Chapter 27:
Kakariko Village

Farah

A few days passed since they began their stay at Lon Lon Ranch, but Ventus' health did not get any better. Soon Eiji reported the smell of an infection, and it was becoming more and more obvious each time the bandages were changed out. The injury was deep and vicious to start with, but now it was beginning to smell, even to Farah's nose, and a faintly yellow discharge was wiped away with each cleaning and change, and it was all they could do to keep it at bay with that. Even the medicinal herbs Jamal and North brought in were no longer helping. At this rate Ventus would not make it unless he gets proper medical healing, and fast.

"We need a healer," Farah whispered in an undertone, soon after Ventus had managed to drift away into a fitful sleep. Thankfully, he managed to keep down the soup from lunch this time, but he didn't drink as much water as she would have liked.

"It would be better if we could make a healing potion," Jamal grumbled, all of them bunched together in an uncomfortably close circle. "I don't suppose anyone knows how though?"

"I never read a book on it," she admitted, kicking her past-self for the lack of oversight. She had researched magic to understand it, but never got into the art of potion making. Besides, they were plentiful in Castle Town back then; not worth trying to break into that market.

"Regardless," Farah continued, pulling herself out of the pity-party. "If this continues on, we aren't sure if it will be enough. It would be wiser to go to Kakariko and see if we can obtain a healer."

"Great idea, why don't all of us all go to Kakariko and introduce ourselves!" Jamal shot back sarcastically. "Please don't kill us, we're friendly, we swear."

"That's definitely not going to be an option," said Ba'al in agreement. "Kakariko is the resistance's base of operations. They'll be even more suspicious of a few Gerudos trying to be friendly than a typical Hylian village." He then glanced to North, the only other Hylian in their party. "North, do you think you could go to Kakariko?"

The Hylian boy's straw and twig hat tilted at the question, his pale face and black eyes as blank as stone underneath it. "I could… though I've never been there before."

"Fantastic," Jamal grumbled. "Ba'al and I've never been, and even if Eiji has, that's not gonna work. And Farah is just going to hug the first fucking Hylian she sees and get shot in the process. The only other person that's been there is Mr. Too-Stubborn-To-Die."

"That's not true," Farah said slowly, ignoring Jamal's jab. "There is one other who has been there here. Rini."

"Look, Farah," Jamal sighed, slumping back. "I know you all, and Ba'al especially, are all for playing along with the traumatized Hylian boy's fantasies his dead sister is still around, but let's face it, Ceres is just a really smart bird."

Farah, however, shook her head.

"We don't know that for sure. We know Ventus has wind magic, and death magic is connected to wind. Also, certain races have a tendency to lean toward certain magic types. For example, Gorons tend to favor fire while Zora's excel in water and healing. Sheikah specialized in death and shadow. That's why the Hylians viewed anything in death's domain to be a Sheikah's job."

Ba'al sighed, not completely convinced either. "So you want Rini to show North the way to Kakariko… through Ceres?"

"It would be the smartest option, though we need a way to ensure the two can communicate other than owl charades—" Farah paused and looked at Ceres who looked unamused at that. "Sorry, Ceres. No offense."

Ceres hooted which Farah liked to think meant no offense taken. Turning her attention back to the others, a slight smirk grew on her lips.

"That being said, I do have an idea. Hylians call death magic necromancy, but the origin for that word actually came from in the past people used to believe that spirits and ghosts somehow knew the future. So they came up with ways to contact spirits, regardless if they had the ability to see or hear them.

"We can utilize a more basic concept from that time since we have Ceres to act as a conduit. We simply write Hylian letters down in a large enough print that she can jump to each one, spelling out words and phrases. They would need to be shorter, but it would be a lot easier to communicate. It would also prove Rini is in the state of mind to lead North, if she is there," she said rather proudly.

Ba'al raised a red eyebrow at Farah. "I guess it's worth a try."

"Not the dumbest idea you've ever had," Jamal agreed, ever so begrudgingly. "Problem is, we don't really have space here to do it. That, and explaining to dumbass why his owl is gone when he wakes up is not going to be my job. That's yours, for suggesting it."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Farah said, waving him off, getting excited now. She had never tried anything that she had read in the books connected to magic like this before, especially considering how Hylians viewed death magic. But this surely would be an acceptable case.

