A/N: Merry Christmas everybody! (a little belatedly but hey, only a day late) Happy Boxing Day (to all my Canadian readers) and Kwanzaa too, because that is actually today too isn't it? So, my answer to last week chapter question would be no, I do not think that all Gerudo Kings would automatically be like Ganondorf. I would not go to the other end of the spectrum and say he would be a sweet overly kind king for the Gerudo's are very proud and strong race, perhaps If I dare say so even the slightest bit greedy because they are thieves, but I think at their core not at all evil or cruel and inherently power hungry. I will get more into my thoughts later when I begin to introduce the Gerudo king in my tale in greater detail. I hope I do not disappoint with this chapter! Merry Christmas again! I wish you all the best.

Storm Dragon Wolf Princess: Yes it indeed would probably have been better if they had decided to follow the advice of the barer of the Triforce of Wisdom. I quite agree with you about the Gerudo king. Pride seems to be a bit of a big thing in their race. XP Thanks for the review!

Scarlet Curls: You totally should, I would definitely read it! The stuff about Gerudos is frustratingly vague and confusing if you ask me DX maybe they will explain themselves better in a later game? Idk Rant all you like for I will join you! XD Thank you!

xXx skytale xXx: well I was trying to go for that XP yes she actually might have. I totally agree with our answer to the question! Thanks!

Yami no Nokutan: yes he shall be revealed for what and who he truly is next chapter. There will be a bit about the others in this chapter. We would not want people to think they have been forgotten. I quite like you thoughts on the matter and the concept of Tay, it's pretty awesome. Thank you!

kokokringles: Hey! Nice to see you again! No worries I do that all the time XP that is so nice to hear that you liked it that much! I have done that also reading to my younger siblings. Thank you for your kind words and review, it means a lot!

Kiridia: thank you for your encouraging words; they were really nice to hear and mean quite alot. I have never really been skilled in the art of writing long chapters XP I do try, but things look much longer in word then they do in fan fiction. I am glad you like it! Thanks again!

Gojira Geek: I think you are right, and I am not sure what is really canon there if there ever was one exactly. XD Thank you!

silverheartlugia2000: I hope it's not too torturous XD thanks for the review, and I think your right about the corruption :)

CupcakePride101: who indeed? XP oh don't worry I was not going to make my Gerudo king like Ganondorf at all really. Ganon has some serious issues if you ask me :P Thanks for the review!

Inescapable Peril

There was no denying the fact that Ashei was tired after her three day trip acting as an emissary to the Zora's of Zora River, but she was not tired enough to keep her from taking the extra time and energy to make the detour to Kakariko Village before she returned to Castle Town. In all honesty, it was several miles out of her way, but she was running ahead of schedule and could hardly pass up a chance to see Rusl. He was still recovering from his injuries in the Shaman of Kakariko's home. Rusl had always been an important well respected figure to her during the Siege of Twilight, but it had not been until this year that he had grown to be almost like an uncle to her. He had always been willing to lend her his support during the turmoil of not too long ago. Though she was busy most of the time covering for Zelda, she still liked to try and find time for him. He was like a father to Link and had taken Link's capture pretty hard, especially since there was nothing he could do to help, injured as he was. She could tell that it helped him whenever she dropped by for one of her occasional visits to include him in the struggles of their cover-up operation. He had helped quite a bit with his input on an issue with farmers not to far back.

As she traveled traversed the canyon village's dusty paths to the Shaman's home, she to a grateful note of the progress of the village's rebuilding process. She dismounted from her borrowed steed and tied him near the village spring. Her knock on the door of the village elder's home was answered immediately by his daughter Luda, who led her to the back room where Rusl was recovering.

"You're lucky you came today, my father said he is well enough to travel to his home in Ordon tomorrow, and his wife is coming to help him get there. You nearly missed him." The young dark-haired girl informed her.

Ashei did not have time to reply for she was greeted by Rusl's weak smile and soft greeting. She ignored the fact that, although he had never had a tendency for being overly animated or boisterous in his manner, a soft spoken nearly muttered greeting had never been his style. He was sitting up in his bed, his left arm in a sling. In an attempt to distract him from whatever dark mood he had gotten himself into, she busied herself with telling him all that had happened on her recent diplomatic meeting with prince Rails of the Zoras and his council she had taken in Zelda's or one of her diplomats stead.

"Things were a bit confused at first because two of prince Rail's men had been suddenly called away on business about a month ago and had not yet returned. Their replacements were a bit green." She added in a conspiratorial tone.

Rusl's face went from its stoic expression of near indifference to a troubled frown. He pushed his body up into a more erect sitting position than he had been in before.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned with his sudden change in demeanor.

