The Legend of Zelda:

“Get in there you foolish moron!” the guard yelled, kicking the carpenter in the back.

He groaned as he tumbled into the cell and fell to the ground. He looked up at her with a firm scowl across his stubble-filled face. “You’d better not hurt my fellow workers.”

The Gerudo laughed wholeheartedly and drew the barred door closed, securing it with a padlock and chain. She grinned at him through the bars. “And what would you do if we did, fat man? You were stupid to have set up your tent in our valley! You really think you could have successfully snuck into our fortress? Well you‘re here now pal! Ha!”

The carpenter watched her disappear up one of the halls of the fortress and quickly climbed to his feet. He went over to the door and examined it for any means of a mistake in the lock. He knew well about this sort of thing however, and the lock was strong. He sighed deeply and took a seat against the back wall of the cell. He had no way of getting out on his own.

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“Listen to me,” Nabooru stated, looking across the table at Dark Link. “Were you keeping watch of Kat yesterday at the ceremony?”

His red eyes flared. “No. I guess she somehow got lost in the crowd as we were heading into the main chamber, because I didn’t see her until we were filing out afterwards.” He cocked his head slightly. “Why do you ask, my Queen?”

She blinked in surprise, as if she’d been caught off guard. “Oh, no reason. I just didn’t see her either, and I wanted to ask you if you could just keep a better eye on her… We both know that Kat‘s had some troubles in the past, and with the upcoming takeover of the rest of Hyrule in only two weeks time, I’m getting a bit edgy. I don’t want any shit from her or anyone else, especially now.” She narrowed her eyes, making sure that her point was being made.

Dark Link nodded. “I understand. I‘d nearly forgotten that the takeover had been rescheduled, I should have known you just didn‘t want any trouble.”

Nabooru nodded back to him. “Indeed. The Gerudos have flourished since the arrival of the Neroths, and I have come to the decision that we are ready for this right now. There is no need to wait two more months. I’m eager to lead our troops out into Hyrule Field, knowing that we will go down in history,” she said with striking confidence in her voice.

Dark Link grinned. “Too right you are, my Queen, as always. I will keep an eye on Kat for you, and I will make sure that nothing comes between you and your vision.” He stood from the table and headed out of Nabooru’s office.

Nabooru was left in her own trail of thought. Only two weeks left until the day that she had been dreaming about for so long. Absolutely nothing would stop her from doing so. She imagined what would be written about her in only a short amount of time, and would be read by hundreds, even thousands of others for the rest of time. The Gerudos, she, would be feared by all! Down in the books she would go, “Queen Nabooru, the renowned, merciless leader of the Gerudos.” She became giddy with excitement.

But why did the thought of Kat intimidate her? Never before had she been concerned with being at the Spirit Temple, not once had she ever kept track of where Kat was. She was her niece, a child of only sixteen years of age, what the hell could she do? She wasn’t worried about anyone else; but she was not scared of her, she knew. And why should she be? She’s the Spirit Sage, and no one would ever be able to take her powers away from her. Who knows, maybe Kat would end up being killed by a Goron or two when they headed up Death Mountain to kill them off. Nabooru laughed at the thought of it. No, she was Nabooru, and her pathetic half-breed of a niece wasn’t going to get in her way; nobody would.

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An exciting game of vorka was being played in the middle of the grounds, a game the Neroths had brought with them to the fortress. The players, in this case a mix of both men and women, play on two even teams. The goal is to kick a ball into the net, or the designated scoring area, of the opposing team. The team with the most points scored at the end of the game wins.

Kat in particular was very into the newly introduced game, and was already trying to show off after the first five minutes of playing. Already she was calling out who was doing what wrong, and her face was already red with work. She was impressive as she played, knocking the ball back off her head, running a fair amount faster then the rest of the players, and going after the ball at every moment she got. She was constantly on the move, pushing other players out of the way just so she could get a few more feet ahead of them.

“Doesn’t Kat ever get hangovers?” Dace said from the sidelines, eager to have a go at the game. “She was drinking like hell last night, and now here she is just after breakfast, kicking the shit out of everyone else on a full stomach!” he said in dismay.

Rin looked beside her at him. “I’ve noticed that every time she drinks. The next morning you’d expect her to be moaning and groaning, and sleeping in until noon. Instead, she wakes up even earlier then normally, wide awake as if nothing had happened the night before, eager as ever to start the day.” Rin laughed, happy that she had been able to find Dace for a moment without Shianne having to be there.

“Damn, I wish I was like that.”

