When the quintet reappeared, they found themselves at the entrance of the graveyard. Two things were quickly noticed by the group. First was the lack of that horrid sensation of being watched, the oppressive atmosphere of the village in general having been lifted with the cleansing of the Shadow Temple! The second thing they noticed was the time. From the position of the sun, it couldn't be later than seven or eight in the morning! Their time in the Temple didn't feel like it took more than maybe an hour, yet they were apparently in it overnight!
"Morning already?! How's that possible?!" Donald exclaimed, rubbing his eyes and checking the sun again to make sure it was really that early.
"Didn't that happen when we beat that monster in the Water Temple?" Goofy pondered, looking at Link and Navi for explanation.
"We're not sure either." The fairy confessed. "We've found that time doesn't seem to flow normally in those cursed places…"
Sora stared at the back of the graveyard for a moment, feeling uneasy at how displaced things were. "That's pretty creepy if that Ganondorf guy's magic can mess with time like that…" How that even worked was beyond him, but he realized how strange it was.
"Well, since it's morning, we might as well head out, right Navi?" Link asked, seeming like he was asking for her guidance or permission rather than just an opinion.
The fairy nodded, floating towards the pathway back to the village. "Yeah, we should! We can stop by the ranch on the way."
Due to the healing the group got after beating Bongo Bongo, they supposed they had the strength to start journeying again right away. "We should get going, yeah. There's just the one Temple left, right?" Sora asked as the others started back towards Kakariko Village.
"That's right! In the desert is the last Temple. It may be a bit difficult to reach but…well, I'll explain more when we get close." Navi insisted, getting an obedient nod from Link.
Entering Kakariko proper, the group saw a pretty immediate change. While the people were still down on their luck and not exactly thriving, they seemed a lot more content than before. They seemed relieved, as if they had all woken up from a particularly nasty nightmare. Notably, there were still no Heartless about. Maybe they were so strongly drawn to the Temples that they left normal settlements alone…
Through the village and into Hyrule Field, the group went on without incident. Even in the field, it seemed Heartless activity died down. The Shadow Temple apparently drew in far more of the darkness than the five of them realized. Of course, the four fighters kept their weapons at the ready, just in case.
Speaking of weapons, Link kept glancing at Sora's Keyblade as they went, the two of them walking a bit ahead of Donald and Goofy, with Navi hovering nearby of course. After looking at the brunette's weapon a few times, Link cleared his throat. "Do you have a name for that?" He asked, pointing at the Keyblade.
That took Sora by surprise a bit. In the short time he knew Link, he assumed the older teen wasn't the talkative type. He certainly didn't exactly engage in a lot of small talk thus far. As for the question…Sora never thought of it. He read numerous stories and watched movies about sword wielders, and most of them had some sort of name for their weapon. He just kept thinking of the Keyblade as, well, 'The Keyblade' and little more. But he guessed it wasn't exactly a name, like how calling a rapier a rapier wasn't exactly naming it.
He supposed there was no reason not to name it…but he had no idea what to pick. "No, I don't." The younger teen replied after a few moments. "I guess I never stopped to think about it. Why?" Sora was curious why something like that caught Link's attention enough to make him speak up.
Link looked dead ahead, almost seeming embarrassed at being asked for an explanation. "It's nothing. I was just reminded of someone." He answered vaguely.
Sora had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but he shrugged it off. "Well, okay, I guess…" Was all he thought to say in response. It was probably someone else Link knew that had some named weapon or something like that.
As the trip went on, the group noticed the Heartless continued to be weaker than before. It really seemed like the cleansing of the Temples was starting to slowly make the darkness blanketing the kingdom go away. In fact, the oppressive atmosphere that was present in the field was considerably weaker than when Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrived. That feeling of being watched, though, remained.
Once more, the group stopped at the ranch and stayed for the night. Malon was incredibly happy to have them, though mostly Link, back again. Talon was asleep most of the time, but the visit was still otherwise pleasant. Malon actually brought up the idea of taking horses, but Navi determined it'd probably be slower for all the time it'd take Sora, Donald, and Goofy to learn to ride. Just going straight to the desert would probably end up just as fast if not faster.
So, the visit went by with little incident, and Malon all but demanded that Link come back one day.
"That Malon really likes you!" Donald teased Link the following morning as they left the ranch. The group decided to hit the hay early and leave at the very crack of dawn. "How'd you two meet anyway?"
Link seemed a bit flustered, clearing his throat, but still answered. "Her dad fell asleep on the job, and I found him for her. Then I visited the ranch later and we just…became friends."
"Aw, well that was sweet of ya." Goofy commented, totally seeing that Link and Malon had crushes on each other. "She seems like a real swell gal, Link."
"Swell…?" Link murmured before Navi whispered in his ear. "Oh, yeah. She's pretty swell alright…" The poor guy still seemed flustered, clearly pretty bad at hiding how he actually felt about the redhead. This prompted Donald and Goofy chuckled a bit, but the two said no more on the subject.
The trip went on without any major issues. Though the further west they went, the more the Heartless appeared and the stronger they got. Shadows became Soldiers, and the Soldiers were soon joined by Large Bodies and Red Nocturnes. But with the four working together and the Heartless-destroying abilities of the Master Sword, they were of little consequence.
"So, where are we going again? You mentioned a sand goddess before, right?" Sora asked Navi as the trip went on. He started to notice the air around them was getting a bit warmer, and on the horizon, he saw the field ended and hard, dry, dirt ground began.
"Oh, I never mentioned it!" Navi exclaimed with a sigh. "It slipped my mind! We're going to a desert. A pretty dangerous one with warrior women called the Gerudo. Ganondorf is their king, so this is enemy territory…"
"What?! You couldn't have warned us earlier?!" Donald demanded. "How are we supposed to get to the Temple with a bunch of people chasing us?!"
