The Legend of Zelda:
The Gerudo's Revenge
Prologue
It was a cold winter night in the Lost Woods. The trees were tightly
packed together, as if asking for warmth from one another as the snow
whistled between them chaotically. A pack of white wolfoses trotted briskly through the trees
heading for their den, eagerly wishing to get out of the cold.
You wouldn’t think anyone would be able to survive in the Woods during
this kind of weather. However, off in the distance between the trees,
was a soft, warm glow, emitting from the window of a lonely
cottage in a small clearing. The small home looked frail, as if it
would collapse if the wind got any stronger. Faint voices could be
heard from within.
“It’s getting pretty harsh out there, can we please go back into town?”
“Hun, you and I both know they will find us if we leave the safety of the Woods.”
“We need to feed our baby!”
“Calm down, the baby will be fine. Tomorrow, I will go hunting when
it’s calmed down out there. I promise you everything will be okay.”
A man appeared at the window and withdrew the drapes. Inside, a woman
cradling a small baby sat quietly on the edge of the bed, tears filling
in her eyes. “They’re going to find us. I know it. They will find us,
and they will kill us.”
The man turned around to face her. “Please, calm down.” He sat down
beside her and put his arms around her and the child. “Everything will
be okay. I promise you.”
The woman smiled half-heartedly, knowing he could not tell her such a
thing. “I trust you," she said anyways, trying to be positive as well.
The woman looked at her husband thoughtfully. Her eyes drifted as she
admired his tender features. He had dark, almost black hair that fell
roughly around his face. His dark eyes stared back at her gently. He
had pale skin and the sharp, pointed ears of a Hylian. He was fairly
muscular from building houses in Hyrule; it wasn't the most impressive
of jobs, but she loved him nonetheless. His chin was square and his
lips were thin and he wore the clothing of a peasant; his loose
fitting beige shirt matched his long baggy brown pants and simple
shoes. The woman frowned. Such a handsome man deserved better then
this, but her smile returned when she thought, “At least I have him.”
The man gazed dreamily back at his wife. She was extremely beautiful.
She too had dark hair; it flowed gracefully over her shoulders and down
her back. Her pupils were small and her eyes were like ice, piecing
back at him. Her skin was dark from long exposure to the sun and her
lips were full. She had the round ears of a Gerudo and a slim face
that came to a gentle point at her chin. Her arms were long and
willowy, draping around their child. She too wore the clothes of a
peasant, a long brown nightgown and no shoes. She looked
out of place in the tattered outfit, but she was still beautiful.
He looked down at their child and stared at her contently. She had no
distinct features yet, but eventually she would take form of a
wonderful little girl. “She’s beautiful, just like her mother.” He
looked back up at his wife and kissed her gently, held it, and slowly
pulled away. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” She cocked her head slightly at him, and looked down
at the baby. “Our little Katrina… I can’t wait to see how she looks
when she gets older.”
Her husband nodded, paused for a moment, and rose to his feet. He left
the room and could be heard locking the doors and making sure the house
was secure for the night.
The woman kissed her baby gently on the forehead and placed her in the
tiny crib directly beside the bed. “If anything happens,” she
whispered, leaning in over the edge of the crib, “we will always be
watching over you.” She stroked the child’s tender cheek with the back
of her finger. Her heart was filled with worry; she had to be there for her daughter.“Sweet dreams...”
The man returned to the room and closed the door behind him, looking over at his wife in a reassuring way.
She rose from the ground and went over to him. She just looked at him,
and then put her arms around him and grasped him closely. It comforted
her slightly, feeling him return the embrace, but it wasn’t enough to
relax her. Had she made a mistake in marrying a Hylian? It was forbidden that any
Gerudo could marry a Hylian, let alone like one in any way. Nabooru
would kill off the entire Hylian race if she had the power to. This is
why they were in hiding. If Nabooru found out they secretly married,
and to top it all off, had a child together, she would slaughter the
both of them and the child. Perhaps this was all a big mistake; there
was no way she could get away with this. How could she have been so
stupid? She knew the dangers before they were married, and now she has
only put the life of the man she loves and her own child on the line
between life and death.
No... She loved him, his race didn’t matter. Nabooru wouldn’t be able to
kill her, she was far more powerful then she. “Love conquers all.”
That’s what her mother had told her all the time throughout her life.
Now she was dead, for the same reason she thought she would soon die.
Her mother had ran from the Gerudos, abandoned them completely. No one
ever knew why she left; they guess that she just didn’t like it
anymore, but they weren’t going to let her off that easily. They hunted
her down and killed her. They let no Gerudo get away with leaving the
group; if someone decided they no longer wanted to work under Nabooru
or Ganondorf, they would be killed.
Then a flash of the past came to her mind, shooting through her like an
arrow. The giant statue loomed inside of the Spirit Temple’s central
chamber. Then Nabooru’s face flashed into her mind and a piercing
cackle broke from her lungs.
