The Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ Gerudo Forest ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Melissa tried to learn as much as she could about where she had ended up from Chara on the way to breakfast. The soldiers that fought yesterday ended up retreating leaving the battle a draw. Many of the Gerudos had been injured, but the same could be said of the Hyrulian soldiers. So hopefully they wouldn’t be back for a while. No one seemed to know why Hyrule soldiers were being sent. True the evil king Ganondorf was the villain and usually the instigator of all the bad that befell this world but according to Chara he hadn’t done a thing. Melissa didn’t believe her though. He wasn’t called the dark lord for nothing and Hyrule wouldn’t be sending soldiers unless they suspected something. She kept these thoughts to herself though. So if Ganondorf was real that would mean Link was also out there. Probably gathering items and powers to fight Ganon once more. She hoped she could get a glance of him and smiled to herself. Her sisters would be so jealous if she actually got that chance. That is if her sisters believed her. “You teach me speak ancient?” Chara asked. “Sure if I can.” Melissa agreed distractedly now trying to think of ways to stall her meeting with the evil king but all her plans were for not because as they entered the hall there Hewas. She had hoped he was too important to even be here with the rest of the tribe and Melissa knew she would stick out like a sore thumb. Being so pale compared to everyone else of course it wouldn’t take long to be spotted. She tried not to look at him as she followed Chara to a seat. The other Gerudos watched her as she passed by. Some looked curious. Others had looks of hatred. Melissa brushed her hair over her ear and there was a collected gasp from the women watching her. Just what she didn’t need. She spared a glance at the throne where Ganon sat and just as she feared he was now staring directly at her. Melissa turned her head as quickly away as she could while Chara had found them a spot uncomfortably close to him. Even sitting with her back to him she could feel his gaze bearing down on her. No one was giving her hate looks anymore though. She tried to forget everything and just eat. The food didn’t look to appetizing so she grabbed a piece of bread and nibbled on it. It was so hard and tough to chew. She worried about how silly she was looking trying to rip pieces off. It took a little gnawing to even get a piece small enough to swallow. She heard some of the gerudos around her giggling so she abandoned her bread. Her drink reminded her of the agave cactus juice she used to get at the store. It almost tasted like apple juice. Melissa tried to make small talk with Chara, but realized that most of the girls were very quiet. Melissa thought it must be His presence that left a hush in the room. “Our great lord would like to see you.”She heard a voice behind her say. It was Kotake and Melissa tensed up wanting so desperately to stay where she was. She was too close to him as is but with the prodding from the witch behind her, she reluctantly made her way to the throne where he sat. He said something to her but she couldn't understand a word of it. She was scared to look up at him and could only stare down at her feet. “Look up!” Kotake hissed at her elbowing her in the back. She didn't want to but what choice did she have? Lifting her head slowly she tried to compose her face to something a little less fearful. Her gaze met a pair of brooding yellow eyes. To her he looked a lot like the version of Ganondorf from Twilight Princess sporting the same beard and weird hair style that he had in the game. She noticed Koume was hovering around him busily. They had taken off his armor revealing his muscled chest and torso which Koume was busily wrapping a bandage around. He must have been wounded last night. Secretly she thought he probably had deserved it. Melissa just stood there silently as Kotake flew to his side and spoke to him. She wondered what she was telling him. He looked almost disinterested with what the witch was saying but perked up after a second. “This Hylian can speak Gerudo?” He responded raising an eyebrow giving her a skeptical look. “Yes my son.” Kotake said bowing and moving out of his way as he stood up. Melissa wondered if he had switched to speaking ancient so to test if she truly could understand him. Wait had Kotake just called him her son? “So is Zelda so short on soldiers that she is now sending little girls?” Ganondorf asked letting out a deep and menacing chuckle. Melissa stepped back which only made him laugh at her more. Her fear seemed to amuse him and Melissa could only watch helplessly as he descended the stairs to where she stood. There was nowhere to escape so she tried her best to calm her nerves but couldn't stop herself from shaking. He came to a stop in front of her and she felt so small standing in his shadow as he towered over her. He studied her mumbling to himself. As he walked around her he reached out to brush the hair over her ear but Melissa recoiled away before he could touch her. “I won’t hurt you… yet.” He said chuckling finding entertainment in how uncomfortable his presence was making her. He reached out again and this time Melissa stood her ground. