Did you guys miss me? I hope you did, there were a few of you who had said you did and I'd like to think you weren't lying! But anyway, I owe you guys some new chapters after my year of absence, don't I?

Additionally, this chapter is a bit more graphic than others. Never let it be said I didn't warn you! I rate my stories T for a reason!

Chapter 24

A Tribe of Assassins

Leaving Gerudo Town, Link was exceedingly relieved to see that though it was midday, the desert heat was far more tolerable than it was his first time around, and his cloak kept the sand and sun out of his eyes and hair, and his mask kept it out of his mouth. Marze chose this time to pop out of his cloak, groggy but rested.

"*Yaaawwwnnn...* You should wear this more often, it's super good for naps."

"Oh hush," Link said as he continued walking toward the Pillar, the massive structure becoming more and more visible as he approached. It truly was a giant building, and though it was at the heart of the sandstorms and lightning storms that ravaged the Gerudo region, it seemed completely unharmed aside from some sand on it.

"Can't be too far now," he said as he kept walking. Looking at the base of the Pillar, he saw that there was a large gap between the base of it and the bandit camps that dotted the perimeter, likely since these Lynels Meredith mentioned kept them front getting close, but didn't care as long as they kept their distance.

"Lynels and bandits... I feel like i'm forgetting something," Link said as he thought back to his meeting with the Resistance.

"Oh right, the building can change its layout to keep out intruders," he said, remembering the final part Meredith told him. "It'll be a bit of a chore then, but I'm up to it."

"There was something else," Marze said, now completely awake. "Something that didn't sound good."

"Oh come on, I think I'd remember something else if it was that... important..."

He trailed off and stopped as he noticed something rather unsettling.

The ground below them had begun to shift and shake.

"I remember now," he said, a massive mound of sand in the distance moving towards him.

"The Dawddat Aljahim."

Right as he said the name of the beast, it emerged from the sand and tried to close its massive maw around the young hunter, who rolled out of the way as the massive abomination slammed its colossal jaws shut.

"By the Three it's huge!" he shouted in awe as it landed back on the desert ground, kicking up a massive cloud of sand that pushed Link back, forcing him to cover his face. Lowering his arm, he saw the beast burying itself back in the sand, likely hoping to pounce on him again.

"I need to get to solid ground!" he shouted, looking around quickly and running towards the first rock outcropping he saw, the Aljahim chasing close after with mouth wide open in the hopes of swallowing our young friend whole, but Link wasn't having any of that, sending a heavy wave of flare down the creature's maw to distract it. This actually dazed the creature for a moment, the creature tumbling and falling on its side. Taking no chances, he scrambled up the only rocky outcropping around he deemed big enough to keep him safe from the colossal sand monster.

Reaching the top, he took a closer look at the beast below him. It was positively titanic, maybe the same size as the Queen Gohma, though most of its size wasn't legs, but sheer body mass. Plus, it had an absolutely cavernous maw some of the largest of monsters would be lost in that was lined with row after row of massive teeth. It seemed to be capable of eating almost anything...

"But it looks like it can't stand the taste of fire..." he said, crouching to look more closely at it. "But that didn't hurt it, only left the damned thing dazed. I'm not even sure my weapons could pierce that thing's hide..." True to his words, the beast had an extremely thick-looking, almost stony exterior with broken blades and arrows jutting out of it. With the lack of any blood, there was no way they had pierced deep enough to cause any real harm aside from making it harder for it to move through the sand, and judging by its size, that isn't much of a difference made either.

"I guess for now I just have to try and steer clear of it... Its eyes are small, so it must be either blind or close to it. Does it rely on vibrations to follow its prey?" he wondered aloud. "Marze... I gotta ask a dangerous favor."

"Ohhh, I don't like the sound of that... What's this favor?" he asked begrudgingly.

"Well, two," Link said, standing upright. "First, I need you to fly by its eyes once it regains its composure. Not too close though, just enough to see if it keeps track of you. Finally, when it buries itself again, I need you to fly away from it, touch the ground, then fly back here as fast as you can. Are you up for it?"

Marze blinked a few times and took a deep breath, nodding. "I can't exactly back out of checking up on a single monster if I'm asking you to take on a god and his men... Besides, I can fly pretty fast if I need to. I'll do it."

"Awesome. Thanks, Marze."

"Thank me when I come back in one piece, until then, just make sure I don't end up this thing's lunch," he said as he took to the air.

