The Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ Gerudo Forest ❯ Chapter 37 ( Chapter 37 )

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

Ganon was in so much pain. He had stopped writhing and had flipped onto his hands and knees clutching his chest moaning. The Bastard! How could he do this! “What do I do!?!?!” she shouted at Ganon trying to get him to look at her. He stretched his arm out and pointed to the saddle bags. Of course! He must have first aid or something in there. She ran to the bags tripping on the wet ground. She rubbed the mud out of her face and searched frantically through the bags for anything that could help. She found some bandages and what looked like the herbs that had been used on her. As she gathered the things Ganon began to cry out. She could hear a popping noise and was not ready for what she was about to see as she turned back to him. His body grew and stretched painfully and she could hear his bones growing and rearranging themselves. Tusks grew from his mouth and his nose became that of a pig or a boar's. Fur sprouted on his arms and down his back and his natural hair became like a mane around his head. His skin had darkened even more than it had been before almost looking black and his screams became a roar that became lost in the thunder. He was becoming the dark beast that she recognized from the game. She dropped what she held in a panic to reach him. His eyes were wide and wild. She grabbed his arm as he thrashed and he tried to throw her from him but she held tight not knowing what else to do. The changes stopped soon and he collapsed in a heap exhausted. “Please be okay. Please be okay.” She kept repeating to herself. Did the wizard think this form would scare her? She had seen it before. Ganondorf looked almost like a giant boar. Instead of hooves though he had something similar to hands still. She wondered if they were functional. The rain had slowed down after the wizards departure to a light drizzle and she could still see the wedge in his chest. The wizard had said not to touch it. Should she risk it? “Ganon! Can you hear me!” She shouted. She heard an equivalent to a moan and figured that was a yes. She didn't want to get to close in case he decided to roll over. He had become massive and could crush her if she was too reckless. He was breathing heavily and when he opened his eyes they had an almost feral look to them but when he looked at her they became more focused. He looked as if he wanted to say something to her but she knew he couldn't. “The wedge is still in your chest. The wizard said I wouldn't be able to remove it. Do you want me to try anyway?” She asked knowing it was the cause of his transformation. He nodded and exposed his chest to her. She gripped the black thing with both hands. Even the slightest tug made it move further in and Ganon would roar in pain. She couldn't stand to see him like that and so she gave up sorry she had even mentioned the idea. “Are you okay?” She asked frightened. He groaned getting to his feet shaking himself as he did so towering over her. “Can you change back?” She whispered knowing Agahnim wouldn't have made it that easy. The wedge thingy would probably keep him stuck in this form till removed. He closed his eyes which she guessed meant he was trying. After a while he let out a angry growl which made her jump. He looked at her with sad eyes. In this state he couldn't talk to her. He tried to spell something on the ground using his finger but she couldn't read Hylian. When she shook her head he looked even more frustrated. He tried again using the english alphabet. He was having problems with it though. After a several tries he was finally able to spell. “PLES NO AFRAD.” She got the gist of it. “ You mean Please don't be afraid?” She asked spelling it out correctly for him to see. If he hadn't been trying to translate that scroll a while back he might have not been able to do even this. “Yes.” He spelled. “You shouldn't be worrying about me. Are you okay?” She asked putting her hand on his arm. He managed a nod. What were they to do now? Nether of them could enter any villages now. How do you hide something that looked like Ganon did now. This was bad. She racked her brain for anyone she could think of that could remove the wedge. Zelda was out of the question. That only brought two other people to mind. Koume and Kotake. Who better than someone who knew the dark magic. Plus there were two of them. They had to know something. “Do you know where the Gerudo went?” She asked turning to him. “Yes” He wrote again. “Do you think your mothers would be able to remove it?” She asked pretty much grasping at straws. He shrugged his shoulders. “Well it's worth a try.” She said going to retrieve Trinexx who had run a little ways away. He watched her as she worked. She was unsure how exactly to attach most of the bags and Ganon couldn't