Navi crossed her arms in thought, letting out a second sigh. "I've been thinking about that. I've never been to the Gerudo's land before, so I don't know what to expect except for what I've heard. I'm hoping we can just sneak past…"
"I don't want to fight people." Link said with a frown. "Monsters and Heartless are one thing, but a person…" He glanced down at his sword, his frown deepening.
Sora, on the other hand, had no such qualms. He didn't want to kill anyone, that was for sure, but if these Gerudo were going to get in their way, then…! "I'll fight them off, Link! And so will Donald and Goofy, right guys?"
"Well…if they're gonna try and stop us from helpin' people…" Goofy murmured. Like Sora, as long as he didn't kill anyone, he supposed he was okay with it.
"I guess it's settled. If they're working for Ganondorf, they probably have Heartless at their beck and call." Navi pointed out. "Link, you take care of them and Sora, Donald, and Goofy will fight off the Gerudo if we can't sneak by. I'd still rather have a stealthy approach, of course…"
With things agreed to, the group started to walk a bit faster, and by the time they approached the end of Hyrule Field, it was a bit after noon. Malon had packed food for their journey, so they had some sandwiches to eat and milk to drink along the way. The end of the field ended almost abruptly and led into the dry, hard ground that was visible earlier. This ground sloped up a bit before it evened out again. Ahead of that was the entrance to a valley, red rock and a humid heat seeming to emanate from the earth itself. Along with this heat, of course, came a feeling of darkness, but not as strong as in Kakariko Village.
"Are the Gerudo nearby? Are they out here?" Sora asked, looking around, but seeing no signs of anyone. There weren't even weeds growing out of the cracks in the ground, as if all life suddenly stopped when transitioning from the field to the valley.
"No, they're further in, past a bridge. I never crossed it and to their territory before, I only ever looked around the bridge area." Navi explained as the group kept going. "The Gerudo have a strong disdain for fairies based off old superstitions, so I didn't press my luck…"
Entering the valley proper, the atmosphere got more intense, and the air grew hotter and dryer. The feeling of darkness wasn't as intense as it was in Kakariko Village, but still far from pleasant. Strangely, though, as the group went further into the valley, the Heartless became less common. Maybe they were drawn to the Temple like before? Or maybe the Gerudo managed to control the Heartless, using the darkness in their hearts…
Alas, an obstacle soon presented itself to the travelers. When they reached the bridge that Navi mentioned, they saw it was entirely ruined! The bridge had been a rope bridge with planks going along it, and it was in fact dangling down below, one half of the ropes cut and ruining the structure!
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Donald exclaimed, looking back and forth for an alternate path…but there wasn't any. Both directions went straight into sheer cliff face, and the way down went straight into a rapidly running river powered by a nearby waterfall. It was either the bridge or nothing, it seemed. "Now what do we do?!"
"There's no other way around, is there?" Goofy asked, trying to look for an alternate path as well.
Navi hummed in thought, but then shook her head. "I really don't think so. There are mountain ranges around the north of the castle. We could theoretically go through them, but I've never been to those areas and have no idea how to get from there to the desert. It'd take ages, and we probably would be in far more danger…"
Link was silent, taking a step forward as he observed the ruined bridge. "What about that? My Hookshot can latch onto it." He said, pointing to a wooden post on the other side, one of two where the ropes had been tied.
"Wait, yeah!" Sora exclaimed. "And then whoever goes across can toss it back over the gap, right?" He remembered how Link's Hookshot was enough to pull him, Donald, and Goofy up towards the Shadow Temple's entrance. Going across the gap shouldn't be too much more difficult!
"Good idea, Link!" Navi praised. "You go first, then we'll just take turns going across the gap! Just…be careful tossing the Hookshot back, okay?" She said the last part to the entire group.
Link's plan was put in motion, the swordsman going first as he told the others how to work the Hookshot before latching onto the wooden post. The device pulled him clear across the gap in mere seconds as Navi followed alongside him, showing the others how to do it. Tossing the Hookshot to Sora, the process continued. Sora, then Donald, and finally Goofy used the device to get across the gap. Goofy nearly dropped it when Donald tossed it over, but it went smoothly aside from that.
"Goofy, you gotta be more careful!" Donald scolded as the group moved away from the bridge. "If you had dropped that thing, we would've been stuck!"
"Sorry! But it all worked out, so it's okay, right?" The knight pointed out with a chuckle. He then stopped, pointing at something nearby. It was a tent! A somewhat large one, enough for about half a dozen people. "Say, would some of them Gerudo ladies be in there?"
"That wouldn't be a lot of them…" Sora pointed out, but still got his Keyblade ready, just in case. "Maybe it's a small group of them working as lookouts!" But that didn't make much sense given no one was actually outside the tent doing any guarding…
Just as Sora said this, a figure emerged from the tent! Not a Gerudo warrior to be sure, not even a woman! This person was an older man, his head shiny and bald with a grey mustache under his nose. He was short and stout, wearing an open shirt and having a grumpy expression on his face as he spotted the group. "Hey! Who are you people?!" The man demanded, starting to approach the five.
"Mutoh?!" Navi exclaimed before quieting down to talk to the outsider trio. "He's a carpenter boss, but we last saw him in Kakariko Village!"
"Hm?! Who said my name?!" Mutoh exclaimed, squinting at Navi before his eyes widened. "A fairy?! Haven't seen one of them in ages…" He mumbled, mainly to himself. "But what the heck are you doing here anyway?! How did you get past the destroyed bridge?!"
"Not very pleasant, is he…?" Sora murmured. The guy was so demanding and angry! What was his deal?! "Uh…our friend here found a way. It's pretty difficult to use, though." He made up on the spot. "What happened to that bridge anyway?"