"I can do that much..." he said as he pulled out his bow, aiming at the monster's eye as it stirred, finally coming to.

With a massive exhalation and what could best be described as a loud grunt, the beast righted itself, Marze flying around its eyes for a moment before it dove back into the sand. It didn't seem to pay him any mind, which Link took note of.

"Interesting..." Link said, releasing the tension on his bow.

"And now, part two..." Marze said as he flew a distance away. Flying just above the ground, he grazed a claw through the sand and then gained altitude, the beast breaching right below him, massive jaws slamming shut around thin air.

"Ok, I've got what I need. Marze, come back here!" Link shouted, the little dragon heeding his words and returning to him.

"I hope you learned what you needed to, because I don't want to do that again..."

"I have. It seems as though it's almost completely blind. When you went around its eyes it never once angled itself to look at you or pay you any sort of attention. Furthermore, it never came out of the sand to look at where you were, it simply went to where you were last and breached, so it must be sensing the vibrations of anything's movement through the sand," Link explained, watching on as the beast circled the spot it breached from, occasionally shooting a geyser of sand from its blowhole.

"So, how are we getting past it?" Marze asked, Link shaking his head.

"I have honestly no idea... It swims too fast to outrun and there's no way I could take it on right now. Maybe if I dazed it I could make a break for another rock outcropping, but that would require it to just keep its mouth open for me to pump fire down its throat... Any ideas, Marze?"

"I got nothing," Marze said, shaking his head.

"Hmph, I'd try to just move slower but I don't want to risk it sensing me and getting an easy snack. I think the best I can do is wait for it to move on..." he said, as he sat down on the rock.

Luckily, the beast grew bored rather quickly and left within a few minutes, Link watching the murderous mound of sand disappear into the horizon as he took a cautionary step back onto the desert floor, a disastrous mound of sand staying far from him.

"Okay, I think it's moved on. Otherwise it would have definitely come back here by now."

"Yep, you should be good," Marze agreed, landing on the bounty hunter's shoulder. "But don't just wait for it to come back, get a move on."

"Right, right," Link said as he returned to his path. Having gotten closer to the tents that made up the bandits' camp, he could see that there were a few larger tents scattered throughout the regular size ones, as well as one significantly larger one with a different color scheme that stood closest to the entrance, though still a decent enough way away from it such that the Lynels remained uninterested in them. Regardless, it was very close, far closer than he'd be comfortable with building a camp around Lynels. These bandits were something else.

"There's just so many," he said as he looked over the tents. "How do they move so many through this area? There's no way the Dawddat wouldn't be tipped off to so many people."

"Maybe they've found a way to move by it undetected?" Marze wondered, Link nodding.

"There's no other way. The Gerudo found a way to move through the sand quickly, maybe the bandits found a way to do so silently," he said as he looked at the sand boots built into his new armor. "Oh, now that I'm thinking about it, I need to name this armor. Any ideas?"

"Hmmm... Well, he called you Voe a lot, maybe the Voe Armor?"

"Nah, too bland," Link said, crossing his arms. "Desert Armor? No, that's bad too..."

"Desert Voe Armor?" Marze suggested, Link standing in silence for a moment.

"I do like that, but... it feels kinda unoriginal, doesn't it?" Link said.

"You're right," Marze said, nodding in agreement. "Uninspired."

"Aha!" Link cheered, snapping his fingers. "Royal Sand Armor!"

"...You aren't seriously gonna call it that, are you?" Marze said, looking at the bounty hunter in mild disbelief.

"No..." Link said, looking at the ground in defeat, his arms and shoulders drooping with them. "Maybe ask someone in the Resistance? I bet Tensa has some cool ideas; he's from another country! Maybe they have some cool phrase I could use to name this?"

"That'll work I guess. Let's do that when we get ba-" Marze said, cutting himself off.

"What's up? Dawddat back?" Link said, reaching for his sword, free hand going to the ground to feel for the vibrations of the colossal beast. Yet there were no shifting sands.

"I see footprints coming from the bandit camp..." Marze clarified, Link looking around cautiously, yet seeing nothing.

"They must have seen us... The Royal Crimson Shaagos favors stands out in the desert a bit too much..."

The last thing our young hunter remembered was a quiet chuckle followed by a massive pain at the base of his skull.

OOO

"Oh... my head..."

Link didn't quite know what had happened. Or even remember what he was doing, for that matter. What was he doing again?

