Alright, time for the next part of Togau's new arc. There isn't really anything to say so here we go!
It was a calm late night in Gerudo Town, the weather was cool, and most of the residents had long ago gone to sleep. The only ones awake at that time where a few restaurants and bars, the night club where Nemisa often performed as Madame Scarlet (though it was her day off that night), and some guards who were patrolling the town's streets for intruders, including but not limited to the Ebony Sisterhood rebellion.
"You know, as much as I don't like the rebels going after Lady Nabooru or King Link, I can't help but want to run into a couple of them around here to fight. You know, just to have some excitement once in a while." said one of the guards.
"Meh, I'd rather just have it be peaceful myself." said the other guard patrolling alongside her, humming to herself.
"Well maybe just something like a Moblin or a Lizalfos or some monster coming through here at least." the first guard said.
It was then they heard a strange clomping sound, accompanied by a slow growling noise. The two guards stopped their tracks and looked around.
"What was that?"
"Sounds like it came that way, let's go check."
With that, the two guards ran off, rounded a corner, and came to see a large beast creature with four legs slowly walking down the street.
"W-What is tha-" the guard was quickly hushed by the other.
"That's a Lynel, keep it down!" whispered the guard loudly, prompting the other guard to nod.
"What's it doing exactly...?"
"I don't know, but it looks like it's heading towards the palace! Let's sneak up and see if we can get the drop on it."
The two guards nodded to each other, and slowly crept after the creature, making sure their footsteps couldn't be heard.
The Lynel as they put it was actually Togau, still stuck in her form as a Lynel. While she was indeed heading towards the royal palace of Gerudo Town where Nabooru, Link, Aviel, Nemisa and Saria lived, she was completely unaware of it, as she was sleepwalking; a bad habit she was known to do from time to time, and being turned into a Lynel hadn't changed that. Togau's eyes were shut, but she had a dopey smile on her face, as she was dreaming as she sleepwalked.
In her dream, Togau was her normal self again, wearing a beautiful royal Gerudo garb, looking much like a desert princess or queen. She had a flower in her long flowing hair, and the outfit did little to hide a large pair of breasts and curly hips that could turn the heads of any man, but there was only one for her. She turned to see Link before her, tall and handsome, and dressed like a true Gerudo king. He slowly approached her and wrapped his arms around her, pressed her body against his, and the two drew each other into a deep and passionate kiss, before Link then lifted her up with no trouble and carried her off to the bedroom...
"Ooh... Link... yer so dreamy I could just eat you up..." she muttered with a bit of drool hanging from her mouth.
"Did... that thing just say it was going to eat King Link?" exclaimed one of the guards in a whispered voice, just far enough away that she couldn't hear Togau's full sentence.
"Sounds like it, that's all I needed to hear. Let's strike this beast down!" said the other guard, gripping her halberd.
The two guards slowly sneaked up behind Togau, their weapons at the ready, before Togau suddenly stumbled forward on her awkward legs, causing her to snap out of her slumber. Togau's sleepy eyes opened as she looked around in a groggy state.
"W-What the heck? Don't tell me I went sleepwalkin' again..." Togau muttered, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She looked around to see where she was, before looking behind her and seeing the two guards with their halberds.
"Uhh..."
The three of them all stood there blankly, frozen in their tracks.
"Oh hey, sorry bout that." Togau laughed, rubbing the back of her head, "I tend to do this a lot an-"
"So that's a confession of it's motivations! Stop it before it eats the king!" shouted the guard, dropping being discreet, and the two of them charged at Togau.
"W-Wait a minute!" Togau exclaimed frantically, "That's not what I mea-"
Togau's words were cut off by one of the guard slashing at her with her halberd, barely missing her but slicing her vest open, revealing her lean abs and flat bare chest.
"Ah shootfire!" Togau gave up trying to reason with the two guards and ran off, covering her chest with her arms and doing everything in her power to not stumble, "I gotta get to the palace and get help from Link and Lady Nabooru before these two turn me into a pin cushion!"
"It's heading straight for the palace, alert the other guards!" shouted one of the two chasing Togau.
"Would it kill you to listen to what I'm tryin' ta say?!" shouted Togau in frustration.