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Before he could touch her she pulled her hair up revealing both of her ears giving him a defiant glare. “Your ears do not appear to be pointed... how interesting. ” He said ignoring her stare. “I thought you said she speaks.” He said turning away to look back at Koume and Kotake. “She does my son.” Koume said coming to their side. Wait Koume was his mother to? How the heck did that happen? This was starting to get very confusing. “Well... Speak. ” He commanded looking down at her making her jump out of her thoughts. “I-- I don’t know what you want me to say.” She stammered. “Then let's start with what tribe you are from.”He offered. “Tribe? I'm not from any tribe as far as I know.” Melissa responded meekly. “Well if you are not apart of a tribe then how do you know our ancient language? It is not easy to learn and is only taught to those of us who use Magic. It is not something you can learn from just anyone.” He demanded crossing his arms as he stared her down. “It is one of the main languages of where I am from. I guess you could say my parents taught it to me.”Melissa said nervously backing away only to bump into Koume making her jump once again. “Look I just want to go home. I don't know how I got here. I... I...” Melissa stopped with tears in her eyes on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “Enough of your hysterics.” Ganon barked glaring at her. “I'm not quite sure if you are Gerudo or Hylian and at this point it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that your fear shows you know who I am. So tell me... where do your loyalties lie? Who do your people swear allegiance to?” Of course Melissa knew who he was. She was sure that even in Hyrule, even if they had never personally seen this man, they would know who he was right away. As far as loyalties went she knew that she would side with Link and Hyrule because they were always the side of good but he didn't have to know that. “I don't really know. My people don't live anywhere near this place or Hyrule. So I guess we are on no one's side.” Melissa said trying to be diplomatic wiping her eyes. That seemed to peek his interest. Ganon began to talk in the same weird language again to Koume and Kotake. Melissa wondered what they were discussing because they kept glancing at her. Would they believe her? The girls around the room seemed to listen intently to what was being said which made her feel left out. Koume said something to which Kotake seemed to be vehemently against. Ganon just looked thoughtfully at Melissa not really listening to the two of them now. She could see the cogs in his head turning which made her very wary and even more so when a smile spread across his face. He stepped closer to her leaving the two witches to argue amongst themselves. “What magics do you know?” he asked more softly. “Magic isn't real.” Melissa said confused before she remembered where she was which made her feel stupid. “I assure you you it is quite real.” He said frowning. “What about your parents, your people? Surely they know something of the arts.” He asked brows furrowing. Melissa could only shake her head which seemed to disappoint him. Why would he even want to know this? “We could see if she could be taught.” Koume offered. “What? Why would you want to do that?” Melissa asked confused. Would she try if given the chance? She knew it could be a means of escape but doubted she would be able to do it. “The hylians have recently taken over our home in Gerudo Valley. This last battle has left a lot of us wounded. We need numbers before the Hylian's restock and heal.” Koume said trying to explain their situation. “I have no intention of fighting anyone, and I doubt anyone from where I am from would want to either.” Melissa responded before she thought about what she should be saying. She felt no sympathy for their predicament. They had most likely brought this upon themselves and though Melissa liked Koume just a little she knew better than to trust anyone here. Ganondorf glared and scoffed at her. “ If you won’t fight with us then you are of no more use to me.” Melissa didn't quite know how to take this statement. Did that mean he would kill her? Melissa looked around for a way out but knew even if she managed to escape she wouldn’t know where to go. There was no way she would make it across the desert and what's worse was he knew it. He waited for her to answer his threat but Melissa, no matter how scared she was of him, wasn’t about to take this crap from him. If he was just going to kill her anyway why should she? She turned around and just started walking to the exit. Another volley of gasps was heard from the surrounding tables. Melissa guessed that he probably