It seems that whenever I play new Zelda games, I've got these burning questions running through my mind about where the heck the Gerudo are. What happened to them? They seemed to just drop off the face of the earth. They weren't in Twilight Princess, and I've already started a story about that. I feel that this is perhaps the prequel to it. This is my theory on one way they could have come into existence after Demise cursed the triforce bearers to continual rebirth.

Summary: As they stand a top the goddess's hands in the sealed grounds, our two timeless friends feel that they are looking out into a new world of peace and potential. But when Link begrudgingly leaves for the night and Ghirahim shows up to take Zelda for a stroll to the desert, danger resurfaces all over again. What are Ghirahim's motives? And why is there such a familiar feeling strung through the cold wind?

As always, I own nothing.

"No way."

For such a soft young man, his words were strikingly sharp. Silence rang around them till he spoke again, just the slightest quiver grasping his now softer voice. "I'm not leaving you here alone."

From beside the unusually agitated boy his companion could sense the tensing of his shoulders, his hands tightly wringing his own wrists. The energetic blonde girl let out a patient sigh. Her friend had always been one of few words, so hearing the seriousness of his voice made arguing against him so much harder than she wished it to be. Never had he been one defiant for his own sake; in fact, he was almost always gentle and agreeable. She knew she could speak freely with him about anything in the world.

Until it came to matters of the heart, that is.

None the less, she let her persuasive skills loose, her tone relaxed and set to sway. "Link… look around us."

His eyes lifted to see the last of the sunlight filtering through the trees, supple enough to scatter over the sacred grove of the goddess and the sealed temple. What once was a trying and battle prone place for the chosen hero lay sealed far below the goddess and her beautiful garden; now the land budded with the promise of peace for a new world. The quiet wind rustled through the pre-existing shrubs and trees to the newly planted vegetation which was overtaking the grounds. It graced and swirled around the structure of the goddess who sat towering over the surrounding fields. With a sly stroke, it caressed the tense neck of the green clad hero who had been watching its progression from his roost in the hands of the goddess. And in one last stride, the breeze disappeared into the twilight, stretching into areas foreign to him in his travels upon the surface.

Feeling that they had taken in enough of the view, the young girl picked up her where her request had left off. "I see a land of peace. I see new areas which demand exploration. I see the monsters retreating, and the surface filling with new life and new species." The smile she produced was unhindered. "What is there to fear here? I see nothing, Link. You've banished the last of the evils from this land and now we have only to cultivate the promise of its potential. This ground itself has sealed the enemy, far, far below our feet. Yet," her soft eyes turned to his callused ones, "you hesitate to leave me here for only a day. Why?"

Link purposely remained focused on the world below. He knew what Zelda spoke to be truthful, for he could not find a decent argument within himself to dissuade her request. But still, he remained uneasy at the thought of leaving her alone on the surface. He groaned inwardly. What could he speak to her to keep her from asking such simple yet impossible tasks of him? "I can't leave you unprotected here," simple truth rang out in the chill of the night.

A sigh. "Link, you're only gone for a day. Besides, Groose and his gang are around here somewhere too, so I'm not alone." Seemingly on cue, wafts of appalling singing mounted from below, painfully reminding the young hero of his friend's presence on the surface world. Zelda snickered softly at Groose's latest attempts of proving himself not only useful, but an entertainer as well. Up the hill at the entrance to the temple, the leader and his gang sat around the fire they had built, hopelessly attempting to form some sort of acapella number in their current state of boredom.

"You're right." Zelda looked surprised at his sudden, unruffled reply. "Besides, I'm sure Groose would love some alone time with you," he muttered under his breath as his arms crossed over his legs. "I'm sure that song he's singing now is just for you."

"Link!" she huffed playfully, punching his shoulder with hopes of knocking him from his blank, motionless stare at the ground below. To her distaste, he hardly responded. She sighed again and stood slowly, turning her back to him. Out of her view, a smug smile broke his stone features; he could already guess what she was deviating.

"You know, you need to lighten up." She walked over to the small alter where she had previously placed the statuette in Link's triumph in the race. Letting her fingers absent mindedly run over where it had sat, a bit of dust rolled off on to her feet. But her mind was on none of this, for she had a plan. She had decided to leap at her overly solemn friend, throwing them both off the goddesses' hands so that they could float down on his sailcloth. Smiling craftily at the thought of his reaction, she turned back around and readied herself to bolt. But to her shock, she found herself alone. Her smile quickly fell. "Link?" Running to the ledge, she peered over but could see nothing and no one below. In the distance, Groose and his friends remained unaware and noisy.

"Where... did he-"

She stopped breathing abruptly upon turning back around, for Link stood face to face with her. His eyes laughed in the beginnings of the faint, lunar light, a smile creeping across his face. She was so close to him that her heart nearly tore from her chest. His hands gently embraced her shoulders and his words captivated her spirit just as softly. "I want to show you something." Zelda's big eyes blinked in a silent nod and Link stepped closer, so close that their feet met. So close that she could feel his soft breath on her own lips. So close, she found herself unconsciously closing her eyes. "Are you ready?" his voice barely broke a whisper. She nodded just enough to count. Her body felt like butter as her heart pumped madly.

His lips opened again, and she felt he was about to say something of great importance. But even the wisest have been wrong.

His smile grew. "Your turn."

Suddenly, she was whirled around and lightly shoved. Suddenly, her feet were flailing through the air as all things solid disappeared from beneath her. Suddenly, her eyes were wider than a remlit's ears. Winds were tearing at her body and blotting out all sound other than that of her own scream. Inside, her heart pounded madly. Her body felt like a board as adrenalin raced through her veins.

