Chapter 76 is here! Link, Nabooru and the group are on their way to the rebel base where Granny is, but what bizarre surprises await them there?
"So is this really the place...?" Nabooru asked in confusion as she, Link, and the group stood at a remote part of Gerudo Valley, looking out at a peculiar sight.
Gerudo Valley was a desert, plain and simple. Vast plains of sand for miles and miles, scorching heat during the day, and freezing cold during the nights. Only in more weather controlled areas like Gerudo Town and the rare oasis was there any relief from the elements, and plants would be capable of growing and staying intact.
So it was rather odd for the group to see a great amount of giant purple and green plants and mushrooms growing off in the distance. The foliage was gathered into one area with giant roots and leaves. Contrasting with the foliage however was a lot of brownish red copper pipes sticking out from the leaves and going into the ground.
Standing out looking at the sight was Link, Nabooru, Sarami, Nemisa and Togau, along with two of Nabooru's backup guards. Marata had been escorted back to Gerudo Town by the other guards for her safety.
"Just what the bahooty is that, a jungle?" Togau asked, putting her hand above her eyes to block off the sun and look out at the plants, "Has that always been there?"
"Unlikely, it should be impossible to grow that many plants in the valley like this." Nabooru said looking around.
"Looks like just how Sheeva described." Link said, "The wolfos told her they were taken to a place of isolated giant plants and crimson iron, the laboratory where Granny is at must be here."
"Hey everyone!" Aviel called out, flying down and landing. She was currently wearing her vision-enhancing goggles on her eyes, "Just scoped out the giant plant things, couldn't really see much from above; no buildings or anything, just more giant pipes."
"Then we'll have to go into this jungle and try to track down the hideout from the inside." Link said, "You sure you're okay doing this Sarami?"
"Yes, I need to help Granny, if she really is working with the rebels, then I would like to try and get through to her." Sarami nodded.
"Alright then, move out everyone!" Nabooru said, unsheathing her scimitar and pointing out at their destination.
The group approached the giant plants, soon finding an open path that led inside of the miniature jungle. Link took a look up and around at the odd mismatch of plants and copper pipes, as well as giant mushrooms of various colors that were growing from the grass lining the ground.
"What do you suppose all these pipes are for?" Link asked.
"Maybe they're sewer pipes?" Aviel suggested, "Do plants poop?"
"No they don't!" Nemisa shouted.
Sarami took a look over at a small leak coming from one pipe and examined it carefully, covering her mouth with a handkerchief so as not to breathe it in.
"Actually, Aviel might be half-right. I think these pipes are fertilizing the plants." Sarami said, "This one's releasing some form of compost."
"That must explain how these plants and mushrooms can survive in our valley." Nabooru said.
"Too bad Saria isn't with us, she might have been able to do something about these with her staff." Nemisa said.
"I'm not so sure about that." Sarami said studying the plants, "I'm not a great expert on phytology like Saria, but these don't seem like a natural species... and something about these mushrooms really bothers me..."
"Hmm..." Aviel stared at one large mushroom in particular with a large purple cap on it, "You think we should take one of these things home so Saria can study it then?" she called out as she reached out to the mushroom to try and pluck it from the ground.
"Hey, watch what you're touching around he-" Nemisa started, but was cut off by seeing Aviel squirming around from being half-eaten by the mushroom, whose cap turned out to have a giant mouth, "AVIEL!"
"Kyaaa! Don't eat me! I taste terrible!" Aviel shouted, squirming around, the mushroom was trying to dissolve her in it's mouth, but it was quickly cut down by Link and his sword.
"You okay there Aviel?" Link asked, as the bird girl hugged him tightly.
"Yes, yes, thanks Link!" Aviel said with tears in her eyes, nuzzling her head against him out of gratitude.
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be HIS bodyguard, Birdbrain?" pointed out one of the backup guards.
"Wait, do you all hear something...?" the other guard asked.
