Hello everyone! Chapter 93 is here! This week a new face shows themself at Gerudo Town, and they have an interest in Link. But just what will he do about it?
"Have... I made it...?"
A lone figure stood before the gate that lead into Gerudo Town. The figure had traveled for two weeks straight to track down the home of Link, Nabooru and the desert people known as the Gerudo, (even though the trip there was typically no more then three days tops, but don't tell them that).
The figure was a woman clad in light armor and a small cape. She wore a plate of armor over her rather flat chest, and wearing a pair of steel-covered boots. Her eyes were narrowed and made more pronounced with her slightly thick eyebrows and long under-eyelashes. Her hair was black colored, worn straight and cut shoulder length. Her skin was rather pale, a vast contrast to the tanned woman of the desert. She also had two swords sheathed on her belt.
"Halt, just who are you?" a guard at the gate said, pointing her halberd at the woman as she approached the gate.
The woman paused, staring at the Gerudo for a brief moment. The two guards glanced at each other in confusion before the woman cleared her throat and spoke out to them.
"Greetings, I come from Hyrule Castle and am here to seek an audience with the Gerudo King Link." the young knight said, standing as tall as she could, through looking a bit strained as she did.
"What business could you possibly have with our king?" the guard asked suspiciously, pointing her halberd out at the knight.
"It's an matter of the future of Hyrule." the knight said, not even flinching at the halberd, "It's imperative that I meet with him."
"Hmph, do you take us for fools? Sorry, but we're not going to allow that." the first guard said shaking her head.
"Yeah, if you wanna have sex with him that badly you better get in line lady!" said the second guard. The knight and the first guard both practically faulted over in response.
"T-That's nothing close to what I wish to ask of him." the knight spoke as calmly as she could, "Please, if you just let me speak to him-"
"Hey, just what's going on here?" spoke a voice, making the two guards freeze up.
The knight looked with surprise to see a Hylian and three Gerudo walk up to the gate. It was the Gerudo King Link, Head Lady Nabooru, and Link's two bodyguards Aviel and Nemisa.
"Ah, Lady Nabooru, King Link! What brings you here?" a guard asked saluting.
"We were just on our way to the Dank Salamander tavern for some drinks and a meal... mostly the drinks. Anyway, who is this here?" Nabooru asked looking to the lady.
"It's her, Lady Nabooru..." gasped the lady knight, before looking to Link, "Then... you're the Gerudo King?"
"Yeah, I'm Link. Did you need something?" Link asked the knight.
The lady knight cleared her throat and stood upright, Nabooru noted she fidgeted a bit as she did. The knight looked straight to Link with an unflinching stare.
"Greetings Gerudo King Link! My name is Ashe; a soldier of the Hyrulian knights. I've come here to challenge you to an honorable duel to the death!"
"... ...WHAT?!" exclaimed everyone else.
"To... the death?" before Link could inquire about what she meant, Nemisa and Aviel were quick to surround the knight Ashe, Aviel pointing her crossbow while Nemisa cracked at her knuckles in anticipation of a fight.
"Hold it! As the king's bodyguard, you're not laying one hand on Link!" Aviel said.
"Yes, if you wish to die so easily we can make that possible right now." scowled Nemisa coldly.
"Just a minute girls." Nabooru said, making Aviel and Nemisa step back. The Gerudo leader looked down to Ashe, who held her ground, "What reason do you have to fight our king? Were you sent here by the royal family, or a member of the Parliament?"
"...that doesn't concern you." spoke Ashe after a moment of hesitation, "My battle is with him."
Nabooru nodded in confirmation of her theory, "Hmph, I had a feeling they'd send someone after our king, I just didn't expect them to be a royal knight, especially a female one."
"What do you mean by 'a female one', Lady Nabooru?" Aviel asked tilting her head.
"She means Hyrule's royal knights don't usually hire women to be in their ranks." Link answered.
"Huh, that sucks." Aviel said, "What do they got against women?"
"It's an old belief from back when Hyrule was first founded that women are physically weaker then men and would just be considered a liability in battle." Nabooru explained, "Hylian women are usually taught as young girls to be housewives and homemakers, while men go to work or war."
"Hmph, what a scummy bias society." grumbled one of the guards.