Besides, they weren't actually casting magic nor raising corpses. Just talking to a child already there. A child who no doubt was lonely without a proper conversation; Rini had been more social than Ven in life.

"We can go outside, maybe see if Malon has a spot she could point us to. Somewhere muddy or with dirt ideally, since that way we can just write the letters with a stick and easily cover them up afterwards," Farah said, standing up before they even agreed.

"I'll stay with Eiji in case Ventus wakes up," said Ba'al, volunteering himself for this duty. He was already seated in his usual spot by the bedside.

"Of course, you will," Jamal snorted, standing up as well. "Don't worry buddy, I'll give you the detailed run down. You just keep watching your sleeping princess."

Ba'al didn't seem to notice the comment as his expression didn't crack. North stood, silently following after them to watch.

Farah did her absolute best to not skip or sprint to find Malon, though it was a very hard thing. She found her, eventually, tending to the horses, and let go of all sense of self-control and sprinted toward her.

"Malon, do you know of a good place that has a lot of dirt or mud we can write in?" she asked hurriedly.

"We're doing an experiment, you're welcome to watch Farah get proven crazy," Jamal said, Ceres having settled on his head; she seemed to enjoy using the different boys for perches, especially, ironically, Eiji. Farah wondered if it was because Eiji was so tall or if it was because he kept sneaking her snacks when given his share of food.

Malon looked up, blinking at her request and bemused for a moment. "Uh, sure."

She led them out back to an area where the earth was loose and dry. Farah wasted no time at all grabbing a stick and beginning to write in careful letters the Hylian alphabet spaced reasonably apart. At the end she added "yes," "no," and "dunno" for good measure.

"Okay, that should do it," she said, letting out a sigh before gesturing toward Ceres who flew off Jamal's head and landed in front of the shapes on the ground and looked up expectantly. "Rini, are you there?"

Ceres flew to "yes."

Only for Jamal to snort, "We know that the bird understands us."

As if in response, Ceres paused and began hopping from one letter to the next, spelling out, F-U-C-K-O-F-F-J-A-M-A-L.

For once, Jamal just stood there, shocked into silence. North's unmoving expression remained calm. Malon stared in silence as well, her blue eyes widening with a pinch of fear in them. She took a step back from them.

Farah was about to rub it in Jamal's face when she noticed Malon's reaction, and instantly mentally kicked herself. She should have had Malon stay away from this; Hylians tended to react more poorly to this kind of thing than Gerudos. Farah knew this and didn't think to have her stay back.

It seemed Rini noticed as well, as did Ceres who gave Farah a disappointed look before spelling again. N-O-T-P-O-E-S-O-R-R-Y-S-T-A-R-T-L-E.

"I-I have to get back to work," stuttered Malon as she whipped around and dashed off back into the stables.

This shook Jamal out of his stupor, as he watched Malon go. "Didn't you say that Hylians are more paranoid about the dead than Gerudo are?"

"Yes," Farah acknowledged, putting her head in her hands, and groaning. She would talk to Malon after this and explain it. Hopefully, she would understand. Last thing Farah wanted was the girl to feel like she lost any safety she felt with the group.

"And you just—"

"Fuck off, Jamal," Farah snapped, copying what Rini said a few minutes ago. "We at least know that Rini can communicate. It's not the most elegant, but it will do." She paused for a moment, before realizing one major hole in her plan. "... You can read, right North?"

North looked at her when questioned. He paused with a slow nod. "Some … What does… 'fuck' mean?"

Farah and Jamal looked at each other, before both deciding to do the only correct thing and throw Ba'al under the wagon.

"Ba'al can explain it better," they said at the same time.

Rini

It had been so long since she had spoken to someone in a direct manner, and the time she was able to speak to Farah, Jamal, and North was painfully brief. She would have liked to talk to her brother as well, but Farah was right when she noted the longer they waited, the worse his injuries would get.

That and she could feel her very being pulled at constantly from her center, around her belly. She felt dirty somehow, the longer she lingered, like dirt and grime seeped into her very soul. Rini spent all night when everyone else rested meditating to cleanse herself. It also helped anchor herself, somewhat. The world would not take her until she was damn good and ready. When she knew for certain her brother was safe. When he could walk on his own without her by his side.