It was then some of the strange mushrooms started to shift, as Link and the others saw them seeming to unearth themselves from the ground and start lumbering towards the Hylian and the Gerudo people. The mushrooms even grew out limbs like claws and vines and were reaching at the group with them. They all seemed to be some weird shapes and sizes. One in particular had a large purple mouth with thorns that looked like large teeth, while sliding along a bloated body with roots sticking out like tentacles. Another had a bell-shaped cap with a long thin weed-like body, walking on the tips of it's roots. There were even a few that had a type of thin fin-like algae that they started flapping and taking to the air with like wings.
"Kyaaa!" screamed Aviel hiding behind Link.
"What in the hell are these...?" Nemisa asked.
"Weird, they're like mushroom Deku Babas..." Link said, gripping his sword.
"Guess we're in for a fight." Nabooru said, taking out her scimitars and spinning them in her hands.
With that, they all rushed into battle against the mushroom monsters. Link sliced through the stems of some of the mushrooms, before pulling out his Fairy Bow and shooting through a flying one. Nabooru spun in with her scimitars and slashed through a few mushrooms before flipping through the air on top of a bigger one, before thrusting her blades into it's body and ripping them out to kill it.
Aviel took to the skies with her wings and shot arrows down at the mushrooms, piercing through them. One of the weed-like ones came at a guard from behind, but Aviel swooped down and grabbed it by it's stem using her bird talons, then ripped it apart with her leg strength.
Nemisa flipped in and punched one mushroom's cap off, then did a quick kick to rip another in half. She was caught by the root of one mushroom constricting her arm, but she instead pulled the mushroom forward and swung it around her, bashing into others of it's kind in the process before smashing it to bits on the ground.
Togau swung out her hand ax, cutting down the mushroom monsters with little effort. She chucked the ax forward and it sliced through three of them, then when some more of the mushrooms came at her she darted to the right, allowing the ax to follow after her and cut through them from behind before she caught it.
Sarami meanwhile pulled out some potion bottles and fired off green chu jelly at some mushrooms attacking her. The monsters found themselves immobilized by the adhesive-like properties of the green chu jelly, allowing the backup guards to cut them down quickly.
It wasn't long after that the rest of the mushroom monsters were all taken down, and the group let out a sigh of relief.
"That went well." Link said, spinning his sword in his hand and sheathing it, "Hopefully that was the end of them."
"Just what the hell is going on around here?" Nabooru asked, kicking at the remains of one of the mushrooms and looking around, "I thought this place was for the power tonic production, what's with these creatures?"
"Maybe the reason for this jungle is to protect Granny's laboratory from intruders then?" Link guessed.
"Everyone, over here!" Aviel called out waving to everyone as she peeked over some bushes. The group all gathered behind the bird girl and saw what she had discovered.
It was a small, single story building made completely from metal, it was square-shaped with very few windows, and a singe door. Many pipes that they had seen around the jungle were connected to the sides and back of the building.
"Is... that the laboratory?" Link asked.
"Only place we've seen here that could be it." Nabooru nodded, "This jungle isn't big enough for anything more then this to be here, especially with all these pipes."
"Doesn't look like they could do much in a tiny place like that though..." Nemisa pointed out.
That was when they heard a strange sound, a type of hissing noise, along with the clanking sound of some sort of steel. Everyone looked in confusion as they saw strange creatures walking into the area around the building. They were crafted from some kind of metal, with steam venting out of pipes on their bodies. They both had single glowing eyes, their arms had crab-like pincers, and four legs designed like that of a spider's.
"W-What in tarnation are those things now?!" Togau exclaimed.
"Shhh!" Nemisa said, slapping her hand over Togau's mouth, "Keep it down or they might hear you!"
"You sure they can hear us? They don't look like they have ears." Aviel said tilting her head.
The two automatons seemed to be rotating their cylinder heads, the eye gazing around at whatever was around them. When it gazed in the direction of Link and the others the group quickly ducked behind the bushes, then peeking back out a second later when it went to walking away.