A force hit her, and when her hair flew out from her eyes she realized Link had dove after her and was now holding tightly to her. Cunning and mirth was written all over his smug features, laughter ringing from his lips.

Her blood was boiling. "Are you crazy?" she screamed above the driving wind. But her devious friend was laughing so hard he almost couldn't get out words.

"Sometimes I wonder that myself," he managed between pants. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and held fast, breathing deeply. The sailcloth emerged from his pouch and the speed at which they fell drastically reduced as the air funneled under it. While they floated down, she found herself subconsciously pressing her nose into the nape of his neck. Her warm breath tickled both him and his cheeks, making Link squirm and begin to laugh again. "Z-Zelda, stop-p it!" Feeling particularly merciless in seeing the perfect opportunity to retaliate, she crawled onto his back, beginning an attack of the cruelest form- ticklment. "H-Hey! C'mon!" His legs were flailing. Each muscle tensed, crying for leniency which she would not bestow as he endured her direct torture through bursts of laughter. In attempt to stop her, one hand sub-consciously released its grip on the sail.

"Opps..."

Link's quick instincts had spun him last minute so that he would land flat on his stomach with Zelda on his back to prevent her from being hurt. But the quick twist hadn't been quick enough, for instead he found himself landing on his back in the grass with a light thud, staring into two wild but dazzling, azure eyes.

"What was that for?" the livid girl sat up and placed her hands on her hips. "Do you think its funny throwing unsuspecting people off statues without any means for them to survive?"

A snicker. "I don't know… do you?" She looked at him blankly. "You know, I think you need to lighten up," he smirked, mimicking her very words. She huffed, planting her elbow on his chest and using it to support her cheek. None the less, she couldn't help but smile back at him. But the moment didn't last long.

"Zelda?" Groose's bulky form tripped around the entrance to the goddesses' gardens in a frantic search for the girl he valued most. His olive eyes were wild. Catching sight of the two of them laying on the ground, he grunted, darting towards them and lifted both from the ground to their feet. "Are you hurt, Zelda? You were screamin' bloody murder there! What was that all about?" His frantic questions continued as his sidekicks, Cawlin and Strich, rounded the corner.

"I'm fine, Groose. Link just scared me- that's all." Her words were absorbed into the anxious young man's hysterical wits, and slowly he straightened his back into place.

"Oh man… don't go scarin' me like that! Jeeze Link, what're you tryin' 'a do to me here?" he scoffed, throwing a light fist at his newly sworn ally.

Link shrugged, stuffing his sailcloth back into this pouch. "Just keeping you on your toes, you could say." Zelda rolled her eyes and shoved him lightly. He smiled in reply. "Hey Groose, I'm… uhh…" his head shook slowly as he looked at the ground. Groose's interest was definitely caught. "I can't believe I'm asking you this… Could you guys stay here for the night so that Zelda won't be left alone? She insists on staying, and I promised the headmaster I would meet with him tonight."

Groose was suddenly beaming. Hunched over, his fingers began clocking together in excitement. "Duh-huh-huh, this perfect! Real perfect! Oh-ho-ho… She'll get to hear our latest song, and then-" The red head turned, continuing to mumble to himself while his two friends shot each other an unimpressed look which read something along the lines of 'great.' Nevertheless, they nodded to Zelda and followed after Groose, who was now babbling about the art of serenading as he returned to their spot at the fire. He suddenly turned before he rounded the corner, feeling he had forgotten something. His tough guy exterior was back up, as his cocky grin and gleam in his eye returned. "Yeah don't worry Zelda- I'll be here for 'ya. You don't have nothin' to worry your pretty head about with me around. I'll just be up here," his voice held its typical over-smooth character as he motioned up the hill.

Watching him strut away, both felt a different torrent of emotion. Zelda couldn't help but cringe at what she had gotten herself into, while Link couldn't help but to feel a touch more green than usual. None the less, he pushed jealous thoughts away and let out a loud, sharp call for his loftwing. He watched through the fading clouds for his bird, trying not to think about what he was doing. A promise was a promise.

The sudden feeling of a hand on his chest snapped his attention back to earth. Zelda silently took his hand as she slid up to him, catching the air headed boy by surprise. He only had a moment to lock eyes with her before she had planted a crisp and tender kiss on his cheek. Said cheek quickly became multiple shades darker and his jaw fell ajar. Her lips were velvet on his weathered skin; her scent turned his heart to liquid. He couldn't move. For a second, he wondered if this moment were a part reality or of his own imagination, but as his eyes searched hers silently for some sort of answer, he knew he would have to dig farther.

He had always worked beyond what he thought he was capable of for her sake, facing danger and death itself without a second thought. Yet his heart couldn't seem to claim the same level brazen of fearlessness. A finger shakily crept to her chin, hoping still to draw out some sort of explanation. His eyes stayed locked on hers until the sound of his loftwing's landing broke their intimacy. Her cheeks were as crimson as his famed bird as they stood in the nocturne of the young night.

"Y-You'd better get going before it gets any darker," she finally spoke through burning cheeks. A shy, silent nod was his reply as he tripped over his own feet towards his bird. In a moment, her life long friend was flying up, up, up and out of sight to another world, a world far more familiar than the one which spanned at her feet.

