SORRY I'VE NOT UPDATE IN AGES. There are many reasons, mostly lack of inspiration again. And thank you to everybody who reviewed the last chapter. I would like to thank you all personally in the header, however, thanks to fan fiction's new look, can I find the correct tab so I can see a list of reviews?!!!! I must be getting old if I can't work the technology! LOL
Anyways, I did keep my promise and posted a couple of Zelink one shots on the site, which a few of you checked out so thanks for that. I have another 2, maybe 3 in the pipeline, which may or may not serve as a stop gap in between this and the next chapter (which I sincerely hope will not take me nearly 6 weeks to write - stupid writers block…grrrr)
Chapter Twenty Eight - Nabooru's Plan A
"Now what are those idiot's up to?" For the first time in as many hours Nabooru willed herself to raise her weary head to gaze into the wonders of the seeing stone. Watching Zelda and Link wandering aimlessly through the meadows of Hyrule was not her idea of entertainment and she had been thoroughly bored up to this point but now they were finally exhibiting some more unusual behaviour. They seemed to be surrounded by a white cloud and were running for their lives.
"Interesting." Nabooru wished there was some way to control the viewing angle of the seeing stone so she could make out what it was the idiotic Hylians were fleeing from this time. 'Wonder if Impa's finally found them?' She wondered, grinning to herself evilly. It was impossible to see what the components of the white cloud were and, not being too familiar with the joys of Cuccos, she didn't realise what was happening. 'Oh well,' she thought, giving the running couple an amused look, 'better wake Sleeping Grumpy and report.'
Ganondorf was equally perplexed by the vision of the three companions apparently fleeing for their lives. "Looks like their being chased by a snow-storm." He remarked, it reminded him of one of the ornaments he had on his dresser. "Wonder what it could be?"
"I wonder where they're going?" Nabooru squinted at the seeing stone, trying to estimate the whereabouts of the couple. She knew they couldn't be too far away because they had only had a couple of hours head start from the Zora Domain and for all his sulkiness, Ganondorf had insisted that they travel at a fast pace to keep up with them. White shapes fell all around Link and Zelda like little snowflakes and Amber galloped ahead of the pair leading the way. Nabooru drummed her fingers against the seeing stone and thought, a slight frown appeared on her face.
"Sir, about our plan…" She began.
"The Zora Domain was a let down but at least we had the right idea." Interrupted her King. "We were just a little slow but this time we will not fail. We will get the signet ring before they do."
"Yes, my Lord, we will." Nabooru didn't sound very convinced. "The thing is there's only two signet rings left to acquire."
"I do remember you saying that." Retorted Ganondorf. "I am the king of Hyrule. I am not stupid."
"Er, of course not." Nabooru forcibly removed images of him playing with his rubber ducks from his mind and tried to act normally. "The thing is, sir, what if the thing they're running away from is one of the Dream Snatchers?"
"Are you suggesting that one of the Dream Snatchers was afraid of snow?"
Nabooru gazed into the seeing stone and frowned. "Hmmm, maybe not of snow but…to me they look like there running away from a flock of birds."
"Really?" Ganondorf shoved Nabooru out of the way and peered into the crystal ball. To him the cuccos still looked like snowflakes. That was probably because the only birds he could properly identify were yellow and made of rubber and floated in his bathwater squeaking happily. "Did Aganhim say one of the Dream Snatchers was a bird, I can't remember."
"Nobody knows for certain." Replied Nabooru, "but what else but a Dream Snatcher would actually have the power to make those idiots afraid?"
"Very well, so maybe it is a Dream Snatcher, there's no guarantee they'll actually defeat it…don't look at me like that, Nabooru! And besides, even if they do manage to defeat it and obtain another one of those signet rings, doesn't that make one less for us to acquire?"
"Well yes, but…"
"But nothing! I know you will say that then they will only have to find the final signet ring, true they will, but they don't know that there is only one left to find and they do not have the Chameleon Stone and I assure you I will not grant them access to it unless it is on my terms. So I shall not worry yet, they are pawns in a game of my device and I am still controlling all the pieces. There is no way they can defeat me when I…Nabooru, what the heck is that sound?" Ganondorf paused from his mini-rant and tilted his head, trying to distinguish the strange noise he could hear. It had been buzzing in his ears for some time and was becoming irritating.