Mutoh scoffed, as if the answer was dead obvious. "The Gerudo did it! My stupid, lazy workers decided they wanted to join the group of thieves! They only allow women, so my men are either imprisoned or dead!" He ranted, harshly spitting on the ground. "Then those Gerudo destroyed the bridge in the middle of the night! If I go further into their territory, they'll get me, and I can't leave!"
"That's awful! I heard they lock up any men they see in their territory, but I didn't think they'd waste their time on some carpenters!" Navi mused, sighing as she glanced over to Link. "We should help those men…it wouldn't be right to leave them…"
"I think so too, we have to help them." Link agreed, looking over at Sora, Donald, and Goofy before looking back at Mutoh. "We'll go and look for your men. How many are there?"
This got a noise of surprise from the carpenter boss, giving a small smirk, which was the closest thing he did to not looking furious thus far. "You'll really do it?! You're all either brave, stupid, or actually strong enough. Goddesses hope it's the last one. There's four of those idiots in there. And if you bring them back, we'll repair the bridge so we can all leave! Too much of a task for just me…"
"Don't worry, we've got this!" Sora assured, wanting to make the man feel better despite how grumpy he was. "We've handled worse than a bunch of desert warriors!"
"Oh, brother…a rescue mission…" Donald said quietly with a sigh. Just one Temple left, and they get stuck with a side mission! Those stupid carpenters just had to get themselves kidnapped, huh?
Again, Mutoh smirked. "Hah! Well, you're a bold kid!" He said to Sora, apparently not hearing Donald. "Like I said, get me my carpenters back, and we'll get the bridge up again. Though I guess you had no trouble with that…"
"Got it! Come on, we have to proceed quietly." Navi warned as the group moved further into the valley, leaving Mutoh to go back in his tent. "The Gerudo are thieves, and it's said they're hard to get the drop on. I don't think we can sneak into their fortress, but we can least attack them by surprise…"
Sora had to wonder just how many of these Gerudo warriors there were or how powerful they happened to be. Were they like normal people, or stronger beings like the Mahjarrat? Navi never actually said they were human, after all. There were already the Zora, so the idea of the Gerudo being some other species was worth considering! He wanted to ask, but he didn't want to make too much noise…
The group traveled for a good ten minutes, the valley path that laid ahead was without any obstacles, thankfully. No one said a word, nervous that any unnecessary sound could alert some hidden Gerudo lookout. They looked out for such things, but as far as they knew, none of the desert women were watching them. After ten minutes, a change in scenery occurred.
Ahead of the group was a wider area, the heat of the nearby desert stronger than ever, as was the oppressive atmosphere born of a foul darkness. In the rockface was a set of stairs leading upwards to a raised section of earth. As quietly as possible, the group approached it, Navi going ahead to peek beyond the stairs and flying back to the others.
"That's where the Gerudo are, isn't it?" Sora whispered, trying to talk as quietly as he could. Who knew how honed the senses of the Gerudo thieves were? "Are there a lot of them?"
"They have an entire fortress, I can only see about a dozen of them." Navi quietly replied. "Be really careful and take a peek." She urged, floating towards the wall again.
As silently as possible, the other four crept up to the wall and peered around to see that Navi was right. The stairs went up to a flat area that seemed carved into the greater valley wall. Within the area was indeed a fortress, one that was several stories high and made of carved rocks. Or, looking closer, it seemed the fortress was carved from the valley wall itself, into square segments that had doorways and windows carved in as well.
Milling about the fortress were the Gerudo, and Sora was thankful they weren't as bad as he feared. The women were indeed human, with dark brown skin, golden eyes, and red hair. Those last two details weren't exactly odd, except every single Gerudo had them! Aside from their eerie similarities, they were pretty normal. Each one was as big as an average woman, dressed for the desert, and wielding either a spear or a scimitar as they patrolled the area.
It seemed that stealth was truly out of the question. Every entrance to the fortress had a guard standing right next to it, and that wasn't taking the other Gerudo guards patrolling about into account. Even if it was nighttime, it wouldn't make a difference, the area simply had too many eyes on it to make sneaking possible.
"There's a lot…we'll have to fight them, won't we?" Link asked, clearly not liking the idea. "I'll still just fight the Heartless. You three can fight the Gerudo themselves." He seemed pretty insistent on that.
"Should we just charge in? Sneaking's not gonna happen." Sora pointed out, feeling pretty confident. The Gerudo had numbers, but they seemed like pretty normal people. A few spells was probably all it'd take to get to the carpenters!
"You're right. It won't happen!" A woman's voice, smug and bragging, rang from behind the group. They all turned, weapons at the ready, to see two Gerudo warriors standing there! Somehow, the women snuck up on them without making a sound! The pair each had spears, the weapons pointed at the quintet. "You really thought you could get this far without us noticing?" One of them asked.
The second one scoffed, rolling her golden eyes. "If you give up without a fight, we just might have mercy on you. Your items look rather valuable, especially that unusual sword…" She mused, gesturing to the Keyblade.
"Now we really have no choice but to go all in!" Donald cried out as he raised his staff, Sora and Goofy getting ready to attack as well.
Before the three of them could move, however, one of the Gerudo guards screamed. "Intruders! Intruders by the stairs! Everyone assemble here!" Her voice traveled far, no doubt the entire fortress hearing her words.
At the same moment, Donald let out a shout of "Thunder!" as the spell unleashed itself onto the two women. Clearly, they weren't prepared, as the attack hit them easily, the Gerudo yelling out in pain as the electricity coursed through their bodies and collapsed them.
The group was given no time to plan any further or even to get into a more favorable position. At least a dozen Gerudo warriors streamed from the main fortress area, spears and scimitars at the ready. "There's only four of them!" One of the guards yelled, either not noticing or not counting Navi.