“HEADS UP!!”

The ball whizzed by Rin’s head and flew out into the middle of the rest of the grounds.

“Phew… That was close!” Rin said with a nervous laugh.

“LOOK OUT!”

Nearly all of the players tore out onto the grounds to get the ball, pushing violently past Rin as they did so. They were all cheering and laughing as loudly as they could, overcome with excitement, something you didn’t get much at the fortress.

Rin fell towards Dace and grabbed his arm as they ran past her. “Sheesh!!” she screamed. “WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING!” She shook her fist at the players as they shot around, trying to get the ball. It was as if they weren’t on teams, because absolutely everyone wanted the ball, and no one even thought about passing it to another team-mate.

“Excuse me?!” came a bird-like voice from behind.

Dace and Rin both turned to see Shianne standing there, arms crossed firmly. “What do you think you’re doing with my man, girl?! Get away from him!!”

Rin looked up, seeing Dace sigh with annoyance. He looked away from Rin and pushed her away gently. He wandered over to Shianne, who quickly snatched him by the arm and led him into the fortress, leaving Rin there amongst the rest of the cheering Gerudos.

She suddenly felt a cold hand on her shoulder. “Enjoying the game, my dear?”
Goosebumps shot up on Rin’s neck. “Yes,” she said quickly, hoping he had not seen her with Dace.

He stood next to her, hand now slipping around her waist, not saying another word, only maintaining a sick smirk as he watched the game.


The rest of the day went on like this until Nabooru decided that that was all the fun they would have until the takeover on Hyrule had ended. There wasn’t enough time left to mess around in, and the rest of the two weeks would be dedicated and fully concentrated on training for absolutely every member of the Gerudos.

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“STOP IT!!”

Seth threw Rin into the room and slammed the door behind him. He whipped around and glared at her ferociously. “Don’t think I didn’t see you with Dace today; do not take me as a fool, my dear, because I am far from it.”

Rin’s eyes quickly began to fill with tears. “What are you going to do?!” Her body was shaking violently.

Seth stared at her blankly. “You haven’t been very cooperative lately, Rin. You don’t seem to learn your lessons very easily. You think you would though, considering the things you and I have been through…” he stepped towards her, still staring.

Rin screamed as he grabbed her by the arms as if she were a doll and clutched her as she struggled. “I figured it was time for a different approach,” he said whispering into her ear. “You my dear, are quite the perfectionist, always keeping your hair neat, your fingernails clean, your teeth white… well, why don’t I take that away from you for a while… You’ll be spending a little while in my wardrobe…” He rotated with her and made her face the large piece of furniture, the two doors already open.

“NO! PLEASE DON’T!!” Rin howled, now sobbing so badly that she could barely speak.

Seth smiled as she struggled. “You be sure to let me know when you’re ready to come out, okay?” He tightened his grip on her arms, pulled her over to the wardrobe and shoved her inside, quickly closing the doors and sliding the lock into place.

All Rin heard after that was Seth’s footsteps, the door close, and then silence. She was completely engulfed by darkness in the cramped wardrobe. She was afraid to move, knowing that something was in here with her. She could feel cobwebs all around her arms, and noticed it was very cold suddenly.

She took a moment to calm herself and wipe the tears from her eyes. This was better then having her head shoved into a pot of boiling water, which her face was still partially swollen from. After she was calm, Rin started slowly feeling around the walls of the wardrobe, her breathing sounding very loud in the silence.

Then she heard a scratching sound directly beside her left ear. Rin screamed and began jerking around in a panic, knocking around inside the wardrobe. “AHH!!! HELP ME PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!!!!” she shouted, coming to a stop in a completely different position. “HELP!!!”

Rin suddenly heard the door to the room open and close quietly. “…Rin? Where are you?”

“KAT?! KAT!! I’M IN THE WARDROBE! PLEASE HURRY!!” she said, tears returning to her already damp cheeks.

“Okay, just keep quiet!!”

Kat drew a small dagger from her hip that she had taken with her. She’d heard the ruckus that Rin had made and had seen Seth pull her into his room. Kat quickly made her way over to the wardrobe and grabbed the lock holding the two doors together. “Okay, I just have to get this lock off, but I don’t have the key,” she said calmly, unaware of why Rin was freaking out inside the wardrobe.

“He probably took the key with him!” Rin said, trying to stay quiet. “Please hurry Kat…!”

Kat examined it, but it didn’t take much to realise that she wouldn’t be able to break through it. “Rin, I don’t think I’m going to be able to get through this thing,” she said doubtingly. She looked up suddenly, hearing a scratching noise coming from inside the wardrobe.