"Er, Sire…" Nabooru tugged his sleeve and pointed to something distinctly snow-stormy looking that was appearing on the horizon. Under the cloud of white were three dark figures and they were drawing closer.
"Why the heck are they coming this way? I mean - Mwahahaha, my plan worked." Laughed Ganondorf, easily recognising the approaching party.
"What plan?" Muttered Nabooru, rolling her eyes. Fortunately her companion was so engrossed in realising his own greatness that he didn't hear this piece of gross insubordination. Sometimes she wondered why she bothered following him so loyally. Perhaps it was because he was the only male Gerudo to be born in one hundred years and it was her obligation to like him. Perhaps it was because she liked men to be both good looking and taller than her and most Hylians she had met were either weird looking or short or both. At least Ganondorf was tall, she thought, and for on occasion wasn't ill-looking. She glanced at him and smiled slightly, she admired his strength and (on the rare occasions she actually saw it displayed) his mind, but recently she had realised she actually quite liked his insanity. Which then obviously begat the question, was she too loosing her mind? Would she wake up one day wanting to cuddle up with a cute teddy bear, or would she start taking baths with yellow ducks with inane smiles on their faces? She resolved to speak to Koume and Kotake when she returned to the castle. Surely the Gerudo's resident witches would be able to curse Ganondorf's mind back to its old, wicked self.
"If they're coming here for a fight, we'll give 'em one. Scimitars at the ready." Ordered Ganondorf, as he backed up against the rock wall behind them. "Follow my lead, you take the left flank."
"Yes sir." Nabooru smiled happily at hearing the first normal order from her King in a good few weeks. She glanced over at him and saw the King that she was proud of standing facing the horizon, smiling cruelly, sword drawn, ready for battle. It made a nice change.
Link didn't notice the two Gerudo standing facing them, with their swords drawn, until he was about ten metres away from the rocks. He met Ganondorf's eyes for the briefest of seconds and saw the old warlord was grinning wickedly. 'He'll be laughing on the other side of his face when he meets these damned cuccos' he thought as he continued his charge. They were completely surrounded by the birds to the point where almost all they could see was white, hear was crowing and smell was the dust from their feathers. To his right, Zelda was blasting another cucco. It was useless of course, the more they attacked, the angrier the cuccos got and the angrier they were, the more of them appeared.
"Go RIGHT!" He shouted to her. She glanced at him and then looked ahead. She faltered as she saw Ganondorf standing ahead of them with a drawn sword in hand. A cucco swooped down on her. Link darted forward and dragged her out of the way. He didn't intend to let her get pecked to death today. As he did, another cucco dropped on him and tore at the skin on his neck. He yelped and batted it out of the way. More cuccos appeared from nowhere, clucking and crowing loudly, blocking the light from the sun.
"What are they doing here?" Cried Zelda, a hint of panic in her voice. "What do we do, Link?"
"Go around the rocks. I'll distract them, you run!"
Zelda shot a bolt of fire from her hands and glared at him. "No."
"No?" He fended off a couple more irate birds and glanced at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"…You need me to fight…" Retorted Zelda, as she obliterated a couple more cuccos. "…Not going…anywhere…ow!"
"I don't need you, I'm the Hero, I'll just…ouch! Little swine, take that!"
"I wish you'd shut up." Snapped Zelda. "Stop arguing with me."
Link didn't respond to this. "That's better." Smiled Zelda. She ducked and incinerated another cucco. She glanced forward again and noticed Ganondorf hadn't moved much. She had a sudden thought of brilliance so great she almost cheered. Unfortunately, her cheer became a yelp as another cucco pecked her hand. "I've got a plan - let them deal with the cuccos!" She said. "Let's go."