Despite their numbers, the Gerudo apparently did much better when their opponents were helpless, as they stood little chance against the four fighters. Sora was able to block and parry the attacks that came at him with relative ease using the Keyblade. He opted to use Blizzard spells to freeze guards in place, otherwise he bashed them with his weapon to try and knock them out.
Donald wasn't quite as nice as Sora, implementing more violent and painful Thunder spells in his attacks against the Gerudo. The scimitars, being all metal, didn't help the female warriors at all. Those fighters got taken out quicker, their weapons attracting the Thunder spells.
Goofy had a bit more trouble than his companions, only able to really fight up close. He could throw his shield, but with the amount of opponents, it left him just a bit too wide open for comfort. Instead, he charged through the Gerudo, or slammed into them with his shield when the opportunity arose. Thankfully, their attacks weren't able to get by his shield, the knight blocking them with general ease.
Link, naturally, had the most trouble due to his refusal to actually fight back. He guarded and parried attacks, but he didn't actually attack back in any way. At the very least, none of the Gerudo's attacks were able to reach him, and he was able to keep the warriors off of Sora, Donald, and Goofy's backs for the most part. Navi aided Link, flying into the eyes of some of the Gerudo, momentarily blinding them and disrupting them in the middle of their attacks.
Though taking a Gerudo down wasn't too tough, the issue was keeping them down, as they generally got back up before too long, and more kept coming! Dozens of the thieves were around the group, being more of a battle of stamina than anything!
"Unleash the Heartless! They're stronger than we realized!" One of the Gerudo yelled, a number of them backing away at the order. A number of Heartless appeared, brand new types to the group. Half a dozen Bandits and four Fat Bandits materialized, looking ready to fight! This was Link's turn to shine, the swordsman rushing in with his blade at the ready.
The Bandits charged as a group, their scimitars slashing back and forth as the Hylian drew close. While they were distracted, the Fat Bandits turned their gazes on Sora, Donald, and Goofy. They were massive, and had stomachs like Large Bodies, so frontal attacks were guaranteed to fail! As the tree got ready to attack, they paused as two of the Fat Bandits breathed in heavily, like they were preparing for something.
Without warning, the two large Heartless unleashed pillars of flames from their mouths at the outsider trio! The range of the fire attacks was longer than expected, and while this happened, the other two Fat Bandits charged at the scattered group. Sora blocked as one of the opponents threw a heavy punch at him, the blow causing the teen to slide back. Faster than he expected, it closed the gap and threw another punch, catching Sora in the stomach! The attack nearly knocked the wind out of him and sent him flying off his feet! He managed to roll as he landed, wincing at the pain in his stomach.
Donald and Goofy dealt with the other Fat Bandit, with the last two of the larger Heartless deciding to attack Link. "How about some Fire right back!" The mage yelled, shooting a Fire spell at the Heartless. It hit the enemy in the face…but it did nothing! The Fat Bandit didn't even flinch! Goofy acted quickly, hurling his shield so it bashed the Heartless in the head, stunning it long enough for Donald to use a Blizzard spell, destroying the monster.
Link was doing rather well considering how outnumbered he was. The Bandits had the advantage in numbers, but they weren't as strong as the Gerudo is brute strength. This allowed the swordsman to block and parry their attacks with ease, and all it took was a single swipe of the Master Sword to render them to empty air. Even when the Fat Bandits approached, they did little to slow the teen down. Like with the Large Bodies, their fronts stood no chance against Link's blade, and with a few stabs, they were gone.
At around that time, Sora managed to finish off his own Fat Bandit with a Thunder spell, leaving all the Heartless eliminated. The Gerudo seemed shocked, but quickly raised their weapons again. "We should summon more Heartless, right?!" One of them asked, not seeming too sure.
"No. It's disgraceful!" A voice rang out from outside the group. The Gerudo and the outsiders looked to see a new Gerudo approach from the fortress. This new arrival looked stronger than her fellow warriors, and she had two scimitars instead of just one. "Using these demons to fight our battles…have you no shame?!" She barked at the other women, who didn't seem willing to talk back.
"We just want the carpenters back!" Sora exclaimed, giving a nonviolent outcome a chance in the lull in the fighting. He doubted it'd work, but trying was the least he could do. "If you give them to us, we'll leave!" Leave towards the desert, but hey, that counted, right?
"He's right! It's just the prisoners we wanted, that's it!" Navi shouted out, keeping her distance from the Gerudo she was speaking to.
The Gerudo's leader scoffed and spat on the ground underneath Navi, almost like it was some sort of ritualistic action. "I deny your evil, fairy!" She hissed, apparently spitting to ward off the 'evil' that Navi possessed. "And I would never listen to you, even if you spoke sense! We won't release the prisoners, and all five of you are going to die here!"
Sora thought quickly, stepping forward and pointed his Keyblade at the Gerudo leader, which made her flinch. "I have an idea! What if we duel?" From the way she spoke so far, she seemed rather prideful. "Just you and me. The winner gets to take the prisoners back."
Once more, the leader scoffed. "Do you know who I am? My name is Buliara, the second in command of the Gerudo since the disappearance of that traitor Nabooru! It is a name you should fear! I won't waste my time making deals with some teenage boy!"
The brunette was tempted to point out he was a foreigner and had no idea who she was, but he didn't want to make her mad…at least not in that specific way. With a shrug, he lowered his weapon. "Okay, I get it. If you don't think you can win, then…" He trailed off purposefully, like he couldn't care to finish his statement.
And, thankfully, poking at Buliara's pride worked. She took a step forward with a sneer, drawing her scimitars. "How dare you insult me in such a way! I will not be taunted by someone as low as you! Fine! We will duel, just the two of us! Whoever wins gets the prisoners!"