"If it's going to try and kill us, strike it down first!" shouted one of the guards once again misinterpreting what she was saying, charging faster after her.
Togau had no choice but to concentrate on running. Some more guards leaped off the roof of a building to launch an aerial attack, but Togau dodged to the side. Some more fired arrows at her, but she ducked down and they got embedded in a wooden plank.
Togau soon arrived at the steps to the palace, she broke out into a cold sweat, knowing steps would be difficult with her legs the way they were, but she knew Nabooru and Link were the only ones who could help her in that moment. She charged up the stairs to the entrance door, stumbling a few times as she did, but managed to keep far enough away from the guards and their attacks. Four guards at the door were about to attack her, but in that moment, Togau felt a strange rush of instincts kick in and knelt down, before leaping into the air over the heads of the guards, then dashing into the palace.
"It's infiltrated the palace, someone stop it!" shouted a guard.
"I... I pulled it off!" Togau exclaimed, "And even after all that runnin' I'm barely even tired! Now to find Link and Lady Nabooru!"
She sprinted down the halls, using her knowledge of the palace's interior from her frequent visits to help her. Eventually she managed to track down Link and Nabooru's room where she yanked open the door and went in, slamming it shut behind her, making sure to press her horse-like lower torso against the door to keep it shut tightly. She took a deep breath and spoke out.
"Listen, Link, Lady Nabooru, I need yer help ta-"
She then saw a large group of Gerudo guards all standing before her, with their halberds out, ready to attack her.
"Ah crud." Togau muttered sweatdropping.
"You didn't think you'd get to our king so easily, did you monster?" shouted a guard, "We Gerudo are not to be trifled with, now prepare to meet your en-"
"Wait, hold on girls, it's Togau!" shouted a voice, the guards all looked down in confusion, and Togau got a good look to see Link and Nabooru, both in the nude. Link was covering his loins with a pillow out of modesty from all the guards in the room, some of which were taking glances at him. Nabooru herself just stood up in the nude, not even caring about modesty.
"You heard him, stand down!" Nabooru demanded.
Even despite the dangerous situation she was currently in, Togau couldn't help but take a look at Link laying back on the couch nude, save for the pillow covering himself up. Her face flushed bright red as she took a long look at his lean physique that had developed over the course of his time in town, and she quickly realized what he and Nabooru had been doing before the guards arrived to protect them, before her head started to vent steam and she fell over outcold.
Everyone just stood there blankly at the sight of the half-Gerudo, half Lynel laying on the floor.
"So do I just impale it through it's head now or...?" asked a guard.
"NO!" Link and Nabooru both exclaimed.
The next morning, the group were gathered at the dining room table; Link, Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa, Saria and now Togau were all waiting to have breakfast as they were discussing what had happened.
"I'm so sorry for what happened last night!" Togau shouted to everyone in a panic, "I went sleepwalkin' again and I couldn't think to do anything but get to you guys before my head would be decoratin' a fireplace!"
"It's quite alright, it's my fault for not addressing the night guards about your situation." Nabooru sighed.
"I still can't believe that happened to you Togau... you shouldn't be hunted down like some kind of monster..." Aviel said sadly.
"Ah heh... don't you worry none about it Aviel..." Togau said, looking like she was doing her best to force a smile, but not a grin, so as to not show off her pointy teeth, "I don't blame the guards for thinking I was a threat..." she sighed as she rose up her hands and looked at the claws growing out where her fingernails used to be.
Saria frowned and put her hand on Togau's, "Don't say that Togau, you're not a threat to anyone."
"She's right." Link nodded, "You're just the same Togau we all know, just with a few differences."
"T-Thanks..." Togau said, "Just wish they were less scary differences..." she muttered under her breath.
Soon after that the servants brought in everyone's breakfast, Togau in particular got about three times the amount of food the others did. She stared down at the meal a bit uneasy. According to Sarami she had to increase her food intake to sustain her bigger body and stay healthy, but all it did was bring attention to herself.
"You guys sure 'bout me eatin' here? I don't wanna put you out or nothin'..." she spoke up.
"No, don't worry about Togau, remember that you do so much around here for us, and we're more then happy to help you." Nabooru said.
