Ganondorf pulled up a chair and sat down, facing the prisoner.
A missing finger and several broken ribs later, the man was still steadfast in his silence. He took deep, jagged breaths, wincing deeply as a Gerudo bound his hand. The large iron rod to her left was still hot from sealing the wound.
Seeing an opportunity, Ganondorf picked up the iron, watching its red tip release smoke.
"You surprise me," he said to the prisoner, "most would have given in by now. But you're protecting something, aren't you?"
The man simply glared at Ganondorf with his open eye, his arm twitching. The Gerudo soldier finished wrapping his hand and stood, bowing to her king before leaving the cell. She closed the door on the two men and walked away.
"As commendable as that is," the King of Thieves waved the pointed iron back and forth, "people with something to protect often have the most to lose."
He waited for a reply, but none came.
"Alright," he stood up, gesturing with the hot iron, "clearly you haven't been given enough incentive to talk. I'll tell you what I know, and you'll fill in the rest."
The man spat at Ganondorf's feet.
"One," the Gerudo king slammed the burning iron against the young man's arm. Over his screams, Ganondorf continued, "you're called Avin."
The man writhed on the ground, clutching his scorched arm with his bandaged hand.
"Two," the iron was pressed against the man's other arm, "you hail from Kakariko Village."
"Nayru!" the man shouted, lying flat on the ground and twitching in pain.
Ganondorf paused, amused.
Fighting to breathe, Avin watched his captor in fury, "Rot... in the fourth hell... you bastard."
"Three," Ganondorf held the iron above Avin's face, amusement gone, "you somehow acquired an ocarina belonging to the Forest Sage."
Without warning, he pulled back and thrust the iron through the prisoner's shoulder. The Hylian screamed as the point clunked off the rock floor. A soft crackling noise accompanied the smell of burning flesh. Running out of air, Avin gasped against his broken ribs, pulling weakly at the iron rod.
"Now," Ganondorf sat in his chair, leaning back, "this is the part where you tell me what I ask of you."
He waited a moment, and took the silence as a positive answer.
"Where did you get the ocarina?"
"Traded.. for... it..." Avin rasped, "the bottle man... wanted fish..."
Ganondorf snorted, "And where did he get it?"
"Don't... know... Castletown..."
"I have to say," laughed the Gerudo king, "this would all be more convincing if you hadn't held out for so long."
"... Truth..."
"No, it isn't. But I am willing to negotiate. I'll find another sharp object to impale you with and you'll tell me where you really got it. Deal?"
Fast footfalls echoed from the main complex, causing Ganondorf to turn toward the inner door. A Gerudo guard rushed into the room, panting. She saluted hastily.
"What is it," Ganondorf stood.
"My lord, word of the Hero and the Sheikah."
"Well?"
She leaned on her spear to steady herself, "Rider just arrived with the news. They escaped, but the Sheikah is injured. The Hero is following him to Kakariko now."
Ganondorf laughed explosively.
The Gerudo guard took a step back.
The Thief King waved her dismissal. She bowed and left. Ganondorf turned to his captive, still laughing. He calmed himself as he watched Avin's terrified face.
"I'm sure you realize," the tyrant smiled, "the exact beauty of this coincidence."
Avin said nothing, but groaned in pain and anguish.
"I think," Ganondorf let himself out of the cell, shutting the door on the bleeding Hylian, "I'll leave you be for now. A healer will be sent in later to attend to you. I want you in perfect condition. We'll be going over your story again at a later date."
He locked the cell and tossed the keys across the room, "Meanwhile, I think I'll greet the Hero and his friend personally."
Link squinted as the sunlight glanced off his sword. The grass-covered ledge behind the store was deserted, as was the fenced-in yard beneath.
"Well," Navi said.
Link took an extra look around to make sure the shopkeeper was gone. He peered over the edge of the overhang. A chicken gazed stupidly back up at him.
He lowered his sword, "Where did he go?"
"Down there?"
