They passed through a large town some hours on. By then, the sun had begun its premature retreat over the horizon, casting a dusky glow across the land. When Ganondorf adjusted his path to pass through the town, the caravan followed. Like a disobedient pet compelled by hunger, Zelda followed her father.
The town was small. Orren, but denser. Though it was kept alive by the importation of all resources, the people crowded out to meet their ruler. Some stared, their eyes wide with some concoction of powerful emotions even Zelda could not pinpoint. Others lifted their arms into the air and cheered. Others chanted.
None dissented.
Their pace slowed for a moment. Ganondorf's mount moved at a trot as he lifted his arm in polite recognition. At this, the gathered crowd's cheers intensified. On either side stood walls of people. At one point, Ganondorf cast Zelda a glance she perceived as an order to imitate him. She ignored it. Her father continued to wave, though the closer they moved to the edge of the town, the less effort he put into it. At last, the crowd dissipated.
Their caravan passed through quickly enough, moving back to the barren roads of Hylium. There were no fringe settlements, nor were there farmers, as would have been found in Catalia's lush landscape.
For a moment, Ganondorf moved closer to his daughter. He threw his head back as though to laugh, but instead grinned at the sky. The dark brown of his skin radiated in the sunlight. "Always give them something, daughter," he said without lowering his gaze. "No matter how much you take from them, a people on the edge of death will forgive you in exchange for a blanket in the midst of winter."
To this, Zelda said nothing. She did not acknowledge her father's resumed proximity, nor did she acknowledge his words.
When the sun at last set, the caravan stopped to set camp. Though her father could best any soldier in combat, he seemed to take pleasure in watching the others prepare his tent for him. At the sight, he smirked, though never in such a way that his men could see. When his tent was erected and his belongings moved inside, Ganondorf disappeared, dismissing the offer of supper.
Zelda removed her own bedroll from the side of her stallion, choosing to sleep beneath the stars. With darkness in the air, the temperature fell till she could see her breath, but even so, she laid beneath the stars. Zelda did not sleep that night; rather, she simmered. Taking into account all she knew and all her father knew, she plotted.
Barely five hours later, the caravan moved. It was practiced procedure. The moment her father left his tent, fully armored in his black maille, a group of soldiers dismantled the structure and divided it amongst the three mules that made up the rear of the procession.
Zelda moved her sleeping mat to her horse and was prepared to leave some time before her father. Her mount paced sideways, fidgeting as it was moved back into position aside her father's. Minutes later, they were off.
Some hours passed. At last, they came into sight of the forest—a massive green blotch on the horizon, stretching for miles around. Zelda recalled her father once commissioned a cartographer to provide an exact measurement. He had been unable to do so, claiming that the forest itself expanded and compacted whenever someone tried to attach numbers to it.
At the memory, Zelda did not smile. But it amused her.
From the outside, it was an impregnable mass of vegetation. Trees stretched hundreds of feet into the air, barricaded by a dense layer of foliage that seemed thick enough to halt even the most intrepid adventurers.
Ganondorf lifted a hand.
The caravan shuffled to a halt behind him, some feet from the forest.
The underbrush came alive, moving aside as half a dozen elfin figures emerged. They were aged, yet childlike. Their skin held an unnatural green pigment, while their hair varied only between shades of blonde and pale green. For clothes, they wore plain brown fabrics, none of which provided actual sleeves or trousers. None looked to be older than fourteen.
One—a girl with white-blonde hair and a dagger strapped to her left leg—stepped closer to Ganondorf and knelt before him. The other Kokiri followed suit.
Ganondorf dismounted, but it did not diminish his presence. Against Zelda, he seemed giant. To the Kokiri, he must have seemed a monolith.
"Your Majesty," the assumed leader of the Kokiri said, never lifting her eyes from the ground. "We... did not expect you so soon." She spoke Hylian as though a newcomer to the language, her words thick with accent.
Before speaking, Ganondorf observed. His eyes moved to each of the Kokiri in turn, analyzing each. He held his hands together behind his back and lifted his chin. "I have returned because your debt is unpaid, Lauranna."
The Kokiri—Lauranna—twisted her head to the right, but otherwise did not move. "I apologize, Your Majesty."