"Y-Yeah... right..." Togau muttered, as she recalled how bad she was at handling things at the farm the other day, her inability to help with the chores, and the animals being terrified of her, not to mention the amount of damage she caused just by walking around.
"Well onto business for today." Nabooru spoke up, "I have great news for our progress towards improving the relations with the other tribes in Hyrule!"
"Oh really?" Link asked.
"Yes, and it has to do with that trip you went on in Kokiri Forest!" Nabooru grinned to Link, "When Kesuta and Korume reported what they saw there, Korume mentioned some strange shrines located around the Lost Woods, and how you had told her that they're passageways to Zora's Domain and Goron City!"
"Yeah, that's right." nodded Link, then realized, "Wait, are you suggesting we use those passageways to get to those places and meet with the tribes?"'
"That's right!" Nabooru nodded, "My original plan to use the Sand Rod to create a path to Zora's Domain for a trade route turned out to be more complicated then I thought, and with the rebels attacks I had to prioritize our defenses anyway, but something like this would be a much easier and more practical way."
"Wow, I never would have thought of using the warp shrines for something like that!" Saria said.
"Hmph, but how can that help us? " Nemisa asked folding her arms, "Link may have been able to travel over the border, but we're all still stuck here in the valley, so we can't use the passages in the woods anyway."
Aviel nodded, "Me, Kesuta and Korume can all fly over the border, but we can't transport everything and everyone between here and the forest."
"Well that's the interesting thing. You see, a few weeks ago Reirousa was taking the soldiers out for field practice, and in an area of the canyon not too far from town, she discovered a passage to a temple we weren't aware of." Nabooru started to explain.
"Reirousa discovered something like that?" Link asked.
"Well... more like she was showing off her Bombos Warhammer and accidentally blew apart an area of the canyon that the temple was buried in." Nabooru coughed awkwardly, "But that's not the point, when our scouting team went investigating inside the temple, they found a strange doorway. We wanted to see what was in there, but the door was sealed up with vines of some sort."
"Wait, vines?" Saria asked tilting her head.
"Yes, we tried anything we could to move the vines; swords, fire, explosions, ice, nothing seemed to make them move. Kesuta and Korume said the vines were enchanted and wouldn't be moved by conventional means. The other day Korume told me she sensed a power coming from the door, and she felt that same power coming from the shrines in the Lost Woods." Nabooru said.
"Wait, you're telling me that temple door might be a path to the Lost Woods?" Link exclaimed.
"Yer kiddin' me, all the way out here in Gerudo Canyon?" Togau asked rubbing the back of her head.
Saria meanwhile took note of what Nabooru said and thought deeply.
"That's right, if we can get in through that door, we can establish a convenient trade route through the Lost Woods that'll get us to Kokiri Forest, Goron City and Zora's Domain. That way we can meet and trade with the various tribes without ever having to cross the border!" Nabooru said proudly.
"That's ingenious!" Link exclaimed.
"So it's just a matter of moving the vines, but how can we do that if not even things like fire can get rid of them?" Nemisa asked.
"Well, that's where our newest sister comes in." Nabooru grinned, looking to Saria.
"Yes, I think I get what you mean!" Saria nodded, "If those vines came from the Lost Woods, I might be able to use my Deku Staff's power to move them out of the way and allow us to use the warps!"
"Well that worked out really well!" Aviel said astonished.
"Still, I wonder why that shrine in particular was blocked by vines... the other doors weren't, not even during the time the Poe's curse was on the forest..." Link pondered.
"Regardless, today our goal is to head down to that temple and see if Saria can open the path to our new trade route!" Nabooru stated.
"Okay, I'll do my best!" Saria nodded.
Togau looked to Saria, seeing how important her skills were quickly becoming to the Gerudo, she turned away, feeling a little more uneasy about her own situation, before she took a deep breath and spoke up.
"W-Would I be able to go along with you guys?" Togau asked, "I'll do anything to help, even if it's just something like carrying your supplies!"
"Of course," nodded Link, "But will everything be okay over at the ranch without you?"
Togau paused on that question, "Yeah... I'm sure they'll do just fine without me..." she muttered.
