Chapter Five - Plans

It was the middle of the day at the Gerudo fortress and everything was playing out as usual. The classes for the children were going on while the adults carried out theirs orders whether it be guard duty or kitchen duty. A small band of raiders exited the stables mounted on theirs steeds and headed down the slope towards the valley that would lead them to Hyrule Field. As soon as they departed, a group of girls left the fortress with an adult in the lead. They carried with them each a wooden sword. Following their teacher, they all hiked up the slope that led to the Training Grounds. Along the way, they passed another group of teenage girls who had just completed their day's training.

Once at the summit, the girls fanned out into a line in front of a tent where a middle-aged woman sat. The teacher came up beside her and faced the girls. For a moment, they all remained silent and still. Then the middle-aged woman stood up and came into the sunlight. She looked the girls over and nodded. "Welcome to the Training Grounds, girls," she said. "I am Uru and I will be your teacher of basic weaponry." She continued with a brief lecture on the history of sword fighting and archery. It was made clear that the two took hard work and practice—mixed with determination—to be great.

Among the girls, Ashekha stood. She was now of seven years. Though still young, the Gerudo children were bright and smart. Today was their first lesson in weaponry and Ashekha was immensely excited within. She listened eagerly as Miss Uru spoke more about the basics of swordsmanship. After a few moments, the girls were told to examine their wooden swords. They felt the heaviness of the wood and how hard it was. These were their practice swords for now until they learned how to properly use them.

"Now," said Miss Uru, "We will learn a basic technique called a thrust. Just hold your sword in hand like so, pull back with your elbow bent, then thrust it straight forward." She demonstrated as she spoke, her wooden sword flashing forward without wavering. The girls all watched in amazement. "Now, I want you all to try it on the count of three."

The girls gripped their swords tightly.

"One, two, three!"

At once, all the girls thrust their swords forward. Being their first time, some of them were clumsy at it. Miss Uru nodded despite that fact and said, "Good." For the remainder of the class, she worked with each girl individually in front of the others and helped them with some basic techniques. Once that was completed, the girls were told to go back to the fortress and clean off in time for dinner.

Along the way down the slope, Ashekha made conversation with her friends. They talked about their lesson and also on the plans they had for the rest of the day. But within minutes, they were rudely interrupted. "Hey, nice thrust there, Rikka," said a voice.

They turned and saw a girl with short red hair walk alongside them. Rikka sighed aloud. "Shut up, Osayer," she said.

"Oh what's the matter? Can't take a compliment?"

Ashekha found Osayer's voice to be annoying. Y'kana spoke up, "It wasn't a compliment, Ozzy. We can tell."

"You losers always think I'm being mean to you," said Osayer with her snobbish attitude.

The girl walking with Osayer nodded. "Yeah, it's true," she said.

"No one asked you, Filfil," Y'kana sighed.

"I'm just trying to stick up for my friend, you know. Gosh…"

"Well your friend is being a pain," said Ashekha, "So why don't you take her somewhere and give her a lesson in manners?"

"Excuse me?" Osayer said, shocked.

"Oh by all means, please do!"

"Listen here, Ashekha. You think you're so clever, but really you're not."

"Well thanks for that, Ozzy." Ashekha smiled sarcastically and waved to Osayer before picking up the pace with her friends.

Osayer and Filfil slowed their pace, watching the girls walk off. They glared, obviously angry. Filfil scoffed aloud. "Who do they think they are? They're so mean to us."

"Yeah, really," Osayer nodded. "But don't worry, Filly. One day we'll get back at them."

Ganondorf walked down the hallway with his second in command leaders following. They came to his chambers and he pushed open the door, promptly telling the guards within to leave. With a bow, the guards exited the room and closed the doors. The king walked over to his desk and sat down, leaning one elbow against the armrest with his hand rubbing his right temple. Nabooru and Uganguzi each sat at a corner of his desk. They both waited for him to speak first. After a moment of silence, he finally uttered words. "We're running out of time," he said. "It has to be done soon or else this entire plan of ours may fail."

Nabooru watched his face. He was under great stress. "Have you already spoken to the king yet?"

He shook his head. "No, not yet."

"Then you may want to do that before you worry about the Sheikah."

"Yes, I'm aware of this, Nabooru."

"Then sire, please, you must take action."

Ganondorf pounded a fist on the wooden desk, causing a loud thud. "Do you take me for a fool?! I know that I must be swift in my movements!" He paused, calming himself down again. "My problem is that I cannot locate this Sheikah village. Even with all my magical talents, I just cannot find it. These Sheikah tribes excel in the use of magic and so I am at a disadvantage."

Uganguzi spoke next. "Do you have any leads?"

"Yes, I've found signs in the forests near Lake Hylia that it has inhabitants, but I just cannot seem to find the actual village. Now, if I could only find it, things could go more quickly. I dare not confront the king of Hyrule until I have the upper hand. If I have a strong grip on whether his family's guardians live or die, then I can control him."

"But what if that doesn't work?" Nabooru asked.