"Well I don't hold too much of a grudge against them for it, there is some sort of logic behind it." Nabooru said, "Without homemakers and mothers their population would suffer. It's not like we're really that different, as we Gerudo have an outright ban on men in our towns. Our rule exists because of the belief that men are incapable of practicing civil chastity while visiting our town, and we can't trust husbands to remain loyal to their spouse with an all-female population."
"Sounds like it's just difficult to achieve a definitive balance on both sides." Link pondered, before looking to Ashe, "Though it's pretty impressive that you became a soldier within the army."
Ashe paused on that note and nodded to herself, "Yes, and as a soldier of the Hylian army, I wish to challenge you Gerudo King to a battle of blades, and the winner shall decide the loser's fate!"
Link said nothing as he looked to Ashe. No one else said a word either as the two stared each other down, while a small breeze blew past them. Aviel readied her crossbow should the knight Ashe suddenly attack him. A tickle of sweat went down Ashe's head as she gripped the handle of her right sword, waiting for the Gerudo King to take up his own sword arm for battle...
But Link just gave a dismissive wave and said, "Eh, no thanks. Don't really wanna do something like that."
Ashe faulted over forward in surprise of Link's nonchalant response while Nabooru burst out laughing at Link's blunt refusal, "W-What do you mean 'no thanks'?! How dare you deny my challenge! Are you naive to the code of warriors?!"
"Code? What kind of warrior code?" Aviel pondered to herself, "Oh! Is the code 'swordfish'?"
"What the hell does a swordfish have to do with anything?" Nemisa asked her partner.
"The code of a warrior states to always place your mission first and never accept defeat!" Ashe said standing upright, but tensing a little again as she did, "You're no true warrior if you refuse to accept my challenge!"
"Well my current mission is to go to the tavern." Link shrugged, walking past Ashe along with Nabooru, Aviel and Nemisa, "I'm not about to fight you if I have no reason to."
"W-What?" Ashe exclaimed, "Please, if you do not I can't-!" she cut herself off from what she was going to say, before sitting down with her legs folded, "Hear me Gerudo King, I refuse to leave from this spot until you accept my challenge!"
"Well have fun with that then Ms. Ashe, it was nice talking with you." Nabooru said waving, "Now let's get to the tavern before Happy Hour is over!" she added pumping up her fist.
"Yeah! I've been wanting to try the kind of drinks Remo sells there!" Aviel cheered.
"Oh no, there's no way YOU'RE getting alcohol!" Nemisa said, recalling the chaos that happened last time Aviel got drunk, "You and Togau are both bad drunks like that!"
"Awww..."
Link and Nabooru laughed out as they went off on their way, leaving Ashe sitting there in disbelief at the Gerudo King dismissing her like he did. She clenched her knees tightly with her palms, recalling a memory from long ago, of some tall figures all looking down to her laughing. Ashe took a deep breath and remained in her position, determined to wait until the Gerudo King took her challenge...
Hours later it was long into the cold desert night. Link, Nabooru, Aviel and Nemisa were returning down the road back to Gerudo Town after a fun time at the Dank Salamander tavern. Nabooru was totally drunk and hanging off Link, laughing it up and swinging around a half-full bottle of alcohol. Link was doing his best to support her walking as straight as he could with an amused smile on his face. As much of a pain as it was to escort her, he was mostly just happy to see Nabooru enjoy herself more often these days.
"Are you sure I can't have a sip of that?" Aviel asked looking left and right at the bottle as Nabooru swung it, "All I got have over at the tavern was sparkling cider..."
"No way Aviel, you're not going to develop Lady Nabooru's bad habit." Nemisa said sternly.
"Bad habit...? Oh yeah?" Nabooru started, leaning over at Nemisa in a drunken state, "I don't have the bad habit, yer the bad habit! You can't... can't stop... and I haven't..." she then slouched over on Link's shoulder and seemed to pass out, snoring loudly with a bubble rising up from her nose.
"We better just get her back to palace." Link sighed.
As they approached the gate to Gerudo Town, they were surprised to see a familiar young woman with black hair, she was still sitting in the position she was in some time ago. She was staring out at Link as they approached.
"Hey, isn't that Aisha?" Aviel asked, running up and looking at the lady knight.