Link just looked to Togau with concern in this eyes. He couldn't help but pick up on what she was going through with her transformation. He was mentally beating himself up for not being able to do anything for her at the moment. He was still waiting for his acquaintance to get back to him with a reply, but even then he wasn't sure if he'd be any help to them. He looked to the others and saw they all seemed to be thinking something similar.
"Come along with us then Togau." Link nodded, hoping it would make Togau feel better to be able to work with them.
"Yeah!" Saria said encouragingly, "We could use your help!"
"Thanks everyone..." Togau said, smiling weakly.
Link, Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa, Saria, Togau and two additional guards all stood before a brick temple entrance, the door itself was quite tall and wide, even someone like Togau could fit through it, and there was a small five step staircase that lead up to the doorway. There were also statues of Gerudo women on the sides of the doorway.
"So this is the place?" Saria asked.
"Yes, it's just a simple hallway that leads to the main room where the supposed warp door is." Nabooru said.
"Huh, this place is a lot closer to Gerudo Town then I thought." Aviel said, "I never saw it back when I was a lookout, I thought it was just a pile of boulders."
"At some point some rocks from the canyon collapsed over the entrance." Nabooru explained, "It was due to Reirousa's hammer that they got cleared out of the way."
"Well, chalk one up for Reirousa." smirked Nemisa.
"If we can open the path it'll be perfect for that trade route you mentioned!" Togau said, she herself was anxious for this opportunity as well, since she could help organize the trading between the various tribes Nabooru mentioned. She adjusted a belt strapped around her horse half that was carrying bags of food and supplies for the trip out there, among them were some lunches she had bought from the diner earlier to surprise everyone with as a nice lunch when they completed their mission.
"Okay, then let's head in and check things out." Link nodded.
"You two watch over the entrance, and alert us if something comes up." Nabooru told the guards, who complied.
As the six started to head up the small stairs into the temple, Togau went up herself, only to trip her legs over the steps and fall forward, knocking Link down with her.
"Hey, watch what you're doing Togau!" shouted Nemisa.
"Ack, sorry Link!" Togau exclaimed, seeing her king with his face pressed against her chest, causing her own face to burn bright red with embarrassment. She quickly stood herself up and tried to help Link to his feet.
"Oh, are you two okay?!" Saria asked.
The two guards couldn't help but snicker at the sight of Togau's blunder, "Wow, she's even klutzier then Aviel the Birdbrain!"
"Graawwr, ya wanna start somethin'?!" Togau growled to the guards, baring her sharp teeth, causing the guards' faces to pale and shake their heads frantically. Togau then realized how unnerved she made them with her appearance and let out a sigh.
"I'm fine Togau, now let's get going." Link said rubbing his head, as he tried to make sure everyone didn't see the light blush on his cheeks from how close Togau was when they impacted.
The six of them proceeded into the temple, and after a somewhat short trip down the hallway they all arrived in a large room with a door familiar looking to Link and Saria in front of them. The white marble frame itself had numerous thick vines sticking out and wrapping around themselves, completely covering the way through the door.
"This definitely looks like the doors in the Lost Woods." Link observed.
Saria meanwhile walked up to the vines and placed her hand against them, her eyes shut as she focused. As the others watched, they could start to see small traces of tears in Saria's eyes.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Togau asked worriedly.
"...these vines are indeed enchanted with forest magic, they must have been placed here by the Great Deku Tree himself to cover up the passage." Saria explained.
"The Great Deku Tree... you mean the previous guardian of Kokiri Forest you mentioned?" Aviel asked tilting her head, "But why would he cover up the door like this?"
"Perhaps..." Link realized what was going on, and his own expression saddened as well, "It was because of Ganondorf. He had been after sacred treasures of the Kokiri, the Goron, and the Zora, and he caused all three of them great amounts of trouble and pain to try and get to them."
"Yes, including cursing our Great Deku Tree to die..." Saria added sadly.
"That's horrible..." Aviel gasped with her hands over her mouth.
"That monster..." scowled Nabooru, clenching her fists, "He would just stop at nothing to further his sick and twisted goals."