“KAT!! PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE!! THERE’S SOMETHING IN HERE WITH ME!!! I CAN FEEL SOMETHING ON MY NECK!!!!”

“Fuck!” Kat put her dagger back in her belt and took the lock in both hands. She pulled on it, hoping it would somehow break through the iron latch that held it in place. She had no other choice; Rin was begging for help. She pulled on the lock as hard as she could, putting all of her strength into her arms, her face becoming tense. “Come… on…!!”

Her hands began burning, her knuckles about to burst as she pulled still against the iron. Kat squinted, looking at the lock in her hands, concentrating. “Please…!” She pulled as hard as she could, never beginning to question why she thought she’d be able to break through with her bare hands. But the lock began to glow a reddish tint as she stared at it. “Yes!!” She concentrated more, the red becoming brighter as she still pulled, her fingers about to break.

Then suddenly, Kat felt the tension stop in her hands and she fell backwards onto the floor, the lock having been the only thing keeping her balanced as she pulled. The broken lock landed across the room and the doors to the wardrobe flew open.

Rin fell out onto the floor and crawled frantically away from it and onto Seth’s bed. “OH THANK YOU!!” she yelled, holding her hands together in prayer. “Kat, there’s something in there!!”

Kat’s gaze fell to the gaping wardrobe; tones of cobwebs were visible in the light from the room. Kat scrambled to her feet and stepped closer, eyes narrowed. She heard the scratching sound again as she neared it. She drew her dagger again and looked inside. “What the hell…”

To Kat’s dismay, there was a skull inside of it, looking straight at her. It was moving slightly, twitching and rotating in all directions, the scratching loud now, the “skull” obviously the culprit. “What the fuck is that thing?” she said over her shoulder, seeing Rin leaning towards her to see it, still on the bed for refuge.

Kat took another step closer, dagger raised. Then the scratching stopped and the skull stopped moving. It was in an upwards position now, as if an empty face was looking into her eyes. Kat stopped moving also, as if staring it down, the silence awkward amongst the tension in the room.

The skull jittered and shot out into the air and onto Kat’s face.

“WHAT THE FUCK!!” Kat screamed, thrashing around crazily for a moment before grabbing it and tossing it onto the ground. It was a skulltula, and staring right at her now was its fleshy underbelly. Instinctively, Kat took her dagger in her hand, bent down and stabbed the skulltula directly. It screeched in pain and shrivelled it’s legs, before finally relaxing, a new, relieving silence now coming over Kat and Rin.

Kat pulled her dagger out of the skulltula and wiped the green slime from its blade. She sighed and turned to Rin. “I would say it was only a skulltula, but these things can kill someone if they bite hard enough.” She sat on the ground beside the bed, unusually tired now, lost in her thoughts as she eyed the busted lock on the ground. She crawled over to it and looked at the literally burnt padlock.

“Hey Kat?”

She quickly pocketed the lock and turned to Rin. “Thank me later,” she said jumping to her feet. “I have to get out of here now. Seth‘s gonna ask you how you got out. Tell him the lock broke on its own, and when you got out you couldn‘t find it.” Kat returned her dagger to her side and disappeared through the door.

Kat returned quickly to her room and flopped down on the bed. She withdrew the padlock from her pocket and looked at it closely. Had she done that? Why was she suddenly having these weird bursts of power? She remembered the fire pit that previous night. She had been wondering if that was real, or if she was just drunk, but now she knew something was up. She’d never been able to do that before.

Kat sat up quickly and looked at the bedside table next to her. She stared at the unlit candle and concentrated all of her thoughts for several minutes. “Come on…”

Several more minutes passed but it still did not light. Kat looked dissatisfied. Why was it not working now? What was she doing wrong??

“KAT!”

Kat nearly jumped through the roof as the door to the room flew open and smashed against the wall. Dark Link stood in the doorway, stomped into the room and closed the door behind him. “A guard saw you come out of Seth’s room. What were you doing in there?” he said almost soothingly, stepping towards her.

“I wasn’t in Seth’s room,” Kat said slipping the lock back into her pocket. “The guards here are all full of it, you know that. Everyone knows that,” she said trying to sound normal.

“Kat, I know when you’re lying… Now answer me truthfully, what were you doing in there?” He stopped at the foot of the bed, looking at her.