-.-

Dark hands twirled the handle of an even darker sword in silent circles as the handler eyed the last glimpse of that giant bird disappearing with his rider. "Finally," he huffed quietly, leaning against the pillar he had been using to conceal himself. He dealt just as poorly in patience as he did with the technical difficulties of spoiled plots. But the longer he stood impatiently waiting, the more he wondered what exactly he was so impatient for. He had no commitments or time limits- no ungrateful Demise to revive, no one and nowhere demanding his presence.

In fact, he had nothing. And with the reality and emptiness of his own existence apart from Demise slowly revealing itself, nothing seemed to matter now.

Absorbed in thought, he continued swinging the hilt of the sword around his finger when the ironic metaphor of his subconscious habit hit him bitterly. In sudden rage he flung it away from himself where it landed silently in the grass. He had been just like that sword; wrapped around a finger, completely loyal in beauty and service, and in return for all he had done he was simply tossed aside, disregarded and shamed. His struggles and value had gone without even an admirable glance, and it boiled as sick and sticky anger within. Two fangs tugged furiously at his bottom lip, thirsty for vengeance.

"Why am I still waiting here?" he finally questioned, rather irritated. Looking around the pillar into the garden where that infernal girl was still staring at the sky, he resisted the urge to smack himself. "Can she not just fall into my hands without effort at least once…?"

His feet were virtually silent as they moved towards the unaware girl. They had been just as silent when his master had hidden him from that cursed hero's view. He had walked on water and right out of the sky, right back to this rugged land where he seemed doomed to repeat what had already been done. With what remained of Demise's presence in this realm he was calling to his weapon, seeking fulfillment in the last of his revenge. Ghirahim had long been a faithful weapon and was expected to bring about the dark will of Demise right to the end. Ghirahim couldn't help but laugh inwardly. That call would ring unanswered answer for the first time in hundreds of years; would he really let himself be used again? From the moment he realized what Demise had done to him in the sealed grounds, a hate grew like wildfire against the one he had been a disciple of for so long, and now that bitter hate was all he seemed to have left. Having no purpose was leaving him feeling… disturbed, even disoriented.

This of course meant he was in need of a good venting session.

"Isn't it awfully late to be out? The world is transformed into a whole new place at night, my dear. Besides, mortals do need sleep, if I recall correctly." Positioned beside her, he casually joined the dream-like gaze at the sky until she jumped out of her thoughts, shocked and terrified. Meeting with the wide leer painted across his lips, she stumbled backwards. Her eyes raced over him in disbelief, her lips stammering. "Oh, yes, you're right; I look quite different without my cloak, don't I? In fact you probably don't even recognize me! This just won't do." With a snap of his fingers, his red cloak fabricated over his bare shoulders and down his back.

"G-Ghirahim-" she stuttered, wholly confounded.

"Ahh, I thought that would be just the thing to refresh your memory. Besides, I can't do without a little warmth on such a chilly night while we have such a long road before us."

Noting her eyes darting to the small fire up the hill, he sighed as though all the fun had been sapped from his preparation. His voice easily gave away the change in mood. "No, no, I won't do with any of that mischief. I've had more than enough of that terrible barking of theirs, and I promise you, if I have to lay eyes on that offensive hair-do once more it will not end well for that boy." He shrugged. "I suppose we'll do this the quick way, then." Wrapping his hand over her mouth, he snapped his fingers and both of them disappeared.

-.-

Its nothingness was absolute. Barren wind fondled the barren land in a bitter dance, neither able to lick the other's wounds, for no consolation or mercy was found in Lanaryu's vast desert. It turned its scorching glare from no passer-by except under rule of the moon's pastel visage, and even then the land was transformed into an equally unwelcoming, unbearably cold abyss. All of this was plainly seen from where they appeared atop the mine's entrance at the heart of the desert.

She quickly backed away as his arms slid off her shoulders and welcomed the world before them. "Isn't this wonderful?" he trilled, the wind carrying his voice across the arid land. Yet his voice was almost monotone, which she found strange from this eccentric being- if being could ever be the correct title for him. In the moonlight, his skin looked as pale as the orbiting sphere above them and when his eyes met hers, there was something terrible housed in them.

Zelda stood at a distance, still in shock. "H-How are you alive?" She tried to conceal her panic.

"Cunning is the first rule of survival!" His lips curled into a twisted smile and he winked playfully before he continued. "Hmm... but truly," sharp diamonds reformed him somewhere far away, for she could hardly hear his voice now, "that question demands the observation of a wide spectrum, darling. Let me indulge you." She looked about wildly, searching in the faint light for where he could have possibly disappeared to, finally catching sight of him atop a shattered set of stairs. Gazing center on, his eyes were not hindered by the distance as his voice was. "This distance is much like the span of a mortal's lifetime. We could even say that this is like your lifetime measured out… isn't that precious? Yes, what a void, small purpose indeed." He was behind her again suddenly, gazing off to the horizon and whispering in her pointed ear. "But I am not like you. You would loose sight of me before you could see the end of my being. I was not created to expire as you are; no, I was created for splendor beyond what you can imagine. Or," his voice jumped playfully, and a sudden pang of something she didn't understand hit her, "can you imagine, dear goddess?" The last word sliced through the silent air with particular force.

She had been about to run, but she stopped. Hazy memories flooded her mind. "… I created you."

Ghirahim's patient smile overtook his face, making him look particularly inhuman. "OH, I'm so glad you remember. This would have been terribly awkward otherwise. You see, I had faith in you once; you could even say I held a deep form of love towards you. But, I see now that I've had faith in many, many pointless things."

Sharp recollections coiled themselves from her lips, suddenly overtaking her. "You were warned there would be no reward." It was no longer Zelda speaking, but something within her.