Link grunted and destroyed another bird. Zelda took this as acceptance of her proposal and dashed forward again. She heard a strange noise come from Link but ignored him, figuring that he was probably sulking about having to follow her orders. They reached the rocks in no time. The two Gerudo hadn't moved from their position of advantage. It was one of their more celebrated tactics to always let the battle come to you, rather than to join in the fray and they had both enjoyed watching the cuccos attempts to murder the Hylians. Amber had shot past the pair of them to the top of the rocks and was standing above them staring intently at the fight.
As soon as her foot touched the dark stones, Zelda shouted to Link to 'Climb!' and scrambled up the rock face as quickly as she could. It was not an easy task with hundreds of cuccos harrying her from behind and wearing her current elegant clothing. She wished she had taken Link's advice and adopted the disguise of Sheik permanently. Still, she thought, dragging herself up the rocks, there was no point crying over spilt milk. She hadn't got the signet ring on that would let her do that anyway. She was wearing the sapphire they had found in the Zora Domain. She still hadn't figured out what its power was.
She heard Link's cry and sent a blast of fire off in his direction. He yelped again, which either meant her aim had been off or another cucco had taken a chunk out of his neck. "BLASTED CUCCOS." She shouted as one nipped her arm. She smacked it out of the way. She reached up for another hand hold and touched what distinctly felt like a shoe. She glanced up and though the mass of white cuccos saw Nabooru sneering down at her.
With a easy swing of her sword, Nabooru prematurely ended the lives of at least four cuccos in one go. "Climb by all means." She remarked, as she struck another hapless bird. "Don't ask me to haul you up though. I won't." She raised an eyebrow and struck at a third group of cuccos.
Zelda stared up at her, wondering what to do as she watched the woman fight. She made it seem so effortless, Zelda realised, almost like a dance. Zelda sighed and hauled herself up to the ledge Nabooru stood on. The Gerudo fought on for a few more moments against the onslaught of white and then snapped at the motionless Zelda, "Don't just stand there, girl. You brought this upon us. Deal with it."
"Oh, right…"
A few more cuccos met their deaths at a bolt of lightning. Those that managed to evade the strike were caught by Nabooru's blade. They fought side by side against the birds, Nabooru slashing all that came near her with her scimitar, Zelda blasting all within range of her magic.
"Gah, where are they coming from?" Cried Nabooru, as a fresh wave of cuccos appeared from nowhere. She disentangled one from her long hair and wrung its neck. "Stupid birds!" She glanced over at Ganondorf to see how he and Link were faring, and through the mass of squawking white bodies saw that her king was having less success than she in deflecting the attacks of the insane animals. "Are they multiplying or something?" She demanded of Zelda.
"Uh…something like that." Answered Zelda, in between her vigorous attempts to fend off the animals. "They're not real."
"Figured that already." Snapped Nabooru, swiping at another bird. "I'm not a fool." She had quickly realised as she fought that the birds when defeated seemed to fade into the sky, only to be replaced by two more. "We can't keep this up all day."
"Hah, maybe you Gerudo can't but we Hylians…ooof. Ow my hand!" Zelda cradled her hand and glared at the offending beady eyes of the cucco that had just pecked her. She shook it better and admitted privately that Nabooru probably had a point. She was already exhausted from her flight across the field, she didn't know how much longer she could keep fighting the hordes of birds.
Nabooru chuckled in between gasping for breath, "You were saying? I seem to be faring better than you, precious. What happened - break a fingernail, did you…ouch! Oh goddesses, I hate these cuccos so much!"
"What happened - did your lipstick smudge?" Sneered Zelda. She gloated for the millisecond in between fending off one cucco and being attacked by the next, the force of which almost sent her flying off the precarious ledge. She was saved, oddly enough, by Nabooru who grabbed her by instinct rather than choice and hauled her backwards so her back was pressed against the cliff face.
"Enough of this. We don't have time to argue. Tell me how we stop these fiends." Ordered Nabooru. "I will fight, you talk." She moved in front of Zelda and drew a dagger from her belt so she was armed in each hand. "TALK!" She shouted, as she thrust the dagger at one cucco. She swung the scimitar and killed another phantom bird and kicked a third.