help her so she did the best she could. Trinexx somehow could still tell that the giant creature beside him was his master. The horse didn't seem skittish at all. Melissa mounted Trin feeling weird being on the horse without Ganondorf. “Alright! Lead the way.” she called to Ganon who was waiting patiently. The clouds had moved on showing the sun hanging in the middle of the sky. She hopped they could cover a good distance before they would have to make camp. That brought up another worry. What was she going to feed Ganon? He was probably going to need more than what they even had at this point. He took off at a lope and as soon as she caught up they sped up. Trinexx could keep up pretty well at the pace they were going. It looked as if they were headed back the way they had came. Back to the desert. Would they really still be there? Maybe they could ride through the night to shave a day or two off the time it would take to get where they were going. As the sun set that day they had went past a couple villages they had passed but never entered. At least they had made some head way. Ganon was slowing and guessed he was getting tired. She was surprised he had lasted this long without a rest break. He was truly something. They camped in the biggest patch of trees they could find. Melissa was scared to light a fire not wanting to attract attention to their location. The moon shone brightly that night and the air was cold. She searched the bag to find his cape to wrap up in and went to sit by him. She looked up at him and he made a groaning noise. She was unsure what he was trying to get across to her. He didn't seem to be in pain. “We need to work on communication.” She said shaking her head. He drew a picture of what she guess was a fire and what she guessed was food. “ We need to conserve food but if you really need something to eat I can attempt something.” She said hoping he could have lasted till the morning. “No. U ET.” He scribbled. “I'm not eating tonight ok? Oh and it's spelled You eat.” She said writing beneath his. “Eat” He wrote. She didn't know if he was just practicing or ordering her to make something. She decided to pretend she thought it was practice. When she didn't move he got up and went to Trinexx who didn't even move. He tried to open the bags but his hands were clumsy due to their size. It was funny to watch but she dare not laugh. After a while he gave up with a disappointed grunt and sat beside her once more. She snuggled between his arms. “This wasn't so bad.” she thought to herself. He was warm and even more so when he pulled her closer. “Nighty night.” She said stroking his arm. Day seemed to come sooner than she would have thought possible. Ganon had gathered firewood and was at it again with the bags. How had he gotten up without her noticing? She sighed getting up. “Here.” she said opening the satchel. She still was unsure of what was considered breakfast food here so he would just have to deal with whatever she could find. She saw something that looked like sausage but felt that might be a little inappropriate. Digging further she found some fruit which she handed to him. He looked unsure what to do with it. “Eat that for now till I can figure out what to make.” She said giving him a look. “No. I Eat Later.” He spelled everything right this time. “You Eat Now.” He wrote before handing her the fruit back. She just put the fruit away. “Eat” He wrote again and when she ignored him he nudged her with his nose. “Stop that! Your nose is cold.” She said wiping her arm. The noise he made next almost sounded like a chuckle. It was sweet that even in this state he was trying to take care of her. “Fine if you eat two of the fruit I will eat one. Now quit making me feel guilty.” She said throwing the fruit back at him. He caught both in his mouth. “You have no choice. You have to eat them now. They are covered in your cooties” She giggled. He just chuckled again but didn't chew until he saw her take a bite of the apple she held. “How far is it till we reach them?” she asked hoping they weren't really going all the way back to the beginning. He started to write something but scratched through it not quite sure how to spell what he needed to say. “One more day? Two more days? More? Less?” she asked not helping. He held up his hand trying to stop her. “Okay let's try yes or no questions then. Are they still in the desert?” She asked waiting for his answer. “Yes” he said confirming her fear. How many days had it taken for them to get where they were now? Had she been here weeks? A Month? She wasn't sure now. She just sat down and put a hand to her head. This just felt hopeless. They didn't have enough food. Neither of them could enter any of the towns. Sure they could probably hunt but she didn't think she could handle having to prepare what ever creature they caught before cooking it. She couldn't even watch the shows