A snarl rapidly snapped his playful features. "You never told me I'd be tossed aside! Counted as worthless!" Gloved hands grabbed and shook her shoulders wildly and she tired to fight back. Vague stars above blurred together as her head rattled to and fro. "There is no other reason for me to be counted as living when my purpose has betrayed me!" Despite still being traumatized, a soft glow emanated from her hands. Shakily, she placed them over each of his pectorals. He noted this with a chuckle, but his frantic behavior wasn't halted in the least.

"Y-Your p-purpose was t-to aid me and you g-gave that up for da-arkness." Her words were broken and sharp. "What are you s-seeking, Ghirahim?"

He growled, answerless. His arms were now glowing from the light she had planted on his chest; he could feel himself being repelled by it. The light continued to spread over his body until he was covered and throwing fists in the air at the distance she had formed between them. He pounced like a wild remlit, swung a sword that didn't exist like one of his malted minions and flailed madly in the air; his eyes were murder. "Put. Me. Down." It was a forceful demand, imbedded with the seed of his own rage.

This power coursing through her was foreign to her human form, but she did not hesitate using it. "You have failed your chosen master. There is nothing you can do to revive Demise from the master sword."

"Hah!" he spat bitterly, still thrashing. "He is no longer my master or purpose, and I wouldn't lift a finger to aid him even if I felt so inclined. May he rot in the grips of that sword forever!" His strong words surprised her, but she didn't have long to consider his change of heart. While they spoke, his rage only grew stronger, and he quickly tore free from where she had kept him suspended. Without a sound, his feet clipped the ground and broke out running at her, his white hair graced by the wind and wildfire raging in his eyes. But to his surprise, she quickly rolled between his legs before he could land a hit. Seething, he turned on her.

Her quizzical brow arced as she easily dodged his furious fists, one after the other. She was surprised at her own agility, but more than anything she was perplexed by Ghirahim's inverted words. "What do you want from me then, if you truly are not intending to resurrect him again?"

Ghirahim's rampage halted mid-swing. He recoiled and placed a thoughtful hand on his chin. The fingers of his free hand drummed across his chest until an eager expression replaced his previous thoughtful one. "I like to think of myself as a poetic spirit, you know. We are both spirit." He approached her, no longer like a maniac but like an intrigued scholar studying his field of expertise. Enlightenment leaked off of him as he ran his fingers though her gold hair and held up her small, pale hands in light of inspection. He seemed unsatisfied with what he had concurred as he gripped each of her wrists. "I have not forgotten what you once were- Woman, you were the universe itself, clothed in the robes of dawn and dusk. I could easily compare you to the stillness and beauty of the life giving water on this planet, although," his face drew to hers as his luminous eyes took deep breaths of her. "I'd prefer something more realistic. You were as beautiful as me once. Divine and dazzling; even I stood in awe of you." His feet tapped to some indistinct tempo, and she could sense the tail end of his madness unleashing itself. "But you were stupid to choose what you did- lowering yourself to this pitiful replica, bound to the limits you yourself chartered. I can only smell figments, mere remnants of the glory you once held!"

She cringed as his nose rummaged along her neck, through her hair, along her forehead, all in complete violation. His trail complete, he let out a longing sigh. It rang through the empty land. "Morning star, have you truly fallen so sullenly?" he questioned rhetorically. His voice sunk with the memorandum of a chord sourly struck. "This world is folly. Existence is folly. Darkness is the only consolation I find across this pitiful land."

She was ready for him to go crazy- to attack her savagely or run, deranged, in circles squares and diamonds around her. Maybe he would slice her with his own bitter fire. Perhaps he would throw her into the hungry sand below and let it consume her, or perhaps he would consume her himself.

He did none of these. Instead, he did something she was not expecting. With his hands firmly grasping her wrists and his wild eyes fixed to hers, his lips lowered and gently grazed her cheek. Then again. And again. A strange, hollow feeling welled within her tangling with shock. He seemed to be trying to evoke some sort of response from her. His face tilted from her cheek, and he was now the owner of the quizzical brow. "Am I not a rather blasphemous creation?" A malicious smirk reappeared and he contended a series of back flips away from the bewildered girl. Landing with his hands and wits to the sky, he blew her a kiss which solidified her already stunned body and kicked gravity out from under her feet as she hung suspended by his unseen force. "Humans are such curious beings. But I am not human, and I am not what you created me for. I have built myself. Yet what I sought so long for… for eons I worked…" between deep, twisted breaths, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, "for nothing. NOTHING! I slaved for nothing! Vanity, goddess divine; pure, undignified vanity. All my best laid plans have become meaningless! Do you understand how that feels? Do you understand what that makes me?" Bubbly giggling corrupted the stunned air, making the bound and tangled girl feel terribly anxious. It echoed over the barren land, carried by the desolate wind. "I'm a demon lord for crying out loud! Yet failure and folly have been my advisors all along!"

"I warned you the day you tore from my presence as a fugitive," her voice was brave against his insanity. "You gave up what I had given you to stoop to the ranks of a cursed and hunted being, guided only by the evil desires within."

"I gladly threw it to the wind," slit eyes seethed.

"There is no reward for a traitorous thief. You have brought ruin to yourself." He slapped her at that. Hard. Clasping her jaw in his left hand, he forced her focus back to him.

"Your ignorance of the darkness blinds you to its true power and potential."

"I have seen the throes of darkness," she glared back. "But nonetheless I gave you the gift of free will; that is where true power flourishes. Show me where darkness has prevailed for you." Another slap stung her cheek.