She had had enough. Kat slid from the side of the bed, not breaking eye contact with him, showing him that she was strong. “Just what are you driven by, anyway?” she said questionably, raising an eyebrow at him as she slowly began to walk towards him. “Greed? Anger? Sadness? Just what is it that makes you do the things you do? …You and your games, you‘re like a child. You know very well that I was in Seth‘s room, and I broke Rin out of that damn wardrobe, because Seth decided to lock her in there with a spider. What the hell is that?! And now you stand before me, trying to intimidate me with your questions and stares, knowing that I only did what any normal person would do. Do you honestly fall asleep, proud with how you do things, happy with yourself?”

Dark Link frowned as she neared.

“I’ve had it with you. Just who do you think you are anyway? All you do is beat around the bush, toying with me, and Seth toying with Rin like nothing, getting a kick out of it. My life’s been a ripe pile of shit, and if Nabooru expects me to live the rest of it with you, then she’s strongly misled.” Kat drew her dagger and ran towards him. “I’ve had enough of your bullshit! I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL YOU SON OF A BITCH!!”

Kat screamed and brought her dagger up, bringing it down into Dark Link’s chest with all of her force. She held it there, waiting to hear him wail, to feel him tremble, but there was nothing, only quiet.

“Ha ha ha ha ha…” Dark Link chuckled joyfully, looking down at the butt of the dagger jutting out of his chest. “You bitch,” he said, as if not afflicted by the gouge at all. “Only the one of which I was created can kill me.”

Kat stepped back in awe, letting go of the dagger, eyes wide with shock. Dark Link grabbed the handle and tugged at it, pulled for a second before it slid out easily, his face not even adjusting as he did so. He held it in his hand and looked over at her, grinning more widely then she’d ever seen.

“It looks like Hell’s going to have to wait for me for now.”

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“The rest of the two weeks until our takeover will be dedicated and fully concentrated on training for absolutely every member of the Gerudos.”

That’s what Nabooru had said, which is exactly why she assigned Kat to guard the valley for the entire day.

So there she sat, legs dangling over the side of the chasm, spear tossed onto the ground beside her. Kat felt a familiar feeling today, a feeling of being lost and not knowing what to do. She didn’t understand why she was out here, the only one in the valley, while everyone else, even the rookies, were training.

“Nabooru wanted me to tell you that you’re on guard duty in the valley for the whole day.”

Was she afraid of her? Did she not want her getting any stronger? Why? What was she thinking?

Kat’s hair wisped around her face as the wind blew upwards from the rumbling river below. That’s all her mind was ever full of: questions. She knew she had to go back to the Spirit Temple to find out more about her mother, because now she knew for sure that her mother was meant to be the true sage. Every problem she had however, all led back to the same person being the cause of it: Nabooru. Who had killed her parents and therefore caused her life to be so horrid? Nabooru. Who stuck her with Dark Link, who she had to spend the rest of her life with? Nabooru. Who let Rin into the fortress, who has caused her so much confusion and wonder? Nabooru.

Kat imagined what her life would be like if none of these things had ever occurred. She imagined what she would be doing right now at this very moment if her parents were still alive, if she had never met Dark Link and if Nabooru had never interfered. She could be helping her parents with chores around the house in the middle of the Lost Woods with not a worry in the world, hearing her mother laugh at her jokes and seeing her father smile at her proudly as she brought in a pile of logs for the fire.

Kat’s vision became blurred and a tear slid down her cheek. She didn’t cry very often anymore, Nabooru had beaten most of the tears out of her as she’d been growing up. She knew her problems were unsolvable. She couldn’t kill Nabooru as long as she had the power of the Spirit Medallion.

She blinked the tears from her eyes as more questions rose to her mind. What was this power she’d somehow conjured up two times? Was this some sort of “sage like” power inside of her? Only after finding her mother’s temple had she been able to do it. Would this allow her to kill Nabooru and return the powers of the Spirit to their rightful owner?

She would visit her mother’s temple again and pray to her for her guidance. She would try to see if there was a way that she could control the power she had gotten. She would train in secret, whether Nabooru wanted her to or not. If she could master this and get the medallion back, she would be free to do as she pleased. Ganondorf wouldn’t even be able to kill her, even with the power of the Triforce of Power in his hand. She wasn’t sure how it worked exactly, but she was pretty sure that only those related to a sage could ever take their life, or their powers. She would have to do some reading up on that as well. She’d do the reading first she decided. That would be the best before she attempted to kill anyone. She’d only get one shot at killing Nabooru, and if she failed, then she was dead. She had to avenge her mother’s death, she had to get her revenge, even if she died doing so.