"Okay, so we need a healer. We should look for Auntie Amaya. If Ven's right, Eli could see me, and I can help explain the situation," she said to Ceres, who idly hooted in agreement. Rini wasn't sure if the owl understood her or not, but ever since dying, it was clear she was much smarter than she gave her credit for in life. That, and she was the only one in the small group of weirdos and outcasts who could see her.

Now out of the seven which had made up their number over the last week, she only had Ceres and North. The Hylian boy was almost less chatty than the bird. Of course, he couldn't see Rini. Yet, it didn't keep him from stopping when Ceres nipped at him when he started going the wrong way. He would stop and write some basic, crudely drawn Hylian characters in the dirt for Ceres to jump on. He seemed to believe she was there and guiding him. Nor had he complained when the mission had been given to him.

Rini just wished a bit he would chat with her in the same way Ventus and Farah did. It had taken two days of walking, so it had been somewhat dull. It was late afternoon by the time they got to the gates.

"We're here," Rini said simply as Ceres hooted and gestured at North in front of them. "There should be a guard, if I recall last time. Hopefully, it will be fine."

Ceres flew forward, and looked back at North, expecting him to follow as Rini nervously approached. The last time they were here, they got kicked out. Ventus said it was because they were "Kali." What if some sort of magical barrier was put around the village since then that kept ghosts out?

North approached the wooden arch marking the entrance of Kakariko Village slowly. From the right side a voice called out.

"Hey, you!"

His twig and leaf hat tilted toward the voice as his slow steps came to a halt. Two people walked out toward the center but not past the arch itself. They were both girls around North's age.

The one leading had short and curly, dark brown hair around chin length. Her skin was gently olive-toned and her eyes were steel-blue as they narrowed at him. Her loose beige trousers were mostly obscured by her long navy blue tunic that reached to her mid-thigh as well as by the knee-high brown leather boots she wore. An iron chest plate hugged the top of her torso, and a belt with pouches was buckled around her waist over the tunic. A dull maroon cloak hung from her shoulders to her waist. Her forearms and hands were covered in brown leather with her fingers exposed. In one hand was a naginata.

The other took a moment for Rini to recognize. If only because it had been years, but it was hard to mistake the dirty blonde locks and purple eyes of Willow Glyndi. Her appearance was well taken care of despite being in the middle of a war, and listening to Ven rant about clothes made her note the bright blues of her overshirt and bold red of the sash around her waist as unusual for someone guarding the gate of the resistance. Her dark black pants which were cuffed at the bottom with well-worn brown boots looked more in place, gripping a wooden staff which seemed to be made out of her namesake.

"Take off your… hat," Willow demanded, though the way she paused at the word hat was the same way Ven did when he clearly thought something was ugly.

North slowly removed his hat to expose his own long and braided, dark hair that glinted auburn when the sun struck it, his pale skin, and his dark eyes.

"State your name and your business," said the other girl with the naginata.

"My name is North," he said calmly. "I'm here seeking a healer. My friend is injured and now sick. I fear he will die if—"

"Where is this friend of yours?" asked naginata girl sharply.

"At Lon Lon Ranch. He was too unwell to—"

The girl was already frowning though and saying, "Right."

"Do you have any proof of this friend of yours?" Willow asked, gripping her staff tighter. She seemed to be shifting from one foot to another, as if uneasy by something. Rini growled slightly, wishing she could do something. That her voice could be heard, and Ceres let out a disgruntled hoot which made Willow take a nervous step back after seemingly noticing the owl for the first time.

North hesitated for a moment but then pulled out a strip of a bloody bandage and a lock of whitish blond hair from Ventus. He held them out briefly. "I was told to give these only to Amaya Serwen, and she could use them to see him."

As North was talking, Rini noticed another very familiar walking in the background. He was older, but it was impossible not to remember Eli Serwen. Someone who had sense and could see her without needing Ceres to translate for her.

It also meant that she was fucking right all those years ago.

"Eli! Oi! Eli!" Rini yelled and waved her hand. "Get your mom, Eli!"

