Chapter XXIV – A Fateful Encounter
Bored, with his head braced on his hand, Ganondorf stared at his glass. Sitting alone in the tavern and being forced to listen to the loud chattering of the other guests was everything except amusing. Combined with the suspicious views he earned due to his foreign appearance made it even worse. Luckily, the faces filled with mistrust or even aversion became less and less common over time.
Since Link did not return from hunting down the thief, Ganondorf decided to leave only a few minutes later to wander along on the streets. Outside, the sun tended her face towards the earth and inked the capital in the evening lights. He headed to the alleys as he still loathed the stuffed main areas filled with more people than there was place, who caused such a noise with their never-ending blathering.
Lost in thought, Ganondorf gazed at the sky. Strangely, every time when he was on his own without a duty on his mind, his thoughts wandered to his past, the one before his gladiator life. The only things he remembered from this time were his name and the nightmare, which haunted him from time to time again as if it wanted to tell him to never forget it.
Ganondorf had believed, since he had everything he ever dreamed of in his current life, his desire to seek out his origin would fade away and become unimportant. It never did. Absently, he looked into his palm. Albeit he had met many different cultures and folks, he, on all his missions, never met one looking at least a bit similar to him. It must be jinxed as if he was the last of his folk and therefore doomed to never get to know the culture he truly belonged to.
"Stop that thief!" Ganondorf sighed, annoyed when the distant scream disrupted him. The voice belonged to the same person he heard back in the tavern. The Hylians truly were a persistent lot when it came down to bringing the unlawful, or at least whom they claimed unlawful, to justice, never giving up on their hunt. Hardly surprising that the tension between them and the desert folk they branded as outlaws got out of proportions and ended in a gruesome war with great losses on both sides.
Ganondorf still lacked any motivation to follow the outcry as he never had an interest in thieves, he preferred the fights, the ones of life and death. He shuffled along the empty alley, but once at a corner, he heard footsteps of another one, who bumped into him. He stumbled backwards as he had not expected the impact, yet reflexively grabbed after the individual.
Barely he got hold of his arm, however, he felt an air draft near his shoulder. With his other hand, he blocked the attack, only to see a dagger close his neck. No time remained to feel relieved as a searing pain spread from his upper leg, yet he was lucky for his size to not get kicked just a bit higher.
An agile foe, very agile. Ganondorf, angered by the constant attacks, used his weight when he pressed the attacker against the wall, making his speed useless while he twisted the arm. The dagger fell down. This one would not escape his grasp anymore.
"Let me go, you ugly ruffian!" burst out the attacker while he still struggled to get free, but he had no chance against Ganondorf's raw power.
Ganondorf had to keep himself back to not punch this guy directly into unconsciousness or even death as it would have unpleasant consequences for him and only grumbled, "Don't think you can get away that easily, you fool!"
The rest he wanted to say just faded into silence when he eyed the person in front of him. Not only was he actually a woman, he knew that she was not from here. Like he himself, she looked foreign with her red hair, the darkened skin, yellow eyes, even a long nose as well as rounded ears.
Ganondorf stared speechless at the woman. With her, he had more difficulties to see the differences than their features in common. Unbelievable. Entirely unbelievable.
In the meantime, she had stopped struggling and the disbelief shined through in her eyes. "You… you are alive?! How… this… impossible..." She looked at him overwhelmed. "They burned the hideout when they let thunderbolts rain down on our houses. When I returned no one remained. Everyone was dead. Massacred. Yet… impossible…"
She trembled, he felt it, just as his own hands did. It might be one of the rarest moments in his life where he felt his knees becoming weak without being injured, making it difficult to even stand. And he could not answer. He just could not say a thing anymore. Something in her words, something in her presence affected his memories, making them try to crawl to the surface of his mind to finally reveal themselves after all those years.
"Hey, Ganondorf! Ganondorf!" He recoiled, his breath still being flat when he turned his head to the side, looking down at a Hylian soldier. "You know, you can loosen your grasp. We have everything under control now, thanks for your help in capturing that thief."
Still caught in his astonishment, Ganondorf released his grasp. The guards had surrounded the woman, tying her hands on her back. Once they intended to drag her away, Ganondorf saw the burning fury in her eyes, solely directed at him, and she burst out in the most hateful manner he ever heard, "You faithless traitor! You shall burn for this in hell, you cursed bastard! I hope you meet the most painful death when they backstab you and feed your remains to the pigs to whom you belong!"
Unbelievable what her mere words caused in him, making him feel bad and sick at the same time. He had often been confronted with menacing and insulting things, but hers caused a sharp pain spreading from his chest. Reflexively, he grabbed for it, trying to suppress the reaction to crumble and gasp for air.
He lacked any explanation for this intense reaction to her mere speaking containing words being as painful as if he had to suffer from a lethal blow straight through the chest, spoken by a woman he did not know. Or at least thought he did not.
"Well, well, seems like you've made a new friend, eh, Ganondorf?" The soldier staying by his side grinned, but Ganondorf was unable to counter anything when he first stared at him and afterwards at the guards carrying her away. "But you did a good job, so don't let words of some lowlife get through you." The guard slapped him on his shoulder before he left him alone.
After that incident, Ganondorf remained rooted in his place, being overwhelmed by his bodily reaction but also by the memories that tried to wake, but still left him in the dark. He felt that this encounter, this woman, it rooted back into his forgotten past, she just must.
Ganondorf returned to the castle, though he felt too distracted to get anything worth doing done. Probably even a new recruit could easily defeat him in this state, being restless and feeling sick, while his lacking memory tortured him. He needed to calm down and gain a clear mind again, which was easier said than done.