"She said her name was Ashe." Nemisa corrected her, "What are you doing here still? King Link said he has no desire to fight you."
"It matters not." Ashe spoke shaking her head, "I won't leave from here until I've dueled him."
"Oh come on, please move? You're making my legs hurt just looking at you!" Aviel protested, trying to pull on Ashe's arm to make her move.
"Let go of me!" Ashe exclaimed, fighting against Aviel trying to get her on her feet, before the sleeve of her shirt was ripped, exposing her bare upper arm, "Now look at what you've done!"
"Oopsies, sorry." Aviel said sweatdropping.
"Aviel come on, lay off of-" Link's eyes widened at the sight of Ashe's arm, but before he could say anything Nemisa pushed him, the drunken Nabooru, and Aviel off through the front gate.
"Forget it, let's just go to the palace so our head lady can sleep off her drunkenness once again." Nemisa grumbled.
The next morning Link, Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa, Saria and Halei were in the dining room having breakfast; today they were having buttermilk pancakes with sausages and covered in rich maple syrup. Nabooru herself though was leaning on the table with a huge hangover from last night, too dizzy to bother eating her meal.
Aviel grabbed a pancake with her fork and stuffed it into her mouth whole. As she chewed it up she looked over at Link who kept glancing out a balcony window.
"Hey Link, something up?" Aviel asked after swallowing her pancake down.
"I was just wondering if that knight lady Ashe ever made it home." Link spoke, "It was pretty cold last night."
"You said before she was trying to have a duel to the death with you?" Saria asked with concern, taking small little bites of her own pancake, "Why would she want to do that?"
"Nabooru said she might have been on a mission from the Hyrule knights, though I don't know why she'd go alone like she did." Link pondered.
"Perhaps... she's a former lover?" Halei pondered, getting the attention of the others.
"W-What the hell are you talking about Sister Halei?" Nemisa exclaimed.
"Think about it; what if they were once in love, but they had their share of tense arguments until Link was fed up and left her. The time she was separated from him tore at her, making her obsessed! Then she comes to learn he's now a great king who's taken many wives that he loves. Fueled by jealousy and hatred, she wants to strike him down, and then herself, so that the two can be bound together forever in the afterlife!" Halei concluded with her eyes sparkling.
Everyone else simply sat there with blank stares on their faces at Halei's guess.
"Um, nice theory... I think. But I've never actually met her before in my life." Link clarified.
"Oh, sorry! Just a thought!" Halei bowed her head, causing her Bunny Hood ears to flop.
"I don't want to think about what kind of books Halei's been reading lately." Saria said sweatdropping.
"Lady Nabooru!" called out a voice, as a servant came in with a bottle of light blue chu jelly capsules, "Dr. Sarami has prepared your usual hangover treatment medicine!"
"Thanks..." muttered Nabooru, taking one and plopping it into some water. The water fizzled, then Nabooru chugged it down, and she suddenly perked right up, "Whew, that did the trick!"
"Wow, from zero to a hundred in seconds." Nemisa said, "Sarami really is a miracle worker."
"There is one other thing I was told while I was out." the servant said, "The gate guards want you and the king to come out to the entrance of town to see something."
Link and Nabooru paused, and simply both looked to each other with an uneasy feeling...
"You've got to be kidding me." Nabooru spoke as she, Link, Aviel and Nemisa were all standing out at the front gate of Gerudo Town. There they saw the lady knight Ashe, still sitting with her legs folded. The sleeve that Aviel had accidentally ripped off last night was now covered with a tied handkerchief.
"..." Ashe didn't say a word, and just looked at Link with an unflinching stare.
"Has she been here this whole time?" Link asked a gate guard.
"Yes your highness." nodded the guard, "We felt bad for her and tried coaxing her to come in at one point last night to warm herself, but she outright refused."
"She wouldn't even take the blanket or eat the soup we offered her." said the other guard with a slight pout, "And everyone usually loves my tomato soup."
"Is she really this assertive about her duel with me...?" Link asked, looking over at Ashe.
"Hey, you alright there Ms. Aspen?" Aviel asked running over to her, "Didn't you get cold last night at all?"
"...I'm perfectly fine." Ashe said, "I'm content to stay here until the Gerudo King accepts my challen... my chall... achoo!"