"So what's the plan Nabooru?" Link asked.
"Not sure, we don't know what these things are capable of..." Nabooru said scratching her chin.
"Think we outta just barge in and wreck em?" Togau asked.
That was when a small desert lizard came crawling into the area As soon as one of the robots saw it though, a bright gleam came from the eye on it and fired a powerful laser at the reptile. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing but a small smoldering crater left behind, and the robots went back to patrolling.
"...n-never mind." Togau said with dot-shaped eyes, quickly ducking back behind the bushes.
"That light beam... it looked familiar..." Link pondered, "Hey Nabooru, remember those Beamos statues in the Spirit Temple? Don't they look similar to those?"
"Yeah, you're right, and the Beamos can be destroyed instantly with explosives!" Nabooru nodded, "Aviel, you think you can shoot those things directly into their eyes with your bomb arrows?"
"Sure thing." Aviel nodded, she pulled out her crossbow and loading an arrow onto her weapon of choice with an explosive Bombling tied to it. She pulled up her goggles to focus her vision, and aimed out at the robots, thinking to herself, 'Better not miss...'
She then fired off two arrows in quick succession, the arrows impacted right into the eyes of the two robots just as they rotated in her direction, and the Bomblings blew up, taking the heads of the steel monsters and causing the rest of them to fall to the ground motionlessly.
"Hee hee, I got it!" Aviel grinned.
"Nice shot Aviel the Hawkeye!" Togau grinned patting her on the back.
"Good one Aviel, now let's get inside and see what's going on here." Nabooru said. The group emerged from the bushes and went over to the nearby door, which Nabooru gripped the handle and pulled open effortlessly.
"How strange, it's not locked?" Nemisa asked in confusion.
"I guess if you had an army of killer mushrooms and metal monsters guardin' your place you wouldn't bother lockin' yer door?" Togau suggested, peeking inside.
Looking in the room, they saw nothing much but a metal elevator platform that seemed to lead down underground. The pipes sticking out from the building were also all leading downwards.
"Guess now we know why this room is so small." Link said, "It just leads down to where the real hideout is."
"Stay on your guard everyone." Nabooru said as the group stepped onto the elevator. It suddenly shifted, and started going downwards into the underground.
When the elevator came to a complete stop, the group looked around to see where they were. It appeared to be some sort of storage room; the area was filled with large crates everywhere, and it was pretty dark aside from small lamps with strange crystals in them illuminating certain areas.
"Ugh, this is getting creepier..." Aviel whispered looking around, "I think I miss the giant mutant mushrooms..."
Nemisa crept forward and peeked out past one of the crates, only to quickly take a step back as another Beamos automation like the ones from outside walked by. The automation stopped, it's eye spinning a few times as if to be examining the area, then went back on it's way. Nemisa then looked again only to see more of them going by.
"This place is crawling with these things." Nemisa said, backing up to the others.
"Should I try blowing them up?" Aviel asked holding up her crossbow.
"No, it was one thing when we were outside, but it might create too much of a commotion indoors, plus we have no idea how many there are." Nabooru said, "We need to be discreet if we're going to save Sarami's mentor."
"So what should we do...?" Sarami asked, growing more concerned for Granny Truttlo's safety as she looked around.
Nabooru pondered for a moment, "We're going to split up into groups to investigate this place, it'll be easier to remain discreet in small numbers." she then turned to the two guards, "You two stay hidden and watch the elevator. If you see anything suspicious, come alert us."
"Yes Lady Nabooru!" the two guards said saluting.
"I'll go with Sarami and protect her." Link said, "Granny might be more willing to go with us if she sees a Hylian as well."
Everyone nodded and split into teams of two; Aviel and Nemisa went off in one direction, while Nabooru and Togau went in another, leaving Link and Sarami alone together.
"I'll be in your care Link." Sarami said politely bowing.
"Back at you Sarami." Link grinned, as the two went off to search.