The subservience sated Ganondorf. He began to pace, his steps careful and deliberate. With each movement, Lauranna's eyes followed him, if underhandedly. "Your last tribute was unsatisfactory. I have come to collect a second."
Lauranna silence was practiced. Physically, she did not react to the words. "...forgive me, Lord Ganondorf. I chose poorly."
"You did." Ganondorf gestured with his hand. "Rise."
The girl did, though her gaze remained low.
"You will take me to your village—" The final word carried concealed venom. "And then I will choose which of your kind to take."
Lauranna bowed, as did the other Kokiri. "Yes, Lord Ganondorf, Your Majesty," she said.
Satisfied, Ganondorf lifted his hand and gestured to the procession that followed him. "My followers will wait here—"
A glance at Zelda.
"—except for my daughter."
Accepting the cue, Zelda dismounted. The Kokiri watched her with the same suspicion offered to Ganondorf, though they offered it to her more openly. Narrowed eyes and uneasy hands followed the few steps she took from her horse to stand at her father's side.
Lauranna turned and reentered her forest. As she did, the underbrush moved aside to allow Zelda and her father through. While plant-life still tangled its way around Zelda's limbs, her father remained unimpeded. The forest itself seemed to shift away whenever he ventured too near
The rest of the Kokiri disappeared noiselessly into the forest, leaving the one identified as Lauranna to guide them. Even so, Ganondorf's gait never hinted at even the slightest lack of control. His expression remained dominant, the slightest hint of a smirk tugging at the edges of his mouth.
They arrived at last in a clearing; an area of the forest where the canopy thickened enough to block out the sun. Only the dimmest light forced its way through the canopy, lacing the forest with a hint of twilight.
The Kokiri settlement was not formal. It was a collection of a dozen rickety structures built from many layers of harvested tree branches, softened and woven tightly enough that they made for a solid, domelike structure. Several of the more childlike Kokiri rested beneath them, the green of their skin somehow more visible in the light starved forest.
Once in the middle of the clearing, Ganondorf stopped.
A vein in his forehead throbbed in anger and his hands twisted into steel-plated fists, though nothing had occurred to provoke him.
For her apparent age, Lauranna was calm and collected. Her reaction to Ganondorf's appearance had been mild, has had her willingness to bring him into the forest. She stopped as Ganondorf did, though she remained in place away from him. The other Kokiri looked to her as she returned, some appearing from amidst the forest, others from their homes. The collection of expressions that met her was mixed.
"Bring them to me," said Ganondorf.
Though only Lauranna was close enough to hear, the whole of the Kokiri seemed to react to Ganondorf's words. The Kokiri emerged from the forest and from their homes. They were adolescents—and those that answered Ganondorf's call were female.
They lined up and knelt, never lifting their gazes higher than Ganondorf's boots. In all, they were twelve in number.
Only one of the Kokiri did not come willingly: a green haired girl dragged by her arm from the forest by Lauranna and made to kneel. The girl's body was thin, almost malnourished. Her hands were bound and the fabric of her clothes burnt. Zelda noted a lack of hair on the girl's forearms. Of those present, she seemed the oldest, even more so than Lauranna. Her physical age seemed to test the boundaries of the Kokiri youth.
But Zelda said nothing. She remained still, her hands tucked behind her back.
Ganondorf paced alongside the line of Kokiri, spending much time considering each. Occasionally, he would reach down and adjust the angle of one's face to provide him with a more detailed view. None seemed to impress him, for he reacted to each with cold disinterest. It was not until he moved further along that Ganondorf gave pause. He loomed over one of the smaller Kokiri, a blonde.
He grabbed the girl by the arm and hoisted her to eye level. Her feet dangled beneath her. Fear filled her eyes.
"This one," said Ganondorf, pulling her from the line. He then continued on, picking out three of the girls, judging them as he had the first, and pulling them aside. Eventually, his journey brought him back to the girl with green hair, whom he considered a second time.
For a moment, the girl's eyes venture beyond Ganondorf's boots.
He smiled. "And this one."
Ganondorf grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. Her initial resistance to being forced into the line receded. She complied with the movement, lowering her gaze as she fell in beside Ganondorf.