"I could take your life," he warned between clenched teeth.

"But you cannot touch my spirit. Creation is not greater than the Creator."

His right hand hung in the air, stinging with unleashed vehemence. The violence remained in his eyes, but a new array of emotions she had never seen from him also crept to the surface. They were all so contrary to his cocky nature that she wondered if she were simply imagining things. Longing, suffering, doubt- all briefly exposed themselves. Regret seemed to fall heaviest on his flawless form as his shoulders slumped.

"… You were perfect once." Her voice was soft, her eyes now to the ground. "When you were covered in light, you saw and understood. But when you began to walk through the darkness, to explore the reaches of the world I forbid from you, you were blinded. By the time he had found you…" An unspoken sadness tainted her words as she continued. "As his claws consumed you, you became just as this barren desert; always searching for water to satisfy something deep within you, a hunger for a power not rightfully yours. This desert used to be a lush, fertile land. But that is a forgotten land now, bound by the grips of time, far removed from the very element it seeks. Just the same, you are a forgotten freedom, bound by your own blindness and searching for what you used to be. Is there no better land to be found?"

He was unusually still and silent. When he finally spoke, the words came slowly to him, more of a sigh than words themselves. "I am cursed to this world of emptiness. But," his smile rekindled progressively. "I've always been creative, haven't I? For I am not the only cursed one here, am I Hylia?" Fledging anxiety pulsed through her body; she could almost taste the danger in the air.

With that inhuman smile and a jump backwards, he summoned his sword from the darkness and drew it swiftly across his own palm; one quick slice.

Thunder rumbled in the clear skies.

-.-

Within the realm of the sky, Link quietly stepped from the huge doors of knight's academy. A long, much deserved stretch rung through his stiff muscles. The lengthy and serious meeting with headmaster Gaepora had proved both heart-wrenching yet invaluable for the young hero. Their discussion focused heavily on the prophecy spoken by the goddess regarding the heavens reuniting with the earth. People were definitely taking an interest in the world below, especially with the goddess' statue returning to her home. Rumor had spread that the rest of Skyloft would soon be to follow, for she was believed to be their support and sustainer for the hundreds of years the immense island had been aloft. But if the island were restored to the surface, then that meant all of Skyloft would change; no, would cease to exist in its current form. They would have to say good-bye to life above the clouds.

Although Link was keen for the adventure of the surface below, he still longed for the freedom of the sky. He didn't feel that he could let his life above the clouds simply disappear. He still longed to feel the gusts peel at his skin when he boldly jumped from the island, thrusting his fingers to his lips to produce a shrill whistle. He longed for moments of flying freely in the wild wind upon his winged friend. He couldn't help but have his head in the clouds one way or another. But most of all, he longed to feel the liberty of soaring with the girl he had undoubtedly fallen in love with; to feel her presence beside him again and admire that golden smile without a worry in the world…

The smallest of smiles tugged at his lips as the wind rustled through his hair. But as he strolled down the stairs from the knight's academy, something in the wind felt wrong to him, disturbing him from his daydreams. It felt… parched. And it filled him with an anxious sensation that something was about to take place. Running over to the platform by the trees, his eyes restlessly scanned the clouds below, but nothing seemed out of place. With the night growing in age, it would be considered ludicrous to ride about on his skywing.

Ludicrous, that is, until a sly, suspicious laughter flew by with the breeze, freezing the hero in disbelief. He knew that laugh all too well.

-.-

The blood was a strange mix of red and orange hues. Like liquid fire, it dripped from his dark hand while the cold wind blew against them. The weight of his skin had lifted and the true darkness of his membrane beneath exposed itself to the world. He held his hand out proudly as he walked over both sinking sand and barren land, his captor still bound and unwillingly floating behind.

"Personally, I've never liked children. I find them disgusting," he began, his languid tone giving his words almost an eerie value. He dipped one of his fingers into the peculiar puddle and held it at bay from himself. Sizzling, it eagerly released itself from him and wormed itself into sand below. "I was a child once." He broke into uncanny laughter, hysteric at the thought. "Do you remember me that way? Goodness, I'm glad I don't. What a damper that would be on my flawless ideas of myself."

"If there is anything housed within you, it would surely be conceptual ideas of self," she scoffed, but underneath, both halves of her were lapsed with panic. "What are you doing here?"

He lifted a red finger, not bothering to look back or directly answer her. "Oh, I am indeed full, but there's more than my pride filling me. I can think and feel more than skin deep, my dear." He laughed. "And you know, I'm just so full of these feelings that well, I can't contain it anymore. Simply too full, and yet so empty. The irony!" He shrugged and skipped a step. "So I think I'll sew some seeds. Gardening is supposed to be wondrous for stress! I've always needed some form of venting you know, and as much as I'd love to take it out on you, I suppose something more productive is in order first. Besides, it wouldn't benefit me much anyway, and I believe you'll want to witness the birth of this plague with your own eyes." He continued moving in no particular direction or pattern, dipping his fingers in his own blood and dripping drops into the sand at random. The slash across his palm supplied a continual stream of life force for his disposal as he prowled against the desert.

A terribly familiar aura crept across the land with each step he took, like a storm slowly approaching. She knew this storm all too well; she herself had once sealed it away. "Ghirahim, please; what are you doing?" She was desperate for answers, desperate to know what the accumulating energy below them was each time a tear of blood was shed.

