The sun had disappeared behind ugly, grey clouds when they walked outside. Those clouds seemed to roll on forever like ocean waves. It would rain soon. The Gerudo king stormed in faster than the oncoming rain, but he was just as angry.
"Took you long enough," he said.
Ganondorf stood tall before them, arms folded over his broad chest. His golden eyes seemed to see a fire in Zelda's cheeks, but she ignored the burning embarrassment. It wasn't like she forgot him on purpose. He'd just skipped her mind in the rush of everything going on.
Still Zelda bowed her head and did what she thought right. She apologized. "Sorry about that, Ganondorf."
"Ganon," he corrected her
Zelda didn't think she'd heard him right. "What?" she asked.
"Ganon is too formal. It's what my people call me, not my allies." Not that he had many allies besides Zelda and Agitha.
"But that's name of the beast kings," Zelda protested. "You know, demons."
"And several of my ancestors, I'll have you know." He jabbed an accusatory finger at her. "Unless you want to start calling me Ganny, call me Ganon. We are on equal grounds now."
Agitha looked between the two and rocked back and forth on the heels of her black, platform Mary Janes. When the king said her name, she flinched, then quickly jumped into the conversation.
"Ganny is still Ganny no matter what you call him, Sheik. The true demon is that tyrant king."
Agitha wasn't as naïve as Zelda thought her at times. She was even right. The tyrant certainly didn't deserve the name of the hero, and maybe Ganondorf wasn't the same monster as his ancestors. That was all the princess would propose for the latter – a maybe.
"Fine," Zelda said. "Ganon it is."
"Now that that's settled, perhaps we ought to find Ashei. Before it rains, please?" Agitha pleaded.
"Who's Ashei?" Ganondorf asked.
That's right. He wasn't there. "Our Hero of Ice."
Zelda followed the instructions Uli gave them with the help of the magic map. Soon, she found herself before the white house. It wasn't rounded with simple paint squiggles and circles decorating the walls like all the other Ordonian houses in Toa. It was straight and white with a stone porch. Intricate, ornate details were painted into the outside of wood in a yellow that almost looked gold. This was the place.
Ganondorf – er, Ganon – pushed past the two and onto the porch. He knocked on the door and folded his arms over his chest again. That was how he waited, it seemed.
After a few moments, the door creaked open, revealing a mousy man with auburn hair. He pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his noses as he stared at the giant of a Gerudo before him.
"H-hello?" his small voice squeaked out, accented by the hint of formality of old, formal Hylian.
"So you're Ashei?" Ganondorf asked, crimson brows raising high up his tanned forehead. "That's unexpected."
The man raised a trembling finger to point at himself. "Me?"
"Who else is there?"
He gave a soft laugh and shook his head. "Heavens no," he said. "Not me. My name is Shad."
"Then who is Ashei?" Ganon glanced at the girls, snickering quietly behind his back. "Quiet!" he roared.
"Sorry, sorry." Zelda couldn't hide or stop her giggles. "You were so eager to find Ashei that you didn't give me the chance to tell you she was a girl."
"You had every chance!"
A soft voice cleared its throat. The trio turned to find two figures in the door: Shad and a smaller woman, though more fit than her husband. She was pale with sunken, grey eyes and black hair pulled into two, thin pigtails at the nape of her neck. Her mouth was sealed in a firm line.
"You came to see me, yeah?" she asked.
A grin spread across Ganon's face – a show of acceptance. This must have been natural to him, Zelda realized. All Gerudo were women except for him. Even so, nearly all were worthy of the title of warrior.
"We did, Ashei." Zelda approached the doorway. "You had a dream lately, didn't you?"
Ashei took a step back and instinctively put a hand to her hip. No sword was there. "How did you know that?"
"We're not here to hurt you," Ganon said. As if that would put the Ordonians at ease.
Zelda put a hand on his arm. "Ganon, enough."
"Ganon?" Ashei looked from the Gerudo king to Agitha. "Then you're the lost princess, yeah?"
Zelda laughed nervously. She supposed the so-called princess of insects did look more royal in her fancy dress; Agitha told her the style was called lolita.
"Not quite," the princess said.
"You then?" Ashei pointed a finger at Zelda. "But you're dressed like a commoner."
"All part of the disguise," Zelda said with a small smile. "The Sheikah garb my nanny gave me garnered too much attention."
Ashei didn't smile, but she lowered her hand from her hip. No need for a sword. She was at ease now. Shad smiled enough for the both of them anyways, gesturing with his hands as he spoke.
"A nanny?" Shad said, surprise clear in his tone. "But what of your tutors? Your knights?"
Zelda paused, mouth open slightly as she fought back memories. She didn't want to think too hard on that right now, much less remember all those things she was trying to keep suppressed. "They're sided with the tyrant now," she said simply.
Ashei let out a laugh. "I should have known," she said. "Those knights of yours are sorry excuses for men."
Zelda nodded in bitter agreement. "Yes. That they are."
A clap of thunder sounded overhead. The grass was beginning to dot with fallen rain. It wouldn't be long before the ground was the same solid, soaked shade.
"You should come in," Shad said. "There's no need for you to get wet and I highly doubt a princess should be travelling in the rain."
"Give her some credit, yeah? She made it this far." Ashei put a hand on Shad's shoulder and gave him the faintest hint of a smile.
"Yes, I suppose I should." He returned her smile.
Ganon let out a soft groan.
"What is it now, good sir?" Shad asked.
"The horses," he said. "I left them at the town gates, but I gotta get them somewhere dry. They're Gerudo stallions, you know. They're not really used to rain."
Ashei pulled on a cloak over her red tunic and threw another one at Ganondorf. It was likely her husband's. "Let's go then," she said. "Fado has a barn at his farm. We can walk there before the storm gets too bad."
Ganon gave a soft laugh of amusement and followed the woman into the rain. They'd be fine. A little rain couldn't stop them.
Meanwhile Shad ushered the two girls in. "You must've journeyed quite a ways to get here," he said. "Ashei will want to hear your story the moment she gets back, so you ought to take a moment to rest until then."
Zelda couldn't agree more.