"Um…"
"NOW!" Screamed Nabooru.
Zelda gulped and wished she didn't have to share vital information with the clear enemy but in such a situation, what could she do? The truth was, she didn't know how to defeat the cuccos but she daren't tell the scary Nabooru this. She had already frightened the Hylian with her alarmingly good swordplay and sharp orders. She would just have to make up the solution on the fly. "Er…amongst the cuccos there should be brown-gold one."
"Brown?" Nabooru paused and narrowed her eyes, trying to peer through the mass of bodies all around her. "Significance?"
Zelda thought for a moment only to discover that Nabooru was glaring at her, with a look which spoke volumes of a murderous intent. The Hylian gulped and continued. "I think that's the leader. I think she's creating and controlling all the others."
"You think?" Nabooru's sword moved again in a blur of silver. "I need better than that, sweetheart."
"Okay, um, that's…you see."
"Talk fast or I'll cut out your tongue." Snapped Nabooru. "You'd do better without it."
"Sorry." Cringed Zelda, "The brown one's called Ulusta. She's a Dream Snatcher, she's got to be controlling the others and…"
"Enough. I got it." Nabooru's sword snaked through the air as she warded off more attacks. She relayed the information to Ganondorf as she fought. "Expose the leader." She shouted in conclusion. He glanced at her and then at Zelda and then nodded and then barked something at Link. The next moment, purple smoke began pouring from his clothes. His head bowed and his lips moved and the ground began to tremble.
"What's he doing?" Shouted Zelda above the din.
Nabooru didn't bother to answer this, her concentration focussed on fending off any further attacks on her person. She kept one eye on her king and watched with interest as Link, fool that he was, realised the wisdom of obeying the Gerudo king and protected him whilst he cast a spell. A moment later, Ganondorf's whole body erupted with a mass of dark purple energy. Like a veil of smog, it twirled around him for a brief second before blasting into the crowd of cuccos, incinerating all of them in one mighty bang. There was an almighty squawk and then en mass, the white birds dropped from the sky. One small, fluffy brown cucco was left exposed on the floor, clucking and flapping around furiously. The next instant, a gold shape sprang over Nabooru's head and charged at the lone bird.
Link followed his pet into the fray, shouting unintelligibly. It was impossible to tell who he was trying to help - Amber or Ulusta. Nabooru exchanged a look with Ganondorf (who was bent double as he caught his breath) and sighed. She was beginning to regret ever having come to Hyrule. She remembered fondly the warmth of the desert, the harshness and normality of living and the rarity of idiots, such as Link, to spoil her day. She had forgotten how much she disliked the youth and his erstwhile pet.
His erstwhile pet, Amber, had pounced onto the cucco's back and sunk her teeth into her golden-brown feathers. Ulusta crowed and fought back vigorously, pecking and scratching. Link joined in too, trying to pull the pair apart and received a bite from Amber and peck from Ulusta as a reward.
"Don't help her, Link, kill it!" Ordered Zelda, as she began scrambling back down the incline.
Link glared at her and deliberately dropped his sword.
"What is up with you!" Snapped Zelda, as she finally reached his side. "If you don't kill it now, we'll be back at square one and she'll just generate another flock of bloody birds to attack us.
"…" Link was still glaring at her and gestured wildly, his mouth opening and closing all the while but no sound coming out.
"This is no time for stupidity, Link. Stop being an idiot and talk to me."
Link made an infuriated noise and threw his arms in the air. Next he gestured wildly at Zelda's hand and then at his mouth.
"What?"
He rolled his eyes and then very slowly pointed to the sapphire signet ring on Zelda's hand, then at his mouth, then made a zipping motion across his mouth and raised an eyebrow.
"You…can't…you can't speak? Is that it?"
He nodded.
"Oh joy!" Cried Zelda, clasping her hands together at her breast and casting her eyes skywards. "How long I have longed for this day. My prayers have been answered! Praise be to the goddesses!"