Outwardly, he remained calm and indifferent. "This world will blossom with many species representing every possible element, won't it? What an array there will be… And you," he pointed a crimson finger at her, "you perpetual being, you. You will always exist in one form; one limited and frail body. Such a shame I tell you…" He drifted off, back to his previous occupation. "As for me… well I could exist forever too. I could rise up and oppose your every step, be the thorn in your side each and every time I find you." He licked his lips. "Yes, perhaps I could find some consolation in that."

She was about to speak again when a brief vision of fire overtook her eyes. As it blazed, a man emerged from it unscathed. His huge, powerful form was monstrous and coal colored, shimmering in the heat as he walked towards her with a smile so villainous she felt she would never be able to rid it from her memory. He seemed to be the source of the fire itself, for the inferno flowed from his head; his origin.

And she suddenly understood. She could sense his presence all over the desert, slowly approaching.

Her eyes heavily flicked back to the world before her and heart felt equally heavy as she spoke. "You seek power still, Ghirahim, but you won't find it this way. As much as you hate him, he still lives in you." His eyes snapped back at her, for she had indeed struck a tender chord. Nonetheless, the warning continued. "Even now, he returns to you, drinking deep from the force of anger and rage you house; they are his vessel. Through them, he will consume you again and force you to release him, damning you back to be his weapon."

A bloodied finger pressed over her lips, quickly silencing and horrifying her. "I can break free of him, damn it! I WILL be free- I will be my own master!" His twisted smile was oblivious to the approaching supremacy as his body began shaking. "Heh-heh… and not just my own master; I will foster a people who will always stand against you, those who will appreciate the anguish of abandonment you have placed on me." The last throes of his own madness overtook him. "T-This barren land will be their home, a perpetual reminder the worthlessness of this world! Their feet will rush against you, spurring wars and violence. T-They will, thhhey wiiiiiiilll-AHH!" he was ecstatic, and as he spoke his voice became deeper until the thunderous laughter of Demise himself filled the air, flowing from Ghirahim's ignorantly overcome lips.

The air thickened, and it was no longer the demon lord speaking when he continued. "They will remain your enemy as faithfully as the sun sets every night. In the likeness of flame and with all of its might, they will establish their domain. They will be a vicious and fierce people. Their head will be the most powerful of them all, for he is the rebirth of my hatred. He will eternally seek rule of this land, bringing a dominion of fire and obscurity. Damn him as many times as you will, but he will faithfully remain to bite your undying heels."

She knew if she didn't act now, any trace of hope would be swallowed. "Who is this speaking to me?" she yelled over the booming voice.

"ME!" Two voices called from the same pale, white lips. A look of shock overcame Ghirahim's wild face.

"No…" he breathed.

"Oh, yes," Demise laughed from the same lips.

His eyes were racing from where he stood. As much as he had chosen to ignore it, he finally saw that the girl was right. He could feel himself loosing control to what was left of Demise- control of not only his speech but also his body. The irony of it caught him again, for the very being all this hate had been directed at had managed to use that hatred as a gate to control him; their hatreds had always been so similar. The Imprisoned was using him as a tool to utter the last of his curse, inflicting the final blow upon those he hated.

Still, Ghirahim seethed at the thought of being possessed by him, that hate as wild now as ever. "T-T-That's YOUR curse, not mmmmmine!" each word was an attack, a fight and push back.

His lips rolled, and Demise spoke. "Do you truly think you can deny me? I am the lord you chose, and you will serve your purpose."

If she hadn't known any better, the frightened girl watching Ghirahim tear at this own chest would have thought he had a severely split personality. He fought for control of his mind and words as one would struggle against another man, teeth clenched tightly. "I-I am my owwwn MASTER!"

"Defy me, then," Demise snarled.

He screamed, red still dripping from his fingers as he struggled to regain control. But it was to no avail. The incantations continued to flow as the tortured being thrashed about the air, choking himself in vain. Demise finally forced his feet back to the sand, marching him towards the bound girl; a soldier conscripted to battle. He grabbed her by the neck with full control, breaking the previous binds which held her. Demise's tight clutch held her over the sinking sand and she grasped at his arm, desperate to take some of the weight from her neck.

"You are right to fear me, Hylia." His words were sharp. "You pitiful girl. I will hunt you for eons. I will always seek to overthrow you, and you will have no escape from me."

Her vision was blurring from lack of oxygen, terror and unconsciousness overtaking her.

His laughter was like verbal torture. "My decedent will seek the holy powers which your form perpetually houses with such an appetite you cannot deflect, and he will consume. He will always find you."

"G-Ghirahim," she finally managed to choke out, trying not to hear the terrible words as his face remained stone. "Please, listen t-to me!" His countenance seemed to alter from a vicious glare to a slight look of remorse, even of pain; that longing she had seen surface earlier was clear. She knew he could hear her. "You a-a-are a weapon. Which ssssside… will y-you fight f-for?"

He blinked. Her words fell like gold into a bottomless well, and she could not guess if they had sunk. He stood, unresponsive save his changed expression. His grip tightened.

Her eyes pleaded.

Demise laughed.

And suddenly the sky reverberated with a wild warrior's yell. It was a cry so fierce that it caused all of them to look up in surprise. The darkness made it hard to see anything until a crimson red bird flew shakily across the full moon and a dark figure landed with a heavy thud on the half-eaten path next to them. Before he fully stood, his bow was already loaded and on its target.

"Ghirahim!" Link's voice was violent, anger and confusion shaking him all at once.

"YOU!" both halves of Ghirahim swore in unison.