"I was... heading to the... Brutal Spire...? No, that's not it..." he said groggily as he tried to remember. "It was the... the...!"

Suddenly Link's eyes shot open as he fully recalled what had happened up to this moment.

"The Savage Pillar!" he shouted, only for there to be a loud bang against the cage he found himself held within.

"Silence, Gerudo!" his captor called. He was a very tall, tan man absolutely covered in bandages. In his hand was a curved sword, with another at his waist.

"Who the Dark Realm are you?" Link said, taking a step forward only to find that there was a chain bolted around his ankle. He'd also been stripped of his gear. How wonderful...

"My name does not matter to you!" he shouted in return, red eyes narrowing as they scrutinized the hunter before him. "Gerudo scum like you has no need for things like this!"

"I'm not Gerudo, you idiot," Link said, finding himself slipping into his Demon persona. It tended to present itself when he needed to be more threatening. "No Gerudo has skin as light as mine, blue eyes, or blonde hair. You must have too much sand in your eyes to have taken a proper look."

"Speak another word and I will cut that tongue of yours out! A silver tongue is no match for a steel blade!" his captor shouted, fully facing the cage.

"I'd like to see you try," Link said with a smirk as he backed away from the cage door, his captor now furious.

"If you think you are in any position to speak, think again, Gerudo! You remain my prisoner while all you can do is talk!"

"For the last time, I'm not Gerudo. Goddesses, how much of your brain must have dried up for you not to see that? You must know what they look like by now, after all, all you bandits are good for is trying to sack Gerudo Town when Shaagos leaves. Hylia knows you'd never get anywhere if their big man was still there."

Absolutely livid, his captor grabbed a key from his belt and opened the cage, swinging open the door and entering the small cage with Link.

"Let us see how big you talk with a blade through you!" he said as he walked towards Link, sword held high such to cut him down. He went through with it as well, swinging down hard, though Link stepped in close such to drive his shoulder into the man's elbow, his arm now bent at an unnatural angle and dropping his sword. Before the man could even scream in pain, Link threw him over himself and finished him quickly by snapping his neck, all in one swift, soundless motion. A (mostly) painless death.

"He'd chosen the wrong path..." Link said as he took a step back. He absolutely loathed having to kill anything other than monsters, but if he had to, then he would. And as little as he'd be willing to admit it, he was good at it.

Wasting no time, he lifted the man's swords off of him, dragging his body to a part of the cage that couldn't be seen from the outside; luckily, the makeshift prison was covered in the same cloth the rest of the tents were made from, meaning no one could see what was happening within. He also grabbed the keys off of the man, strapping them to his belt. Thankfully, they'd left him with pants and a belt. But that's it.

Using the admittedly well-made swords, he cut through the chains binding him, though he couldn't get rid of the shackle bolted around his ankle without risking cutting himself. Having removed as much as he could have, he left the cell, locking it after himself such to avoid raising suspicion. Try as he might though, he knew they'd find out eventually, so he had to move.

He was glad to see that it was night, as this played to his advantage; the guards he could see were carrying torches, so he could stay hidden in the shadows and take down those he couldn't avoid. That, and the multitude of bonfires around the bandit camp made it such that it was still a reasonable temperature.

Making his move, he quickly made his way to a bonfire nearby that another guard was standing by, though he was accompanied by another. To ensure they didn't catch him, he ducked behind a large crate.

"Can you believe the haul we have earned, my friend?" one said to the other. "To think a Gerudo in such regal-looking armor would simply come to us! They will be worth very much as a slave."

"We will have to find a good buyer though," the other one replied. "Male Gerudo are very rare, and they will not go for cheap. It will take a wealthy individual to afford that one. I am thinking maybe a high-class Hylian female? A male slave could have many uses to a woman of high standing..."

With that, he burst into laughter that eventually turned into a coughing fit that he quickly culled.

Seeing his chance, Link grabbed a coal from a fire that had died out and threw it at a torch, knocking it down and setting the tent it was hanging from ablaze. The two reacted quickly, making their way towards it. Link following after them, keeping low to the ground. When they reach the fire, one stood back and watched as the other kicked sand onto the fire, as it had not yet grown to such a size that it was uncontrollable. Link made use of this unknown mistake and came up behind the other one and covered his mouth, choking him out, quickly doing the same to the other right as he finished putting out the fire, taking the set of throwing knives he had on his person and strapping them to his leg. He could definitely use those later...