In fact, it seemed he was walking toward them intentionally. He had gotten taller. His short ink-black hair drifted down like silk around his head like before and his skin was the familiar pale it had been in childhood.

More striking were the obvious influences of the Sheikah in his clothing and dress style now. Eli's lean torso was covered in a close-fitted and long-sleeved, gray-blue shirt with dark navy blue accents over his hands, arms, and shoulders. The Sheikah's symbol, a scarlet Eye of Truth, sat center with his chest and abdomen. Black bracers and shoulder armor pieces also bore the symbol in silver accents. A gray cowl-like scarf was wrapped around his neck and trailed behind him. The black bracers were held to his forearms by some gray wrappings. He wore loose black leggings with waraji sandals, black socks, and more gray wrappings held tight around his forelegs.

A dark blue tattoo accented his left eye. A curvy blue underlining it and another vertical, off center, and longer above his eyebrow before it stopped for his eye and its lids. It continued from the horizontal underline like a short pointed tear.

His eyes themselves were the same, a piercing heavy weight that made the pull Rini was constantly struggling against more intense when she looked at them. Those eyes were definitely looking at her first as he approached the group.

Ceres, upon noticing Eli, hooted and tilted her head curiously at him. Rini wondered if Ven was actually right when he said that his eyes were unsettling because of all his staring into the well. It seemed he was right regarding the fact he could see ghosts considering he was looking right at her.

"That's not getting your mom, but this works," she muttered under her breath before putting a hand on her hip and cocking her head. "Yo, it's been a long time. See you have more Sheikah in you. Is it possible you can have Willow and whoever this is let us in? We're kinda in a time crunch."

Meeting her eyes, he pressed his finger to his lips briefly before he spoke aloud to North from directly behind the two other girls. North had tracked this gesture, but thankfully he merely blinked.

"What's your friend's name?" Eli asked.

Willow and the other girl looked over their shoulders. Naginata girl visibly scowled upon noticing Eli's presence. Willow gasped and nearly lept backwards, and ended up stumbling with a squeak as if Eli himself were the ghost.

North frowned gently but then answered. "Ventus."

"You mean like Ventus Agni?" asked the other girl, incredulous. "Son of that necromancer Vivian didn't let in? How many years has it been? He's dead."

"Only one of us is dead, and don't use that fucking language about my mom," Rini snarled, holding her hands out instinctually to summon her magic, but it was like pulling something from stone. She could feel it there, but it was incredibly hard to use. There was also a sense that if she let go of her "hold" on the living world to use her magic, she might… slip away. "Seeing dead people isn't a fucking crime."

Ceres also seemed to understand the girl was speaking shit and puffed her chest and gave an angry hoot. Surprisingly, Vivian's own granddaughter seemed rather uncomfortable with this line of discussion. Rini noticed the fidgeting got worse as she eyed the bloody bandage.

"Well… Eli is here," she said after a moment, sneaking a glance at the other boy before looking away. "He'll know the truth."

The rude girl rolled her blue-gray eyes at this, barely giving Eli a glance.

A gentle smile creeped onto his lips. "Thank you, Willow."

"Ugh, don't smile," the other girl retorted. "It's creepy."

This didn't seem to lessen the smile on his face. "How can I not? When it's nice not to have to be the one to remind you, Aya. Unless you have some new gift with the dead?"

The girl named Aya parted her lips to say something back, but Eli interrupted.

"But it's rude to make our guest wait when he has an injured friend."

North had been standing in silence, watching them bicker.

"We still haven't verified his story," said Aya. "Just because he drops the name of your necro pal doesn't make him our friend."

"Of course, not," agreed Eli, waving a hand dismissively. "I trust the word of Rini Agni, who is actually dead and standing right there."

Aya paused, glancing slowly to the space next to North on the other side of the archway. She snorted, looking back at Eli. "You're so full of shit."

That did it. Ven needed help yesterday and Aya had been wasting precious seconds on her stupid power trip. Dead or not, Rini was going to throw hands.

"YOU BITCH, STOP GETTING IN OUR WAY!" Rini roared, and golden-yellow magic exploded all at once, as if she had finally managed to pull a sword out of a stone in a grand fireworks display. Some of it went flying toward the barrier and slammed against it forcefully near Aya's face before it fizzled out.