The woman gasped deeply, her grip tightening on her husband's back.
“Nabooru…” Her eyes were wide with fear as she stared into his chest.
Her husband looked down at her. “Stop talking nonsense about your
sister coming to kill us.” He moved her away from him slightly and put
his hands on her shoulders. “It’ll be okay. Let’s go to bed. The night
will go faster that way.” He smiled.
It made her feel better that he was trying to make her feel better, but she knew he was worried too. She nodded slowly. “Okay.”
The woman picked up a candle off the bedside table. The flame had the
orange tint of the Spirit, casting an eerie glow around the small,
rundown room. “Goodnight." She blew out the candle and the room went black.
--------
“What was that?” The woman rose from the bed and gently but quickly
picked up Katrina. She looked at her husband who was already at his
feet.
“You heard it too?”
She nodded uneasily. “It’s Nabooru.” She held her child close to her.
As much as he would have wanted to reassure his wife it wasn’t her
sister, the man was almost positive that it was. His eyes darted
quickly around the room for a weapon. His sword was in the other room,
where discrete noises could be heard. Not knowing what else to do, he
ran over to his wife’s side of the bed and leaned over Katrina’s crib.
He turned it onto its side and jerked one of the pegs out of its place.
It wasn’t that sharp and wasn’t that long, but there was nothing else
in the room he could use to protect his family.
The man put a hand on his wife's shoulder and he gave her a look that
she had never seen before. His voice turned into a hauntingly shaky
whisper. “Wait here with Katrina. Whatever you do, do not leave this
room unless I tell you to.”
The woman began to sob quietly. After a few moments she nodded; what
other choice did they have?
Her husband turned to head for the door but
she grabbed him by the shoulder. “Please be careful... I don’t want to
lose you.”
He looked at her sternly. “What did I promise you?”
Then he turned and went to the door, overcome by panic. He could see a faint red glow
coming from beneath the door. Whatever the noise was, it was out there,
in the kitchen. An incredible fear took over him as he stood there with
his rod in hand. What if he failed? What if he couldn’t protect them?
His family, including himself, would be dead. What if somehow his
wife’s power wasn’t enough to withstand Nabooru? He frowned. 'What if,
what if, what if. That’s all I ever think about!'
The man grunted and placed his hand around the doorknob. “AHG!”
He fell back and clutched his hand. “Ahh…” His hand felt like it was on fire; a severe burn was
taking form on his palm as it began puffing out grotesquely. The noises
outside the door shifted slightly, louder now, as if having heard him
scream.
“Are you okay??” His wife hurried towards him but he stopped her with an outstretched hand.
“I’m fine, just stay there!” He grimaced and shook his burning hand
at
his side. As much as it hurt, he was more concerned about their
newfound problem. There was a fire on the other side of the door; they
had to get out! “The window. Let‘s get out of here,” he said aloud.
The man turned his back to the door and took a single step forward
towards his wife next to the window, when an ear piercingly loud crash erupted from behind him.
Everything from then on happened very quickly; behind him, he heard the
door to the room smash against the wall with tremendous force. On the
ground in front of him, the glow of the fire in the kitchen came into
horrifically clear view, and in the outline of the doorway in the glow,
was the silhouette of a woman. Then his eyes shot over to his wife instinctively. What made him turn around was the horrified
look of sheer terror resting upon her once gentle face.
He whipped around, holding the wooden rod from the crib high above his
head. He stopped abruptly, and looked down at the shimmering blade
placed sharply at his neck. His body stiffened, now knowing just how
much danger he was in. His eyes met with the intruder's. “You…” His eyes were flaming with rage.
Nabooru grinned maliciously, pressing the sword closer to his neck.
“What, you were planning to harm me with that?” she said, looking
pathetically up at the raised rod. She laughed dramatically, then
suddenly her face twisted into a crumpled mess. “You Hylians are all
the same,” she spat.
“Don’t you dare hurt him!”
The Gerudo Queen’s gaze rose slightly and looked directly at her
ex-Gerudo. Her attention was immediately gone from the man, as she
whipped the blade away from his neck and began to toy with it. She spun
it around casually, then shoved the tip of its blade in a knot in the
wooden panelling.
“My, my.” She looked around the room. “This is absolutely disgusting.
Tell me again, why would you leave the luxuries of the Gerudo Fortress
to come live in this dump? ...With him?”
Before the woman could answer, she noticed Nabooru’s gaze drop
slightly, resting upon the bundle in her arms. Her face twisted even
more, her nose wrinkling and making her look 30 years older. “What…”
The woman braced herself, holding her baby closer to her.
“What IS that?!” she screeched.
“We had a child together.” The woman looked incredibly steady. “I don’t
care what you think,” the words came slowly. “I will not follow under
you anymore. You cannot make me decide what I will do in my life.
You’re just lucky you were chosen by Ganondorf to lead the Gerudos. It
would only make sense if I was your leader, but I would never sink so
lowly to lead a pack of terrible killers.”