"Father," Zelda said at last.
A slight twist of the head was his only acknowledgement of her words.
"I would like the girl with the green hair."
The green haired girl shifted in place, but was ignored by Ganondorf.
Ganondorf turned to face his daughter, his presence imposing and demonic. With his left hand, he continued to hold the arm of the green hair girl. "Do you, daughter? And why would I let you have what is rightfully mine?" A challenge. Ganondorf's free hand curled into a fist.
"I require additional servants."
Her father's eyes narrowed. "No, you do not."
"If I am to command an estate in Catalia, I will."
A smile spread across Ganondorf's features. "And why would you be commanding an estate in Catalia?"
The girl with the green hair was still. Though Ganondorf seemed to ignore her, Zelda knew she listened to every word. "If you give the girl to me, I will give you a grandchild."
Ganondorf's smile remained static, but his eyes hardened, considering her. She knew he searched for deceit, some way a girl of the Kokiri could be used against him. When he found none, the eyes softened, while the smile became genuine. "And why this one?"
"She is different."
A slight shift of the girl's head, though her expression remained the same.
The smile on Ganondorf's face twitched. "'Different.' She is a child like the others." He rested a hand across the girl's back. "If you do not honor your word, I will take everything from you—this girl included."
Zelda remained stoic before the threat.
Ganondorf released the green haired girl and pushed her towards Zelda. At only a nudge, the girl moved on her own, keeping her head down till she was at Zelda's side. The other Kokiri under Ganondorf's wing remained subservient, their postures slackened, their youthful faces deadened of emotion.
Zelda lifted her chin. "Are we leaving?"
"Momentarily."
Ganondorf approached Lauranna, who until then had remained silent. It was only through her eyes that anger was hinted at. Like the other Kokiri, her gaze fell to her boots—but she did not kneel. "You look older, Lauranna."
"Yes, Lord Ganondorf." An automatic response.
"If these Kokiri break as easily as the others, I will burn your forest to the ground. Do you understand?"
The prepared response caught in Lauranna's throat, leaving her mouth slightly agape.
Ganondorf repeated, his tone darker: "Do you understand."
"…yes, Lord Ganondorf."
Ganondorf turned from her, his grin unchanged, but the expression did not match his eyes. "Tell your Guardian to be wary. If you attempt to usurp any more land for your forest, I will see to it that the Kokiri people receive the privilege of immortality."
"Yes, Lord Ganondorf."
He allowed single, powerful laugh before gesturing with a lazy flick of the hand to his daughter.
Zelda placed a hand on the shoulder of the green haired girl and directed her to the somewhat flattened area of brush through which they had entered the Kokiri settlement. The girl moved without conviction. Zelda's father remained in front. At his presence, the forest seemed to recoil. With each step, the earth beneath his boots died.
The girl hesitated once, closer to the edge of the forest; a hesitation she passed off as a misstep. Zelda tightened her hold. The girl exhibited no other tells, but the intention remained obvious: a brief consideration of escape.
Their small troupe emerged onto the barren landscape that was Hylium. The girl with the green hair twisted her head to hide her eyes from the sudden intensity of the sunlight.
Ganondorf's Hand stood at the ready the moment Ganondorf emerged, realigning themselves into a military formation, the mounts of the royals at their head.
"Bind and leash them," said Ganondorf, dragging all four Kokiri forward and leaving them in the hands of his soldiers. They attended to the task quickly. From somewhere, more than a dozen lengths of ropes were produced and wrapped around the necks and wrists of the Kokiri. None of the children resisted. At last, they were moved in line with the caravan and pushed into place near the front. By then, Ganondorf was mounted, his black stallion shaking its head before moving to the head of the group.
Following an inspection of the girl's bounds, Zelda directed her to the front, eschewing the leash. She moved to her horse, tended to by one of the servants brought along by Ganondorf, and mounted, taking her place at Ganondorf's side. Just behind her, the girl with the green hair stared at the ground, offering no resistance, despite lacking Ganondorf's precautions.