"Gawrsh, Sora, are ya sure about this…?" Goofy asked, looking around as the other Gerudo backed away and allowed the two fighters some space. He was glad the other warriors were at least allowing this to happen. Of course, he felt the four of them could take the Gerudo on, but less fighting was always preferable!
"I should be doing this fight, not you." Link insisted, placing a hand on Sora's shoulder. "This isn't your quest, so a one-on-one fight like this should be on me!"
Sora shook his head, giving a confident smile to Link. "You don't like fighting people, remember? I don't feel bad at all about beating up this lady!" It was a shame, though, he found her very gorgeous. All the Gerudo, really, that striking red hair…! Yet as that thought crossed his mind, he felt a small pain in his chest. It only lasted for a moment…
Navi flew by Link's ear. "Hey, it's okay! Sora is strong, remember? It's not like he can't handle it! And you wouldn't be willing to fight at full strength either, Link…"
Link sighed through his nose and backed away, looking at his fairy companion. "You're right. I wouldn't be able to go all out." He then turned to Sora. "I know you can do it. Thank you for taking my place."
While he was sincerely doing it for Link's sake, Sora also wanted to test himself. He thought back to his fight with Club and how he wanted to face the man alone. Sora saw this as an opportunity to see how much he's grown since then! "Don't mention it!" Was all the brunette said in response, getting into a fighting position as he stared the Gerudo down.
Buliara scoffed, spinning her scimitars expertly in her hands before positioning them in a fighting stance. "If you wish to throw your life away, it's none of my concern!" She mocked, clearly not intimidated by Sora in the slightest. "Let's see what you can do!"
Sora took that as an invitation to charge forward, deciding he wanted to see how he fared without the use of magic, at least at first. It wasn't like he could use countless spells in any given battle, so he felt he should be able to get by without them! Buliara stood her ground, not moving an inch as the teen quickly closed the gap between the two, not even as Sora began a mighty swing of his Keyblade!
A clash of metal, and Sora nearly lost his grip of his weapon! He underestimated the Gerudo, and she swung her sword with ferocity and the Keyblade was forced up and above Sora's head! Luckily, he managed to keep hold of it, swinging it back down to block Buliara's second attack, which was just a swipe with one blade. The Gerudo attacked with her other sword, slamming it into the Keyblade and making the teen's arms shake.
Crying out in effort, Buliara unleashed a barrage of blows against the Keyblade, striking it with one of her swords at a time in a whirlwind of metal! With each strike, Sora felt pain shoot up his arms, the limbs growing weaker with each impact. Dr. Orpheus' barrier had proven very helpful so far, but the brunette wasn't exactly hoping to find out what would happen if Buliara sliced at him with the scimitars! The Stalfos' stab didn't do too much, but what about a big, powerful slice? It seemed different enough to make him worry!
In-between one of the attacks, Sora swiftly performed a Dodge Roll to the side, Buliara striking the ground when the teen got out of the way. She performed a horizontal slash at Sora as he got up, but he jumped out of range before immediately dashing forward and swinging at the Gerudo. To Sora's dismay, she merely blocked the attack with her other sword and she stabbed at him with her free blade!
Unable to dodge, the blade hit Sora right in the stomach, in the same exact spot the Fat Bandit hit him earlier! Thanks to Dr. Orpheus' magic, the blade didn't pierce his clothes or his skin, but it hurt horribly, it being akin to being stabbed at with a metal pole. It didn't cut him, but it was sure to leave a bruise, and the impact made him stagger backwards.
"He was stabbed, but he's unharmed?!" One of the Gerudos belted out. "What sort of magical trickery is this?! Is the fairy helping?!" She yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Navi.
"Me?! I'm not doing anything!" Navi insisted, her light going a bit red in her anger. "Fairies can't even do things like that! Well, not us normal fairies. Great Fairies, though…"
Sora shook his head and glared at the Gerudo that spoke up. "Navi doesn't have anything to do with this! A wizard helped me with this protection. This doesn't mean our duel is over, does it?" He directed the question at Buliara, who was sneering at him.
"It matters not what protection you have! I will still slice you in two!" The Gerudo leader bragged, charging Sora with her scimitars at the ready. Just as she was approaching the now on-guard Sora, she leapt above and over the brunette, landing directly behind him and stabbing forward with both blades!
Not fast enough to counter or dodge, Sora was hit in the back, nasty pain shooting into his back as he stumbled forward, kicked onto the ground mid step by his opponent. Knowing a blow was coming, he rolled out of the way and scrambled to his feet, staring down Buliara as she slowly circled around him.
He knew that a Thunder spell could end this fight in a flash, but he didn't want to use magic! Sora had seen what Donald's spells did to the other Gerudo, how their weapons drew in the Thunder magic. As a last resort, perhaps, but he didn't want to use the easy way out unless he truly had to!
As Sora pondered, Buliara made the next move, dashing at him and unleashing a series of swift slashes with both scimitars. It took all his effort just to dodge the blows, a block or a parry being out of the question! His heart began to race as he let his body move around the Gerudo's onslaught, his breathing becoming erratic as panic began to set in!
Without warning, a jolt went through him, and Sora leapt out of Buliara's range! He didn't even think, just raising his Keyblade over his head and throwing it forward! Sora felt a light magic in his fingers and palm as he let go, his weapon enveloped in light as it spun forward rapidly, going straight towards Buliara at a high speed! The Gerudo was caught off guard, not having time to dodge or block the Strike Raid before it slammed into her, knocking her off her feet!