He quickly looked around, seeing that there were a few empty barrels the perfect size to hide these men in, doing just that, making sure to close them tightly in the case that they woke up.

Wrapping up his business there, he pressed on, the orange lights of the Savage Pillar being an ever-present reminder of his true goal here; find his gear, find Marze, and get into that tower. Looking around, he was surprised to see that he was reasonably close to the largest tent he had seen earlier, though he figured within that tent was the bandit chief, and there was no way he wasn't heavily guarded. Sadly, considering this, he figured that must have been where his gear was. After all, he had a multitude of magical and exceedingly well-crafted weapons and armor there, and if it wasn't to be sold then the chief would likely claim it as his own. Especially his sword and shield, as they were quite literally otherworldly.

"I'll need to cause a distraction then..." he deduced as he looked around again, seeing that there was a sort of watchtower nearby with a man at the top armed with a bow. He saw there was a ladder leading to the perch he stood at, but he wasn't stupid; it was in plain view of the rest of the camp. No, he'd have to scale the structure opposite the ladder, away from the camp. it was his best chance to stay hidden while getting to the top.

Silently making his way towards the tower and avoiding any guards he saw on his way, he easy made it to the base, looking around to make sure there was no one who had seen him. With no such person in sight, he began scaling the tower, doing it quickly yet quietly, not wanting to alert the guard above him. Reaching the top, he was greeted by the back of the guard, who was leaning against the railing. He waited for a moment for the man to step away before climbing over the railing and putting the man in a stranglehold. Due to his location, he didn't need to die, as his body would be far harder to find in the case where he needed to be disposed of. No, Link merely choked him out, setting his unconscious form onto the ground. Taking his bow and arrows from him, he looked around to see that there was a torch at the top of the tower with him. Setting an arrow ablaze, he aimed it towards a tent not too close yet not too far from the main tent, letting loose an arrow that quickly set the tent ablaze, the fire spreading to those nearby.

Quickly making his way back down towards the ground, again not using the ladder, Link saw that many guards ran towards the flame, even those who were within the main tent.

"A good sign," he deduced as he made his way to the main tent, still sticking to the shadows such to remain unseen.

Having gotten past all the guards between him and the main tent, he made sure no one had seen him before going inside, taking a quick survey of the room; it was much larger than any of the other tents around him, and the walls were of a different color than the others as well. The room was absolutely filled with gold and gems, as well as many Gerudo pieces of equipment such as weapons and armor. At the back of the room opposite the entrance was a large throne-like chair that seemed much larger than a chair needed to be...

He was pulled from his investigation when a familiar voice called to him from overhead.

"Hey! What took you so long?"

Looking up, Link was relieved to see that Marze was held within a cage suspended above the room by a rope tied down behind the throne. Marze and cages... this happened far too often for his taste

"Well, being unconscious probably didn't help me out much, huh?" Link replied, heading over to the rope that held Marze's prison up. Cutting it free and slowly lowering him, he opened the cage and finally released our favorite Stardrake from his newest cell.

"They did get you pretty good, huh?" Marze said. "To think they'd have been able to sneak up on you of all people."

"Yeah, speaking of which, what exactly happened? I can't seem to recall what went down after I got whacked," Link said as Marze flitted around him.

"Well, once they got you more of them showed up and caught me, a couple of them dragging you back here and taking your gear. Don't worry though, it's still somewhere around here; it was all too ornate for them to agree on a price to sell it at, so the chief decided to keep it. Well, most of it anyway. He ended up splitting the weapons among his commanders. One got your sword and shield, another got your ax and bow, and the last one got your greatsword and Channel Orb. Those are those other tents we saw, the ones that stood out from the others."

"I see..." Link said, nodding. "I'm still curious as to how they snuck up on me though... I couldn't see them at all."

"I think they can use some kind of magic to become undetectable. Sound, sight, heat, you name it, they can hide it. Must also be how they get past the Dawddat."

Link put his hands on his hips, sighing in agreement. "No wonder. They can make themselves untraceable..."

"Hey, you closed the curtain behind you, right?" Marze asked, his attention drawn elsewhere.

"Yeah, why?" Link asked, turning to see that the curtain was in fact open.

"I think we've got a visitor," Marze said as he flew to the top of the room.

"I would definitely agree," Link said as he drew his temporary swords, quickly checking the room. The floor wasn't made of wood or stone, just a carpet draped over sand. If he could still see the footprints of those who had captured him...