The two of them slowly crept through the storage area. Link hid behind one crate, peeked out from it, seeing the coast was clear, he took Sarami by the hand and guided her through the area. Sarami couldn't help but blush at the feeling of Link holding her hand like that, but shook off her light-hearted emotions knowing they had a important mission to do.
"You doing alright Sarami? It's been a long trip." Link whispered, worried about her because her past fatigue.
"I'm doing fine Link." nodded Sarami, "I'm still working on strengthening myself more lately."
It was then they heard a clang sound, Link gulped as he realized another Beamos creature was coming, so he took Sarami and pulled her with him between two crates that had a narrow gap between them big enough for the two.
"L-Link?" exclaimed Sarami, but was quickly hushed up by him putting his hand over her mouth.
Link shushed her and the two remained quiet as an automation walked past them, scoping out the area. It changed it's perspective by rotating it's cylinder head a few times, but Link and Sarami were just hidden enough that the machine missed them.
Link and Sarami continued to wait for the machine to leave, but their bodies were pressed together pretty tightly between the crates. Sarami could feel Link's body heat as well as his strong muscular frame, while Link was trying his hardest not react to the doctor's soft curvy body. Sarami's large breasts in particular were squashed against him, and he couldn't deny how nice they felt even in that tense moment. Her soft breathing was causing her chest mounds to rise up and down against his own chest.
"Ulp..." Sarami blushed, fidgeting in such an awkward position that she accidentally stuck her leg out a little dangerously close to the automation's spider-like legs. In a panic, Link quickly grabbed Sarami's leg and lifted it upwards to her waist to keep her from bumping it into the machine.
Link was trying to concentrate on staying out of sight, but he realized he was now holding Sarami's thigh, and how soft it was in his hand. He looked eye-to-eye with Sarami and saw the deep blush in her cheeks as she was trying not to make a noise.
The robot finally went off on it's way after that, and the two of them gave off a breath of relief.
"That was close..." Link whispered.
"Um... Link?" Sarami asked, "Your kind of... poking me down there..."
"O-Oh..." Link turned red himself, and tugged on his pants, "S-Sorry about that, I know this isn't the time or place..."
"No, no, it's fine." she said, "You're a young healthy man, it's natural some accelerated body heat could... um..."
There was an awkward pause between the two over what had happened. There was a part of both of them that wanted to talk about the situation between each other, but knew it wasn't the time.
"M-Maybe we should go before another machine comes." Link said.
"Yes!" Sarami agreed, and the two hustled out and went on their way.
As Link and Sarami went down on hallway though, they were unknowingly being watched by a strange sphere mounted on the upper wall of the room. It wasn't too different from the Beamos eyes the patrol machines had, only this one had a clear eye that focused on the two. It also looked to Aviel and Nemisa going in one direction, as well as Nabooru and Togau going through different hallways...
In a deeper area of the hideout, a certain Gerudo woman was sitting at a chair. She was a modest sized individual, wearing tan and brown striped clothing and with an unusual pair of goggles over her eyes that were made from copper with green tinted lens. She also wore a tall brass helmet with small pipes venting out steam, as well as some metal tendrils with small clamps at the ends sticking out from it.
She was working on some sort of device on her desk. She was wearing a pair of metal gloves that were producing small blue flames from the palms, and she was using them to weld the device together. One of the metal tendrils on her helmet extended out and took a handkerchief, which it then wiped against the Gerudo's forehead to remove the sweat dripping off her, as she continued on her work.
"Hey Metal-head, how's my present coming along?!" spoke up a small but loud voice behind the woman which made her cringe. The Gerudo woman looked behind her to see three more Gerudo behind her, having just walked into her workshop.
"Ugh it's you guys... I've got the base model completed, but it needs more testing." the scientist sighed, "Now give me some space before I burn you."
"Grrr... you don't scare me! When is it going to be ready already?! Mother Eclipsis says she wants it to be completed for me before the big day!" shouted the girl to the right. She was child Gerudo with small pigtails and wearing a reddish-pink children's Gerudo outfit. She was also holding a small patched-up stuffed bear in her arm.