The hero looked only more shocked at hearing both voices, but he didn't let it stop him from circling them. Although his eyes were locked on his target, his feet were faithfully leading him towards Zelda, who was held nearly unconscious over the sand. Ghirahim watched his every move, as if the scene unfolding before him was happening much slower than actuality. The young, soft eyes of the hero were now fierce and loyal, ready to tear him to shreds for her. "You seem to be just as persistent as me, boy."

Ghirahim blinked, looking back to the choking child in 'his' hand. Perhaps he had just reached the end of himself, or he really did have a bottom, but those golden words finally reached the foundation with a weight he had never felt before. He knew what he had to do. Hesitancy reminded him it was against everything he had ever strived for to do what he was about to do, but he realized there was no time for such a luxury. Demise would overtake him if he wasted any more time. Quickly, he began to unfurl his own prophecy.

"This boy will forever remain over these people. He will strike them down whenever they reach a hand against the goddess, continually driving them back to their origin. They shall be a mighty people only when led by their king, for he shall be their only power and he will sleep one every hundred years for every lifetime he walks." Shocked, Demise shook him fiercely but power over his minion was diminishing. This sudden sway was out of his control, for all ill intent was no longer empathetic for him to grasp hold of. "He is eternally fated to the tip of the hero's sword. You will strike his heel, but this boy will crush your head." His gaze was slowly moved back to the comatose girl in his hand. "They will always remain unsatisfied… hungry for what they do not have. Greed will subdue them."

His eyes closed as control over his body gradually returned to him, his hand slowly loosening. His words seemed to carry a terrible weight. "There is no reward for a thief, for dust only returns to dust."

The strange turn of events had caused the hero to slightly lower his bow in confusion. He had no idea what was going on, how Ghirahim had reappeared or why he was spontaneously being blessed by his enemy.

"You silly hero… I never would have thought…" Ghirahim laughed weakly, finally free of Demise's control. In silence, he looked around at another backfired plan before shaking his head. "These people won't truly be mine, it seems... how strange," he sighed, his body slowly going limp, "… to father what is not your own." Before Link could say or do anything, Zelda had fallen from his hand and into the quick sand, a dark and broken being collapsing after her.

"ZELDA!" Link yelled, panic overtaking him as both bodies were swallowed by the hungry sand.

-.-

The world around her was dark. She was gradually drowning within its endlessness. Her throat had been squeezed so tightly that within the realm of the sand it almost felt like there was more air, even though sand was threateningly filling her lungs. Her movements were like a thick syrup, her struggles in vain. Slowly, her vision became white. "Is this… a dream? Or am I dead?" she wondered wordlessly.

And then his eyes opened before hers. Deep, velvet, black eyes. Their eyes locked for one silent moment, a moment she would remember forever. For just an instant, he looked as he once did before the world had erupted with evil; quirky as ever, a wild air about him. His eyes were alive and full of life, satisfied with the world of light around him. Yes; satisfied was the word.

But only for a moment. His malicious, hungry smile returned with the presence of the darkness around them.

"Tell me," somehow, his laugh rang out. "What kind of child was I? Was I always so perfectly clever?" Around her, it felt as though a heart beat were beginning to pulsate. She thought it was her own fading as death overtook her, but his sly words assured her that she was not dying. His usual smile was the last thing she could remember clearly seeing.

"This is not the end. Don't think you've seen the last of me, your grace."

Cold lips pressed to her cheek one last time until she was suddenly pulled from the world of blackness.

-.-

He knew it was death to simply dive after her, yet there were no other option in his mind. But while he was slinging off his heavy shield, a voice from above began hollering. It got louder and louder until Link was sure he wasn't imagining it, so he looked up.

"Link! Wait!" Groose was mid dive from his tattered loftwing as he yelled. He landed next to Link with a clumsy thud, but was up in a second and shoving the end of a rope into his hand. The rope was tightly tied around his thick waist. As much as he felt sick at the thought of Groose diving after her, he knew there was no time to waste, so he quickly nodded and pushed his large friend into the sand.

"Hey, I wasn't rea-"

"GO!" Link madly waved the butt of the rope. With a deep, nervous gulp, Groose pushed himself farther into the swirling sand and out of sight.

Link's heart was a wild drum beating out of control. Each of the hairs on his head were on end, and the freezing wind wasn't helping. His mind was racing with panic, fear and worry. Vaguely, he heard the sound of heavy wings making their landing behind him, but he didn't acknowledge Cawlin and Strich as they ran up to him, out of breath and fearful. A million questions flew this way and that, none of which he fully heard, all going unanswered. His jaw was set tightly, his eyes and mind focusing only on the inconsistent tugging of the rope his white knuckles gripped. The anxious waiting dragged and dragged. He had to hold himself from jumping in a second time, reason overriding restlessness.

Above all this, he swore he heard a low, slow but steady heartbeat pulsing through the desert. It was growing louder, but he assumed it was only his own being amplified by his panicking mind. The cold, hungry wind continued to wrap around him. A question finally came to mind, and he spoke it to keep his mind busy with something sane. "How did you find us?"

Cawlin's haughty and raspy voice beat his friend's more subtle one. "When we went back looking for Zelda and saw that creepy sword just layin' around, we split and hit the skies. We've been flyin' all over the place, lookin' for anything Zelda-like. We saw you dive off your bird from the middle of the sky, and…" He stopped suddenly. "... uh-oh."

The rope had gone limp.

Link's heart jumped out of his chest. "PULL!" he yelled. The two jumped at the unusual sharpness of his voice, but quickly obeyed, jumping behind him and yanking on the rope with all might they could muster. It was a more than a struggle, for the weight of the sand and the weight on the end of the rope was far too much for even the three of them combined. Link's stamina had long since depleted. His body was screaming, but he refused to give up. Slowly, they were gaining ground.