wasn’t told “no” much but didn’t care. She got almost to the door when she heard heavy footsteps coming up fast behind her and she spun around in time to face him. He was so close and she noticed he was trying to conceal the fact that he was out of breath. His wound must have been worse than Melissa first believed. “How dare you turn your back on me?” He said anger flashing in his eyes. Usually Melissa was meek. She didn’t even know why she felt the strong urge to fight with him. Knowing his history it was just plain stupid. He could strike her down where she stood. “What do you mean how dare I? I might ask you the same thing. I might speak your language but I am not one of your subjects you can just boss around. You expect me to just bow to your every whim? Well let me make this clear! I will NOT be pressured to do anything I wouldn’t normally do. Not by you or anyone else.” Melissa found herself yelling at him. He pushed her forcibly against the door just behind her knocking the wind out of her. As he held her there the Triforce on his hand began to glow. Melissa thought maybe he was about to obliterate her using the Triforce of Power but when she looked at his face he looked just as surprised as she was scared. She took this moment of confusion to twist the door handle and try and escape from his grip. As she fell through the door so did Ganon who ended up landing on top of her. He was quite heavy. After the initial shock wore off he realized what had happened and rolled off her. The door had closed behind so this scene was just between the two of them. Melissa broke out of her daze as he struggled to his feet. She ran down the hall not even paying attention to where she was going. “Stop!” she heard him yell after her but there was no way she was going to do so. She didn’t know how many corridors she had ran down but she wasn't going to stop till she was sure she had put some distance between her and Ganondorf. What would he do if he caught her? She was starting to get tired and couldn't seem to find her way out of this place. She thought maybe if she could sneak out and steal a horse maybe she could get away. She slowed as she reached a big pair of double doors. Could this be the exit she was looking for? Approaching it a red glowing pattern started to trace its way up it right before it opened on its own. She stood there knowing that she probably shouldn’t go through. A door as fancy as that usually had a boss creature lying in wait to kill the unsuspecting hero. As she pondered whether or not to enter she began to hear heavy footsteps behind her. She turned around to see an angry looking Ganon standing at the beginning of the hallway and this time he couldn’t hide his panting. She didn’t even think about it as she ran through the doors. The door closed fairly quick behind her leaving her in the dark. She just hoped it was quick enough that he had no time to follow but to her dismay she heard his deep voice call from within the darkness. “I said...*huff**huff*... Wait.” His breathing was so labored. Next thing she heard was a thud. Had he collapsed? Was he dead? She doubted that but what should she do? She couldn't see anything at all. What if this was a trick to make her think she was safe? What if it wasn't? She couldn't hear anything now and it made her worry. Melissa moved back till she hit the wall and followed it till she made it back to the double doors. Feeling around for a handle she found none. She tried pushing against it but it wouldn't budge either. She sank to the floor giving up. She was now locked in a room with a very dangerous man. She still couldn't hear anything from Ganon and she was pretty sure if he was conscious he would have found her by now. A desperate thought occurred to her. Maybe if she tried to help him he would spare her life. It was a long shot but it was all she had. She would rather live. Besides waiting for him to regain consciousness only to find her cowering in a corner didn't seem like it would do her any good either. “Where are you?” She called to him just in case he was awake enough to guide her to him only to be met with silence. She dropped to the floor and started feeling around searching for his body. As soon as her hand touched his bare skin the Triforce lit up again. It was bright enough to light up the room which looked to be a crypt of some sort. She looked at Ganon lying on the floor and saw his eyes were closed. His chest rose and fell in shallow breaths proving he was still alive and breathing. She lifted his head and cradled it in her lap. She may not like him but she would do this if it meant she might live another day. She hated to admit this but even though he was the bad guy she didn't like to see anyone hurt. She could see blood starting to seep through his bandage and she guiltily thought about letting him bleed to death before applying pressure to it to try and staunch the bleeding. If he died she might not be able to get out of this room and he might know how to open the door that wouldn't budge for her.