Link glared at her in a manner worthy of Impa and Zelda giggled. Watching from her vantage point, Nabooru couldn't help but snigger at their stupidity. Surely they realised that their petty argument would result in their prey escaping? The wolf couldn't hold on forever and the cucco was glowing again, which surely meant a fresh attack was immanent. That could only mean more cuccos - a prospect Nabooru never wanted to face again. She looked to her leader and saw he was still exhausted from casting such an exhausting spell but was recovered enough to stare at the Hylians with amused incredulity. Cleary it was up to her to resolve the matter. Again.
She sprang down from the rocks with surefootedness worthy of a mountain goat, dagger gripped between her teeth. As she touched the ground, the dagger's blade changed colour from a rather ordinary silver to a beautiful moon-white. She charged forward, taking the dagger from her mouth as she did. The brightness of the blade distracted all the combatants. Link and Zelda stared at her open mouthed and Amber dropped the hapless Ulusta and backed away from the furious Gerudo. Nabooru ignored all three, concentrating on the seemingly innocent foe who had now decided that her best tactic was for feign ignorance and was scratching the floor and pecking at imaginary bugs in the dust.
She glared down at the tiny cucco and held the dagger aloft, ready to strike and then her face suddenly changed. "I can't do it." She whispered, lowering her weapon slightly. "I could cope with a giant serpent but this…" Ulusta clucked in the friendliest of manners and started having a dust bath. There was never before such a serene and precious little creature. "It's too cute."
"WHAT?" Exclaimed Zelda. Link 'whooped' and punched the air. Zelda punched him and he yelped. "I'll do it myself. I can't believe even a Gerudo warrior can't handle a stupid cucco."
"I beg your pardon?" Said Nabooru, gripping the dagger tightly once more.
"Well I don't see one dead Dream Snatcher so I guess you are as stupid as Link! Just kill the blasted thing and lets have done."
"But…" Nabooru shook her head and gazed back at Ulusta, the harmless Dream Snatcher. It almost seemed like the frenzied attack had only happened in their imagination. She scratched her head and frowned.
"Don't you remember what just happened? That bird almost killed us and you are going to let it live? Pathetic!" Sneered Zelda.
"I don't see you rushing to end it's life either, sweetheart." Retorted Nabooru.
"No, well I…" Zelda glared at the cucco and desperately tried to conjure up a reason to kill it but her mind was blank. Like Nabooru she began to wonder if the whole attack had been a daydream. "Um…that's a bad cucco." She stated, rather lamely.
"Uh huh." Nabooru adopted classic 'sceptic' stance (hands on hips, head back you know the drill) and raised an eyebrow. "Why is this cucco a bad cucco?"
"Errrrr…because…it is?" Zelda stared helplessly at Ulusta and felt a sudden desire to pick the beast up and cuddle it. She couldn't explain why she had such an urge and somewhere in her mind she remembered she didn't even like cuccos but the creatures feathers were so soft and golden, her eyes so beady her beak so yellow…
Link smiled benevolently at the pair of cooing women and reached forward to touch the bird. As he moved, Amber darted forward again, placing herself in between the humans and the dream snatcher. When Link attempted to push her away, she bit him. Link yelped again and jumped back. His mouth moved and finger waggled, clearly he was telling his pet she was a 'bad dog' but alas, the spell binding his tongue held. It did serve to distract Zelda though, she congratulated the wolf on a good shot and bent down to pat her head.
"Ow, you bit me, evil dog. How dare you!" Screech Zelda, following Link's lead and jumping back. Behind Amber, Ulusta was turning an alarming shade of red again. Amber growled in response and attempted to nip Nabooru's bare leg.
"Don't even think about it!" Snapped Nabooru, dodging out of the way of the wolf's teeth. She glared at Link, "I suggest you call your dog off this instant, Link, or I'll kill her."
Link pointed to his mouth and said something very rude in response, which fortunately was not audible, but unfortunately, Nabooru lip read. "You devil." She hissed, and drew the white dagger once more. She moved slowly towards Link, who tried to draw his sword, only to realise he had dropped it near Ulusta. He decided instead to back away. "Call me vile names, will you, Link?" Purred Nabooru, advancing menacingly. "Don't you remember the games we used to play? I always win in a battle of wits, for you have none."