"So that means Ganondorf was probably using the warp path here to travel between the forest, Death Mountain and Zora River. That explains how he was able to work his plans so quickly." Link realized, recalling how much damage Ganondorf had done in such short time.
"Exactly, and that way he could commit all his crimes behind the King of Hyrule's back as well." Nabooru said.
"That's probably why these enchanted plants are here then," Saria said, "If Ganondorf was using the warps in the Lost Woods to get from place to place, the Great Deku Tree must have used the vines to seal up his secret way of getting around..."
"And to think the Ebony Sisterhood rebels want to free that man." Nemisa muttered.
"I swear, that guy was a real piece of work." Togau muttered in annoyance, "What I wouldn't give to meet him and stick one of my horns up his-"
"Okay, so do you think we can move these vines?" Link asked Saria, cutting off what Togau was about to say.
"I'll try." Saria nodded, pulling out her Deku Staff and holding it up to the vine-covered doorway. She closed her eyes, concentrating.
It took some time, but her staff gave off a gentle glow and the vines over the door responded. The vines started to shift a bit, before they slowly unraveled and slid away, opening up the doorway little by little, until they were completely cleared away. Saria lowered her staff and took a deep breath in relief that she was able to pull it off.
"Woah, you did it Saria!" Aviel exclaimed, running up and hugging Saria with her bird wings.
"Nice going." grinned Link, taking a deep breath, "I can already feel the forest wind from the Lost Woods drifting through!"
"This is monumental, with this we can finally start working on establishing relations and trade with the other tribes in Hyrule." Nabooru said, "We're proud to have you here as our sister, Saria!"
"Thank you..." Saria said smiling lightly.
"Geez, whatta hard worker, she really gave it her all." Togau smiled softly. She looked down at her Lynel body and sighed a little. "What I can do now, I wonder...?"
"Everyone, we have an emergency!" shouted a voice. The group turned to see the two guards Nabooru had stationed outside running up to them, "We're under attack by monsters!"
"What?! Great, of all timing." Nabooru said sarcastically, "We can't allow any monsters into this passage, who knows what kind of trouble they could cause in the other areas if they had access! Everyone, prepare to battle!"
"Good to hear." smirked Nemisa, rolling her hair up into a bun and punching her fist into her palm, "I've been itching for a fight."
"Ready when you guys are!" Aviel said, loading an arrow into her crossbow.
"Okay, I'll do everything I can!" Saria said, gripping her Deku Staff.
"You sure you're ready for this Saria?" Link asked, pulling out his sword and shield, "The monsters we fight around here are a lot tougher then the Deku Babas and Scrubs from the forest."
"All the more reason for me to fight them." Saria nodded, "I'm not going to let them hurt any of you!"
Togau looked to Saria and her desire to protect Link and Lady Nabooru. She clenched her fists and nodded to herself.
"Count me in too, I won't let anyone get hurt!" Togau said, pulling out her hand ax.
Link grinned, "Alright then, let's go!"
After Nabooru appointed the two guards to watch over the warp door, Link and the group ran outside of the temple, only to be confronted by a group of monsters. The majority of them were beast creatures, like the Wolfos they fought back at the Forest Temple entrance, only these ones stood more upright on their hind legs, and had brown ragged fur. The monster that stood out the most was a large green giant with a single eye who towered over everyone, it held a giant club that only someone like it could hold, and it also wore a large animal pelt that resembled the beast creatures it was surrounded by.
"You got be kidding me, a Hinox here in the canyon?!" Nabooru exclaimed, referring to the giant cyclops, "I thought those things only stayed in caves and dungeons, not out in the open like this."
"Guess no one told this one that." Nemisa said.
"I've never seen Wolfos like those before either... and in the desert?" Link said, noticing their brown fur.
"Indeed, those are Desert Wolfos, kind of an obvious name." Nabooru nodded.
"But what are these ones doin' with a Hinox? Normally monsters like these would be at each other's throats, not workin' buddy-buddy like this." Togau said.
"Take a look at that pelt it's wearing." Nabooru pointed out, "That's from a large Desert Wolfos. It's very likely that skin came from the original leader of this pack."
"So that Hinox killed the Wolfos leader, put on it's skin and took over his group? Ugh..." Aviel said.
