton a good smack on the rump, and she headed off with a squeal of surprise. "Now we have to get on Epona."

"No." Tessa stated bluntly. "I think I'll follow Tompton back." She gave Epona a wary eye, and started forward. Link grabbed her wrist.

"Come on, now. She won't hurt you. I think she knows you well enough now."

Epona gave a snort, and Tessa gave Link a pointed look.

"I'll tell her to behave!" Link laughed. Tessa grumbled, but Link mounted Epona. He offered Tessa a hand, and she got on behind him. Epona stamped her hoof on the ground. "Epona, live with it." Link sternly told the horse. She simply snorted, but seemed to go along with it.

Then, he turned Epona around and headed back a bit. After that, he faced Epona at the bridge again, and after a moment of hesitation he urged Epona into a straightaway gallop. Epona did so, and soon they were soaring into the air. Tessa had her arms wrapped around Link's chest in fear of her own life, and they touched down on the other side. However the death grip was still on Link.

"Tessa…please let go." Link sighed. Tessa found the courage to bring her head out and look to see if everything was safe, and then slowly let go. She let out a shaky breath.

"I never want to do that again."

"We might have to." Link said. "On the way back."

"Damn…"

And they headed off again, this time officially in the Gerudu desert. It didn't take them long to find a tent, and they stopped by.

"Hello?" Link said from outside the tent. Tessa trailed along behind him, and Epona stood off to the side. A shuffling came from inside, and a very large man appeared. He gave them a hard stare.

"What the hell do you kids want?" He asked, giving them a quick rundown. Tessa glared at him for being called a kid, but Link simply didn't react.

"We're just wondering what a tent would be doing so close to the Gerudu Fortress…and the broken bridge." Link stated bluntly. Tessa continued to glare at the man from behind Link.

"I was here to fix the bridge, but my workers decided that they didn't appreciate the job they had so they decided to become thieves. They're a bunch of idiots if you ask me."

"Uhh…okay." Link shrugged. "We're headed that way, would you like for us to check up on them?"

"You can, doesn't mean I'll give a shit." He said gruffly, then headed back inside of the tent. "Stupid kids."

"Well…he's an asshole." Tessa growled, and got back on Epona. They headed off once again.

The next afternoon they heard shouts and lots of other sounds. Tessa dismounted Epona as Link headed off to see what was up ahead of them. So she waited underneath a rock ledge in the shade for an hour.

Then another hour went by.

And another.

Finally, Tessa got sick and tired of sitting around so she walked in the direction Link headed off to. It seemed to be lined by sandy rock and didn't provide much for shade. Tessa could feel a sunburn start to itch her shoulders, cheeks, and nose, and she got out her canteen. It was almost out of water.

"Figures." Tessa grumbled, and capped it. A few minutes later she came upon a staircase, which she shrugged and headed up. She was greeted by an odd site of many red-headed women in revealing clothes patrolling around, and a large fortress that seemed to be made of sand or something similar.

"Wow." Tessa murmured, as two of the guards headed for her. She was too tired to care that they were pointing their weapons at her, only that the one in front seemed to hold out some water.

"Welcome." She said, in a skeptical voice. "I believe you will make a great addition to our tribe."

End of Chappie

Well, that was honestly a boring chapter for me to write, so I hope the next one is better. Yeah…uhh…so…I'll update as soon as I can! Sayonara!