Link mouthed something even more scandalous back at her, and her eyes glittered menacingly. She reached him and tickled the white dagger under his chin, cutting the skin slightly. "Don't forget, sweetness, the Gerudo still have a score to settle with you. In fact, I think I'll settle it right…now…" Link held her gaze innocently and succeeded in not looking in Zelda's direction. He knew that his companion had no idea of his previous involvement with the Gerudo and planned on keeping it that way. Nabooru held the dagger for a long moment before suddenly removing it. Before Link could attempt to make a surprised sound, she had turned and in one easy motion, flung it in Amber's direction.
Quite how it happened, Link could never be sure. As the dagger flew, Zelda shouted and Amber, by some miracle, dodged out of the way. The dagger flew straight and true and landed in Ulusta's golden, feathery breast. There was a flash of pure white light that blinded them for a moment. When his eyes peeled themselves open again, there was no sign of Ulusta (or Clucky as he thought of her). Nabooru's white-bladed dagger had reverted to its more normal silver colour and Amber was sniffing at the patch where Clucky had been.
He and Zelda exchanged a look and then dashed forwards. They had to get the signet ring before the Gerudo did.
"Not so fast, Hylians."
Both stopped on instinct and swung around. Ganondorf stood behind them, grinning evilly. They glanced at one another again, simultaneously, Link ran towards the old King and Zelda ran towards the Signet Ring. Nabooru sprinted after Zelda. As he charged forward, Link grabbed his sword and swung it forwards, only to discover that he still hadn't picked it up. Going unarmed against Ganondorf was something even he thought was a stupid idea and he stopped mid-sprint.
"Got it!" Exclaimed Zelda, picking the amber signet ring from the floor. She swung around, holding the ring aloft and grinned. For the briefest of moments she stood thus, before Nabooru easily whisked the heavy ring from her grasp and tucked it away in a pocket.
"Correction - you had it." She sneered and smiled at her king. The smile he cast back sent shudders running down Zelda's spine. She had forgotten how much she feared the man. In the castle he had looked tall but out in broad daylight she could finally see just how huge he really was, and dressed head to toe in black armour, he looked like he had just stepped out of a nightmare. He drew his scimitar and then grabbed Link by the collar.
"Arg, let me go!" Protested Link. "Oh…YAY, I've got my voice back!" The 'shut-up' spell had been banished the instant Zelda's fingers had touched the newest of the signet rings.
Zelda withered him with a single glance and concentrated on Ganondorf. "Let him go." She ordered.
"Um…no." Ganondorf laughed his best bad-guy laugh and pulled Link against his chest, with one hand he grabbed his hair and exposed his neck, with the other, he pressed the sword tightly against the exposed skin. A trickle of blood appeared.
"Please, let him go." Begged Zelda.
"Foolish girl, of course I will release him." Smiled Ganondorf, in a manner that made her skin creep. "Providing you meet our demands."
"D-demands? What demands?"
"Zelda. Go. Now." Link's voice was very quiet and very calm. This frightened her more than anything Ganondorf had said yet.
"I'm not leaving you."
Ganondorf sniffed and would have wiped away an imaginary tear had both hands not been occupied in holding Link prisoner at that moment. It reminded him so much of those old seeing-stone-shows he had loved so very much but had been so cruelly denied to him, no thanks to Link (and the Maku tree). "That is so sweet." He sneered, he pressed the sword a little harder against Link's neck, making the Calatian gulp involuntarily. "My demands, dear little Zelda, are simple. In return for Link's pitiful life, I want something from you."
Zelda racked her brains to think of a plausible reason for Ganondorf holding Link to ransom. She remembered her time back in the castle. "I…I refuse to marry you!"
"Pathetic child. As if I'd want to marry you! No one in their right mind would want that sort of fate." Snorted Ganondorf. "You have something that I want. Hand them over and you and your little friend may go free. If you do not comply, well, I think I'll just kill the pair of you now."