Ashe sniffled and wiped her nose as the others sweatdropped.
"Perfectly fine." she repeated.
"Well, what do you think?" Nabooru asked Link, "I could have the guards force her to leave or-"
"No, don't worry about it." Link sighed out and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling somewhat responsible for Ashe being in this position, "I think I've made my decision..."
"Thank you for accepting this duel with me, Gerudo King Link." Ashe spoke to Link as the two stood across from each other at the Gerudo Training Yard. Surrounding them were many Gerudo people looking on with a mixture of interest and worry, including a number of Link's fiances.
"Uh, sure..." Link said, still feeling a bit uneasy about this.
"Good luck Link!" Aviel called out.
"Is Link really gonna fight this girl for reals?" Togau asked looking at the steel blades Ashe had at her waist, "It's one thing ta be sparin' or trainin', but this seems a bit much..."
"I dunno what she's thinkin' by doing this." Reirousa said, "With the way Link's been training himself that girl's got no chance against Link."
"Yeah, I know she wants to kill him, but I don't think I want to see her die either." Kesuta frowned.
"Don't worry dear sister." spoke Korume with a small smile as she thought about back when Link stopped her and Kesuta from fighting back at the Spirit Temple, "Link won't allow this to end badly..."
Kesuta stared over at her sister for a moment, before recalling that day herself. She nodded and sported a big grin, "Ah, I gotcha! Keeheehee!"
Link watched Ashe carefully as he held his hand out to a nearby guard, "I'll take my selected sword now, please."
The guard somewhat reluctantly handed Link his weapon of choice for the battle, a basic wooden sword he commonly used when training with the girls. He swung it around a bit and spoke out to Ashe, "Okay, ready to battle?"
"What?! But that's just a wooden sword. You must be jesting." Ashe said. She narrowed her eyes with a scowl on her face, "Draw your true blade and fight as if your life depends on it, for it will!"
"This is the blade I'm choosing." Link shrugged, "Either accept it or go back to squatting outside the town again."
"...fine. I hope before you die, you make your peace with the Golden Goddesses." spoke Ashe, drawing out both her swords, she held one upright in her right hand and the other downwards in her left hand and went into a fighting stance, "Have at you!"
With that, Link and Ashe charged at each other. Ashe went for the first attack by swinging her right blade down which Link evaded. She swung out the blade upwards and he stepped to the side to dodge it again. Link then swung out his sword to the side which was blocked by Ashe's lower sword. She swiped at him with the right sword but he ducked and rolled out of the way and swung his sword at her, which she blocked with her left one.
"I see, so she uses the more defensive style of dual wielding;" Nabooru observed, "Using one blade on her primary hand for offense while holding the other downward for defense, then when the opponent is subdued she can use both for attacking. Not bad."
Ashe leaped up and swung out her right blade, slashing it against Link's sword. He defended himself against each swing that came at him, before backflipping away from one more slash. She shot at him with her offense blade out, but he brought down his sword at her, forcing her to go on the defense instead. Link started swinging his sword more aggressively, forcing Ashe to back up.
Link managed to knock away Ashe's defense blade and swung his own sword down at her arm to stun her. However, he saw the handkerchief covering it and hesitated for some reason, allowing Ashe to jump to the side to get out of his range.
'Huh? Why didn't he strike? He had a perfect opening...' Ashe thought, before forgetting about it and countering his next attack with her offense blade.
Link dodged the attack and swung his own sword out, but she quickly brought up both swords to block it at once. Despite Link only wielding a wooden sword against her two steel blades, Ashe found he was actually diving her back. She tried blocking, but his swift movement got a few hits in on her.
'This can't be happening... I'm losing to a wooden sword? Compared to my blades it should be like a toothpick!' Ashe thought to herself, 'Is he really this strong...?!'
In that moment as she was being forced back she thought about the family she had saved a couple weeks ago from the Lizafos gang, and the smiles of the two children when they saw she saved them... She narrowed her eyes and shouted out, swinging her blades apart with strength that surprised Link and pushed him back. She started slashing at him swiftly and wildly. Link gripped his wooden sword and carefully blocked each swipe as it came at him.
"Go for it Link!" Aviel cheered out along with the other Gerudo.