"Oh my, my... such a fierce temperament." giggled the Gerudo woman on the left. She was very tall and very slim, with a long neck and long straight hair. Her body was wrapped in a form-fitting light green dress, and she was wearing a large flat hat that was a light blue color with white spots covering it, as well as a white fishnet hanging off the rim of the hat.
"..." the third one standing at the center was an average sized Gerudo woman; she had short red hair done into a bouffant style, with a white bonnet topping it. As opposed to the silk desert wear Gerudo usually wore, she instead had a black short dress with white frills. Her legs were in white stockings and she wore black shoes. Oddly, she also had a small devices around her ears with antennae sticking out from both of them.
"Greetings Engineer Meokuro." the black dress-wearing woman said with a monotone voice and a polite bow at the waist, "We have come for the usual appointment, as well as the status report on your current assignments."
"Yeah, yeah..." muttered the woman, now known as the Gerudo rebel Engineer Meokuro, "I'm staying within schedule like I said last time."
"Well? When will it be ready then?!" the little girl shouted angerly, "I wanna be able to try it out sometime in the next century!"
Meokuro narrowed her eyes and shouted out, "Keep your pants on Niani! I finally tracked down the perfect specimen, and once it's properly tested then she'll be all yours to use. I've projected to have completed it in three days, sixteen hours, and twenty-three minutes..." she paused for a second, "Actually make that twenty-two minutes now." she corrected herself.
"Hmph, it better be!" the small child now known as Niani said, clinging to the tall woman's dress, "Otherwise big sis will have to do something nasty to you!"
"Now, now, now, that's not the way to talk to her Niani." the tall woman in the hat said patting Niani's head, before then turning to the scientist. Though she was speaking calmly, her next words came off very threatening, "Meokeru, I hope you understand the consequences for failing us..."
"Y-Yes, sister Kiraila..." Meokuro muttered.
"After all, I went through the trouble of supplying you with my precious babies to keep your little laboratory protected from little vermin." the tall woman known as Kiraila said, holding up a small mushroom in a flower pot, it's cap had a mouth and it was snapping around until the woman fed it a live insect, she giggled watching the mushroom chew up and swallow the insect.
"Hmph, my Beamos Walkers do the job just fine! I built them from the finest parts we salvaged from the temples and ruins around the desert!" she then turned to the woman in the black dress, "You in particular know full well what I can do this technology, right?"
"...yes." the black-dressed woman simply nodded.
"Hey, you wouldn't have been able to even do that for medium sis without that one lady we brought you!" pointed out Niani, "Besides that, those walker things are ugly!" she added, sticking out her tongue.
"Your face is ugly." Meokuro muttered under her breath.
Niani's nostrils flared in fury as her hair flew back, exposing her large forehead which gave off a powerful gleam of light, "I heard that!" she shouted, jumping onto Meokuro's back and started pulling on her cheeks.
"Ack, let go of me you little-!" Meokuro shouted, scrambling to try and get her off. The black-dressed woman didn't so much as react one bit, while Kiraila giggled softly at the two fighting.
The woman in the black dress then spoke up, "Mother Eclipsis also wishes to know what you've learned from the artifacts she had you look into. Despite us bringing you that individual to assist you in your work, she is disappointed that you've failed to provide sufficient information."
Meokuro yanked Niani off her back, holding her by her arms to keep the squirming child from attacking her, "Hmph, I told Mother before my specialty is robotic science, not mystical artifacts, and that man has been way too uncooperative! I swear things would had worked way better for us if Faurugo had gotten the books from the Hall of Knowledge, but now she's gone and the books are in possession of Lady Nabooru and the false king!"
The woman in the black dress just paused, her expression was unflinching, but Kiraila couldn't keep but see her gaze avert just a little.
"Your point has been noted, I shall discuss that with Mother Eclipsis in my report." the black-dress wearing woman then said, "Niani, please give Engineer Meokuro her funds."