Yet the Keyblade kept going, almost reaching Sora's friends before it slowed and started to fly back to him! In a stroke of bad timing, Buliara rose to her feet, facing Sora as she did so. This allowed the Keyblade, which was still spinning, to harshly strike her in the back, once more knocking her to the ground! Catching the Keyblade, Sora didn't hesitate, charging forward as Buliara once more tried to stand up. Just as she got to her feet, he reached the Gerudo and slashed down her body.
For a second, everything seemed frozen.
Buliara groaned and fell to one knee, panting heavily from her injuries as she glared up at Sora. The brunette sighed and slung the Keyblade on his shoulder. "Okay, that's the duel, right? You give up?" He asked, since the Gerudo didn't seem like she had any fight left in her.
"What?! No, it isn't over as long as I still breathe!" Buliara hissed. "I can't fight anymore, so you must finish me off!"
"No way! That wasn't part of the deal!" Sora countered, even dismissing his Keyblade to show he was serious. "I said we'd have a duel. I never said I'd kill you if I won!"
"If you just let the prisoners out, then we'll leave you alone!" Donald insisted, having been somewhat impressed with the fight. Not that he was going to stroke Sora's ego and admit that. "Hold up your end of the bargain!"
The fallen Gerudo huffed and scowled at Sora but didn't say anything for a moment. She then let out a sigh as she managed to properly stand up. "It's true. We only agreed the winner gets the prisoners." Buliara sounded almost disappointed, as if she preferred to be finished off than spared on a technicality. She then turned and pointed at one of the Gerudo in the crowd. "You! Go free the prisoners! We will uphold our end of the bargain!" At the order, the other Gerudo scurried into the fortress.
Sora frowned a bit as he pondered the situation. Of course he was happy to get the prisoners out, but something just bugged him. Even though they worked for Ganondorf, and as evil as he was, the other Gerudo didn't seem nearly as bad comparatively. They didn't kill their prisoners, they allowed the duel to happen, and then kept their end of the deal. While Sora never met Ganondorf, he couldn't imagine him doing any of those things!
"…You're not a bad person. Not really. I can tell." Sora pointed out, Buliara's eyes widening lightly in surprise. "I've seen the things Ganondorf has done and what he's used to get his way…" And he doubted it was the worst of it! "But you've got a good heart, but I doubt you'll admit it to me."
Buliara smirked, clearly amused by Sora's observation. "Ganondorf is our leader!" She announced, the entire group of Gerudo glancing down at the ground in shame. "No matter what he does, whether we agree with him or not…we must follow him." The Gerudo leader spoke as though she was saying some sort of open secret aloud. "…He did not order us, explicitly, to kill you five. For that, we will let you go without any further struggle."
"We appreciate that, but we still need to go into the desert. Will you let us?" Link spoke up, approaching Buliara. "We need to get to the Temple in the desert."
Navi followed along with Link, keeping her distance between herself and the Gerudo leader, though. "It's the reason we came here in the first place. Surely the Temple is cursed now."
For a second, it seemed like Buliara wanted to say something nasty to Navi, but bit her tongue and spoke to Link instead. "What? You want to clear that place of sin out? The Spirit Temple used to be sacred to us, but now…it just creates monsters and darkness within the desert."
"That's right! We need to get there and clear it out!" Sora exclaimed as Donald and Goofy joined him by his side. "You'll let us go, right?" Well, even if she said no, it wasn't like they had a choice. Better to have it done in a peaceful way, though…
"You really think you can just go there and cleanse our old Temple?" Buliara asked with a smirk, more amused than mean. "Even we never tried to clear out the darkness that drapes over it. If you want to try, we will not stop you."
At that moment, four men rushed through the crowd, each one unkempt and looking like they barely ate in days. They were dressed the same as Mutoh, so it was clear they were his carpenters. "You! You saved us!" One said, going to Link and clapping him hard on the back.
"Well, it wasn't exactly just me…" Link tried to explain, but the carpenters weren't about to wait around and chat. The other three hollered words of thanks, and the quartet of prisoners went through the Gerudo crowd and back towards the valley entrance.
"I guess they were too eager to get out of here…" Navi murmured. "They must have been treated pretty poorly…"
Buliara let out a disgusted scoff. "They act as though we tortured them! We fed them and kept them out of the elements. Honestly, we probably would have let them go eventually." She insisted with a roll of the eyes. "Now, as for the Spirit Temple…you're really insistent on going?"
"We are! We have to go!" Navi declared. "How far away is it from here?" She hovered a bit closer to Buliara, the Gerudo dispersing around them and going back to their posts. It seemed the fairy was a bit more comfortable getting near one of the desert thieves.
"By foot? I doubt you'd survive." Buliara bluntly declared. "By Sand Seal, however…that's another story. It would only take a few hours, the seals are faster than you would initially think! They can outrun all the dangers of the desert!"
"That's great! Uh, but do ya reckon we can borrow some, then?" Goofy asked in a hopeful tone. He was surprised how much kinder the Gerudo had been! It seemed like they were mostly only Ganondorf's followers out of fear or obligation, not by an evil in their hearts…
"You certainly ask for a lot." Buliara pointed out. By this point, most of the other Gerudo were gone, only a few lingering behind. A lot of them were looking Link over, apparently pleased with what they saw, not that the swordsman seemed to notice. "But…you'd die out there, and none of us are willing to openly defy our king. That Temple is a horrid place now, and we cannot allow it to remain that way."
Donald huffed and crossed his arms. "So, you just want us to do your dirty work for you!" Not like they had any other choice, it was just the Gerudo's attitude that bothered him!
"You think we didn't try to cleanse the Temple ourselves?!" The Gerudo spat. "Defectors have tried, venturing out into the wastes, and none ever came back!" Buliara calmed down a bit, more forlorn than angry. "No one is brave enough to keep trying. Even the old second-in-command, Nabooru, vanished from there seven years ago! Before the curse truly manifested!"