Ceres gave a surprised squawk and Willow scooted back, her own earthy, beige green mana barrier going up instinctively as she swore loudly. Even North jumped away, obsidian knife in hand and hat back on his head. Aya gasped and snapped her naginata to attention in both hands, ready for a fight. Her blue-gray eyes darted around but found nothing.

Only Eli stood unmoving, unsurprised by this. Once the dust had settled and silence rang around them for a brief moment, he said, "See, now you've made her angry."

Aya swallowed softly, her eyes still darting around. Willow, however, was freaking out and tucked into a bubble of her own.

"SINCE WHEN HAVE GHOSTS BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT?" she yelled, pointing in the general direction of Rini. Rini wasn't sure either, but she couldn't exactly tell Willow that. Not that she wanted to. It felt like when she had used up all her mana practicing in the forest to get better at utilizing it.

"Tell them I'll fight them if I have to," she gasped, pointing at the two. "I'm not going to let my brother die."

They didn't need to know that all but tapped her out either.

The soft smile remained on Eli's pale face. He gave no notice to Rini again. "And what do you know of the dead? Of course, if this bothers you, why don't you leave this matter in my hands?"

Aya scowled, her jaw setting stubbornly and eyes narrowing at him.

"Sure, I'm good with that," Willow said, not dropping her barrier. "Let him handle ghosts who blow things up. The other kid was looking for his mom anyway. If anything happens it's on his head."

Aya still didn't look away from Eli. "You can go, Willow. I'll hang back and make sure he's not up to anything."

"Wait, go where? I'm also on guard duty. I'm not going to just leave you," she shot back, scowling. Rini noticed she didn't move from her safe spot several yards away from her though.

The other girl sighed exasperatedly. "Right, fine, then open the barrier enough to let his 'guests' through. We'll go to Amaya, and you can stay here. Good?"

Willow hesitated, as if weighing something mentally before nodding her head. "Okay. Be safe, Aya."

She cast another nervous glance at Rini's direction.

"Yeah, no problem, but… the barrier?" Aya arched her brow.

North had also slowly approached the arch, marking the entrance of the village and, likely, the barrier she spoke of. Willow let out a breath, lowering her own barrier before raising her staff and slamming it down. There was a shimmering little ripple in the air where the arch stood, and there was an "opening." Oval-shaped, it appeared like an iridescent line, distorting light and color. The "hole" of it looked normal enough to pass through.

Ceres flew through, and Rini did not waste a second walking through as well. Nor did she waste a second flipping Aya off.

"Bitch."

Eli nodded to Willow once North passed through as well, signaling it was okay to close it again. He led the way with Aya following North from behind. Her eyes continued to dart quickly around them. It was silent between all three of them as they made their way through the village. Eli took them off toward the right, toward Impa's residence.

"Is your mom here?" Rini asked after a few awkward moments, frowning as she checked herself. After the outburst everything felt weird. Heavier than it had been.

Eli nodded discreetly for her this time.

"That's good," she said, then a pause, "you have a lot of knowledge about ghosts, right? Is… what I did normal? I know magic is part of the soul, but if I had been able to do that earlier … I feel like it would have been better. Especially if I could control it."

This time, all he did was sigh audibly as they made their way up some stone steps embedded in the hill side, leading up to Impa's house. Eli knocked on the door but entered, not necessarily waiting for a response. Inside sat Impa and Amaya at a table together. They both looked up at them as they entered. They looked almost just the same as when Rini last saw them. Eli reached the table first.

"Lady Impa, Mother," he said in greetings to both.

Impa's red eyes went to the owl that sat upon North's shoulder. Ceres upon noticing her gaze, puffed up her chest as if recognizing she was being seen. Maybe Lady Impa knew something about Ceres they didn't?

Amaya smiled with soft amusement. "And who have you brought to us today, son?"

"This is North. He brings with him news of Ventus Agni, and this is Aya who refused to leave though it's none of her business anymore."

The girl scowled at Eli again.

Amaya settled her dark blue eyes on North attentively. "Is that so?

"You may leave this to us now, Aya," said Impa pointedly.