"Hmph, okay then..." Niani grumbled, handing Meokuro a large bag of rupees, "Here's your allowance for this month, but don't let Mother Eclipsis down, or we'll come collecting it back!"
"Alright already, just go off on your way." said Meokuro, waving her hand and going right back to the work on her project.
"We will be keeping in touch." the black dressed woman said with another polite bow, "Sister Kiraila, Sister Niani, let us go." she then told the other two, going off on her way.
"Just don't you forget who the most Elite Gerudo are Metal-head!" Niani called out to Meokuro.
"You?" Meokoru asked rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, that's right!" Niala said, turning and triumphantly starting to walk off, only to trip over her feet and impact into the ground. She sat up and covered her head with tears running down her face.
"Hee hee hee, come along Niani." Kiraila spoke, escorting a sobbing Niani off and leaving Meokuro alone.
Once she was convinced the three of them had all long left, Meokuro let out an aggravated sigh, "What a pain in the ass, I'm trying to strengthen our army and Mother has got me doing these stupid errands for her so-called 'Elite' rebels."
Meokuro then turned to a strange helmet made from metal with electric tubes sticking out from it, "Hopefully this works out... that damn tonic has caused us too much trouble. Mother Eclipsis may want me to keep her safe, but that damn woman needs to finally answer for it..."
That was when Meokuro heard a sound coming off from a blinking orb on her table. She looked to see it flash red, which was an indication her Beamo Searcher had detected some intruders. She saw there were six small dots on the orb that were moving out in three different directions.
"So we got some intruders in my laboratory, eh? Wiiihiihiihii, so much for Kiralia's stupid fungus creatures." giggled the Gerudo, flashing a big grin, her goggles giving off a gleam of light, "I'll deal with these pests using the power of my technology instead!"
Aviel and Nemisa headed through one door of the laboratory where they saw the room was covered from ceiling to floor with books and sketch papers. Many of them had writing on them with odd drawings here and there.
"Just what is this place?" Aviel asked looking around.
"Looks like a research room." Nemisa spoke as she looked at one of the papers. It had a picture of a Spinner device like what Sovan and the Sandstorm Vipers rode on, along with numerous words and calculations written on various parts of it.
Aviel took one piece of paper and saw the drawing on it, it was some sort of rod with a golden two-forked top with a blue jewel in the center. Upon seeing the drawing she quickly recognized it.
"This is the Sand Rod!" Aviel said, recalling the sand-manipulating treasure Nabooru had them retrieve at the Gerudo Wastes where they met Reirousa. She typically used it to fix and upgrade damaged buildings, as well as fortify the walls of the town, "But I dunno what all these words and numbers mean..." she added turning the paper upside down and right side up to try and decipher the writing.
"I'm willing to guess the rebels are researching the treasures of the Gerudo. But what good will it do?" Nemisa pondered, "From what Nabooru told us, you can only use magical Gerudo treasures like the Sand Rod with a blessing from the Desert Goddess Aifet and her disciples."
"Yeah, or else you get cursed like what happened to Lady Sheeva." Aviel nodded, "So what are they trying to do here?"
"Good question... but we should get back to locating Sarami's mentor." Nemisa said.
"Hmm..." Aviel muttered as she look one last look around, and saw one particular paper sticking out from a book stack. Her curiosity peaked as she climbed up onto the desk and started rummaging at the books, throwing some ones she didn't care about out of the way.
"Hey, watch what you're throwing around!" Nemisa shouted, quickly catching the books so as not to cause a disturbance.
Aviel tugged at one book, but despite Nemisa's warnings, she slipped and fell backwards, and the stack of books came down on top of her in a big pile.
"Are you okay?" Nemsia exclaimed.
That was when Aviel stuck her hand out of the pile holding up one paper that was folded over.
"Hey, look at this Nemisa!" Aviel said popping out from the pile and running over to a desk to get a good look at it, Nemisa went ahead and took look at the paper for herself. It was a crude picture of a human girl with bird wings.