Link quickly stepped out of the way just as Ashe swung both blades down, her eyes widened in shock of his evasive maneuvers. He came right at her again for another attack, but when she went into a blocking stance, he did a feint dodge and came up from the side to attack. She quickly turned to block it, but Link swung out his training sword to the side, impacting it into her lower sword and sent it flying out from her hand. Link then took that chance to hit her on her right sword arm, causing Ashe to stumbled a bit out of panic and fell over onto her rear end, dropping her offense blade as well. Before she could grab it Link quickly pointed his sword inches away from her face.
"Stop this, it's over." Link said.
"Alright!" Togau said with a big grin, "This game's winner is Link!"
The Gerudo all cheered out wildly and happily at the success of their king's victory. Ashe scowled in frustration over losing. While she had been hit a few times, she didn't feel much pain since he only used a wooden sword. She glanced up to see some of the minor cuts she had given him with her blades. The knight looked left and right seeing the girls' enthusiasm for their king's victory all around her. She looked downcast as her fingers dug at the ground, her hair shadowing her expression.
"Fine... you win Gerudo King..." Ashe trembled, "Do what you will to me, strike me down if you desire... I've failed in my mission..."
"What? No, why the heck would I do that?" Link said, spinning his sword in his hand and putting it to his side, "The fight's over, no need for bloodshed or anything like that."
"Huh...?" Ashe spoke looking up to Link to see the young man was staring down at her, not menacingly, but with concern.
Link reached his hand out to her, "Snap out of it and and get yourself up, I was hoping we could get some lunch and talk about your situation."
Ashe stared at Link for a moment, before she narrowed her eyes and slapped Link's hand away, getting herself up but staggering from nervousness as she did, "No... I don't believe it. I was trying to kill you, but you make a fool of me by defeating me with a mere training sword, then claim to be sparing my life? How do I know you just want to talk, for all I know you could be trying to make me let my guard down so you can imprison me and make me your sex slave!"
"Huh?! Wait, back up! I'm not gonna do that!" Link exclaimed in his defense.
"Yeah, if he wanted to do something like that he could just do it any time with one of us!" shouted a Gerudo in the crowd, causing a number of the girls to whoop and holler out, while Link and Ashe both sweatdropped.
"You know what, I agree with Link, you should come with us. I have some questions for you about your little mission." Nabooru spoke walking up to Ashe.
"...why should I answer anything? I'd sooner die then-" she got flicked on the forehead by Nabooru thumping her finger against it, "Grk!"
"You said it yourself, the loser is at the winner's mercy. So spill it." Nabooru spoke.
"Okay fine..." Ashe muttered, realizing she put herself into this situation to begin with, "I'll talk."
Link, Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa and Ashe all gathered together in the dining room of the palace. Some servants passed out drinks to everyone. Ashe checked hers carefully to make sure it wasn't drugged, but saw it was fine and took a sip.
"Now that we're settled down, tell us what's going on, Ms. Ashe." Nabooru spoke, "Who exactly is the one who sent you here after Link?"
"Very well," Ashe sighed, "The truth is I was given this mission by the head of the Hyrule knights, the great Captain Andreas. He wanted me to strike you down, Gerudo King."
"What?" exclaimed Link, "Andreas is running the knights now?"
"You know him Link?" Nemsia asked.
"He was a powerful soldier I met back when I was a kid." Link said, "But I had no idea he got a promotion to the top of the ladder. Never thought he'd ever put a hit out on me as well."
"I figured as much." nodded Nabooru, "Despite their invitation, I had a feeling at least some members of the Hylian Parliament wouldn't be particularly eager to have us meet them for a peace treaty. I just didn't figure they'd send one of their own knights to do the job."
"..." Ashe said nothing, but just looked down.
"...that is, if you really are a knight, Ashe." Link spoke up, surprising Ashe and confusing both Aviel and Nemisa.
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Nemisa asked in confusion.
"... ...you seem simple, but you're rather sharp Gerudo King." spoke Ashe, "How did you know?"
"I saw your arm when Aviel tore off your sleeve." Link said, gesturing to Ashe's arm that was covered with a tied handkerchief, "Hylian knights have their arm tattooed as a mark of their status. I've seen them before..."