It was later when Zelda was granted the opportunity to speak to the green haired girl alone, when Ganondorf and The Hand were less attentive of her. After night fell and camp was set, Zelda positioned her own sleepmat some ways from Ganondorf's tent. Wordlessly, the girl with the green hair followed, always keeping her head down.
She stood eight inches shorter than Zelda. Her skin was a shade closer to the Hylian complexion than the other Kokiri. Her bounds continued to grind against her flesh, wearing it away until the dark green tendrils that made up her true interior shown clearly, even beneath starlight.
Despite the rotation being kept by The Hand, Zelda remained comfortable. She slipped her hands together behind her back. "You may sit," she said.
The girl hesitated, but did so. Even rested against the ground, her body appeared unsteady.
Zelda detected a sigh of relief marred by heavy breathing.
"I will establish something up front: I saved your life." Zelda paced before her, all the while keeping the girl in the corner of her eye. "Your leader, Lauranna, refuses to speak of the fates of the Kokiri given to my father, but I will. They fulfill a carnal desire of his. He breaks and discards them."
The girl with the green hair was silent.
"You are indebted to me." Zelda knelt before the girl, her expression neutral. "And you will begin repayment of that debt by answering my questions. First: your name."
The girl lifted her chin as though she meant to answer, but hesitated, falling back into a lowered gaze. Her hands trembled.
Zelda repeated the request in a darker tone: "Your name."
The girl did not answer.
"Then I will return you to my father. I'm sure he'll find a use for you."
The shaking of the girl's hands grew erratic.
Zelda noted it. "Fine. Another question."
The shaking of the girl's hands gradually ceased.
Zelda reached out and lifted the girl's bound hands. "Lack of hair on fore-arms. Bound hands. Burnt sleeves. You are a fire mage." It was a statement.
Regardless, the girl with the green hair nodded.
"The Kokiri fear fire, but they would not oust one of their own for controlling it." Zelda lifted the girl's arm, bending down to examine the flesh more closely. "You've not eaten for at least ten days. I suspect it's only your connection to the earth keeping you from starving to death. That, of course, begs the question: why would Lauranna imprison you?"
The girl said nothing.
"Unless, of course, you lost control. Fire is a delicate element. It would take a great amount of emotional stability to contain it." Zelda paused, watching the girl's face from the corner of her eye.
Eyes moved, avoiding Zelda's gaze.
Confirmation.
Zelda stood, returning her hands to their place behind her back, before resuming her pacing, slow this time. "Now: what was your trigger?"
Silence.
"Do not doubt that I will hand you back to my father. He is always in search of more playthings."
The girl's lips parted. Hesitation. She lifted her eyes beyond Zelda's boots, at last meeting the other woman's gaze. Her tone was cautious: "I have… memories." The voice was weak—raspy.
At the words, Zelda's expression was unchanged. "Memories."
"…yes."
"That's a blanket term." Zelda brought a hand to her chin. "Expand."
A long hesitation. The girl with the green hair lowered her gaze. "…no."
"Reconsider that answer." She knelt before the girl. "Now."
The girl's squirmed. "Lauranna talks… about a great burning—when our first home was lost." The words were disjointed, but grew in clarity as the girl continued. "No one remembers it, but there are times when—"
Her hands began to shake.
"—I do, when I see images of flames, hear people screaming. All around it will feel like I'm burning."
Zelda stood. "The Burning—you have memories of the Old World?"
A twist of the girl's head, though it wasn't a denial. "I… don't know."
Zelda brought a hand back to her chin. Her expression was pensive. "The Burning—that was seventeen hundred years ago. 'The Age of Hylian Imperialism'. How much do you remember? Names? Events?"
Following a moment's hesitation, the girl shook her head. Strands of green hair tumbled over her eyes. "Fire and screams."
"More dreams than memories. And it was these images that caused you to lose control of your powers?"
"…yes."
Zelda considered the girl. "Tell me about this trigger."
At this, the girl was silent.
Zelda's eyes were unreadable.
"Fine. I have no more questions for the moment—save one," she said at last, her expression changed to something softer. "Tell me your name and I will cut your bonds."
The girl with the green hair stared at the ground. Something dark flickered across her features, but it appeared only momentarily.
"Saria," the girl said.