"What th-" Nemisa's eyes widened,
"Doesn't this look like what I become with my Roc's Wing?" Aviel asked.
"You're right, but what is this doing here?" Nemisa asked.
Aviel curiously unfolded the rest of the paper, and they saw what was drawn beside the winged girl sketch. It appeared to be a picture of a giant door with some kind of humanoid figure with insect-like wings drawn on the center of it as well as some sort of lined box with five small blacks dots on it drawn below it.
"A door...?" Nemisa asked curiously.
Unfolding the last part they saw there was also a sketch of a large majestic looking bird with it's wings curled downwards, seeming to be wrapped around a small circle with a strange symbol on it. There was also some unfamiliar writing under the bird sketch that had been unlined.
"What do you think this means Aviel?" Nemisa asked, only to turn to her partner and gasp out.
Aviel was squeezing at the bottom of the paper ever-so-lightly, as tears were forming and running down her face. Her body was trembling as she bit her lower lip.
"Aviel, w-what's wrong?" she asked.
"I... I don't know..." Aviel said, "But it's making me... sad for some reason... and I don't know why..."
Nemisa looked to Aviel with concern for her, she had never seen her partner and friend so sad before. She herself knew the feeling of repressed sadness, due to her past as a slave and Jayde's betrayal, but Aviel never really discussed her own past with Nemisa before. The martial artist in that moment wondered what was worse; knowing the source of your sadness and pain, or not being able to remember why you feel such grief at all...?
But that was when a shadowy figure came up behind the two. The person reached out for Aviel's shoulder, but Nemisa caught them out of the corner of her eye and grabbed them by their arm, throwing the figure over her shoulder and slamming them down to the ground.
"Owww..." groaned the figure.
"Alright, just who are you?!" Nemisa shouted, bringing up her fist to fight.
"Wait Nemisa! I know this person!" Aviel said, holding her hand up to stop Nemisa, "Are you okay?"
"Oh, it is you Ms. Aviel! What a fine coincidence!" the figure said with a modest chuckle.
"So where did we end up...?" Togau spoke as she and Nabooru entered one large room, it was rather dark compared to the storage room they had entered the laboratory from.
"Not sure, though it'd be nice if we could see anything..." Nabooru muttered. She eyed an activation orb right beside them and touched it
That caused the room to light up using illuminated crystals on the walls, which gave the two of them a good look at what was inside.
And it was something rather shocking.
The room was full of cages with various desert animals and monsters inside each one. Many of them were making loud sounds at the sight of the two of them, including a few Desert Wolfos who were barking out.
"J-Just what is this place...?!" Nabooru asked.
"Don't look like a barn, that's fer sure." Togau said.
"Hey you! You gotta help us out here-blin!" called out one voice. The two of them looked to one tall cage where they saw a pig-like monster known as a Moblin trapped in it. He was shaking the bars in a failed attempt to break free, "If you don't that crazy woman will do to us what she did to the others-blin!"
"Crazy woman? Whatcha talkin' about?" Togau asked.
"That doctor, she comes in and takes some of us away, and assuming they even come back, they're driven to madness-blin!" the Moblin said, gesturing to one cage, "Like that poor sap over there-blin!"
The two Gerudo looked over to a Desert Wolfos who was laying on it's side, gasping out and whimpering. Nabooru took a close look at it's eyes and saw it was flashing between red and normal.
"Looks like it's reacting the same way as the ones that we saw at the Grinder's Ridge jail. It must have been given the power tonic like they were..." Nabooru observed.
"The poor thing, lemme see if I can talk to em." Togau said, she knelled down to the Wolfos' level and started speaking in growls and roars.
"My brother had also been captured-blin..." the Moblin said to Nabooru sadly, "They took him away for a while then came back with him, and he was acted a lot like that Wolfos-blin. He died shortly after that, and he's not the only one-blin..."