Link was referring to back when he went with Togau on the caravan trip shortly after he moved into Gerudo Town, and had ran into a group of bandits that turned out to be Hylian knights in disguise.
"...but you don't have a tattoo like that on your arm." Link gestured to the handkerchief on her sleeve.
Ashe grimaced a little as she lifted up her arm, revealing there was indeed no tattoo, "I was only telling half the truth when I said I was a soldier in the Hylian army, the reality is I'm merely an initiate, and not officially ranked."
"Yes, just as Link said to me." Nabooru nodded, "This mission you're on... it's basically a suicide mission isn't it?"
"What?" exclaimed Aviel, "What do you mean by that?"
"..." Ashe looked downcast.
"To Captain Andreas and the knights, you're an expendable resource." Nabooru said with a coldness to her voice, "They sent you here alone to challenge the king. But even if you did somehow succeed in killing Link, since you're alone and not officially a knight they knew we wouldn't be afraid to kill you for it."
Nemisa's eyes widened, as she recalled what she had warned the knight about just the other day,
"Yes, if you wish to die so easily we can make that possible right now."
Nabooru continued, "I presume your captain said something along the lines of, 'Don't come back until you've finished the job.', that's why you were willing to wait out by the gate all day and night for Link to accept the challenge."
"..." Ashe said nothing but continued to stare down.
"They don't consider you an actual knight, but a disposable assassin." Nabooru said.
Link frowned and looked over to Ashe with a sympathetic look in his eyes. Ashe glanced to him but quickly turned her head away.
"But if that's the case, why did they not just hire a professional assassin to go after him then?" Nemisa asked.
"She may have lost to Link earlier, but I studied the way she battled, and she's quite a capable fighter, she has the potential to go far." Nabooru spoke, "But the Hylian knights don't really wish for you to join them, do they?"
"...that's correct." nodded Ashe.
"Then why do you wanna work with a bunch of jerks like them so badly?" Aviel asked.
"..."
"Come on Ms. Ashe." Link spoke with a mellow tone, "Let's hear your story."
Ashe stared up at Link, seeing the compassionate look in his eyes once again. She took a deep breath and nodded,
"Well you see, when I was a young child I was friends with some boys my age. Their fathers were Hylian knights who wanted them to follow in their footsteps. I lived with my uncle who may not be a knight, but is a well adapt swordsman, so I learned his skills. Me and the boys would often play knights together, and many times I've come out on top." Ashe said with a faint smile of remembrance.
"However, as we grew up I was finding it harder and harder to keep up with them, as our play time soon became training sessions, and despite how evenly matched we were as kids, I was quickly losing to them more and more as they got bigger and stronger. They got so fed up with me being around them I was eventually shunned by them all; they said I was too weak to be a knight, and all I was suited for was housework and child-birthing..."
"Wow, what a bunch of jerk-heads!" Aviel said sticking her tongue out, "Real friends wouldn't abandon each other like that!"
"I was abandoned by my male friends, and since I was so used to being around boys I didn't really fit in with the women who were already learning to become housewives, so for the longest time I felt like I had nowhere to belong." Ashe said, "After the Hyrule vs Gerudo war there was a shortage of knights in the army due to causalities and dismissals, so my old friends all enlisted. I tried to enlist but was laughed out because I was a woman..."
"Hmph, those Hylian mongrels... who do they think they are to say who is or isn't capable?" Nemisa muttered.
"I eventually gave up and submitted myself to trying to become a homemaker, but I found myself having a hard time with that as well. I kept screwing up at even basic chores and cleaning and was chased out by the tutors."
Ashe sighed, "I found myself with really nowhere to go, so I took some part time jobs to make ends meet until I could figure out what to do. During that time, I saw many sad faces on the women and children whose brothers, fathers, husbands and sons that were lost in the war."
Ashe then looked up to Nabooru with a determined look in her eyes.
"I couldn't stand seeing the pain they suffered. I knew I had to become a knight so I could protect them, so that they never have to lose anyone else again. I decided to prove to the knights that I could work with them and protect the people of Hyrule. For many years I trained with my uncle in the way of the blade, and presented myself to the army again to become a knight. However, they still didn't take me seriously. I pleaded with Captain Andreas if there as anything I could do to prove myself to be a worthy knight and..."
"...and he asked you to kill the new Gerudo King, didn't he?" Nabooru spoke.
