It seems it has been firmly established that Evan should no longer be in charge of updating in case of Reily's absence. Allow me to introduce myself. I am called Dietrich and I will be updating on Reily's behalf this evening. She has given me the message that she may or may not be updating Saturday because this update is so near the weekend. I know - annoying isn't she?

Legend of Zelda 4 Life, women are confusing. I won't even pretend to understand them. I am not sure how Quinn would feel about being hugged, though... Also, I insist that you not give Reily any more ideas. She's a dangerous individual who doesn't need anymore corrupt thoughts in her twisted, evil mind.

Zelda shuddered. Sitting on her bare patch of dirt and sand, she looked up to the sky. She still couldn't get over the feeling that they had been watched earlier that day. She didn't sense any ill intent from it but… she just didn't like it. In a strange burst of kindness, Link even searched the general area for any signs of someone. She knew it wouldn't produce any results since she felt as if whoever had been watching them was above them, but it did make her feel a little better.

The witch wiped the heat from her brow and took a small sip of water. They weren't completely in the desert but it was already proving to be unbearably hot. They didn't move around too much during the day since they were trying to get used to moving around more at night, but old habits died hard.

I hope Link comes back soon. He'd been away for a bit and she found herself worrying if heatstroke had caught him. She sighed in relief as she saw Link approaching.

"Nothing around except for a few sand rats." Said the page as he neared, sounding a little tired. "It's really hot… We really need to travel only at night now if the heat is going to be this bad."

She nodded in agreement and flinched a bit. Since the day before, she'd been in a sort of constant pain. It wasn't a terrible pain but sometimes it hurt more than others. Somehow, the young witch had a feeling that a certain star may have a sunburn wherever he was at the moment.

"You're sure somebody was watching us?" Link asked as he sat down, sounding somewhat skeptical.

"I'm sure," Zelda responded somewhat irritably, "But it wasn't for long, and I don't think whoever was doing it had anything bad in mind. It seemed more curiosity."

The page shrugged. Then he wiggled and tried to loosen the thick collar around his neck. "I know you're not going to take it off but can you loosen this thing? It's much warmer than you'd think." He complained.

The witch smiled tiredly and said, "I can try."

She scooted over to him, but a hand on the collar and closed her eyes. He could feel something in the collar on his neck twisting and wriggling. It was rather uncomfortable so he tried to find something to get his attention off of it.

"Don't move." Zelda said firmly.

"Sorry…" he muttered. He supposed he could look at her to get his attention off the weird feeling of the magic in the collar.

She had a nice complexion… it was light, though because of her lightness, her cheeks were slightly reddened from the heat. She had long eyelashes, which he noted were the same blond as her hair. What color were her eyes? Blue, right? Yes, they were blue, he was sure. Her nose was cute, not sharp nor too round, and her lips were a light shade of pink. Perhaps it was this careful examination of her face that made him realize something he'd never noticed before: she was pretty. Very pretty.

Then Zelda opened her eyes, scooted back to where she was and brightened. He quickly averted his gaze somewhere else, knowing he was blushing.

"I think it should be a bit looser now, but don't think you're out of my curse." She said.

"Yeah…" he mumbled. The collar was indeed looser, thinner it seemed… But somehow, he didn't feel any cooler with all the blood rushing to his face.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good; your face is all red…" She asked.

"No, I'm fine; just tired." He said, trying not to make it come out too rushed. Remember, Link, she is a witch who's practically made you her slave! She can turn you into a wolf at will! He told himself. Upon reminding himself of that, his anxiousness left. As long as he remembered that, he was fine. No, I'm not…

"We should probably wait until it gets darker before we keep moving so you can sleep while we wait." Zelda said. Upon seeing the doubt on his expression she went on to say, "You don't need to worry about being the protector. I can keep watch too, you know."

Link grumbled but lay down and turned away from her. He was kind of tired, he could admit that, but he didn't want to sleep. He was still too alarmed by that chain of thought he had previously to go to sleep. But why was it causing such a panic in him. He had looked at plenty of pretty girls before her and never had this reaction.

But she's a witch. He reminded himself yet again, For all you know this could be a desired outcome. She's probably cast some sort of weird spell on me that… that's making me think really weird thoughts… yes, this is all some sort of sick joke to her… All I have to do is think of her as I normally do. A dangerous woman that has yet to find her place in this world… There is nothing else there, we are just working towards the same goal at the moment…

"We're nearly there." Nabooru told Vega. She glanced back at him and then faced forward again really quickly, stifling a laugh.

"Shut up!" Snapped the disguised star. He was in pain. Constant pain. He had sunburn. They traveled at night, but they rested during the day. But that meant they were still out in the sun. So, the star's pale, pale skin managed to turn into a bright cherry red the moment he put his hood down during the day. That was a mistake he made after the sandstorm had subsided in that desert village. Now, he was red in the face at all times and in pain. To top it all off, it was still freezing at night.

"I didn't say anything." Said the Gerudo. She didn't sound at all convincing, though. As she said it, she seemed to be trying harder and harder not to laugh.

