Chapter Two
These three Golden Goddesses were Din, the Goddess of Power; Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom; and Farore, the Goddess of Courage.
As Link and Gannondorf entered the meeting hall, Link noticed two people waiting. One was a grown man. He wore red robe that bore a strange pattern, wings on each side of three triangles placed in such a way as to make a whole triangle. His hair was grey with some blonde left over. He wore a fancy looking crown on his head. Unlike Gannondorf, the man was fairly short and round.
The other was a young girl who couldn’t have been much older than Link. That said, she was already almost as tall as the man. She was dainty and thin, but not unhealthily so. She carried herself with a grace and wisdom beyond her years. She wore a long, pink-ish dress that also bore three triangles forming a single bigger triangle. She had very blue eyes and long blonde hair. She and the man were both whiter than anyone Link had ever seen. And they both had pointed ears like him.
She was studying Link intently, and he flushed, suddenly very aware of his attire, and general appearance. However, her attention on him broke when Gannondorf began to speak.
“
So, King Hyrule, Princess Zelda, to what do I owe this...pleasure.” Link noticed Gannondorf’s rather...unusual tone. In fact, Link had never heard it’s like. It was hatred, anger, and disgust mixed with sarcasm. And it sent terrible shivers down Link’s spine. It was the girl, Zelda, who spoke first.
“
We were hoping to re-negotiate trade terms.” She sounded confident. Though Link was surprised the king wasn’t speaking. After all, why let his younger daughter do the negotiating.
“
So, you want to make it better for Hyrule and worse for Gerudo. Is that it?” Gannondorf didn’t notice as Link began to inch slowly and uncomfortably away.
“
No! We wish to bind our two lands tighter, not widen the gap! We wish for peace!” Her voice, though firm, was kind, understanding, and she seemed to be trying to step on her own volatile emotions. There was clearly no love lost between these groups of people. Link had never felt so much hatred in one room before.
“
Ha! As if I’d believe that! You dare talk of peace, when after the war we had to rebuild from scratch and you gave us no aid. Some peace.”
Link couldn’t help it. He inched a little further from the energy almost literally crackling in the room. But that small movement drew Zelda’s eyes back to him. Her eyes narrowed.
“
We were rebuilding as well, Lord Gannondorf." Then, with her eyes still on Link, she said. "Tell me, Lord Gannondorf, where did you get the boy?” The tone was suspicious. And Link liked it less than his dad’s anger.
Before Gannondorf could respond, Link’s voice rang out. “
Don’t talk to my dad like that! He took me in when my parents abandoned me! He saved my life and loves me like a father! Which he is to me!”
“
I see,” there was pity and sorrow in Zelda’s voice. Perhaps there was even understanding. She wondered if it was really true, or a lie. Gannondorf wasn’t exactly known for telling the truth.
“
Well, now that that change of topic is over, let’s get down to business. I have no desire to re-negotiate any kind of trade.” Gannondorf’s voice was cold, brutal, and powerful, making Link stagger back in pure fear.
“Is there nothing we can do to convince you of our good intentions?” Hyrule broke in at that point.
“
Give me the Triforce. It is the only way you can prove yourself.” There was no remorse in Gannondorf’s firm voice.
Hyrule looked at Zelda and she shook her head. “
You expect us to just give you a powerful object that our family has been put in charge of protecting for ages? Do you truly believe we can just hand over the power of the goddesses? Do you know what it could do in the wrong hands?” Zelda was trying to sound patient. But it was clear she was annoyed by Gannondorf’s demand.
“
You don’t seriously believe those stories, do you princess? Your Triforce is nothing more than a symbol. Give it to me. At best, what you say is true, in which case I can use it to make Gerudo prosper! We could survive on our own. And at worst, you believe in fairytales that are not and never have been true. But at least handing over your most precious item would prove your good intentions!”
Zelda appeared genuinely sad. “
I am sorry, Lord Gannondorf. My father and I cannot give you what you ask for. It is t precious a symbol and we cannot risk it being lost or falling into the wrong hands. It means too much to our people.”
“
Then you have nothing to bargain with. Now, get out!” Gannondorf shouted, enraged. Zelda and Hyrule bowed respectfully, then left.
Link watched his dad simmer. He decided to try to distract Gannondorf. “
Hey, dad?”
“
What?!” Gannondorf had never snapped at Link before, but he was still irritated.
“
What’s a Triforce?”
Gannondorf sighed and gave a very brief explanation of how Hyrule was created and what the Triforce was. Or rather what it was supposed to be. But through the explanation, the irritation bled through. At the end, Link only said, “
Oh...Well, I’m going to practice archery.”
“
Alright, Link.” Gannondorf felt remorseful for snapping at Link. It wasn’t Link’s fault for his irritation. But he wouldn’t be able to apologize properly until he’d had time to cool off. He watched as Link ran off.
Link left the room and went back to the training field.
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After Link left, Gannondorf went from feeling just remorseful to feeling outright horrible. He had scared his son, and then brushed him off as just another irritation. What made it worse was Link had defended him to the idiotic king and princess. But he didn’t have long to brood before Koume and Kotake entered his chamber with news. “Lord Gannondorf” said Koume, “Kotake and I followed the Hylian royalty and we heard something interesting. It appears that, while they can’t admit it, they lost the Triforce during the last war. Even if they’d wanted to give it to you, which we doubt, they couldn’t have.”
The news made Gannondorf sit straight. “Well, well. In that case, I’ll just have to find it myself.”
“Yes, well, there’s something else you should know.”
The shout could be heard throughout the Gerudo colony. “WHAT???”
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Link was in the practice arena, firing arrows with near-perfect precision. However, his mind was elsewhere. He wanted to know more about the people who that pair ruled over. His dad had called them the Hylians in his explanation. If they were like him, they must be his birth race. He wanted to know more about Zelda especially. And he wanted to know more about why his father and the fellow royalty seemed to hate each other so much.
But there was more to it than those desires. It would have been hard to explain to someone, but Link felt himself being...called...to that place. Or at least out of Gerudo. “I can’t tell dad...He’d try to stop me. But I know he’ll forgive me for leaving.” He probably sounded like he was trying to convince himself, but he was determined so he shrugged it off.
Link grabbed a small wood shield, holding it in his right hand, and a scabbard, which he strapped to his back. He then placed the shield on top. He placed one of the swords, left out where he could get at them, into the scabbard. It was the smaller of the two swords, but that was fine. He didn’t need the larger one.
Link left the field, unaware he was being watched up until that point. He didn’t see the two elderly figures flying off in the direction of Gannondorf’s meeting room.
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“Are you sure he’s leaving?” Gannondorf asked.
“We saw him grab both a sword and shield before we came to you, Lord Gannondorf.” answered Kotake.
“I...see…”
“Do you want us to stop him? After all, he has no idea the danger he’s getting himself into.”
Gannondorf tried to sound like he didn’t care when he was really terrified for his boy as he said, “No. It’s Link’s choice. I won’t interfere.” Especially since I think my anger at him caused him to leave. I should never have been so short with him…
“As you wish, Lord Gannondorf,” said Koume and Kotake, bowing.
Be safe, Link. Wherever you go. And come home safe, please. Thought Gannondorf, getting ready for his own task.