"But what do these things want here?" Saria asked, wielding her Deku Staff.
"I'm not entirely sure... but perhaps this one wants the temple as it's new home." Nabooru said.
"If it does, then it would have full access to the warp point, we can't let that happen." Nemisa said as she cracked her knuckles.
The Hinox rose it's club into the air and roared out, and the Wolfos all howled in response, ready to battle.
"Everyone, prepare yourselves!" Nabooru shouted, unsheathing her scimitars.
With that, the two sides went into battle, the Wolfos lunged out with their claws, while the Gerudo clashed with their weapons.
Link blocked off a Wolfos slash with his shield, before smacking it back with his sword. Two jumped at him, but he pulled out his Fairy Bow and shot them down in midair. He rolled out of the way of the first one that swiped at him, then performed a spin attack to knock them all away. He ran at the Hinox to attack it, but it nonchalantly swatted Link away and a group of Wolfos tried to get the drop on him, forcing him to roll away and concentrate on the giant's beast minions.
Nabooru flipped in with her twin scimitars, cutting a Wolfos down with one blade while using the other to block an attack by one trying to bite at her, then did a graceful upward slash to knock the Wolfos away. She then leaped on the back of the unsuspecting Wolfos, causing it fall over and slide across the ground quickly. Nabooru took to riding on it's back, and she started smacking and slashing at the wild beasts that tired to attack her.
"Whoo, take this you flea bags!" she couldn't help but smile brightly and let out a shout of enthusiasm as she rode around on the back of the Wolfos, taking down it's brethren before she jumped off the beast and it went crashing into the side of the canyon.
Aviel took perching herself at the temple's ceiling, carefully aiming and sniping the Wolfos who were fighting her sisters. Occasionally she'd try to get a shot in at the Hinox, but it simply held up it's hand to block the arrows, it's tough hide seemed to make the arrows bounce off harmlessly. She instead took to the sky and swooped downwards kicking a Wolfos before shooting it down with her crossbow, and then smacking another beast with the blunt side of it.
Nemisa sprinted in and swung out her legs, kicking away a group of Wolfos, one tried to bite her, but she stopped it with her steel band, before punching it so hard it flew back and smashed into the canyon cliff. One tried to attack her from behind but she flipped over it and kicked it in the back so hard it broke the creature's spine. Another Wolfos tried to attack her with a claw swipe, but Nemisa grabbed the Wolfos by it's arm and slammed it down on top of it's comrade.
Saria wielded her Deku Staff and spun out a pair of spiked boas, which she used to bash around Wolfos that attacked her. She flipped through the air and bashed one Wolfos on the head to stun it, then landed down and smacked it's legs to trip it, before slamming her staff down on it's head to finish it off.
Togau meanwhile charged in with her hand ax and slashed and chopped at the Wolfos as they attacked her. One came up at her but she instinctively headbutted it with her horns. One managed to lunge out and strike at her stomach with it's claws making Togau flinch, but then she realized she didn't feel a thing, as her skin was stronger in her Lynel form, allowing her to simply punch the Wolfos to the ground and crush it under her front hoof.
"Wow... Reirousa was right about this Lynel body's strength..." Togau muttered to herself, one Wolfos lunged out and bit her arm that was holding her ax, but she snarled and slashed the Wolfos with her hand claws, causing it to yelp out in pain before she bashed it away. It was then her lion-like ear twitched, as she turned to see a Wolfos creeping up on Saria who was busy fighting another one. Togau narrowed her eyes and charged forward, bashing the Wolfos out of the way. Saria took down her own opponent and turned to see what had happened, only to see Togau crush the Wolfos that tried to attack her.
"Hey, you holdin' up okay Saria?" Togau asked.
"Oh, yes! Thank you!" Saria said smiling.
"Na ha ha, no problem, now let's finish these guys!" Togau said flashing a big grin, which despite her sharp teeth showing, didn't seem as awkward to the others as before. It seemed she was really getting used to her new form.
It wasn't long after that the Wolfos were either destroyed or badly injured, the rest all backed off towards their boss, the giant Hinox as they whimpered. The Hinox growled in annoyance at the sight of the desperate and pleading Wolfos surrounding it begging it to save them. The Hinox forced itself up to it's feet and yawned out, before bringing up it's club. It roared out, ready to battle the group, as the Wolfos around it got their second wind, ready to fight as well.