He could not sit still, much less rest, and soon he left his room again and roamed the sheer endless corridors of the castle in the hope to find a distraction. Thankfully, it was big enough that he would not look suspicious if he just walked around without any destination in mind.
No matter how hard he tried, today's encounter consumed his entire mind. He wished to crush some skulls or slice up enemies to relieve his desperation, but even if he did, it would only help for a short time, afterwards those forgotten memories would haunt him again.
Ganondorf tore his hair. Gruesome. Just gruesome. His past, it appeared to be within his grasp, yet every time he stretched out his hands for it, it faded away as if it laughed into his face that he would never get to know it. Never. And if it was not for all the people present in the castle, he would relieve his anger in full, but now he had to control his temper and could not snatch away in a tantrum.
Once Ganondorf crossed the great hall for the third time this evening, someone called for him, "Ah, I've finally found you, Ganon. I've searched for you everywhere."
He turned around, though once he got sight of his superior, he let sink his shoulders and did not even bother to give him an answer. Unfortunately, Link never let himself dragged down by the mood of others. "Well, the patrolling officer was right, you're indeed unusually quiet today." He grinned furtively. "Not that you have ever been a big talker, but your tension is visible all over your body. At least for the ones who know you well enough."
"What do you want?!" asked Ganondorf harshly. Despite his liking for Link, he was not in any mood to take up a conversation.
"At first I just wondered about the officer's statement, but seeing and especially hearing you now makes me worried about you," responded Link, ignoring Ganondorf's roughness. "I've known you long enough to see when something is bothering your mind, even though you, of course, would never say it as you're too proud to ever admit anything which could even be considered a weakness. I've learned this over time, therefore I've also learned to look for you when you deny to speak voluntarily about your troubles."
"And you think just because you're talking big I come crawling to you and beg for your help?" Ganondorf had crossed his arms in front of his chest when he looked down at Link. "Besides, it's nothing."
As he spoke it out loud, he already regretted it when he saw the pretended enthusiasm in Link's eyes. "'Nothing'?" he repeated in mock awe. "Ganon, do you know that your 'nothings' belong to the most interesting ones in existence? Just let us think back to which events those led only a year ago." Link clapped eagerly into his hands. "So, what is it this time you don't want to speak about? Some secret affair no one is allowed to know about?"
Ganondorf felt perplexed as he could not tell if Link just guessed haphazardly or had indeed some hints. He shook the feeling off as fast as it came. "I've told you, it's nothing. Therefore there's indeed nothing I have to tell you! And don't give me this old chestnut no one gives a damn about anymore!"
"Ganondorf." Link intonated his full name, which he indeed used rarely nowadays, in a doubtful manner. "Don't you think we're far out of this kind of attitude? You should know that the more you deny there is something bothering you, the more curious I get and the more I start bothering you with it as well. Which means you'll have two things bothering you, a bad deal if you ask me. And before you bring it up, don't even try to intimidate or menace me. You know it doesn't work."
Ganondorf glared piercingly at Link, but this one showed no sign of backing away, nor did he avoid his gaze. The minutes passed by without them either taking any actions or saying a word, but Link showed no intentions in leaving or letting him go.
"It's about earlier, isn't it?" Annoyed, Ganondorf grumbled, but the nonverbal answer seemed to be enough for Link to continue. "The officer told me how the thief looked. Although I haven't seen her myself, I can pretty much guess from the description to which folk she belongs, even though most people don't. On the other side, I also know how much your past bothers you, even though you barely mention it, and you always watch out for people looking like you. She probably showed what the elder told you, that you share many similarities with the Geru-"
"She didn't look similar!" Ganondorf burst out so that even some people walking past them recoiled and looked shocked into their direction. He grinded his teeth once he regained his composure. "She looked exactly the same as me, like a long lost twin of the other gender! But…" He never cared to finish the sentence and just leaped back to silence.
"But…?" Link eyed him curiously.
"I've told you, it's nothing," Ganondorf said to finally end the conversation. He did not want to tell Link about the feelings she caused, the pain, the sickness,the suppressed memories she awoke. As long as he could not explain them himself, there was no need to get Link involved. "By the way, it's getting late and I'm tired. Good night."
Ganondorf turned around. Before he could make one step, Link grabbed his arm. "Forget it, Ganon! You're not getting away with this lamest excuse ever!" He strengthened his grasp, albeit Ganondorf felt few of it. "Come on now. Don't feed things up yourself, again. You should know by now that this can get very dangerous. I don't have to remind you how it ended the last time? In the Shadow Temple?"
Ganondorf avoided his gaze, trying to shake him off. Link remained persistent. "I'm your friend, I know you and I know how much you desire to learn of your origin. There is nothing wrong with that. But I also know you're pig-headed with a stubbornness I've never seen anywhere else. Just so you know, if something is bothering you, you can speak with me. I always have a friendly ear for you, no matter the case. As a friend, we can find a way, together, you don't have to search for it alone."
Ganondorf got more enraged about Link's persistence, but he felt how his words did well to him. "Well, thanks. I'll keep that in mind." He even had to grin without mischievousness. "I'll remember it, but at the moment there is nothing. At least, nothing you can help me with."
Link let go of him, obviously reluctant. "I understand that. However, you must promise me one thing: Don't do anything reckless. There is always another way, even though you might not see it. If things are getting tough, don't try to solve them on your own, come see me." Ganondorf nodded. "Then take care of yourself." With a wave of his hand, Ganondorf said good bye before he walked away while Link still stared troubled after him.
In the end, it was not even a lie that he got tired from the whole event and the impressions which hammered on his mind. Maybe some sleep would indeed give him the rest he needed to calm down and to get his thoughts sorted.