Chapter Twenty-One
Shad
It seemed everywhere he went, he was met by death and destruction, by suffering and anguish. The Gerudo had burned every village between Castle Town to Ordon to the ground, leaving families homeless, starving, and grieving for those who had been lost in the fires. Yet only a few had been willing to trust him, to go and join the Resistance. It had seemed as though Ganondorf's forces had snuffed out what little hope had remained.
He made his way toward Kakariko Village, though he doubted the Demon King would have allowed it to remain standing. Link had had too many ties to the place, after all. Still, the village lay at the foot of Death Mountain, and only a fool would have dared challenge the Gorons. He hoped he could win them over; their size alone would prove to be a huge advantage to the Resistance.
It was getting late, and his feet ached from the long journey, though he still had many miles ahead of him. He walked a bit further until he saw a campfire burning nearby. Only when he was certain the people surrounding the fire were not Ganondorf's forces, did he approach them. "Excuse me," he spoke as he approached the group, a man, his wife, and their three children. "Do you have room for one more around your fire?"
The man looked Shad over, no doubt trying to decide if the scholar posed a threat or not. "Are you a soldier?" he asked, his voice deep and gruff. Shad shook his head in reply. "I suppose so, then." Gratefully, Shad sat, keeping a fair distance from the man's wife and children, not wanting to pose a threat. "Damn soldiers have been robbing everyone blind lately. They were supposed to be defending us, and now they're off fighting for the new king."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Shad spoke softly and stared into the fire. He never would have dreamed Hyrule's army would change loyalties so quickly, though he did know many of the soldiers to be cowardly. No doubt they changed sides to keep their lives.
"Even the Princess betrayed us," the man shook his head and handed Shad some water, which the scholar drank gratefully.
"How so?" Shad frowned in confusion. He did not know the woman personally, but from the ways Auru and Link had described her, he found it doubtful that she would have betrayed her people, unless it was to keep them safe, or at least safer than they were currently.
"She's marrying the son of a bitch," the man sighed, and Shad felt his blood run cold. Surely the princess would not be so stupid as to marry such a cruel man. It would be her way of declaring him to be a legitimate ruler, and the Usurper was the farthest thing from a legitimate ruler... "Anyway, enough talk of politics," the man sighed. "You must be exhausted. Get some rest."
"Thank you," Shad sighed and slept on the ground, a bit further from the fire than the others. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, but his sleep was restless at best. He needed to act faster, to recruit more people. If Zelda married Ganondorf, then all hope was lost, and he could not allow that to happen. He and his friends had worked far too hard for far too long to allow Hyrule to fall so easily.
Morning came all too soon, and though not rested, Shad thanked the family who had shared their campsite, and continued on his way to Kakariko Village.
The sight that greeted him was not a pretty one. He had seen the village immediately after the Twilight Invasion, seen the destruction that had plagued the once great settlement. And yet that had been nothing compared to what stood, or rather did not stand, before him. Buildings had been reduced to nothing but ash and rubble. Blood covered the street running through the village. Eldin's spring had been all but destroyed.
Feeling sick to his stomach, Shad stepped through the village, grateful at least that he had yet to see the bodies of Renado, Luda, or the Ordon children. Taking a deep, shaky breath, he made his way toward the foot of Death Mountain, hoping beyond hope that the Gorons would see reason, that they would help defeat the Usurper, that they would help end this nightmare.