"Navi, I just looked---"
"No, I mean, that hole."
Link watched Navi fly to the spot and hover above it.
A small round hole in the ground was just visible from where he stood on the precipice. Somewhere in his misty memory, a past notion came to life. He remembered a hiding place, a cave with a clear spring and warm air.
He slid down the ladder, pausing to allow Navi to grab onto his hair before he leapt into the dark opening.
The fall was short and he landed on his toes, rolling forward to crouch with his sword drawn before him.
"Er..."
Once again, there was no one there.
Link stood up as Navi floated into the small opening before them. She circled it, then flitted back to his shoulder.
"Alright, so I was wrong," she groaned, "and now we're in a cave."
"If I had a rupee for every time---"
"Oh, shut up."
Link sheathed his sword, "Then again, there wasn't anywhere else for him to have gone."
"Like I said."
The Hero stepped into the dim cavern, looking it over. It hadn't changed at all in seven years. He could just remember falling down the hole for the first time and making a less-than-graceful landing.
He moved to the wall of the cave and leaned against it, feeling the cool moisture against his back. His eyes drifted over the cave floor.
"Wait," he leaned down, looking at the edge of a pool of water.
A very large footprint was impressed into the muddy dirt. It was pointing toward the wall where Link stood. Navi darted from his shoulder.
"I was right!" she squealed.
Link turned around and evaluated the wall behind him. He pressed a pointed ear to the wet rock, listening for any footfalls.
Instead, he could just make out a long, harrowing scream.
He jerked his head away from the wall.
"What?" Navi hovered over him.
"Re-dead," he answered, reaching for his sword and digging through his travel bag.
"Okay... how do we get through the wall, genius?"
Link hooked his thumbs over his belt and appraised the thickness of the rock face, "I could always blow it up."
"Wait, look."
She flew into the darkness far above and brushed aside several mossy cobwebs. Her light revealed a symbol carved into the rock. An eye within a triangle gazed down on Link.
"That... makes no sense," he stared back at it, "how could the shopkeeper have made it through here that quickly?"
"Maybe it was already open," Navi snapped, "shoot it already."
He made a frustrated noise and ripped his bow from its place on his back, grasping an arrow with his fingertips. In one motion he notched and fired. A tiny metal plate fell forward to cover the stone eye, cutting the arrow in two.
The cavern wall shook slightly as the hidden door swung toward Link.
Another scream rang deafeningly in his ears, and as the door opened fully, he found himself staring into the empty eye sockets of a re-dead.
Link felt his blood turn frigid and found his vision transfixed. He heard Navi yelling at him, but over the low moaning of the corpse, the sound was alien. He urged his body to move as the dead creature shuffled closer and closer.
His mind finally registered the command, and he jumped sideways, out of the path of the monster. He drew his sword and rushed at the beast from behind, slicing it neatly in two. The thing's body melted into a puddle of dark blood as a death rattle echoed.
There was a long silence.
"Too close," Link muttered.
"Link, if that man went in there..."
He watched the dark tunnel for a moment, listening for any more sounds of re-dead. Not hearing anything, he moved forward.
Navi darted ahead to light the way.
"If he's in here, Navi," Link felt the charge of magic pulsing nervously through his hands, "we're going to find him."
"If you say so."
Zelda walked through the darkness alone. She knew Link was there, and she had to warn him. She had to tell him to go back.
"It's not safe here!" she cried into the blackness.
The only answer was a dull moaning noise. Still blind to all but herself, Zelda moved toward the sound.
"Are you hurt?"
No reply, but more moaning. It was a man, and he was in pain. Zelda quickened her pace, running across the abyss toward the sound. Her dress was too long, and began to trip her. She let her feet tear it as it caught on her shoes.
A shape became visible in the dark, a man hunched over. Something glinted on his head.
"Father?!" Zelda gasped, stumbling over the tattered hem of her gown, "Father, what are you doing here?! It's not safe, you have to go back!"
She reached his side and saw that he was trembling.