"Looks like the big guy is ready to fight now," Link said, "Let's take em all down!"
The Hinox brought it's club up and slammed it down, causing a shock wave of earth to erupt up and shoot out at the group, who dodged the attack. The Wolfos charged in to back the Hinox up, and the group were forced to fight them.
The Hinox charged at Link, angry that he tried to attack it earlier, but Link quickly drove back his Wolfos opponent and flipped out of the way, pulling out his Fairy Bow and managing to shoot the Hinox in the eye, making it stagger back, while Nabooru struck her scimitars against it, but it didn't seem to react much to the blow and swatted them both away.
"Damn, this thing's got a tough hide..." Nabooru said narrowing her eyes.
"We'll have to concentrate on that eye as it's weak point." Link said.
The Hinox swung it's club again, but this time Nabooru leaped onto the weapon, and used it to jump up at the Hinox's eye and strike it, while Link fired another arrow, causing the Hinox to cry out in pain. It grumbled and covered it's eye with it's hand, as it started swinging it's club around recklessly. Nabooru and Link were forced to back off from it's attack, which as wild as it was, was difficult to counter.
"We need to figure out a way to let down it's guard!" Nabooru said, taking a moment to fend off another Wolfos.
"I got it!" Saria exclaimed, knocking away her Wolfos opponent and using her Deku Staff to shoot out some vines, which wrapped around the Hinox's legs, binding them and leaving the creature staggering around.
"Now it's my turn!" Togau said, charging forward with her horns and bashing the creature into it's gut, sending it down backwards and making it uncover it's eye.
"Perfect, go for it!" Link said, as he and Nabooru both leaped up with their blades and were about to strike the Hinox in it's eye... but that was when the Hinox's body started to go under a bizarre change.
It's whole started to turn red, and it's eye grew a particularly bright red, a strange energy built up, and it fired off a powerful laser, blasting Link and Nabooru out of the air and to the ground.
"W-What the hell was that?!" Nemisa shouted, running over to Link to help him up, as Aviel and Saria went over to help Nabooru.
"This thing has eye beams?!" Saria exclaimed.
The Hinox broke free of the vines around it's legs and stood back up, it's eye glowed red again and charged up.
"Uh oh, there it goes again!" Togau said.
"Everyone scatter!" Link shouted
This prompted everyone to run away from the monster, as it started firing off continuous beams down at them. Some of the Wolfos gang tried to escape from the blasts themselves, but a few were too weak to run, and the beam obliterated them, either the Hinox couldn't differentiate between friend or foe or just didn't care.
Link and Aviel tried to shoot the monster in it's eye to weaken it, but the beams were too rapid, and each arrow were blasted out of the air before they could hit.
"This is insane!" Link exclaimed, "I've never seen power like this from a Hinox!"
"Yes, it's hide is unusually tough... and while there are some Hinox capable of shooting eye beams, the rate that this one's firing them is unnatural for it's kind... not to mention that strange color change... something's not right here." Nabooru observed.
"Doesn't matter how strange it is, we'll take down any monster that tries to hurt our people!" Link stated.
"Right!" Nemisa said, then asking, "But how do we go about doing that?"
"At this point I think we might need more help..." Link said, pondering his next action.
"Everyone get down!" shouted Nabooru, as everyone ducked a laser blast. Another beam then shot out through the air, barely missing the warp room temple.
"Crap, if that thing blasts the temple enough we could risk losing the trade route!" Nabooru shouted.
"I'll go hurry and get some more help from town!" Aviel said, spreading her wings and flying off.
"Then I'll go retrieve the guards inside!" Nemisa said, charging into the temple to get their aide.
Togau just stood there, as she saw the Hinox was just wildly firing lasers in each and every direction, it seemed like there was absolutely no way to stop it at this rate, and if they didn't do something soon, her friends could get hurt, and the warp temple could be damaged.
"That's it... I gotta do somethin'!" Togau said, taking a deep breath, before jumping out and charging at the monster.
