12: Oceans
Tetra found she missed the gentle rock of waves as she lay within his sturdy bed.
Her home was her Ocean. Life atop the waves, rather than below or beside them, seemed the only natural course her years would follow. You could raise the very mountains from the seabed, watch the islands lift upward as if to spear the clouds and gaze upon the lush fields as they basked in the sunlight once more...
She would cleave to her ship all the same, to sail whatever waters were left to her.
All this Tetra had told him, though burdened by the face of a princess, her captor accepted very little of it as truth. It had passed Zelda's lips, though it came purely from the pirate's heart. He dismissed her words like a deckhand swatting gnats in the summer heat.
The large bed barely creaked as the Gerudo's weight was lowered upon it, sturdy hardwood frame accepting it almost fondly as he took to sitting at his own bedside. Golden eyes glinted tiredly over the young captain with fading anger, subtle and awash with private miseries left unshared. They reminded Tetra almost of sunken treasures, caught winking in a waterlogged sunbeam to be found and rescued from their watery grave.
Thoughtful, he would rest a hand upon his knee and shift to appraise her once more, sullen and—for the moment—sated.
"You speak of the seas above with all the passion I did a part of this land below them, Princess..." he offered quietly, patient for her youth. "...when I too was young and adoring of the place I called 'Home'."
Uncomfortably adjusting the cylindrical silken pillow, propping herself up further, Tetra's teal eyes flashed with irritation toward him.
"I told you once, don't call me that." she hissed waspishly, before a sigh calmed her some. "The land down here is beautiful, sure, and it probably would make for a great place to live... But that's what you don't get, Ganondorf, it isn't the world people like me—or anybody up on those islands—understands. It's foreign to them, it's not the salty air we breathe or the spray of the sea. It isn't what they know."
She said it more forcefully now, repeating it in different ways over the last few days as she had been. It bordered on seeming useless now to even try to explain it, and seeing the slightly bemused furrow of his thick brows once again, the pirate silently gave up. Blonde hair wisped behind her shoulders as her head shook, her gaze falling forlorn to the velvety covers as a small shrug was offered.
The Dark King beside her, however, seemed suddenly more attentive to her reasoning.
"No," his voice wavered on a low timbre, rumbling to send a tremor of remorse through old bones. "It is what they've come to forget. Stolen from them and washed away..."
The gold of her brows furrowed upon his words, and from under the girl's anger came some empathy, crawling out from the very bottom of Tetra's heart. It occurred to her that the gentle rock of waves that lulled her at night would likely keep the Gerudo awake. The stillness unnerved her here, lifeless like something was wrong, though the steady ground beneath their feet probably held the opposite sensation for him.
It seemed to her Ganondorf knew little of this new world, obsessed with the old; a mystery locked away like the royal blood she had only recently discovered in her veins. Fleeting visions of grass and sky, the stark green of it haunting behind her eyelids, breezed her mind. She held fondness for them, the odd burst of familiarity they brought through a haze of alien texture, and it pained the pirate that she knew not of whether those visions had merely been borrowed.
Was it what lay outside his tower that she had glimpsed, or was it the memory the Gerudo seemed all too keen to evoke in her? Either way, Tetra couldn't help but feel sorry knowing his home had been lost, though she wasn't about to sacrifice her own to comfort him.
Still the dark man continued quietly, harsh features wearing a stern and weary frown. "When I first laid my hand to the Holy Relic, it shattered before me and the other two pieces fled my grasp. I suppose the Gods are fickle... they would leave true power to tempt their children with, daring us to take hold of it. But, when I rose to that task and saw it done, they granted but one part only to take the rest of the spoils within seven short years. My efforts seemed wasted, as if I had been tricked."
Tetra fixated upon his profile sharply, tracing the outline of the Gerudo's nose and brow. She strained to see the monster shining there in his eye, reminding herself not to yield to his cunning mind. He was built of lies and bloodshed, and had caused nothing but pain. Tetra knew him only as a rogue wave that threatened to capsize every island on these seas and drown those who sailed upon them. She didn't feel comfortable when faced with the humanity within the dark king.
The bubble of pity, or even whatever it resembled of understanding, was held away from her surface with great effort while he spoke.
"Those damnable sages saw me knocked from my throne and bound away in a realm blackened by my nature. When after years I escaped my chains, I seared the world like a desert wind for my revenge, and they could do nothing against my assault. Hyrule was mine for the taking once more, battered and broken beneath me... though like before, when I reached to take hold of my goal, it fled my hand. The flood waters came to wash away what I had done when a Hero could not. The Gods would spite the land itself, if it were to be mine... Perhaps I sparked their tempers for taking Hyrule through destructive means."
A small sigh drew bitterness from his lips, and Ganondorf would lift his gaze upward to peruse the heights of the chamber, almost as if searching for the Gods' eyes looking down. "Whatever the case... I met every challenge put to me; I won the race for the golden realm. Yet I receive only punishment where they promised reward." The hand upon his thigh slowly closed into a fist, Power flickering at its back with silent pathos.
"You don't deserve to be rewarded when you cheat in that race." she muttered quietly, grimacing with some sarcasm and fighting the urge to roll her eyes. "You didn't meet the challenges, you manipulated them and snuck around. You strong armed your way to glory, instead of earning it by overcoming the hurdles. When you aren't scheming around things, you just barrel through like a mad Sharpedo, ripping any obstacle apart with your teeth and leaving a cloud of gore behind."