Ashe nodded, "That's correct. Even if it would cost me my life, I wanted to keep the peace of Hyrule, so the people could smile again once more. And hopefully, my success would have motivated more women to become knights as well, and prove they can do more then just what society thinks of them."
"...heh." Nabooru grinned, "That's quite a fascinating tale, Ms. Ashe."
"Yes, for someone that's trying to kill my husband, I admit I have some respect for you." smirked Nemisa.
Ashe looked over at Nabooru and Nemisa, "My uncle was friends with someone who was married to a Gerudo, and I would often hear tales about your people. Despite how much pain the Gerudo caused in the war, I've greatly admired your strength as warriors, and you don't allow men to demean you for your gender. Ironically, your people were an inspiration to me."
Link paused, thinking about all that Ashe had told the four of them. He scratched his chin, and he grinned a little as an idea occurred to him.
"I got a suggestion," Link spoke up, "How about you stay here in Gerudo Town for a little while and do some training with us?"
"Huh?" Ashe spoke in confusion.
"Our training general's a good friend of mine who's been helping me get stronger, and I think she can help you as well." he said, referring to Reirousa.
Nabooru looked to Link and smiled, catching on to what he wanted to do, "That's sounds like a great idea. If you promise not to try and kill Link, we'd be happy to help you strengthen yourself."
"...you would seriously help me, even knowing my mission?" Ashe asked curiously.
"Sure, you want to prove yourself and become a true knight of Hyrule, right? How about you let us help you get to that level?" Link asked, holding his hand out to shake, and sporting a goofy grin.
Ashe sat there in disbelief at the kind gesture of the Gerudo King. Could this be a rouge to lead her into a false sense of security? She hesitated, wishing the Gerudo hadn't confiscated her blades after the duel. But then she realized something that she felt had been off about the duel, and looked again to Link.
"Tell me something... back when we were battling, there was a moment where you had an opening to attack my arm..." Ashe spoke up, gesturing to the arm that the handkerchief had been covering, "But you didn't... is that because you didn't want your people to see I didn't have a Hylian knight tattoo?"
"Ah heh heh, you figured me out, huh?" Link grinned sheepishly, scratching his cheek, "I didn't want your secret to be exposed to everyone, so I avoided attacking there out of impulse."
"I see... I suppose I have to thank you for that..." Ashe said looking downwards.
"Heh, that's just like you my husband." chuckled Nemisa.
"...very well. I feel perhaps I could trust you after all." Ashe stood upright and nodded, she seemed a little strained again when she did which Nabooru noticed, she reached out and shook Link's hand, "I accept your offer King Link."
"Alright! Welcome to Gerudo Town, Ms. Asbel!" Aviel said cheerfully as she hugged Ashe with her bird wings.
"I said my name is Ashe, and how long have you been a bird?!" exclaimed Ashe in surprise.
"Looks like you've made another friend Link." whispered Nabooru in amusement, "And who knows, maybe she'll be something more soon enough...?"
"Now don't start with that." Link whispered back, knowing exactly what Nabooru was hinting at, "She's got her priorities, and I'm not going to just jump on her the moment I met her. I'm still annoyed that you got those four new child-bearers to come at me in my bedroom last month!"
"You took to them pretty quickly though, and now you have at least four more daughters coming, right?" smirked Nabooru, "We all know how much you're a total ladies' man Link. For all you know, this could lead to something great for both of you."
"Hm." Link glanced over at Ashe trying to pry off Aviel as she was hanging off of her. She definitely did have the heart of a fighter from what he experienced in the duel they had, and he admired her ambition to keep the peace in Hyrule. And as he saw how flustered she was at Aviel playing with her, he had to admit it her expression was pretty cute...
"Besides, I think she might be hiding another secret she doesn't want to tell us..." Nabooru whispered, confusing Link, before she spoke out to Ashe, "Well then, how about we go set you up with a guest room?"
Later that night, everyone had gone to sleep in their rooms.
Ashe opened her door, wiping the sleep out of her eyes. She was currently clad in just her tunic and shorts as she had not brought any sleeping garments for the trip, though Nabooru mentioned she would try to get her some tomorrow. She reached behind her back and pulled at something.