Grumbling profanities under his breath, Vega merely looked ahead of them. Nabooru hadn't lied, they were nearly there. A normal person would only have seen points of light upon wood in the darkness. But he was a star; his vision was better suited for the night. He could see ahead of them perfectly.

There was a large wooden wall with watch towers on the end sides. Torches were lit above the wall and in the watch towers, as well on the outer walls. He could see Gerudo along the outside of the wall and in the watchtowers, no doubt watching for unwelcome visitors. He couldn't see through walls, however, so what lay behind it was still a mystery.

As they neared, Nabooru said she would go ahead for a moment. So he waited.

The Gerudo lead her horse up close to the gates. The guards lifted their spears but upon seeing it was their second-in-command they lowered them and stood at attention.

"General Nabooru," One of the guards started, "We expected you to come two days ago… Did you have any trouble?" The guard's voice had a hint of worry in it.

"There was a sandstorm on the way, but everything's fine. I did bring someone with me, though." Nabooru said.

Both guards frowned and then one of them asked, "You brought someone?"

"A man," said the higher ranking Gerudo. She held up a hand to the guards who were about to speak in protest. "I don't want anyone attacking him. You were all complaining about it almost succeeding in tricking any person of any sex… well, here's something to help manage it. I'm pretty sure this guy has a will of iron. There's no way it can coerce him to do anything. This man's stubborn as a mule and really doesn't seem to want to go back to wherever he's from. He's perfect for the job."

The guards looked uneasily at each other and then back at their superior. "You're sure about this, General?"

This time, Nabooru gave them a hard look. "That's not for you to decide is it?"

The guards flinched and then nodded. They tapped the tips of their spears against the wood in a pattern and the gates began to open.

"Rigel, come on!" Nabooru called.

Hearing that, Vega got his horse to go in a quick trot. He crinkled his nose as he neared, noticing the two guards eyeing him warily… and smiling from amusement. Fucking sunburn…

He looked on ahead and saw that the fortress of the Gerudo was pretty much a series of buildings built up against a giant stone. Now that he thought of it, he remembered seeing something called "the Stone Ocean" in Link's map. He remembered it was somewhere in the desert, so the Gerudo fortress was likely situated where the Stone Ocean began. He looked away from the actual fortress and at the actual grounds, noting a fenced off area that seemed to lead back into the desert.

"Rigel," Nabooru said, gesturing for him to ride up next to her. He did so and she went on to say, "Listen, I said I'd take you with me here and all but the fact is we Gerudo still don't like men. I'm pretty sure I can manage to keep you here without any harm but… it's really not up to me to decide."

"Fancy that." The star did not hide his sarcasm. "If I'm going to be locked up, tell me so I can escape promptly."

"Well, it won't be for long." Said the Gerudo general. "I'm going to talk to my superiors and with any luck we can integrate you into the system somehow."

Vega really, really, really did not like the idea of being put in a prison cell. At all. Perhaps Nabooru could sense it because she frowned.

"Listen, it won't be for long. Koume and Kotake will just probably drop in on you and make a judgment." She said.

He had no idea who these Koume and Kotake ladies were but he was already trying to figure out how he could get out of this place. He really should've thought ahead as to what he would do when he made it into the desert… He couldn't go back because he didn't know the way, nor did he know how to use his brethren as guiding posts. And even if he did manage there was still Link and Zelda, who were no doubt looking for him this very instant.

Scowling, he figured integration into this convoluted system was the lesser of the evils before him.

"Take me to my cell…" he grumbled.

Smiling pityingly, Nabooru led him to the dungeons. It was a strange sight to the other Gerudo. None of them were quite used to seeing a man willingly enter the dungeons. But Vega put up no fight. As long as the situation was only temporary, he supposed he could remain civil.

They dismounted and he continued to follow the Gerudo general into a shabby looking building. The inside was dark and smelly and he could make out iron bars on the walls. As he kept following the woman, he glanced in the cells occasionally. Most of the prisoners were men, cringing in the corners of their cells not making any noises besides whimpers. The older prisoners could be easily distinguished from the newer ones. The older ones were skinny and just watched with half dead eyes as Nabooru and Vega passed. The newer ones were clinging to the bars screaming and howling threats at the Gerudo and insulting the star for being so willing to be a prisoner.

The first empty cell they arrived was the one Nabooru opened up. She gave him an apologetic look. Vega merely scoffed and entered.

"Do try to make it quick." He told her as the door closed before him.

"As quick as I can manage." She assured before going back the way they had come.

As soon as Nabooru had left, the inhabitant of the cell next to him banged on the cell bars. "Hey, hey, hey! Wot's wit you an the Gerudo bitch?"

He smirked, despite knowing that the one who had addressed him couldn't see it. "Wouldn't you like to know, bender." He let his accent out. It wasn't like any of these idiots were going to live to tell anybody anyways.

He ignored any other comments and retreated into the cell. Against his better judgment, he sat down leaning against the wall. The guised star really did not want to know what manner of creatures infested this place, nor did he want to know why the floor was sticky.

