Chapter 25: Desert Thunder
In a flash of blue light, Link and company found themselves overlooking a vast desert. Sand and rock were mostly all that the heroes could see as the hot sun beat down on all six of them.
"This is a large desert, we're gonna have a lot of ground to cover here," commented Ryu.
"Good thing we got water bottles before coming here, who knows how long it'll be before seeing another source of water," stated Alex.
"I suggest we get moving, we need to find the camp where the Gerudos stay," said Link.
As the heroes started to traverse across the desert, a group of green, leech like monsters with large pincers emerged from the sand and began to chase after the heroes.
"Leevers! Always a pain in desert areas," grumbled Zelda.
"I don't see why these Leevers can't just leave us alone," groaned Ken as he fired a Hadoken at one of them making them dissipate into smoke.
"Does every area in your world have monsters to deal with?" asked Chun-Li.
"Some more than others," answered Link as the six heroes continued to trek through the desert.
"So Link, tell us about these Gerudos that we're probably gonna encounter here," spoke up Alex.
"They are a group of bandits that are generally isolated from the rest of the tribes in my world, they only make occasional visits to other areas, mainly for supplies and other stuff," answered Link.
"They are also an all female group as well as only one male Gerudo is born every one hundred years," added Zelda.
"Correct, so they also visit other towns to find men to procreate with because of this," stated Link.
"You've also already met their one male Gerudo as well, Ganondorf," said Zelda.
"Ganondorf! These bandits are allied with the son of a bitch that killed my wife!" exclaimed Ken.
"While they are of the same tribe, most of the Gerudos do not condone Ganondorf's actions and hate what he has become," responded Link.
"Well at least they have some common sense," said Chun-Li.
As Link and company continued to traverse through the desert, they could see vacant watchtowers indicating that there was a camp nearby and wondered what could be awaiting them.
"Could be a trap, I suggest we keep our eyes peeled," commented Ryu.
Link and the others continued to trek towards the campsite and noticed that the site was vacant. A small amount of tents were peppered across the area and a stack of wood was in the middle of the area were it looked like a campfire might have been set long ago.
"Hmm, seems this site was abandoned not too long ago," said Alex
"From my past travels here, a clan of Bulblins had set up camp here. I don't know if the group was wiped out or they decided to leave the desert, but who knows for sure," chimed in Link.
"If they were antagonizing the Gerudos, I'm sure they took care of them," remarked Ken.
"Speaking of which, we shouldn't be too far away from their base," spoke Zelda.
"That's good, hopefully they have an idea of where to find the next Secret Text," said Chun-Li.
"Provided they're willing to cooperate with us," added Ken.
Leaving the campsite, the six heroes saw a pathway nestled in the middle of the cliffs that were just ahead of them. Wasting no time, they all decided to head in that area and see what was waiting for them on the other side of the cliffs.
"I have a feeling we're gonna run across these Gerudo ladies very soon," commented Ryu.
"So do I, I have no idea how they'll react to us upon seeing us though," added Zelda.
"Correct, if we do come across their camp, I suggest we try and be stealthy," said Link.
As the heroes came to the end of the passageway, they indeed saw a fortress where numerous dark skinned females milled about patrolling the area around them. Many of the females were brandishing long wooden handled spears with sharp metal tips at the end of them. All the females had fire red hair, some kept it short, others had theirs tied into a ponytail. They all wore similar clothing which consisted of a bra like top, baggy pants, and black slippers. Link and company stayed far enough back as to not cause any suspicion.
"Those are the Gerudos, let's keep as quiet as possible," ordered Link to the others.
The others nodded in agreement as they waited until it looked like it was clear for them to make a dash. Link and the others rushed to the nearest hiding spot and immediately crouched down behind a series of wooden crates. As they sat there as quiet as possible, a couple of Gerudos stopped to speak to one another in close vicinity to the heroes.
"You know, things have really been strange since our world fused with that other one," commented one Gerudo.
"Tell me about it, who would've thought it would have such strong fighters that could give us a hard time," replied the second Gerudo.
"I know, look how many of us it took just to detain the man we have in our dungeon right now," stated the first Gerudo.
"Still, once we procreate with him, it should produce a really strong future generation of Gerudos for us," responded the second Gerudo.
"Right, but for now, let's get back to patrol," suggested the first Gerudo.
And with that, the two females resumed their guard duty. Link peered out briefly to see if the coast was clear for them to continue on with their infiltration, upon seeing that it was clear for them to move on, Link motioned to the others to move on. The six heroes continued their dash through the fortress eventually entering a nearby room. They immediately crouched down behind another series of crates upon entering, Link poked his head out to see if any Gerudos were patrolling, upon not seeing any, he motioned to the others once again to move on.
"You know, I've been thinking, shouldn't we rescue the man that they have in their dungeon?" inquired Chun-Li.
"They're only going to use him for procreation purposes and eventually release him, they won't kill him," answered Link.
"Still, I wouldn't want to be used for that against my will. We should be sure he's willing to do this," chimed in Ken.
