A/N: Heads up, this is the chapter where things turn dark!
"Aww, isn't it so cute? Our master and our princess are in love," Ghirahim sighed from across the cabin, watching as Zelda combed the Gerudo's hair. "How romantic..."
"Didn't she have a fiancée though?" Yuga interrupted, before Ghirahim smacked him hard.
"Shut up, this is better! If she loves Master, then she'll stay here with us and we can love her too- aww, look they're kissing!"
Ganondorf sent a stern glare over to his "audience" as Zelda kissed him, but it had little effect. Just as it had been two weeks ago when he caught them eavesdropping on his first kiss with the princess, they weren't scared of his wrath in the slightest. The boys wanted Zelda to stay with them more than anything, so they threw their full support into the relationship. Even Zant was on board, determined to protect her from what he considered a betrothal of convenience to Link.
"Are you really going with them today?" Zelda pouted as Ganondorf stood and adjusted his leather pauldrons.
"There's a heavy deposit of force gems in this cavern, and they need my help to harvest it," the dark man explained. "Don't pout, Ghirahim will be staying behind to keep you company. No use bringing an invalid along."
"I resent that, thank you very much. I can still carry things."
"Not with a hole in your shoulder."
"YUGA, I SWEAR TO HYLIA..." Ghirahim was about to unload on the painter, until Zelda took his arm. Her smile instantly calmed him, and he hugged her. "The Princess and I'll have all sorts of fun while you're gone, Yuga, just you wait. Way better than digging for rocks in a smelly cave."
Zelda kissed each of her comrades good-bye, the last one receiving a bit more attention. "Stay alert," Ganondorf ordered after releasing her lips, his face full of concern. "These woods are safely secluded, but if you must go out, remain close to Ghirahim. I wouldn't put it past that despot to have spies everywhere."
"We'll be fine," she assured, kissing the charm that hid his forehead scar. "Now go, don't waste the daylight. The sooner you leave, the sooner you return."
Zelda and Ghirahim waited until the men were out of sight, before turning to each other.
"I know that look, tell me what you have planned."
"Pie."
"Made from Tasty Meat?"
"Ew, no! I was thinking apple."
Ghirahim laughed, clearly defeated. "Princess, you have no sense of adventure. Fine, apple it is." He looked around their meager kitchen, now clean thanks to Zant and Vaati's efforts. After all, they couldn't live like slobs anymore now that they had a princess to look after. "I think we have all the flour and sugar you'll need, and I know Agahnim has a jar of lard in his cupboard. So that just leaves the apples. How many do you-?"
When Ghirahim turned back around, Zelda was gone, basket in hand and already halfway down the path leading from the cabin. He snapped his fingers and materialized right in her way. "Didn't you listen to Master's warning? We. Go. Together."
"You're the one who was lollygagging around the kitchen. Now come on, Skull Kid's map has an apple tree marked about a mile from here." Zelda grabbed Ghirahim's arm and dragged him along, taking note of every flower and berry bush they passed. What she didn't take note of, however, was the cloaked figure following them.
"Blast it, she's not alone," Edwin huffed, darting behind a tree. It had taken him two weeks to track this place down, after all he couldn't tell anyone what he was after and his sole clue was that Sakon went missing near the border to Termina. But he did have enough of a brain to deduce that if Link found a remnant of Zelda by the river, maybe she survived by falling into it. And that river just happened to lead toward Termina.
He had already located the sole apple tree near the cabin, and cast the spell on the shiniest, most perfect fruit. It was now a waiting game.
Zelda and Ghirahim made it to the tree in no time, despite all the floral distractions, and started filling their basket. Ghirahim noticed a particularly shiny apple, and handed it to the princess. "Here, take this one as a snack. The dull and bruised ones can go into the pies, but one this brilliant is reserved for you."
She took it, but rather than eating it right away, she sat on a nearby root and rolled it in her hand. "Ghirahim, has he always been alone?"
"Hmm," the teen nodded as he chomped away at his own pile of fruit. "I wouldn't say always, but yes, Master is used to being alone. His tribe was largely wiped out, and those that survived were assimilated into the Hylian race and forced to abandon their culture." He paused for a moment. "You two remind me of a faerie tale..."
Zelda cocked her head at the sudden change of subject. "Go on..."
"The Goddess Hylia, the one who looks after living creatures? She had a companion. He was sworn to protect her, to keep people from coveting her power. But fate is cruel, and he succumbed to the same temptation that he guarded her from. He wanted to eliminate all the creatures that stole her attention away, and as much as Hylia loved her protector, she had her duties. So they were separated, him cast to the dark depths while she was sent to the skies. But even though she possessed the power, she never took his life. They say their souls were passed to mortals of different creeds, continuing their star-crossed love across the generations."