Nabooru took in those words and watched Togau speak to the Wolfos. The Gerudo leader thought to herself, 'Lady Sheeva was right, the rebels are using these creatures as test subjects for their damn power tonic.'
She grimaced in that moment as she thought of a time, many years ago...
The original king of the Gerudo, the evil Ganondorf had been captured by the Hyrule royal family, and his first wife, the war commander Lady Imono had spoke out to release them. When the Hyrule royals refused, Imono declared war on them. Nabooru did everything she could to try and deescalate things, even rallying a group to help her stop them, but neither Imono nor the Gerudo army would back down...
"Hey Lady Nabooru... you alright there...?" Togau asked with concern, snapping Nabooru out of her trance.
"Huh...?" Nabooru asked, now realizing there were tears running down her face, "Y-Yeah... I'm fine..."
"Well I talked to the critters here that were self-aware enough, looks like they all just want out. So whatdaya think we outta do here? Should we go ahead and free em?" Togau asked, looking into one cage with a Leever inside.
"Well, they could potentially make some trouble for us..." Nabooru pondered, then sported mischievous grin, "But then again, they could make trouble for the rebels instead!"
"Now yer talkin'!" grinned Togau, as the two went to work unlocking the cages.
As Togau used her ax to try and cut off one lock, Nabooru went to picking the lock of the Moblin's cage, the Moblin looking to her with curiosity.
"You're really gonna free us-blin?" the Moblin asked.
"That's right, monster or not, nobody deserves this." Nabooru nodded, narrowing her eyes as she rummaged through the interior of the keyhole.
"T-Thank you-blin!" the Moblin said bowing his head, "By the way, the name is Mobbles-blin!"
"Dang, these locks are pretty sturdy..." Togau said, whacking one with her ax, but causing no damage to it.
"I've tried it myself, but no luck-blin." sighed Mobbles.
"Whoever made these locks made them built to last..." Nabooru said, she stood up and took a look around the place, noticing somewhat familiar Gerudo marking on the cages and walls, "Wait a minute, this place might very be a..."
That was when Togau's ear twitched, as her advanced Lynel hearing was kicking in, "Hey Nabooru, I think someone's coming!"
Nabooru looked to the doorway and narrowed her eyes, "Togau, prepare yourself."
As that was going on, Link and Sarami themselves had arrived at one door, they opened it up and slowly looked in, seeing many tables lined with numerous potion bottles and beakers. They could see some sort of flat stretcher table with a cloth on it, but it was stained with red splotches. As they looked around more, they then saw a sight that was familiar to both of them.
It was an elderly woman with a long pointy chin and nose. Her skin was paled and her hair was thin and strained, and she wore a poncho. She was behind a desk working on mixing some chemicals together before writing down notes on a paper. With her was a number of Gerudo women in black short dresses who seemed to be helping her.
The old woman then looked up to see Link and Sarami come into the room and her eyes widened in shock.
"It's her!" Link stated.
"Granny! We finally found you!" Sarami said with great relief.
"Hey, who the heck are you?" shouted one of the Gerudo, but was stopped by the old woman holding up her hand.
"...well hello Sarami, it's been such a long time." Granny said with a small smile, "I didn't think I'd see you again."
"We're glad to see you're okay Ms. Truttlo, but we got to get you out of here now!" Link said.
"Get me out of here...?" Granny asked, then chuckled a little, "Sorry, but that's not going to be happening." she then started shifting herself to the side and somehow moving slowly without seeming to be walking. Link and Sarami looked in confusion until she came out from behind the desk, and they saw she was sitting on a strange metal chair with large wheels on the sides. Sarami then took one look at her legs and could see both of them were broken.
"G-Granny...?" Sarami spoke in shock.
And that ends the chapter, and so many questions arise, just who are those three Gerudo rebels? What is it that drove Aviel to tears, who is that person that attacked her and Nemisa? How will Nabooru and Togau get out of their own mess? Just what happened to Granny? And will I ever learn how to do good intros and outros? Find out next week!
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