"Eli also said that his dead sister's ghost is floating around him too," said Aya as she turned to leave.

"Thanks, I was getting to it," said Eli. "I was just trying to be tactful."

The girl snorted and closed the door behind herself.

Rini watched her leave and scoffed, settling herself against the wall before she looked at Eli.

"Judging by your reactions earlier, you try not to talk to ghosts now when people like her are around, huh? That makes sense." It wasn't that way before, but there were a lot of things different from before. Still it was slightly odd to go from everyone at least talking at her, even if it was for Ventus' sake, to being slightly acknowledged but not always directly talked to.

She turned over to Lady Impa and Amaya, bowing respectfully to Lady Impa. "It is good to see you again Lady Impa. Also say hi to Auntie for me, Eli. North knows I'm here, obviously. Ceres has been my go between."

North stepped forward, not being able to hear Rini and placed the bloody bandage and lock of hair in front of Amaya. "I was told you could use these to know I am telling the truth. It's true that Rini Agni is dead, but her brother, Ventus, was still alive when I left Lon Lon Ranch two days ago."

"Rini gives you both her regards," said Eli to Impa and Amaya.

If Lady Impa can't see me like Eli can, that means she doesn't have death magic. Rini was only surprised about this revelation in the fact she had always seen Lady Impa on the forefront of authority on spirits and ghosts. Then again, she was the last remaining pure-blooded Sheikah; it wasn't like there wasn't anyone else people would trust.

Maybe with this revelation Ventus will stop calling his death magic Sheikah powers. Maybe.

Impa and Amaya both nodded, though solemn, they did not appear bothered by the idea of her undead presence there. North glanced toward Eli with an unreadable expression.

"I can see and hear her," he explained for North. "So you don't need to bother with the bird. Anyway, it sounded as if Ventus wasn't doing so well."

North nodded in agreement. "I left to find a healer because his wounds have become infected. There were no potions at Lon Lon Ranch either. He was being tended to, last I saw him."

Amaya nodded, listening, and then when he finished, gathered up the bloody bandage and lock of hair. She stood from her seat.

"Pardon me while I check on his status briefly." She turned away disappearing behind a curtain in the back.

"Oh, probably should have let her know if she sees any Gerudo there, not to worry. We ran into Farah and a couple of Gerudo who swapped gender," Rini said, realizing that perhaps letting Auntie Amaya know about their unusual friends would have been good to do before she went to scry on them. "One of them has a crush on Ventus, but there is no account for taste I suppose. Really, he could do a lot better than my brother."

Eli actually raised his slim dark eyebrow at her, but then he waited in silence with the others. His attention drifted back to North as he said, "So, ghosts don't bother you?"

North shook his twig and leaf hat.

Eli's dark piercing eyes glanced him up and down briefly, taking in his more rugged appearance. From the Deku-shaped hat of leaves and sticks he wore on his head, down to the poncho of different layers of cloth, some red, brown, and green in various shades. The ends of which were torn and ripped like the ends of his shorts. "Where did you come from?"

"The Lost Woods," North answered simply.

Both Impa and Eli stared at that.

"I was raised by a Deku Scrub," said North, as if this extra fact might help.

"Okay, but how did you get out?" Eli asked. "No one leaves when they've entered, especially the Lost Woods themselves. That's the deepest part of Kokiri Forest, and it's kind of in the name itself."

North paused. "I… just always know where north is. This is how Ventus and I left the forest."

Eli paused and then chuckled. "So it's in your name too."

"We think he has earth magic, but I think you would know more than that," Rini explained. "We were able to get into the forest because of Ventus hearing Saria, a Kokiri, playing music. When we went deeper we stayed with the Kokiri. Fado, another Kokiri, said the forest liked Ven. She would also probably say the forest liked North too."

Eli nodded thoughtfully as she explained. Soon the curtain Amaya disappeared behind, pulled open again to show her with a thoughtful expression on her delicate features. Her dark blue eyes fixed on North.

"You failed to mention the Gerudos that care for Ventus at the moment," she stated calmly.

North met her dark blue gaze with his onyx one. "I did not want to… startle anyone. They are really the reason Ventus is still alive. I could not get him to stop on my own. He is determined that he is fine when it is clear he's not."