"Hwehh haw-haw!" Groose's sputtering face emerged from sand as he was dragged towards the land. His red pompadour sprung up as the heavy sand rolled off his head. His eyes were tightly shut. "I-I got her!" he coughed.

A surge of adrenaline gave Link the inhumane stamina to continue pulling at seeing a familiar blonde head emerge within his friend's strong arms. Once he was close enough, Link pulled both of them onto the land. He grabbed Zelda while the other two rolled Groose over, fanning him in attempts of helping somehow. He was still coughing and sputtering, but Zelda remained motionless beside him.

Link's hands were fumbling, his voice barely a whisper. "Zelda?" He shook her lightly, feeling for airflow from her nose. There was none. In the back of his mind, that heart beat taunted him. He was suddenly frantic, pumping on her chest the best he could.

"Link…" Groose's voice was full of sand, but still terribly serious as they gathered around her.

It was also terrible ignored. Link was in his own world, continuing to pump her chest. "Goddesses, please…" his fervent lips begged. He wanted to thump that cruel pumping noise out his head and into her lifeless body.

"L-Link," this time he noted the not only the seriousness, but the fearful tone in his friend's voice. "T-There's something weird happening..."

Thump-thump, thump-thump

They all knew the danger of flying at night, but there seemed to be a greater danger in this place. Cawlin and Strich shuddered, and three shrill whistles broke the synchronized heartbeat that pounded like a drum across the sand; in fact, it seemed to be coming from the sand itself. But Link was only half aware of this until Zelda finally let out a chocking cough, and he subconsciously joined her in the art of breathing. Everyone breathed shaky a sigh of relief. He smiled at the still unconscious girl, holding her cold hands tightly in his.

T-thump, T-thump, T-thump

Calling his own loftwing quickly, he scooped her up and stood. Looking to the others, he finally noted their terrified expressions, and it slowly dawned on him that the noise he had been hearing was not just in his head. It pulsated the whole desert.

Groose was trying to keep from shaking. "Link, what the heck is goin' on here? This… ain't natural…" Around them, the desert sand looked as though it had been tampered with. It was forming pockets and shifting in the strangest, most bizarre patterns. A shiver ran down his spine, and a terrible feeling he didn't understand hasted it.

The moment the loftwings touched down was the moment each eager foot stepped off the cursed ground. With a particular rush, they hurried their birds into the air, their own hearts matching the mad beat below them. As the ground disappeared, a second communal sigh of relief was released between the boys.

Over the wind, Link could hear Groose shouting at him. "Hey, Zelda's okay?"

Watching her chest gently move up and down, he simply nodded. Her features were pressed and troubled as though she were in the midst a bad dream. The dark and ominous sand below them didn't settle his feeling of unease, but it was slowly overcome by the relief filling his spirit. Letting his loftwing follow the direction of the others back to the sealed grounds, his spent his attention on her girl in his arms. His fingers gently caressed her stressed features as rare tears of happiness leaked from his eyes. He now gratefully lowered his lips to her cheek to bestow the kiss he had not dared to return earlier.

The moment his lips met her shivering skin, her eyes flew open and she shot up, nearly knocking over the more than surprised Link in the process. She looked below her frantically, her eyes glued to the ground flying by. Although darkness mostly covered the land below, the orange sands were hazily alternating like a lush green each time she blinked. She focused as hard as she could to make sure she wasn't seeing things. The desert looked as it had when she and Impa stepped through the other side of the gate in the temple of time; lush, full of life and surrounded by water. She blinked again, and it was gone.

"…Zel?"

Tearing her disoriented gaze away from the ground, she shyly realized she was sitting in Link's lap. "Uhh, oh-" she stammered.

His light smile set her as ease before his strong arms wrapped around her. Still disoriented but pleasantly surprised, she returned his intimate gesture. "I told you I wouldn't leave you alone," his voice just broke a whisper. Her smile was weak, but genuine happiness broke like a flood within her heart.

Catching sight of the world below one last time, she saw that the desert now lay solid orange between the mingled shadows. Yet one small, unusual speck stood out to her; a white, unmoving dot, followed by the sound of the faintest heart beat. She froze with her arms around him, fear striking her. But again, they disappeared when she blinked.

"Not in your lifetime, my dear." The wind carried a distant, teasing voice to her prickling ears.

"Did you hear that?" She quickly shot back, again startling her rather peaceful looking friend from his hug. She looked about them, but the night wind had returned to its default profession.

Link's hands gently held her arms as he watched her curiously, waiting for her to continue.

Slowly, she sat back, the events of the night playing through her head until the fearful feeling blew away. She shook her head wearily, gladly laying it back on his chest. He made no objections. Right now, everything could wait. She knew there would be plenty of time in the future to talk about what had happened. Right now, the danger was gone and she felt more inclined to live in the present moment.

"We… we'll deal with it later. Trust me."

This is probably the longest thing I've ever written. Ironically, it was started as a one-'short' because I wanted to change my writing habits and make sure I actually finished a story without having a year gap between updates… very, very guilty for this.

Anyway, my thought is that Ghirahim went on to create the tribe of magic using interlopers who were banned to the Twilight Realm. I definitely see some similarities between him and Zant. Crazy dance? Loosing his cool? Anyone?

If you're like me and you have an interest in this stuff, I'm working on an adventure story explaining more about what happened to the Gerudo in TP, and even a bit about the interlopers.

Constructive reviews are always very appreciated.

If I could give you a cookie, I would.