"Then I can still see yours!" He quietly shouted as he turned to lock blades with the invisible foe that had tried to off him, catching them off guard as they regained visibility.

"Ohoho, quite observant, aren't you, Gerudo?" the now visible bandit chief snickered, backing away from our young hero, letting him get a good look at him. He was exuberantly tall, perhaps even taller than Shaagos. Have face was hidden by an odd golden mask, though he could see his eyes through said mask, seeing they were a burning red like the others of his kind he had seen, though his were more intense. Around his shoulders and over his head was a lavish purple cloak with gold and maroon trim that covered his arms as well, and around his neck yet over the cloak was a large golden necklace. His pants were mildly hidden by the cloak, though Link could tell that they were vertically striped with maroon and gold, and they in turn were tucked into golden shoes with curved toes. As for his weapons, he had two swords similar to the onesLink had taken from his guard, though they were longer and more ornate, covered in runes of some kind. All in all, the man was completely covered from head to toe, the only part of his visible being his burning red eyes.

"For the last time," Link said, annoyed, "I am NOT Gerudo. I'm Hylian, you idiots. After all, only one male Gerudo per 100 years, and that one is Shaagos. Not me."

"Oh, trust me, I am aware. I was just wondering if you were going to go with it or try and correct me. It seems you are not completely tame," the man replied, and judging by his tone, Link could tell he was smirking under the mask.

"If I were tame I'd still be in that cell. Now, you can make this easy on yourself and give me back my gear, or I can take it back by force. Your call."

"Oh, You think I would be willing to part with such finely crafted armor?" the man jeered, a small chuckle escaping his lips. "You would have to kill me for them. And quite frankly, I do not feel as if you are up for the task."

"Tell that to the guard who was in charge of me," Link said, glaring at the man before him. Upon hearing this, the man stood up straight, his eyes narrowing into what must have been a twisted grin beneath his mask.

"Oh, a killer? You are no different than us then. Join me. We could do great work together."

"Don't you dare compare me to yourself," Link said. "I kill only when there's no other way. You kill for profit and pleasure."

"You are definitely correct," he said, looking around the room. "It seems you are not dumb enough to have fallen for that. I would have killed you the moment you let your guard down. No one comes to my territory, kills my men, and demands my riches as their own. You have signed your death warrant, Hylian, and I will be your executioner."

"I'd like to see you try," Link said, getting into a better stance. When they'd clashed blades earlier, he could tell that this man was very strong.

"I will do far more than try, Hylian," He said, swinging his swords, both lighting ablaze. So that's what the runes were for... "I will wear your bones as jewelry, and stain the ground beneath your feet with your blood and tears."

"Bring it on then," Link said rolling his neck. He was still a little sore from being struck... "I'm not gonna fall at the hands of some nameless bandit, chief or no. You're just another obstacle for me to overcome."

"Ohoho, nameless? Far from it. I am Sa'alel Garo, the Master of the Garo Tribe."

Oh boy.

Lots of stuff happened here, huh? The Dawddat is a real pain, the bandits turned out to be the Garo (I'm aware they only appear in Majora's Mask, though I felt as though they'd be a good fit as the sand thieves), and Link was forced to take a life.

Now, before anyone says he never would, I'd like to point you to a memory from Breath of the Wild found in the Bazaar near Gerudo Town. Zelda is being chased by members of the Yiga Clan, and is nearly killed before Link arrives and cuts one down himself. I would argue that he killed this Yiga member, as we have seen from DLC memories that they are unlikely to leave one behind, even if gravely wounded, and we do not see them attempt to carry this one away. Therefore, he was most likely dead. After all, they are usually capable of retreating even when badly wounded, so this further supports my idea that this Yiga member was killed. Plus, as a Champion of Hyrule and Zelda's personal bodyguard, I'd like to assume he is at least capable of taking a life (Especially considering he is perfectly capable of killing monsters with ease after his 100 year nap- he is a trained killer). So I'd just like to get that out of the way now. Plus, as a bounty hunter, there are bound to be times where your target cannot simply be captured. He tries to avoid these situations, but sometimes they cannot be.

So all in all, I think I've done a decent job explaining myself. Any further questions regarding that, feel free to leave a review to ask. I'd be happy to talk about it further if need be.

So without further ado, I'm gonna wrap up this chapter! OniHelix out, folks!