"An empty threat if ever I heard one." Interrupted Link. "You won't kill Zelda, without her you'll never have the means to control the Chameleon Stone. You need her magic to aquire the remaining signet rings."
"Do I?" Ganondorf appeared to be puzzled by Link's statement. "Funny that, I am sure I just saw Nabooru defeating a Dream Snatcher. Did my eyes deceive me? Was I hallucinating?" He laughed again, "Poor deluded fool, there is more to the Dream Snatchers and Chameleon Stone than even you know. I do not need anybody but my loyal Nabooru to assist me in getting what I want."
"Fine, well why don't you just kill us then? You don't normally show any restraint when murder is involved." Said Link.
"I am offering your little friend a chance to lean on my mercy. I have no desire to prematurely end the life of one so young and beautiful."
"Aw, thanks Ganondorf." Smiled Link. "That's so sweet of you."
Nabooru, who had up to this point been watching the goings on with a good deal of annoyance, now interrupted. "My Lord, I don't think they are taking you seriously. Perhaps you had better just kill Link. We can easily acquire the rings by force if we must. If you wish, I will kill him for you."
"That's what you want - the signet rings?"
"Well you're not having them." Decided Link, before Zelda could speak again.
"That's not your decision to make." Replied Ganondorf. "That is for the Golden Light of Hyrule - our dear little Zelda to decide." He smiled wickedly at her, and ran his sword lightly across Link's throat. A fresh trickle of blood appeared. "Well, my lady, what will it be. Shall I allow my faithful Nabooru to prematurely end the life of your dear Link now, or will you have me spare him?"
"Zelda, don't listen to him!" Urged Link. "Take Amber and run! I'll be okay, I promise."
"You always were such a useless liar, Link." Stated Nabooru, as she wandered over. "'I'll be okay' Hah! What nonsense." She drew her sword and rested it against his heart. "You have no idea how much I want to kill you, my darling Link. You won't be okay at all. I will take great delight in cutting you into little pieces - one for each of my sisters you dishonoured."
Link smiled despite himself, "Wow, that is a lot."
"How dare you!" Snapped Nabooru, she kicked his legs almost from under him and then raised her scimitar high above her head. "You will pay for that too, fool!" The silver sword slammed down.
"NO!" Screamed Zelda. The sword swung aside at the last possible second. Ganondorf sneered at her. "Well…?"
She held the pouch with the signet rings forward. "Take them." She cried, "Just let him go."
Ganondorf laughed wickedly. "A good choice, my girl. Nabooru…" Zelda bowed her head as the Gerudo spy stalked over and whipped the pouch from her. A quick check told her that they were all there. She nodded to her King. "Thank you, my dear." He said. "Now I will fulfill my side of the bargain." He laughed again, and shoved Link away from his grasp. He fell face forward into the dust and lay still, a rapidly expanding patch of darkness came from underneath him.
"Link? LINK? W-what have you done?" Cried Zelda, as she dashed forward.
"Whoops." Giggled Nabooru. She grabbed him by the hair and turned him over. His torso was awash with blood and his face was peculiarly pale. The Gerudo stood and faced her king, smiling. Nabooru's sword trick was not quite the feat Zelda had imagined it to be. Instead of piercing his heart, as been her original intention, Nabooru had stabbed Link squarely in the shoulder and he was losing a lot of blood. "He's not dead. Yet." She declared.
"Good. That would have spoilt all my fun." Sniggered Ganondorf. The pair watched as Zelda desperately attempted to stem the flow of blood from Link's wound. "You know what to do, Nabs."
"Yes sir."
One well aimed kick to the back of the head was all it took to render Zelda unconscious.
Sorry, this chapter is kinda naff. The thought behind it is okay but in theory it's not as good as I had envisioned. So sorry. Any pointers you'd like to give me on how to improve would be much appreciated! The next will be better!
I hope it was clear that Ulusta / Clucky's power was the power of illusion - she could conjure up cuccos as easily as she could delude people into thinking she was cute and innocent. Maybe more on that in another chapter.
And in case I've not updated before Christmas and/or New Year, I wish you all seasons' greetings!