"You said some people were missing." It was not a question but a statement of fact. "A day ago Shad came to visit me and mentioned something similar to that happening in Castle Town and, two days previous to that, Zelda's young commander, Kasran, also said something similar when he acted as an emissary to the Gorons. I can pass one incident off as nothing and two perhaps as queer chance, but three times is a coincidence, and I don't believe in coincidences."

"Perhaps several things came up suddenly?" she suggested though she was starting to suspect that something was giving off the scent of a Reekfish.

"Sure," Rusl said, his face deathly serious, "all their mothers suddenly had the misfortune of falling ill simultaneously or perhaps they are all a part of the same vacationing tea group." He looked her square in the eyes, nothing in his expression changing but for the tiniest raising of one eyebrow at her.

"I see your point, yeah?" she said feeling a little dispirited that her idle suggestion could be dismissed so easily. He was right though, she realized, it was too much of a coincidence to pass off as petty chance.

"I would be suspicious if this had happened anytime but, with the threat of Ganondorf, even though you say he is no longer in Hyrule, makes me doubly so. If you did not notice, all the people who have gone suspiciously missing all have one thing in common." He looked to her in question.

"They all hold pretty influential positions of political power." She finished for him. Forget what she had thought earlier, this business was starting to smell worse than a Reekfish, if that was at all possible.

She leaped to her feet, a cold foreboding feeling beginning to grow inside her. "I will look into it immediately."

"Yes, just invite yourself into their tea club, I am sure they would be glad to have you, especially if you offer to care for all their ailing mothers." She could see that faint smile rise on his features again.

"I was planning on being subtle about it, you know. I do have some sense of cleverness about me, yeah?" she said as she shook her head gently a grin rising to her own lips. "Now I know where Link came by that snippy sarcasm of his and you, good sir, are to blame."

"I may have been an inspiration to him in that area, but that tongue of his was always his own. It did get worse after the Twilight Invasion though. Link…" the smile was still there but it was smaller and sad.

Ashei bit her tongue a bit too late, and cursed herself for letting that slip. She had not intended to bring it up, but Link was often on her mind of late. Though she would never admit it aloud, she worried over him. For the first time, Ashei noticed how worn Rusl was looking. His hair had begun to be peppered with grey and his pale face was unevenly bristled with long stubble. He was not as trimmed and groomed looking as he usually was, giving him a rather grim appearance. She cleared her throat awkwardly and wished, for one of the first times in her life, that her upbringing had included fewer lessons on brashness, and more lessons in tact. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"It's alright, none of this is your fault," Rusl said quietly. "I should not have left him there alone and, although I know that there was no way I could have saved him. I know that it is not, in technical terms, my fault either, I often can't help but wish I could have been there for him more. It seems like every time he gets himself into something big or dangerous I am always a step too late to help him. First it was the incident with Twilight, then the Empress, and now this. I don't even have the strength to go after him, even though I desire nothing more. I just wish…"

Ashei smiled and punched him affectionately on his uninjured arm.

"Listen to yourself," she chided. "I am sure wherever Link is he knows that," she said as much for her benefit as his, "he often talked about how much you mattered to him, he never seemed to think you abandoned him. I would not be upset on that account."

"Ouch," Rusl glared at her as he rubbed his right arm. "Obviously you have got a lot of lessons left to learn about manners and respecting elders, young woman." He said flatly though she could see that the sorrow had lessened in his eyes.

"And that's a problem, is it? Old man?"

He glowered at her, but the expression was in jest. "No, actually, it's not." He gave that small smile again. "If Link were here he would probably take a great vindictive pleasure in reminding me of the very lesson I often troubled him with. 'Failure and mistakes are only a loss if you do not learn from them.' I have found that apprentices are always trying to find ways to better their mentors, and often take great pleasure in it the very few times they do."

"I'm sure I would not know anything about that," she replied too innocently.

"I'm sure you wouldn't."

~x~X~x~

Link woke to the sight of the metal bars of a prison cell. He had a throbbing headache and would have tried to massage his temples if it were not for the chains. Two heavy lengths of chain bound each of his limbs to the wall. 'The price I paid for my insubordination,' he assumed with a sardonic smile. Great measures had been taken to insure that he would not be able to escape again. He could spy no weakness in either the chains or the cell, and to make matters worse he did not know where Aveil was. He assumed that he was now in the fortress Ganondorf had stolen for his own, and he knew it was only logical that the warlord had spit them up.

Pointedly ignoring the feelings of depression and despair that began to niggle at his mind, he tried to locate some means of escaping. Two Darknuts were guarding his cell and several more were pacing the halls of the dungeon he was imprisoned in. The thoughts of his madly scheming mind were put to an abrupt halt by the approach of a familiar figure. Xiphos strode up in his usual arrogant manner. 'Was it physically possible for that man to behave without arrogance,' Link wondered with a frown. 'No,' he decided with a hint of a smirk as he eyed his captor levelly.