"Then unfortunately I'll have to kill him as well."

There was a pause.

Uganguzi spoke up again. "So would you desire me to lead a band to locate this hidden Sheikah village?"

"All searches have been in vain… I don't know if we can ever find it."

An idea suddenly struck Nabooru. "What about Umtoh?" Ganondorf and Uganguzi both looked up at her. "Does she know anything?"

Ganondorf sat there, amazed. "Well… I don't know. I never thought to ask her." Deep inside, he felt stupid for not thinking of that from the start. Silently he cursed himself.

"Well perhaps you should ask her. She may be the only key to finding this place."

"Yes, I believe you are right." He shifted his position, resting his elbows and lower arms on the desk. "I'll speak with her shortly. Now, once we take out the Sheikah, I will make my journey to Hyrule Castle and go before the king. If he refuses my act of allegiance, then we know the time is short and we must make all haste to take him out. If, by some chance, he were to fall for my act, then we have some time bought to possibly revise our plans. But remember that the main goal is to take over Hyrule. If we can do that, then we can control any other land within Hyrule. We will be the ones in power."

Nabooru nodded. She wasn't really too fond of the idea to rule all of Hyrule, but she dared not speak against her king. Uganguzi felt the same way. After a moment, Ganondorf sat back in his chair, more relaxed. He seemed confident. "Are there any questions, ladies?" he asked.

"No, sire," said Uganguzi.

"Very well then. You may be on your way. Send Umtoh to me when you see her."

The two sisters bowed before exiting the chamber.

As the day wore on, Ashekha began to feel bored. She decided to spend some time away from her friends for awhile. Even at the age of seven, she enjoyed some alone time. She sat up on her bunk in her room, humming quietly to herself while her hands tampered with a piece of white cloth. She had learned recently to sew in one of her classes. While she was eager about it, she had tried her own little project of making a handkerchief. With some of the cloth she used during class, she took it back to her room and had turned it into something beautiful. Using some embroidering skills, she used blue thread to make a border along the edges, then put words in the center. They read: Life is a gift. Receive it. Lately she had been thinking of her life so far and came to realize that life was precious. She cherished every moment with her friends and her foster mother. Life was good. She even spoke to one of the elders about her thoughts. It was where she got the phrase "life is a gift." It stuck.

She sat in her bunk, finishing the last of the embroidering. Once done, she examined her work and smiled, content. The real question now was what to do with it. She figured she'd hold onto it for awhile. After surveying the handkerchief, she stuffed it under he pillow and retrieved her lan flute. Her music classes had been more focused on instruments now and she had chosen the flute.

Catching on quickly, she learned a few tunes and began to explore with others. There were a few melodies she composed herself, but they were nothing grand. She lay down on her bunk, her head resting against the fluffy pillow, and she began to play a song on her flute. It was among the bouncy, upbeat tunes with a folksy feel to it. Her foot tapped the bed some with the beat as she played.

After a moment, a voice sounded from the door behind her. "Hey, what's all that noise?"

Ashekha quickly sat up and turned to look. She relaxed when she saw it was only Y'kana. "You scared me for a second there."

Y'kana giggled and came inside the room. "Sorry. I heard you down the hall and so I thought I'd come by to see what you were doing."

"I was just sitting here, playing my lan flute…"

"Obviously."

"…and sort of wondering about my real mother."

"Oh… You never knew her, did you?"

Ashekha shook her head.

"Well what do you wonder about her?" Y'kana climbed up into the bed with her friend and sat across from her.

"I don't know. Everything." Ashekha fiddled idly with her flute. "I like to think of what she looked like and how she acted. I even try to imagine what her voice sounds like."

Y'kana nodded. "Well I'm positive she was a really nice lady. I mean, look how you are! Don't kids usually act like their parents or something?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Then you have nothing to worry about," and she smiled. "You're probably just like your mother and you don't even realize it!"

Ashekha smiled thinking of that. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Ashekha, please," Y'kana said in her pretend bragging voice. "It's me. Of course I'm right!"

Both girls laughed aloud, then Ashekha said, "Thanks for cheering me up."

"No problem," Y'kana replied. "I don't want you to feel sad. I'll do what I gotta to make you smile."

Ashekha nodded and grinned.

"So… How about we get outta here now and find something to get in trouble for?"

"Sure, why not."

The two then hopped down from the bunk and headed out into the hallway.

After dinner that night, several cloaked figures traveled down the hallways of the fortress, Ganondorf at the lead. They were almost silent as they made their way. Most of the Gerudo had all gone to bed by then, so there were little to none roaming the halls. The cloaked individuals exited the central entrance and began crossing the grounds to the stables. They quietly mounted their horses and set off into the night, a full moon lighting their way. The hoofbeats were faint as the riders tried hard not to make much noise. But within minutes, the horses were out of sight and heading towards Hyrule Field.

A solitary figure standing at the balcony watched as the riders departed. She sighed softly and drew her cape about her in the cool of the evening. She knew that when the riders returned, things would most likely be chaotic.