The Waters of Nayru
Chapter 4: Grand Plans
By, Frank Hunter

Most of the following day was spent undergoing instruction. Gerudo doctrine dictated that the Stewardess was responsible for the education and initiation of the king-to-be in all matters that would prepare him for the position he would one day take. Sooru, though, took very little interest in working with Rigo, so much so that he had only even seen her a handful of times. Most of the training therefore fell to Sooru's assistant and advisor, an older woman by the name of Pureet, whom Rigo had actually become quite fond of over the years.

The lessons under Pureet had been both difficult and varied. Rigo had learned everything from wielding a sword and shield to balancing a governmental budget. Naturally, some of the lessons he enjoyed more than others.

"Do we have to do this today?" he complained about the day's lesson on mathematics and architecture.

"Yes," Pureet answered him patiently. "It has to be done sometime. Today's as good a day as any other."

"But it's so boring," Rigo whined.

"You'll appreciate the knowledge someday."

Rigo didn't know when, but he sucked it up and worked through. His mind was elsewhere anyway, stuck in the conversation he'd had with his grandmother the night before. The discussion had stuck an idea in his head, and like any good idea it could not be dislodged no matter how hard he tried. He pushed his way through the tedium of the lesson, eager to get the day over with so he could find Amili and tell her what he had in mind. It couldn't happen fast enough.

He finally caught up with her that evening after dinner, running an errand to the marketplace for her mother. She was carrying a huge jar and almost dropped it when Rigo came up behind her.

"Jeez!" she yelled at him. "You scared me half to death!"

"I know, I'm sorry," Rigo said and took one side of the jar to help her out. "Are you OK about yesterday? How much trouble did you get into?"

"None, actually," Amili told him. "I think the shopkeeper only saw you. She didn't say anything about me. Mom didn't even know."

"Well that's lucky," said Rigo. "Good thing you were the one holding the rope, huh?"

Amili smiled and shook her head, which in turn made Rigo crack a grin. He couldn't help it.

"Listen," he told her. "I have an idea, something I want to do. And it's gonna sound crazy at first, but I want you to really listen. I'm serious about it."

"When are you ever serious?" she teased.

"Real funny. Please listen?"

Amili nodded. "Alright, alright. What's the crazy idea?" And he told her.

Rigo related the story that his grandmother had told the night before, of the waning power of the Gerudo king and the ancient temple, lost to the sand with its treasure buried away and waiting. He went on about the treasure, spicing the story up some with descriptions he remembered from his dreams. That was, after all, the part that interested him. When he finished his story, Amili having remained silent throughout, he finally got to his point.

"I want to travel back to Hyrule, back to the Desert Temple. I want to bring some of that treasure back here," he told her.

She scoffed a little, not looking at him. He finished his story just as they reached the marketplace and so she made no answer other than that for the sake of discretion. Rigo ducked a bit behind the jar as they passed by the fruit stand, which was closed at this time of night though the boy wasn't taking any chances. They reached the bodega belonging to the merchant Amili was looking for, traded her the jar for payment in rupees, and departed. "Long life, Prince Rigo," the merchant woman blessed after them.

"Yeah, thanks," Rigo answered over his shoulder. Amili was still silent as they left the market and stepped out under the moon. "Well?" Rigo prompted. "What do you think?"

"I think you were right," she said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You're absolutely crazy."

Rigo was taken aback, but tried hard not to show it. He tried to draw on some of those mediation lessons he'd gotten from Pureet. "Okay. What's wrong with the idea?"

"Well for starters, let's say this is even possible. Let's say you pull it off. What would you do with the treasure when you got it back here? What's the point?"

Rigo'd had a day to think about this, and had an answer. "Give it back to the people, maybe? Or use it as tribute to the Sand Goddess to start a new temple here. The grown-ups, they all still think about the place they came from. They still think of Hyrule as home, like they're gonna go back there some day. But they're not. This is home now, Amili. We've gotta start acting like it. And who's better to show them that than me?"

"But why do you care, Rigo?" Amili asked. The two stood off to the side of the doorway into the pueblo under the night sky. Rigo could hardly see Amili, save for the glow of firelight in her eyes, but the confusion he recognized there pained him. He thought she would just understand.

"Why would you go to so much trouble to do something like that?" she asked him.

"Because, isn't it something a king would do?" he answered, exasperation creeping up on him again. He worked to tone it back. He didn't want to be angry with Amili. His temper just had a tendency to boil over sometimes. His grandmother said Gerudo men were like that sometimes. Emotional.

Rigo took a breath. "Something my grandmother said last night stuck with me, hard. She said that I have to make a legacy for myself, even now, that the tribe will look up to when I'm king. She said I've gotta start doing good now if I'm gonna be respected later. I think this is something I could do, something that would make an impression. It would be a great start." Visions of adventure and excitement danced behind his eyes too of course, but he tactfully didn't tell Amili any of that. She'd know anyway. She knew him well enough.

"Your grandmother might be right," Amili conceded. "But I don't think this is the way to go about it. I think there are other ways to do some good around this place. You can go treasure hunting later if you want, when you're older. When you're king already, and you can bring others with you."

He blushed a little, but didn't think she would be able to notice it in the dim light. "Well, I…I wasn't planning to go alone…"

"Huh?" she squinted at him. Then it dawned on her. "Oh. Oh, Rigo…I couldn't…you can't…"

The boy deflated where he stood. None of this had gone the way he had hoped or expected. She didn't like the idea, she didn't think he should go, and she wouldn't go with him. He might have expected this kind of rejection to torpedo his plan, and was surprised himself to find that his resolve had only gotten stronger in light of her challenge.

"Look," she said, after the moment of tension had passed. "Promise me that you won't do anything stupid, okay? Promise that you're not going to take off into the desert and disappear on me. Please? I don't think I could take it."

Her plea weighed on him, but there was only one answer he could give. The truth.

"No."

She took a step back, and he stared at her with fire in his eyes. "No, Amili. I can't make that promise. I'm going to do this. I'm going after the treasure of the Desert Temple, and I'm going whether you come with me or not."

"You stubborn…"

"Don't you tell anyone, either," he cut her off. "They'll try to stop me if they know. Don't tell your mother, don't tell anyone."

Amili shook her head. "I'm sorry, Rigo. I can't make that promise either." He worked not to lash out, and kept himself in check once more. It was harder this time.

"You could die," Amili went on. "What do you think would happen to the tribe then?"

"It'll go on," he answered. "Just like it has for the last century, without Ganondorf. It'll survive without a king a little longer."

"What do you think would happen to me?" Amili asked.

Rigo had nothing for that. He felt like there was something to say, but didn't know what it was or how to say it. Amili just stood there, arms at her sides, looking defeated. He decided that would have to do for now.

"I guess," he said, "that we'll see, won't we?" He turned and stormed off back into the pueblo without another word.

"Rigo!" he heard Amili cry after him, but he didn't stop or answer her. He had thinking and planning to do, and if Amili raised the alarm, he wouldn't have much time to do it in. He would have to get started soon.