"Father..." she began, but was halted by shock as she saw the deep crimson of blood spreading across his tunic. A wound in his chest was bleeding unceasingly, drops of red running down to his hands and his royal robes.
"No..." she held his shoulders.
He looked up at her with a pale, drawn face. His eyes were unfocused. As he leaned toward her, the Hylian Circlet slid from his head and clanged loudly against the black floor.
"Zelda..." he breathed.
"Father," she began to cry, "Papa, no..."
He breathed out again, and his body went still. Zelda held him at arm's length for a moment longer, not wanting to believe...
The king's face twisted rapidly into a bizarre grimace. His skin darkened and warped, his flesh thinning beneath Zelda's grip. The princess screamed and moved back as her father's frame became bent and recognizable. His golden-grey hair began to fall away in clumps, and his lips peeled back to reveal pointed teeth.
His face jerked down, then back up at Zelda.
"No... Papa..." she whimpered, crawling backwards.
But she was looking at the featureless mask of a re-dead.
She awoke with a jolt and grasped her side in pain, looking wildly around.
Impa was above her, hushing her.
"You were dreaming, child," the Sheikah whispered, "nothing but a dream."
Trying to control her breathing, Zelda glanced around her. They were in the hidden cavern beneath Kakariko Cemetery. The blue walls and silver columns glistened with moisture in the dim firelight.
Impa reached a hand to Zelda's face, brushing away tears Zelda hadn't felt.
"I was dreaming..." the princess winced, "about my father."
"I gathered as much."
"I..." she shifted her weight a little, "I don't feel quite as..."
"I gave you another dose of the potion. Your wound has healed considerably."
Zelda watched Impa through tired eyes, "How long have I been asleep?"
"Several hours."
A pause allowed Zelda to hear the dripping of water elsewhere in the room.
"Zelda."
"Yes."
Impa regarded her with a sadness in her eyes, "I'm sorry."
"It was just a dream."
"... Of course."
Nabooru was pacing the throne room. She had seen Ganondorf do the same on many occasions, and felt she was entitled to try it at least once.
Running her fingers through her red hair, she glanced at the warped throne. She smiled suggestively at it, picturing Ganondorf's grin.
"Oh, but my lord," she whispered sweetly, "I could not think of ruling beside you."
She let the echo absorb the statement. Then she flipped her ponytail over her shoulder, laughing.
"I'd much rather do it alone," she said, sweetness gone. She held up her hand, looking over the gold rings and bracelets Ganondorf had given her.
All of this was to keep her happy, she knew, until he could kill her. She wouldn't give him the chance. She flicked a tiny switch on her bracelet, and a minute knife slid into her fingertips.
She toyed with it, and considered flinging it at the throne. She lifted her arm, aiming for the imaginary face of the man who had enslaved her people.
She was about to throw the knife when a rider from Gerudo Valley sprinted into the room and collapsed at her feet. Nabooru stepped back, horrified.
"What in the four hells are you---"
"My lady," the rider gasped for air, "urgent message from Lord Ganondorf."
Nabooru glared down at the woman, "What message?"
"He says---" the young woman swallowed to steady herself, "he says you are to search Kakariko Village for members of the resistance."
"Again?"
"Yes, my lady. Again."
"Hmm," Nabooru lifted the rider's chin with her foot, "that means he knows something I don't."
She considered for a moment, then leaned down and offered the young Gerudo her hand. The rider took it graciously.
"Come," Nabooru waved at her, "you'll rest while my guard and I do as the King ordered."
They walked out of the throne room, equals for the moment.
Within half an hour, Nabooru and her twenty elite fighters were assembled on horseback outside the castle. Clouds were gathering across the sun. The drawbridge was extended, and the dark thoroughbreds raced down over the black cobblestone.
As her steed began to run ahead of the others, Nabooru reflected that the townspeople of Kakariko had no way to prepare for her attack. She imagined them running and screaming, trapped in their valley. She began to smile.