on Animal Planet where they showed surgeries on animals. When she looked up at Ganon he had a look of worry. “I'm fine.” She said getting back up. “Let's just go as long as we can today ok?” She said with a weak smile. He didn't seemed convinced. It didn't matter though. She mounted Trinexx and they set off again. Several times on the way they had to stop because of travelers passing their way. This time one of the carriages stopped close to where they hid. She peaked out to see two men and a woman. From what she could make out they were trying to figure out where they were going but it soon turned to gossip. It was the gossip that interested her most. “Did you hear about what happened to Kakariko village?” The woman asked. “Yeah! They said the town was in ruins and the village leader Impa is missing.” The man closest to them responded. The woman nodded. “Have you seen those wanted posters recently? Well they have added another but this new one is an animal. They say it caused the destruction of not only Kakariko but some of the other villages. It gives me chills just knowing that beast is still out there.” The woman said with a shiver. “Oh I've seen that poster. It's some giant boar right? They put a hefty bounty on it's head.” The other man spoke up. “You have nothing to worry about. I'm sure Hyrule's best hunters already have it cornered.” He continued putting a comforting hand on the woman’s shoulder. Melissa could hear Ganon snort at that comment. “ What was that?” The woman jumped. Melissa turned to her companion giving him a stern look and holding her finger to her mouth. Was he trying to get them caught? “I heard nothing. Your just worked up is all.” said the other man making Melissa relieved. “Anyway a lot of people are traveling to Castle Town now to escape thinking their village is next. You know what's weird is no one has seen the Princess much since this new army was created. They're a scary lot if you ask me.” The man went on. “Hush your mouth! What if one of them heard you?” The man closest to them said clearly scared. “I don't know what your talking about. Their captain Agahnim is so dreamy.” The woman said clearly not knowing how vile the man truly was. Melissa wondered how many more were fooled by him. “Ack not this again! Honestly woman get a hold of yourself.” said the man with his hand on her shoulder. After talking a little longer they moved on. “Can you believe this! Now the wizard is blaming you for his destruction.” Melissa said outraged as she mounted Trinexx again. Her stomach was starting to growl at her and she prayed he couldn't hear it. She saw his ears perk up but if he had noticed he didn't let on. They continued again hoping not to run into anyone else. If people were fleeing in panic they would be seeing more travelers. At this rate it was going to take longer getting back. They kept going as long as they could even through some of the night before they stopped. She had wanted to keep going but he wouldn't budge. Once again she didn't want to light a fire afraid someone might stumble across them but Ganon had other plans. He went to work right away. He found a little wood around them and lit it with a fireball. Good to know his magic still worked. She guessed she had no choice now but to make them dinner. She was unsure what things went together so she just pulled out a conglomeration of things and made a sort of soup in the small pot they had. She tasted it first and satisfied it wasn't horrible she gave it to Ganon. He ate it without complaint but she could tell he didn't like it. She felt bad she wasn't a better cook. “I'm better at making cakes and stuff.” She said defensively. “It was fine.” He wrote but she knew it was lie to save her feelings. His writing seemed to be improving. He knew a lot of simple words which was all they really needed to communicate right now but she found she missed his voice. There was a comforting quality in it that she hadn't realized till now. She would have never thought that when they had first met. She was amazed at how much of her opinions had changed since then. Finding a nearby water source she was able to clean the cookware and let Trinexx drink. She heard a splash that startled her. Turning around she saw Ganon had gotten in the pool. She guessed he was trying to clean off from all the running he had done today. Coming out he shook himself like a dog would after a bath. She shrieked when it sent water her way. She could almost swear he was grinning. “Hey that's not funny!” She said trying to look upset. He just shrugged eyes still smiling as he sauntered off to the fire to dry. When she had finished she came back to join him. Oh what she wouldn't give for a water gun. It didn't take him long to dry which was good because she was very sleepy. He opened his arms for her to snuggle up to his chest and his heart thumped loudly in her ear lulling her to sleep.