With a slight huff, the young captain would cross her arms in a point of defence, her mouth screwed to one side with distaste. Tetra had never been one for fancy words and grand speeches, nor bragging or even intent. In her life she had learnt to trust actions and deeds, and put her faith in those alone.
In the Gerudo's case, however, she made an exception. She knew what Ganondorf said he would do would indeed come to pass, if she did not make a liar of him by preventing it.
A good few moments of silence passed between them before strange and haunted sort of smile curved his mouth knowingly, the barest hint of his fang-like canines to be seen in its corners. A tone hitched in his throat like a caught chuckle, guilty yet amused. "You are right. It must be said that I was left little other option, but certainly, I'll be the first to admit to my errors in the past. I was haughty, blinded by my pride and fury... I lacked restraint and patience." Tilting his head, the smile remained though his teeth grew hidden.
"I needed to experience that failing so that I could rectify it now. My destiny is to be Hyrule's true King, and my trials did not end with gaining my crest as I had expected. Rising and falling, escaping my bonds and surviving the deluge... it has tempered me like a blade, reforged, and now I stand fit for such a task. The final test of my worth is upon me."
The pirate's cute features had been slowly devolving into contempt, though the teal of her eyes shone vulnerable and confused. Her arms tightened over her chest as if to force the breath from her lungs, bringing up tender words with them; small and sad.
"Why do you hate my ocean?" she whispered softly, mournful for it. "Can you not see the beauty it holds? A provider of our needs and a jealous guard for our safety, the sea protects those in her care. Forever changing, untamable, you have to work for her affections and sail her with respect. The islands are painted in the spring and she kisses us with gentle mists. In the winter, she rages away from our shores. She is a spirit of mercy, though she doesn't coddle the weak. Do you see none of that when you look...?"
A wry chuckle from him cut her short, and the Gerudo paid no mind to the affronted look she sent him. Running a large hand through the blaze of red hair, he seemed amused by some internal joke, indulging it before golden eyes found her again.
"As I said earlier, your passion for the sea reminds me of my own in youth. Perhaps that is a good answer to your question... Tetra, wasn't it?" he plucked her name so suddenly, as if he simply hadn't noticed it was there before. A fiery brow cocked briefly, something cynical to it.
"I hailed from the West, when this land saw the sun... and a harsh sun it was. My home was an arid place, a desert that went on as far as the eye can see... much like your ocean. It was always changing, whipped up in constant movement like your waves above. It took many lives, and did little to sustain those who did survive there. The occasional oasis provided refuge for those tossed about in the sands, not unlike your islands. Your seas yield no fish, and my desert did not yield fruit. The expanse required wit and experience to cross, just the same, and it was a hard journey... But I believed her to be a beautiful mistress once, strict as she was."
Harsh features darkened with the ghost of old pains, and he stared the pirate down with a decisive click of his tongue. "But I grew out of such naïve adoration for my home. My love for her was unrequited, clearly, and Hyrule beside her provided the nurturing care we never received from the sands. I look out upon your ocean, child, and I see only the hardships of my desert reborn within those waters. If I were content to suffer such a fickle and vengeful mistress, I would not have set out from my home in the first place."
There was something gravely earnest to the hard lines of his worn features then, as if silently pleading with her to see reason. "It is my duty to resurrect Hyrule, and if you knew the splendor of your own country, you would not hesitate to help me in that task. Let me correct my mistakes, and I will teach you and all those above to know this land again."
Tetra's eyes narrowed upon him stubbornly, golden hair swaying as she shook her head lightly. "Don't make the mistake of thinking you're doing us 'ignorant fools' any favors." The sombre shadow of her face lifted then, a smirk growing in its place as she gave a coy wink.
"You keep talking like the Gods have punished everyone by taking away what they knew and loved. I can see your anger toward them and the regret you have within yourself. They took it from you too, after all. But you'd be a hypocrite to think its okay for you to take away the seas, the thing we know and love now, to make amends. Two wrongs don't equal right, Ganondorf, and it won't absolve you of your mistakes or make you any more worthy to rule despite them."
Her smirk faded some, and something serious overcame her then, both eyes closing with resolve. "You aren't giving anything back, just taking more things away. You're still as selfish and greedy as ever, you've just gotten better at justifying it. Link will be here soon enough, and when he is, you're going to have to accept that the Gods sealed Hyrule for a reason. It was to protect its secrets, stem the flow of evil that they draw to abuse them and give its peoples a clean slate, free of ancient burdens... like you."
Biting back on the fury that began bubbling in his blood, the Gerudo's lips drew thin and golden eyes sharpened back into the monster she sought in them. His features knit back into the resentful scowl he usually carried, the lightest twitch upon his lip as he warred with a forming sneer, trying not to defy his professed composure. The dark king rose quickly to his feet and it was clear their conversation was done, a dismissive wave of his sleeve given as he moved to tower over her.
"Don't be so quick to dismiss your title, child..." he growled low, his eyes burning with a hateful glare. "Princess fits you more than you know."
Even so, it was Tetra alone that matched his gaze, her own teal eyes alight with conviction even as she felt the spell of sleep heavy upon them. "You can't take our ocean away from us, just because you can't tame her. That's precisely why we have her in the first place."
Like the country outside of his tower, Hyrule's Princess succumbed then to a deep slumber beneath the waves, but her words would echo for what seemed like an eternity afterward. The Gerudo stared at her all the while, haunted by them, and though he willed himself to be done with her for now, he couldn't shift himself from her side.
He knew she was dreaming of her Ocean, and in that moment, he wondered if it truly would still be there when she woke.