"Togau, get back here!" shouted Link desperately, while Nemisa had soon got back with the guards to provide assistance.
The rancher though just ignored her friend and ran forward, dodging laser blasts and lowered her head, using her horns to bash into the monster in the gut, sending it back a bit. It tried to smash her with it's club, but she sidestepped out of the way, stumbling a bit, before charging forward and bashing into it again. She went in for another attack, but tripped a bit on her horse legs, giving the Hinox a chance to directly hit Togau with a powerful beam attack, sending her flying backwards and into a rock.
"TOGAU!" Link shouted,, as he Saria, Nabooru, Nemisa and the two guards ran at the monster to help their friend. They all went all-out on the Hinox as best they could, but the creature's unnatural strength was beginning to be too much for them.
Togau meanwhile was laying back in a daze, her head was dizzy, and she wasn't sure what was going on. She weakly looked out at the battlefield and saw Link, Saria, Lady Nabooru, Nemisa, and the two guards battling the monster, but the creature was getting the upper hand on them. She looked weakly to Link and Saria in particular, feeling the urge to get up and fight with them, but she was too weak from the attack.
"I need help..." Togau growled a little as she was started to lose consciousness, "I need to save them..."
It was then a sensation went through her mind, and an instinct surging through her body, she closed her eyes tightly as a voice called out to her in that moment...
It was then Togau slowly stood up with her head lowered, then rose upwards, roaring out loudly with her arms swung out. She opened her eyes, revealing them to be blank white. She snarled, scraped at the ground with her hoof and then charged right at her target, opening her mouth and baring her sharp animal teeth. She plowed into the giant monster and started slashing, kicking and charging into the monster recklessly.
Togau just went outright ballistic on the Hinox, she couldn't even see anything around her in that moment, and while her ears could pick up strange human voices, she couldn't make them out too much, nor care about what they were saying over attacking her target.
"Tog... hat's wr... ...her?!"
"She's... out of co... ...stop!"
"Look o... ...Sari...!"
"Kyyyaaa...!"
Togau panted heavily, as she started to calm down, and her white eyes started to change back to the typical golden color the Gerudo were known for. She looked down to see the Hinox laying on the ground, and saw it was battered, bruised and bleeding. While she didn't know how, it seemed to have been delivered a fatal blow, and the monster groaned out one last time before it burst into purple and odd yellow smoke.
"Whew... I dunno where that rush came from... but at least we took that thing down..." Togau panted, not sure what just happened to her in that moment, she then started to call out, "Is everyone o-"
"Saria are you alright?"
Togau stopped and froze up in that moment, a chilling sensation went through her, and she turned to see what had happened during her blind attack.
She saw her friends, along with the remaining Wolfos themselves, were staring in shock of what had just happened.
"Togau... you..." Nemisa stammered.
"W-What...?" Togau asked, until she realized what they were talking about.
She saw Saria laying on the ground, as Link and Nabooru were looking the Kokiri over to see if she was okay. She was in clear pain, but the most notable thing was the round hoof mark on her chest. Only one individual in that area at that moment could have left a mark like that...
"Oooh..." Saria groaned.
"N-No..." Togau said, backing up, sweat running down her head, "I didn't... possibly..."
"Togau...?" Link started, turning his head to her.
"I... I..." Togau stammered, her eyes starting to fill with tears, "I'M SORRY!"
With that, Togau quickly turned and ran off as fast as she could, the flower decorating her straw hat waved around until the petals started falling off and to the ground.
"Togau!" Saria shouted, having snapped out of her daze and called out to her, though it was clear the rancher didn't hear her.
The Wolfos were a little shaken at what they had just seen, but decided to take advantage of the moment to attack their prey and avenge their leader, regardless of how ruthless he had been to them..
"Togau, wait!" Link shouted, only for two Wolfos to attack him at once, distracting him. He brought up his sword and shield to back them off, while the Gerudo went to fighting off the rest, with more Gerudo soon arriving by Aviel's lead to assist.
As Link fought his beast opponents, he worriedly turned his head to see his rancher friend running off deeper and deeper into the canyon...
So things have only gone from bad to worse to terrible for Togau, but the question is what will become of the livestock rancher? Find out next time!
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