While sitting, he let his senses wander. Within seconds he stopped and panicked. All of a sudden, he realized he was in a very bad position. There were two great masses of magic here… and they felt just like the ugly, fear inducing magic from Castle Town. The only difference was that these were to a lesser degree. It was still enough to make him want leave as fast as possible.

He didn't understand… how come he didn't sense this before? Such large masses of magic weren't exactly easy to hide so why couldn't he sense it earlier?

Ducky… He thought bitterly. They still shared a soul. The bond was weaker now but the effects still remained. Drifting so far from her weakened his senses…

Panic rose in him again. If his senses were weakened, what else was weakened? Vega desperately wanted to try something, but he had the feeling if he tried the results would not only be sub-par, but also enough to attract the attention of the magic masses in the place. He shuddered, thinking they might have already sensed him. If they could sense him, and if they were as powerful as he thought, staining his hair might not have been enough…

Crap, crap, crap, crap… he continued that line of thought. Then he tried to calm himself down. Appearance magic is subtle… they won't notice it unless they look for it – hopefully. Just keep calm… Keep calm and they might just think I have potential and that's it… Cor, that'll never work! But maybe it might, try to be positive… Bollocks, I'm no good at being positive…

Numerous failed attempts at trying cheer himself up later, another Gerudo came and banged on his cell bars.

"Hey ranger," said the woman, "Come on, you're being summoned. And hurry up!"

"I'll take as long as I bloody well please." Vega snapped, half controlling his accent.

But he didn't take long at all. He stood and went up the door. The Gerudo opened it, promptly grabbed him and maneuvered so that he was up against the wall with his hands behind his back, and then tied his wrists. She then yanked him by the ropes and pushed him ahead in the hall.

"I see you like it rough." He said with a smirk.

"Pig." The Gerudo spat. She grabbed one of his arms and then half-dragged him along.

Vega actually had a comment for that, but he decided that it might be in his best interest to keep quiet. He did keep his smug smile, though, which seemed to irritate the Gerudo to no end.

The woman roughly led him out of the building and then quickened her pace. She half-dragged him into the main fortress, taking him through the halls.

"So where are we going, love?" He asked her, stumbling as she pulled at his particularly forcefully.

She didn't answer. Instead, she stopped before a door, yanked him open and pushed him inside.

He fell roughly on his side and he heard the door slam behind him. Groaning in pain from the fall and the side of his sunburned face that was protesting, he looked up. His nose tingled from the soft smoke of incense drifting throughout the dark room as he managed to drag himself up on his knees. In any other situation he would've been able to see just fine, but he couldn't see through the thick fog of the incense. He heard giggling. Perhaps at one point in time, the giggling would've sounded young and innocent. But these giggles were raspy and malicious.

"Heehee, looky Koume… this is the young man that dear Nabooru is so fond of…"

"Ooh, he's handsome if you take the sunburn away, isn't he, Kotake?"

That comment sent shivers of disgust up Vega's spine, especially when he was able to make out two silhouettes in the fog that gave him every reason to feel disgust. He managed to identify them as two old, Gerudo women with very noticeable noses. Somehow, he had a feeling that these old women were the ones he'd been feeling the magical energy from. He didn't dare confirm it by using his sense, though. That would give himself away.

The witches closed in on him, keeping their distance but circling him. He noted was one in blue while the other was in red.

"Well, young ranger, Nabooru seems to believe you can resist it." One of them said to him.

"But we don't know. Can you resist it?"

"If 'it' is you two, I'm pretty sure I can." He said grudgingly.

More malicious giggles came from the witches.

"He's feisty, isn't he?"

"He may be able to withstand it… But we can't be making judgments on feistiness alone."

"Tell us, young man, why would you willingly come here?"

He narrowed his eyes at the one nearest his line of vision. "I seem to have come across some hard lines. Two very annoying twits are after me and I wish nothing to do with them. I felt this might be the lesser of two evils." I have my doubts about that now, however.

"Courage-"

"-or perhaps stupidity."

And then the two both spoke at the same time in a rather eerie tone, "Or maybe both."

"If you have anything else to say, say it. I'm getting very annoyed and I can safely say I don't really like either of you." He didn't hide his irritation and was half-tempted to burn his way out of his ropes.

They laughed with the same malicious glee that their giggles had.

"Both it seems! I wonder dear sister,"

"Can he withstand it?"

"Goddess damned it! What the bleeding hell is 'it'?!" Vega was getting extremely frustrated.

The tiny women hooked their arms together and walked straight at him. Leaning forward at him with great, big grins beneath their great, big noses they said, "Would you like to see?"

He leaned back away from them as far as he could. "If it gets you old biddies out of my face, then yes, I would like to see."

They backed away and cackled.

"Kotake, I do believe we should give this boy a chance!"

"I agree Koume! He might just match it in terms of wit!"

Vega gritted his teeth. I think I hate these two more than Ducky and Bender…