"Hey, don't worry, we've done this before." Sora assured, jamming a thumb into his chest. "We're experts at this!" He just wanted to cheer Buliara up, even after what she did with the carpenters and attacking them. She really wasn't so bad, deep down, and he started to consider her a friend!
Buliara's eyes widened. "I don't know if you're kidding, but if you're serious…we need to get you on your way right now! Come! I will show you how to use the Sand Seals!" She urged, walking past the group.
The quintet glanced at each other and did as Buliara asked. They were taken past the fortress and deeper into the valley. In silence, they walked, Sora sometimes wincing a bit from his injuries, but felt they were too minimal to use Cure on. The air grew heavier and hotter, seemingly with each step onward, and it became apparent why after rounding what seemed like the fiftieth corner.
Before them, the valley stopped suddenly, as if someone drew a line from where it ended, and the next area began. This next area, of course, being the desert. It looked just as expected, of course, a vast sea of seemingly endless sand and dunes. Aside from a few rocks and cacti, it was just sand all the way to the horizon. Buliara took them to the side, where a set of pens was built into the rockface of the valley.
In these pens were unusual seals, ones that didn't seem to mind the heat, dryness, and the sand they milled around in. They were furry, and various shades of brown and grey. They were lucky the heat didn't bother them, as the outsiders were already starting to pant and sweat from the intense sun overheard!
Wiping some sweat from his brow, Goofy looked the Sand Seals over. "They seem kinda small, how are we supposed to ride 'em?" Donald and Sora could probably ride one, but him and Link…? He wasn't so sure!
"How do they get anywhere anyway? They just have flippers!" Donald pointed out, trying to stand in Goofy's shadow to cool down a bit…which didn't make much of a difference.
The Gerudo smirked, like the question was somehow funny. By the stables were round shields leaning against the stone. They were worn out and looked of low quality, like they weren't made for battle. "With these." Buliara declared, picking a shield up. "Attached with a rope and harness, you stand on one of these and let the Sand Seal drag you across the desert! They move through sand like we swim through water!"
"Really?! That's cool!" Sora declared, grabbing one of the shields. He never thought something like that was even possible! "Do they go fast?"
"Like I said, the trip to the Spirit Temple will only take mere hours with them!" Buliara reminded the brunette. "They know the way there and will do most of the work. All you have to do is hold on and dodge around any obstacles or monsters. Even novices like yourselves could do this!"
"Any shield will do, right?" Link asked, glancing back at his own. Apparently he didn't trust the worn, beaten shields that Buliara showed to the group. "The shield wouldn't get damaged with one trip, would it?"
Buliara shook her head. "These shields here have been used for generations and have had great use. Just one trip will do nothing!" She promised. "You will be moving so fast, the air moving past you will cool you down, so you'll be fine until you reach your destination. Now come! Let's get started…"
Over the next hour, Buliara taught the group how to hook up the harnesses to the Sand Seals and how to ride them. The animals were very friendly, Donald's even constantly nudging the mage for pats on the head, which he gave reluctantly.
The training itself went well…enough. Link was able to pick it up pretty easy, he and Goofy using their own shields for the lessons. Sora, Donald, and Goofy had a bit more trouble, riding about on the Sand Seals and falling into the hot sand numerous times. Eventually, though, everyone got used to how to handle the seals, and Buliara felt that they were ready. During this time, water for the journey was prepared in flasks for the group.
"Gawrsh, I never thought falling in sand could hurt so much!" Goofy demeaned, rubbing the back of his head, a sore spot throbbing lightly. He fell more than anyone else and was the last to master Sand Seals enough to satisfy the Gerudo.
Buliara eyed the group, everyone on their shields and the harnesses in hand with the Sand Seals ready. Navi, of course, stood on Link's shoulder. "I don't know if you five are brave, or just crazy." The Gerudo mused. "If you succeed in this, we will be in your debt. And you there…blonde one…please, come and visit us again sometime…" She said in a teasing tone, winking at Link.
The young man in green cocked his head ever-so-slightly in confusion. "Why did she wink at me?" He whispered to Navi, at a volume so everyone but the Gerudo warrior heard him.
"I'll…uh…explain later." Navi whispered back, letting out a sigh of dread.
"The Sand Seals will go straight to the Spirit Temple, and will outrun the dangers along the way." Buliara reminded the group. "I wish luck upon you all!" Without waiting for a response, the Gerudo yelled out a few words in her language. The Sand Seals were clearly trained, as with the utterance of those words, they sprang into action!
Diving down into the sand, the seals sped forward, taking the quartet with them, Navi ducking into Link's tunic to go along with him easier. The training paid off, and the four riders managed to hold on as the animals went further into the desert. Sora turned back and saw Buliara quickly shrink and become a dot as his Sand Seal went onward. It was crazy to think that, even at this speed, the trip would take hours!
Yet, that's exactly what happened. The Sand Seals barreled forward, never seeming to tire, as the riders held on tightly to their ropes. Buliara was correct about the dangers of the desert and how easy that would be to avoid. Heartless appeared often, Bandits, Fat Bandits, and more Shadows one could count, but they were hopelessly outpaced by the Sand Seals and offered no real threat. Sora and Link swiped at them with their weapons if they got in range, Donald sometimes firing off a spell or two.
It was the desert-dwelling creatures that were a bit harder to avoid. Green creatures emerged from the sand that looked like an odd mix between plant and animal, Leevers. They spun as they pursued the group, faster than any of the Heartless, but not quite as fast as the Sand Seals. There were a few close calls with them, but Sora and Donald used magic to keep them at bay when necessary.