"I see your point, let's go find the dungeon then," said Link.
Link climbed onto a crate and peeked out a nearby window to see if he could find where the dungeon might be. After surveying the area for a while, Link eventually spotted a room that had barred windows that was guarded a a pair of Gerudos.
"I think I found the dungeon, now all we have to do is find a way to get past those guards," informed Link to the others.
"Leave that to me," said Zelda as she threw a Din's Fire out the window and had it explode near the guards which startled them.
"Did you see that?" asked one of the guards.
"Where did that come from, we should check it out," stated the other guard.
As the two Gerudos left their guard post, Link and company quickly made a dash towards out the room making sure to avoid being spotted by any Gerudos that may have been passing by and quickly entered the dungeon area.
"Ryu!" called out a deep masculine voice to the heroes.
Ryu immediately turned towards the voice and the others soon followed suit and gazed at the man that was inside the cell. He was a tall, muscular, bald male, standing a towering seven foot four. He was wearing an eyepatch over one of his eyes and also a pair of blue shorts with a red stripe going down each leg. His fists and feet were each wrapped in bandages he had a large scar going across his chest.
"Sagat, so you're the man that's being held captive here!" exclaimed Ryu.
"After the fusion, I don't know how I wound up in this infernal desert. I wound up stumbling across this camp to see if anyone here could tell me where I am, when these wenches attacked me and threw me in here," explained Sagat.
"Given the presence that you have, they probably thought you meant them harm and that's why," stated Link.
"I can see your reasoning there, are you a warrior of the other world?" inquired Sagat.
"Yes, my name is Link, and this is Zelda, the princess of Hyrule. Don't worry about the Gerudos, even if we didn't come they would've released you once they took care of their business with you," answered Link.
"What do you mean by business?" asked Sagat.
"They were intending to you use you for procreation purposes man," answered Ken.
"Procreation, don't they have men of their own to do this with?" said Sagat in an annoyed tone.
"The Gerudos are all female, only one male is born every one hundred years for them, that's why they capture men from the outside for this purpose," informed Zelda.
"I guess the Gerudos really do want a tiger up their butt!" joked Alex.
"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" bellowed Sagat.
"Hey, calm down big guy, we're gonna get you out of here," said Chun-Li.
At that moment, the sound of a whistle blowing could be heard as a series of Gerudos came rushing in with spears in hand ready to attack Link and the others.
"Halt! Don't you dare try to free our prisoner!" exclaimed one Gerudo.
"Put your weapon down, I wish to see the pests that have been scurrying about our base," piped up a stern female voice as a Gerudo wearing all red stepped to the forefront and began to examine Link and company.
"I take it you're the leader," commented Link.
"My name is Aveil, and I'm only the acting leader until our actual leader Nabooru gets back from her mission at the Arbiter's Grounds just north of here," answered Aveil.
"The Arbiter's Grounds, is something going on over there?" asked Zelda.
"Nabooru can handle this, just like we handled those Bulblins that used to live just on the other side of those cliffs when they tried to attack us!" retorted Aveil.
"These guys look quite strong, looks like we have a few more sparring partners on our hands girls," said one of the Gerudos.
"You guys want sparring partners, I'd be happy to oblige," chimed in Ryu getting into a combat pose.
"Dude, that's not what they mean by sparring partners!" exclaimed Ken.
"Then what do they...oh I get it now, never mind," said Ryu.
"No offense but I don't intend to be used as much as a New York City taxicab," commented Alex.
"Aveil, while I understand you Gerudos are a tribe that prefers to do things on your own, perhaps we can help out with whatever may be occurring in the Arbiter's Grounds. Ganondorf has been up to no good as of late and we feel he may be behind what's going on over there," suggested Link.
"Hey, I don't like Ganondorf either, but what can you six accomplish?" asked Aveil with a cynical tone in her voice.
"Quite the headstrong tribe aren't they? I can respect that," remarked Sagat.
All of a sudden the sound of beastly roars and wood breaking could be heard outside making everyone turn around in unison wondering what could be going on outside the dungeon.
"What's with all the ruckus outside?" asked Aveil.
"Lady Aveil, we're under attack!" shouted a Gerudo that was running into the dungeon area.
"Is it more Bulblins, they shouldn't be too much hassle," said Aveil.
"Not just that, but even more monsters, I don't know how long we can hold them off as many of our warriors are still not healed from our tussle with this titan," answered the Gerudo guard as she pointed at Sagat.
"I'd hate to ask you six, but can you help us with this attack?" inquired Aveil.
"Of course we will!" exclaimed Link.
Author's Note: Hey folks, well things have been quite busy on my side so I haven't had much time to write. Fanime, me and my girlfriend's birthday celebrations, and of course work have kept me plenty busy. Still have yet to get a 3DS, although now that I've seen E3 footage of the Wii U, I also am looking forward to that and seeing what a Zelda game might be like on that. Anyways, I'm off to go plan the next chapter, so until then, please read and review.