"It's a sad story," Zelda said, staring at the apple. "But I think I understand the way the Goddess felt. When I look at Ganondorf, my spine tingles. I used to think it was fear, but it can't be. Because it tingles even more when he touches me, when he's kind to me, and especially when he kisses me. It's gotten to where I long for that feeling, and I don't want to give it up. It's funny, I never felt this way before about anyone, not even Link. I... I want to get closer to him. I want to give him everything I have, everything I am, and never be away from him. Is that wrong?"
"No Princess, that's called 'love.'"
"Love..." Zelda giggled, raising the apple to her lips. "I'm in love..."
Then the moment Edwin waited for had arrived.
Zelda bit into the apple, and almost at once felt a horrible sensation come over her. The apple fell from her hands, and she let out the faintest of gasps before her throat seized up.
Ghirahim sensed instantly that something was wrong, and screamed for his master at the top of his lungs. He caught Zelda as she collapsed, her small frame shaking and frantically gasping for air. In a rush of wind and Twilit magic, Ganondorf and the others were at their side, having heard the teens screams and recognizing the utter horror in his pitch.
"Zelda, Zelda! Look at me!" Ganondorf pulled the now motionless princess into his arms, grasping her head and muttering every healing spell he knew. Her eyes were heavy with fear, and he tried desperately to ignore what were clearly the approaching throes of death. "What the hell happened?! Zelda!"
Agahnim used his magic to sweep the area, honing in on an object in the grass- the discarded apple. He picked it up and smelled it, before hissing and throwing it to the ground. "The apple, it is poisoned. I recognize the spell, it's called the 'living death'. As far as I know, there's no way to reverse it..."
"FIND A WAY!" Ganondorf's screaming was enough to deafen anyone within earshot. He cradled the princess, gave her his air, tried everything he could to make her breathe again. Nothing was working. "ZELDA!"
Zelda was paralyzed, in more ways than one. She trembled with the realization that her body would take in no more air, and her eyes leaked more tears than she knew possible. Even the appearance of her lover was not enough to calm her as the realization hit her- this was death. Not the initial betrayal, falling off the cliff into the icy river, Zant's strangling, or Sakon's revenge even came close to the current sensation. She had just enough left in her to raise a hand to Ganondorf's cheek as her vision left her, and she felt her limbs go cold. The last thing she heard was the Gerudo screaming her name.
When Zelda's lifeless hand fell from their leader's cheek, the men collectively gasped in shock and horror. Their angel had left them. Ganondorf let out a noise his comrades won't soon forget, scaring even the stoic Agahnim. It was anguish, sorrow, fury, and bloodlust combined, and they all knew who would be on the receiving end.
Ganondorf carried their angel into the cabin and laid her on his bed, refusing to treat her as a corpse and let her touch the cold ground. At a loss for action, he cast a preservation spell on her, one that would keep her body from deteriorating. He then turned to a underused cabinet in the corner, flinging open the doors encrusted with dirt and time. Inside was a set of blue and gold armor, marked by war yet sturdy and awe-inspiring. He quickly donned it, affixing Zelda's necklace over the collar. The last piece was contained within a chest, a piece that was rarely ever used even before his oppression. But he wanted Edwin to know who it was that opposed him, and so he pulled the golden crown from its resting place. Gripping a large scabbard hidden away in the cabinet, he marched out.
The man who stepped forth from that room was not the dirty scavenger he had come to be known as, but rather the proud and terrifying Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo. Fury blazed in his eyes, and his crown spread out his red hair into a fiery mane that advertised the brutal beast within. Most frightening of all was the force that emanated from his right fist. It was invisible to the untrained eye, but anyone with magical skill could see that something had awoken inside of him, something long forgotten. The Triforce of Power.
"I'm going to slaughter Edwin."
A/N: I didn't intend for it to turn out this way, but Ghirahim plays a pretty big part in the story as Zelda's BFF. It makes sense in a way. Out of all the outcasts, he's the one closest to her age. I see Zant, Yuga, and Vaati to be in their twenties, Agahnim and Ganondorf in at least thirties (Ganny is more of an ageless type, what with the curse and all), and the Skull Kid around ten. Hyrule Historia says Ghirahim is supposed to be Link's age, which is pretty close to what I imagine this Zelda to be (though this Link is definitely around five years older than her). I don't like pinning down characters to an age because I like to let the reader imagine. But some people might be curious.