Halfway through the trip was when a Molduga emerged. It was Goofy who spotted it first, but it was hard to speak with the wind blowing in everyone's ears. A shout and a point was enough to grab their attention, seeing a large fin sailing through the dunes! They all urged their Sand Seals to go faster, the fit alone being larger than anyone in the group, and the monster it belonged to was fast! About as fast as the Leevers, despite its great size! As it drew close, a massive beast burst from the sand, a scaly abomination with a mouth large enough to swallow the riders and maybe even the Sand Seals whole! It swam through the sands, pursuing the group as its beady eyes looked on at them in hunger!
Sora and Donald helped hold the beast back, letting loose Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells at the Molduga. It wasn't hard to hit the monster, but the magic attacks didn't do much damage to it, its tough hide protecting it from severe harm. Thankfully, though, the Sand Seals were too fast for it to catch up with the group, though it tried for a good while before giving up and turning back.
Things never got as eventful as that, the group just focusing on staying on their shields, taking sips of water periodically throughout. While the fast speed and the resulting winds kept them cool, they were still in a desert and wanted to stay hydrated!
Hours passed and as was told, the group neared a structure in the desert, sticking out even at a far distance. The atmosphere had grown increasingly oppressive during the trip, more Heartless appearing the longer the group went deeper into the desert. The structure was a massive rock, in it carved the top half of a woman, surely a deity that the Gerudo worshipped, marking this as the Spirit Temple!
When they got close, the Sand Seals slowed down, and the group got off. The seals were exhausted and seemed extremely nervous, but were obedient and stayed put. As the group approached, they eyed the giant woman, whose massive stone eyes seemed to follow their every step. An entrance was carved in below her, and the five could practically see a miasma of darkness pouring out! On top of that, the heat and dryness was far worse, the group almost eager to go inside and get out of the sun! A large stone archway was between them and the entrance that they passed underneath, but when they did…
"You arrived sooner than I thought." A familiar voice called from the top of the archway, prompting the group to spin around and look. Standing on the rock, seeming unbothered by the heat, was Sheik. The mysterious youth was wearing his usual clothes, there seeming to be no further precautions to deal with the desert. Yet he still seemed like he was in a more typical environment. He leapt from the archway, landing gracefully on the sands below. "Befriending the Gerudo and getting use of their Sand Seals. As expected from you, Link."
"How did you know we befriended them? We might have just stolen them!" Donald pointed out as he looked around. "And where's your Sand Seal…?" There didn't seem to be a fifth anywhere, so…
Sheik kept his single red eye on Link, clearly having the most interest in the young swordsman. "I have my ways." He answered simply. "As for you, Link. You remember what I told you before, do you not? Past…present…future…the Master Sword is the ship that allows you to sail up and down the river of time. You won't be able to cleanse this Temple without first going back to the Temple of Time. For that, I will teach you a song to return you here…" His words were cryptic, like he didn't want to say exactly what needed to be done, though a lot could be figured out. Like before, he took out a harp as Link readied his Ocarina. "This is the Requiem of Spirit…"
And, again like before, he played a song for Link. It was beautiful, yet slow and sad, like it was played for someone that had already passed on. When the two put their instruments away, Sora stepped forward. "Hey, wait, what's going on?! What's this about…time?" What did his sword have to do with a ship? The brunette was trying to make sense of it.
"Link knows what I mean." Sheik said, like that settled the entire matter. "Go back to how you were." He went on, turning his attention back to the blonde. "Now make haste. After you cleanse this place, meet me back at the Temple of Time."
Before any further questions could be asked, Sheik started to back away. "Wait, I can't just go back and-" Link started, but the unusual youth threw something on the ground, producing a flash of light that blinded the quintet. When they blinked the light away, Sheik was gone.
"Mmm…Go back…" Navi murmured as she rubbed her sore eyes. "I guess we have no choice, but we can't take them with us." She said to Link.
"Take us where? What was Sheik talkin' about with the Master Sword and time?" Goofy asked as he scratched the side of his head. "You're not gonna leave us here…are ya?"
Link glanced at Navi, gulping a bit. Instead of waiting her to speak up like usual, he started it off. "We can't tell you. But we have to leave you again, but we'll be back soon."
"What?! No way!" Donald exclaimed. "You're not gonna just leave us here in the desert! What's going on here?!"
"We're your friends, aren't we? Can't you tell us what's going on?" Sora asked, though he felt pretty scummy in saying that. After all, the three of them were keeping it a secret about coming from other worlds. On the other hand, their secret didn't involve abandoning Link somewhere dangerous…
The swordsman frowned, looking to his fairy companion again. "Navi, I think we should tell them. It doesn't feel right…"
Navi hummed in thought, then let out a small sigh. "…It'd be pretty wrong not to. If we have to leave you here, you deserve to know why." She said, still sounding reluctant.
"We don't mind the waiting, we just want to know why." Sora said, though even as those words left his mouth, he wiped his brow of sweat that formed. He needed to get into some shade…
"Thank you. Just…please, this isn't something you can tell people." The fairy insisted. "It's a secret to everybody..."
A/N: This took way longer than it needed to, and I apologize. My writing mojo just hasn't been all that high lately, and I'm hoping that fixes itself soon. As for the chapter, I actually wanted to cover the entire trip to the Spirit Temple, including cleansing it, in one chapter. Needless to say that never happened. I decided to make the Gerudo a bit more sympathetic than in the game, more oppressed and feeling they HAVE to serve Ganondorf more than anything else. Not that they were pure evil in the game, but I think a small tweak was fine. Also, Ventus helped Sora awaken a new ability once more, and it will probably be the last time he does so. I don't want too many of Sora's attacks to be awoken by Ventus' subtle influence in his heart, after all.
There will be two more chapters in this world, that I promise. One for the Spirit Temple, and one for Ganon's Castle. Even if I have to make one of the chapters extra long. Gotta move on to another world, I'm itching for it.