"Our lord wants to display his war trophy," Xiphos said contemptuously to the two guards.

'So it's war trophy now,' Link thought bitterly. 'Well it was an improvement on scum, cockroach, or sack of dirt. At least trophies are shiny.' The comfort that thought brought was small.

Soon he was being frog-marched down the corridor. Two Darknuts on either side of him held his chains tightly so there was no chance of making a move against them. Xiphos walked behind him to roughly prod him forward if he lagged or stumbled.

They went up a long flight of stairs and through several dark twisting corridors before they came into an open stone courtyard surrounded by the blackened metal of the fortresses battlements. Link's breath caught with excitement. The gate of Ganondorf's fortress was open the portcullis was up. He had little time to think about that though for he was hustled towards a platform where Ganon sat on a throne. In front of him, filling the courtyard, were various monster clans and people.

His stomach felt as if he had just swallowed a stone and his mouth nearly dropped open. He recognized many of the people who stood there. There were people from various villages all over Hyrule. There were even a few Gorons and two Zoras. They stood side by side with the monster clans. 'Every race and kingdom had its traitors,' he thought with a pang. The glances they shot in his direction were filled with nothing but fear, loathing and contempt.

Towards the side of the mass of enemies, stood a large miserable huddle of what Link assumed to be slaves based on their appearance. He hurriedly scanned the throng, hoping to catch a glimpse of Aveil. It was not long before they caught sight of each other. Her caramel-glass colored eyes looked like that of a wild horse, and her face seemed to be shadowed with despair and misery. Her expression did not even brighten as they locked eyes.

Ganondorf, who was in the middle of a speech, spoke onwards, heedless of the small disturbance Link's presence had created.

"For all you people of Hyrule, I bring you the proof that I have kept my word. You no longer have to be afraid that our insurrection against your petty princess will fail. And you," he boomed looking directly at the slaves, "you can give up the foolish notion that the green clad warrior of Hyrule will come to defeat me and help free you. I am here to tell you that Hyrule's hero, the princess's most powerful and loyal warrior is my prisoner."

At these words Link found himself hustled onto the platform for all to see. The looks of apprehension vanished from the traitors' faces as they saw him fully, even the Bulblins looked happy. 'It was no wonder,' Link thought to himself, 'I probably look utterly sad, worn, disheveled, pathetic, and helpless in my current position,' about as sad as he suspected their treacherous souls looked.

"Now that the main problem is out of the way, the path is open to you, my Hyrulian allies, to take out the rest of the mighty defenders swiftly and quietly and bring a start to our coup. With your unquestionable loyalty in your kingdom, and my leadership, soon Hyrule, Death Mountain, and Zora River will fall and we will have it all."

A raged cheer rang from the crowd. 'That was the promised price?' Link wondered incredulously. They sold out their people for that? 'Fools,' Link thought as he looked at the traitors. 'Did they not realize that Ganondorf would betray them in the end? They would end up just like the slaves. They were the chess pieces and Ganondorf was the player. When the pieces became of no more use to him he would not hesitate to sweep them off the board.'

"On your knees boy," Ganondorf commanded as he turned his yellow eyed stare in his direction, "it is time you acknowledge your place and bow to me, slave."

An ugly smile grew slowly upon Link's face at the warlord's request, belying the rage that twisted deeply inside him.

"Right away, my liege."

He proceeded to give Ganondorf an overly flourishing bow as he gestured grandly with one hand towards the warlord stood. His mannerisms were full of contempt as he openly mocked his enemy. He straightened himself with a troubled frown.

"Since I am your slave, does that instantly keep me from having the pleasure of being double-crossed and disposed of like these fine people, once you are finished using them for your gain?" he gestured towards the traitors that stood in the courtyard. His mocking frown deepened and his voice grew cold, "Pitty, for I was so looking forward to that part. Just as all these wonderful people are, since they came all the way from their homes solely to enjoy being played for fools."

Ganondorf's features became explosive in his rage. He turned to Link, "Silence! It is these people who are the wise ones. Just look at you Link, and you will see they chose correctly. You were once the strongest person of Hyrule and you were defeated. Today you stand before them revealed in your true form, and they would see you take your place. You failed your kingdom and now you are mine. You are nothing more than a slave and you will now kneel before me as one. I would see you grovel and that is not a request."

Link gave Ganondorf a murderous glare and stood up straighter, holding his head high.

"Do you dare to disobey your master?" Ganon said in a calm yet horribly menacing tone.

"An arrogant power hungry fool whose rule will be as fleeting as the snow that falls in late spring has no place in considering himself a master," Link said in a low, quiet, yet forceful voice. "I will not kneel to evil."