"And the… strange one with them?" Amaya asked carefully.

North paused. "I don't know what he is exactly, if you mean the pale one with the long fingers. He mostly follows the one called Ba'al."

"It's name," began Impa, "is it, Eiji?"

North nodded slowly.

Her red eyes narrowed slowly as she seemed to consider this information. "Ba'al is a masculine name for a Gerudo."

"Rini says they claim a masculine gender though born otherwise," Eli offered finally. "Still, I wonder about that."

"Neither Ba'al or Jamal claimed they were born otherwise as they were introduced to us with male pronouns. Ven theorized that they swapped genders, and only Ba'al was rich enough to get the procedure because his clothes suggested nobility," Rini cut in before taking a moment and continuing, almost to herself.

"Still, you would think we would hear about that. Also, it was Farah who introduced us, and she's the type of person to respect that sort of thing and consider people's feelings. She's been talking at me while we were there despite not knowing if I was actually around for sure just to make Ven happy."

"What are you thinking?" Amaya asked Impa. "He's Ganondorf in disguise?"

The last Sheikah shrugged.

"Not unless he's suddenly into young men," said Eli. "Why would he bother with Ventus? There are better ways of getting into Kakariko."

"It's also been mostly Ba'al who has been taking care of Ventus," Rini added, feeling the sudden need to stand up for the boy who had managed to get through to her brother. Even if it was only marginally. That alone was a tremendous effort; something Rini knew from first-hand experience. "And in an argument, Eiji said Ba'al didn't want him — Ven thinks he's a lich by the way. Eiji I mean."

If Eli heard this, he didn't respond to it yet.

Impa sigh heavily. "Still, it remains the same that if the being is Eiji, his master is Ganondorf. It's also not typical of Gerudo to transition that way. They honor and follow only those who are born that way. They believe Din makes it so."

"If they were though," said Amaya, "that would make them outcasts, no?"

"Maybe friends to us then," Eli mused.

"Still," said Impa. "Why would Eiji be there?"

Silence fell upon them at this question.

"I think… he's there for Ba'al," Rini said slowly, trusting Eli to share her words. "Eiji in my experience hasn't been anything like I would connect with Ganondorf personality wise, but he follows Ba'al's orders. And if Ba'al is a noble." She paused, before letting out a sigh realizing the irony of the situation. "My brother went and made friends with Ganondorf's kid."

Eli snorted softly at that, disbelieving. This made Impa and Amaya look up at him. He spoke anyway. "We need more information, I think. I can investigate further and take a healing potion to Ventus."

"They have no interest in coming to Kakariko themselves," supplied North. "They only wanted a healer or a potion for him. This will meet their needs without endangering others."

"You think a healing potion will be enough? The typical plant medication to help with infection and the like haven't been working," Rini said, worried.

It had been driving Jamal, who mostly went scavenging for medical herbs, up the wall. It felt sometimes as if Ven's wound not healing personally offended the boy. Even Farah, who seemed to be a well of information, couldn't figure out why.

Impa and Amaya were also exchanging their own concerned expressions at Eli's suggestion.

"I can take Leita with me," Eli negotiated. "That's two ways to get out of a situation if it goes bad. She can also heal Ventus better than a healing potion."

Rini didn't know Leita could do magic, let alone heal, but it wasn't a surprise. If anything, it was a relief. If Leita was half as good as her mother, her brother would be fine. He had to be.

Plus, Leita also knew Farah like Rini and Ven did.

Amaya smiled softly. "Aside from risking some of our most talented, you are my children… but if it is Ventus, and you know the risks, then you may go. Bring him back with you."

Eli nodded.

And even if Ba'al was Ganondorf's kid, well—Rini now knew what it felt like to be discriminated against. It was odd to say, but the Gerudo had been kind when their own people had locked them away and tried to kill them. If this taught her anything, actions were louder than words.

Regardless of lineage, their actions spoke of concern and compassion for those who needed it. Not once was there discussion on payment, not even from Farah who believed in fair trade the highest.

"Okay," Rini let out a breath, catching Ceres' eye, who simply nodded. "Let's get her and go. If there is magic to get us there faster, please use it. We don't have time to waste."