“SHUT UP!” Nabooru shrieked. “The reason Ganondorf chose me over you
was because he could see that you were weak. He could see that you were
too kind-hearted, even if you hadn’t realised your goodness yourself
back then. He knew you would leave us one day; he knew I was more
powerful and that I was meant to be the true Sage!” She looked almost insane,
but she got a calmed look on her face and grinned evilly at her.
“That is why I had time... to prepare…”
The woman stayed calm, being very familiar with her usual mind-games. “What are you talking about...?”
Nabooru cackled manically, tossing her head back and stomping the
ground triumphantly. Then she calmed herself briefly and glared at her.
“You know you could kill me. Come on, use your almighty sagely powers and kill me.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “You're just toying with me like you always do..."
“Oh, am I?!” She cackled again. “Come on, make my day and try it!”
The chances, she thought, of Nabooru actually trying to trick her
by saying she could not kill her was pretty pathetic, but if there was
any way she would kill her, it would be with her powers.
The woman rested her
chin on her chest, looking down at her baby before closing her eyes and
whispering an ancient spell to herself. Before long, a bright orange
glow emitted around her body. She held out one hand, holding Katrina in
the other, and within an instant, a brilliant flashing orange beam fired directly at
Nabooru from her palm.
“Ha ha!!” Nabooru screamed, holding out her sword in a defensive
position. As the beam hit her sword and illuminated her face, it exploded into a thousand
harmless sparks before they vanished into thin air. To the woman’s
dismay, Nabooru didn’t even appear to have broken a sweat.
"What...?!"
“Do you see now?” Nabooru sneered.
The woman clenched her teeth, tears once again blurring her vision. “You
sicken me.” Her words were muffled by her own sobs as her chin bobbed
uneasily. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything more; there was
nothing she could do.
Again, Nabooru shrieked with happiness; she could barely contain
herself. “Ganondorf knew you have the kind, caring heart of a pathetic
Hylian...
He gave me the power to overcome you so my wish would be granted, and I
could become the Sage of the Spirit..." She laughed. "Love will make
men do many things... and I will forever be in his debt for allowing me
to
overcome your supreme powers, that will soon be my own. Then, I will
help him seize all of Hyrule when the Hero of Time opens the Sacred
Realm, as the prophecies tell...”
The woman took a courageous step forward. “Don’t you understand?!
Ganondorf is using you as a toy, a puppet to do his evil biddings! In
nine years when he breaks into the Sacred Realm, the Hero of Time will
need to gather the powers of the Seven Sages in order to seal him away
again. Ganondorf knows that if you have the last medallion the Hero
needs, you will never give it up; that’s the only reason why he gave
you those powers! He doesn’t love you; he knew you
were the weaker one,
and would follow his every command!" She took a deep breath and looked at her poor sister. "...Please, sister, you don’t have to
follow this path...”
Nabooru began to slowly step towards the woman, jerking her sword out
of the floor. “Even after I’ve told you our plans… your good
heart still begs me not to proceed. How thoughtful…”
Her husband immediately ran past Nabooru and to his wife’s side, his
rod still in hand. Nabooru let him pass, knowing this would all end in the same way.
“Again, the weakness of the Hylian race shines through,” she said to
the man, still coming closer. “You run to your wife’s side, hoping
still to
save her, even though you know very well that it is impossible.” Her
attention went back to the woman. “You made a bad decision leaving the
Gerudos for this wonderful, protective husband, who's trying to fend me
off
with a wooden stick. Knowing very well your life was in enough danger
as it was, you go and get pregnant and bear his child... Disgusting!” she
spat, raising her sword above her head, a fiery red glow formed at her
wrist. “It’s time to die.”
The woman’s husband put his arms around his wife and brought her down
to the floor. They were literally huddled in the corner of the room as
Nabooru neared. He looked at himself, at the pathetic wooden rod in his
hand; he dropped it to the floor beside him. He was pathetic! He
couldn’t protect his wife and child, every husband and father’s duty.
He had promised everything would be okay; he promised, but this was it...
This was the end.
He began to sob quietly along with his wife, holding her tightly in his
grasp. “I’m so sorry Drusilia. I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect you
when you needed it the most… I’m so sorry!” He cried, squeezing her with every
last ounce of his strength.
“Tharivol…” she wept. “I love you... Don’t feel badly, there was nothing
you could do.” He held him back with Katrina between them. Then
suddenly, as if on cue, the child began to cry.
Nabooru stopped, only a few feet away from the trembling couple.
“Hm ...Perhaps if you are lucky I will spare the brat… Actually, there is really no
way you could possibly be lucky at a time like this.” She lifted her
sword high above her head, then paused dramatically. “Then again, you
are both lucky you ended up lasting so long... At least you will have the
honour of being killed by the new Sage of the Spirit.”
She cackled evilly. Then with one mighty swing, she struck without hesitation.