There was complete silence for a moment and all the crowds eyes were fixed on the platform. Aveil watched with an odd mix of horror and admiration as the two enemies locked eyes, as if they were in the middle of a battle of wills.

"I don't care what means it takes for you to obey me, just so long as you do, not only for me but for all of them." Ganon warned in a voice that was all too cold as he pointed to the crowd, and then raised a hand in a signal to Xiphos.

His second in command called towards the Darknuts who tightened the tension on the chains they were holding so Link could barely move. Xiphos then stood in front of him, with a most unpleasant smile. Aveil watched him mouth the word, 'Finally,' as he gave Link a nasty blow to the stomach. This was repeated until Ganon got the result he wanted; Link doubled over on his knees gasping painfully for air. Aveil looked down as the enemies cheered and jeered. The eyes of the slaves around her looked as if someone had just crushed every last hope they had. Her own vision went misty with tears and she blinked them away as she focused back on the platform. Even Link could not stand forever; she began to turn away in disgust. Link had been broken and bent to the false King's rule.

"As you can plainly see," Ganon boomed at the crowd, "there is no one who can stand against my will."

Aveil could not help one last glance at her fallen friend. As Ganondorf spoke, she saw Link clench his fists and teeth. His whole body began to shake, but it was not because of fear or pain, it was a livid rage that trembled through him. His head was bent down as if he was looking at the stone of the platform in submission but Aveil could see his face. It was contorted in a dark expression of unveiled hatred. His deep blue eyes slowly looked upwards at Ganon.

With an amazing burst of speed, he leaped to his feet and spun around, wrenching the chains out of the hands of the surprised darknuts, who had been holding them rather slack because they had not expected Link to recover so quickly. She had not expected it either.

'Go Link,' she thought, her face lighting up with a smile. He converted his chains into makeshift weapons, wielding them as if they were whips or a Shiekah's manriki chain. He leaped off the platform and charged through the crowd of Bulblins and other monsters, his mouth open in a savage cry of fury. He snarled as he struck, his whole body and mannerism seeming to border on feral. Those who stood before him were felled like wheat caught in the grip of scythe before his mad onslaught. Catching most of his foes completely off guard, he swarmed through the courtyard.

With a grin, Aveil saw where he was headed, straight for the open gate. Yelling her own battle cry, she expertly and swiftly stole two daggers from a guard and broke free from where she was being contained. These actions were rendered almost easy because of Link's diversion. Without even the smallest hesitation, she ran to fight at Link's side. It was the slave's turn to cheer as she and Link battled their way to the gate.

"Close the gate!" Ganon screeched over the tumult.

Aveil and Link had only a few more feet to go before they reached freedom. The portcullis started to lower, Link knocked the last Bulbin out of their path and they ran at a sprint toward the lowering gate.

'We're not going to make it,' Aveil thought as they drew near to the opening.

There was only a small space left. Link saw it too. They were going to be too late. What he did next was more instinctive than an actual choice or thought. He acted on the first impulse of his heart. He threw himself at Aveil, knocked her down and pushed her through the narrow space mere fractions of a second before it slammed shut. She tried to pull him after her but ended up sitting on the other side of the cold, black-iron grating alone, holding nothing but his hat.

"No," she whispered. She glanced at his face for the briefest of moments. Resignation seemed to be stamped upon his features. His eyes shone with the proud defiant stare of a wolf as he turned wordlessly to face his opponents. Gathering her wits, she leaped to her feet and ran as fast as she could to get away from the fortress walls and out of the archers range. A few of the enemies' murderously sharp shafts whizzed dangerously close to her head. She only had room for one thought in her head, and that was run. Tears streamed down her face as she sprinted for the fringe of woods bordering the castle. When she reached it, she let out a broken sob and collapsed in the ferns. All the pride that she had been hiding behind shattered against her will. How could she have left him in the clutches of her enemy? It was Link Ganon wanted not her, he should be the one who had escaped and she should have been the one trapped behind the wrong side of the bars of the portcullis.

'Crying is not going to do any good,' she told herself fiercely. What was needed now was action. Picking herself up off the ground, she stood straight, her head held high as ran pointedly to the south east. She had the faintest hope of an idea growing in her thoughts.

A/N: Thanks again for reading! Zelda will make an appearance next chapter, and after that, Ganondorf's motives and purpose will finally be revealed just as Link's luck starts to run out. I hope you all have a splendid week! Oh did you watch the trailer for the Zelda spin-off, Hyrule Warriors? If you did what do you think of it?

Question: The different races of Hyrule have different weapons and combat styles, which do you think would best fit you?

Bonus Question: do any of your have any ideas as to Ganondorf's true purposes or even ideas on how he came back?