"Okay, it's in place... now to go find the bathroom..."
She saw a night shift guard and asked for directions to the closest washroom in the palace. The guard was uneasy about the knight of the Hyrule Castle going around the palace alone, but she heeded Nabooru's earlier words to let her so she could be assured they trusted her at this point.
"Down that hall, make a left at the end and it's at the end of that hallway." the guard said.
"Thank you." Ashe said, going off as the guard told her.
'These Gerudo here are so strong, yet they seem much different then how I was taught and briefed on...' Ashe thought to herself as she went down the hall. When she got to the end she looked left and right in confusion, before nodding to herself and turning right, going down another hall then where she was told, 'Lady Nabooru is just as strong and authoritative as I've been told, but she doesn't seem like the hypnotic witch the rumors about her say...'
She stopped at the end of the hallway but didn't see the bathroom door she thought was there, she saw another hall and went down it instead towards the north wing of the palace, which at that point was pretty much the exact opposite location of where she had been trying to get to.
'And then there's the Gerudo King Link... just why did he spare me today? Is he really that interested in helping me, or is he planning on something else...?' she pondered.
Soon Ashe reached a large door at the end of the hall, "Ah, this must be it. Strange that a bathroom door would be this large, but oh well."
She slowly pushed the door open to avoid disturbing those sleeping and walked in, about to pull down her shorts so she could relieve herself, but then she heard something she wasn't expecting,
"Aaaaaahhh! Oooh Link! Yeeesss!"
Ashe's eyes were as wide as dinner plates at the sight of a slender but toned and tanned leg stick up into the air, as she saw Link and Nemisa were in bed, enjoying each other's company for the night. Link was on top of her and she as getting a clear view of Link's broad backside and rear end. Her jaw dropped and her whole face turned a bright red, as sweat ran down her head at the sight of the two going at it.
"You're really getting into this tonight, Nemisa." Link spoke with a grin.
"If you think I'm enjoying it now, just wait until we start having our children together, my love..." Nemisa moaned out, "Just the thought of me carrying your children is driving me wild... And when I do get pregnant, it'll be quite a challenge for you to satisfy my lust for-"
As Nemisa looked up at Link, she saw the view from under his arm, and saw a certain woman standing there at the now open doorway, and her own eyes widened.
"A-Ashe?!" Nemisa exclaimed.
"Huh, your lust for Ashe?" Link asked, looking down at her in confusion, "I didn't think she was your type."
"K-King Link? Ms. Nemisa?" spoke up a familiar voice, getting Link's attention.
Link came to a stop as he looked towards the door and saw Ashe standing there blankly.
"Ashe?" Link asked, "Did... you need something?"
"This... isn't the bathroom is it...?" Ashe stammered.
"Um... not the public one, but you can use my private one." Link said awkwardly, gesturing to the door.
"T-Thank you..." Ashe said walking into Link's bathroom.
The two of them both remain in their position as Ashe closed the door. A few seconds later they heard a loud scream of embarrassment from inside, following by the sound of Ashe yelling out,
"I didn't need to see that man doing something like... like... AAARGGH! Why would walk in on THAAAT?!"
The two of them remained in their position as they heard the knight shouting in frustration. Eventually they heard some running water and then Ashe stepping out calmly once again. The two couldn't help but notice she had a paper towel sticking to the bottom of her foot.
"I'll be going back to my room now. I'm sorry to intrude." Ashe said bowing her head, then walking out the room. She stood at the door, pausing and looking around for a second.
"Did... you need one of us to get you to your room?" Link asked after a moment.
"Nonsense, I can find my room just fine! I'm not bad with directions or anything!" Ashe stated, she picked one hall and went off on her way.
"Hey, get your own room!" they then heard Nabooru shout out.
"...this might be harder then I thought." Link said sweatdropping.
And that ends the story for now, I decided to make this a two-part chapter, as I have some additional ideas for Ashe's story. And yes, in case you're wondering, Ashe is based on Ashei from Twilight Princess. I recall getting some requests by fans to reference her in some way and I thought this would be a good opportunity. Next week Ashe starts her training under Link and the Gerudo, but what secret could she possibly be hiding like Nabooru suggested...?
Thanks again everyone for your support! Drop me a like or follow if you're new, and reviews are always welcome!