The Bleeding Effect

Chapter XX

Link ran across the great Hyrule Field at a steady jog, as fast as he could get to sprinting without exhausting himself too quickly. Link had trained his body—his actual body—to run faster under considerably heavier armor, but the child's body hardly had the stamina for such a thing.

"Say Navi," He started. "I've just had a thought. What happens if I mess this up? If we go back in time again, will we return to after everything I did in the past, or from the same starting point that we began at?"

"Going back a second time reverses all the change you've brought about. We would have to save the skulltula family again. But we should aim for resolving everything this time."

"And why is that? Shouldn't we keep repeating this until everything works out the way we want it to?"

"Time isn't really something we ever wanted to mess with. There's no telling how and when its rules change. For instance—you being in this timeline at all. The other Link and Sheik agreed only to use time travel when it became absolutely necessary. And though this time will reset, time in the future still moves forward in the future."

Link frowns. "So if we spent three days here…"

"Three days have gone by for Sheik, and for the rest of Hyrule, still trapped under Ganondorf's rule. That's why we should aim to finish our business quickly and effectively."

"So tell me—again—why we couldn't use—Epona?" He says between gasps. Talking so much while running had winded him a little. Navi was having an easier time of it, wings fluttering gently, not straining at all to keep pace with him.

"She's just a tiny filly," The fairy explained, not for the first time. "Malon would never let you take her so far away from the stables at so young an age."

"Not even—to save—Hyrule?"

"Not even to save Hyrule."

Link thus resigned himself to running all the way across Hyrule Field. But wait a minute. He skidded to a stop.

"Navi, why don't we just warp there? Sheik taught us the Requiem of Spirit, after all."

"That'll take us right to the Spirit Temple, right in the middle of disastrous weather conditions. We need to stop by the Gerudo Fortress first for the necessary supplies before heading there."

"And the Gerudo will just let us go in?

Link slowed to a stop, giving himself a breather. He pawed through the item bag. The Gerudo Token was nowhere to be found. He had assumed that would be the case—all his adult weapons had vanished as well—but it was still disheartening. He had no leverage over the thieves now. And they had been nearly-deadly to him in an adult body; as a child he wouldn't stand a chance.

"Of course not." Said Navi. "Which is why I have a plan."

Link started off at a jog again. The trip from Hyrule to the Gerudo Valley had taken him and Sheik a week or so—and that was on horseback.

"Hello there! Fellow runner!" Link heard a voice cry in the distance. The voice was distinctly male—definitely not Navi.

He stopped again, and looked all around him. Far, far, far away, in the distance, he spotted a cloud of smoke. Link lifted a hand to shade his eyes, and squinted. The smoke cloud was rapidly approaching him. In a matter of seconds, the cloud reached him; Link's hair and clothes were visibly ruffled by the generated breeze.

The dust cleared to reveal a man in a yellow bunny hood that forcibly reminded Link of the creepy-yet-well-meaning postman from his own time.

"Ah, it's you—my old friend!" He clapped Link on the shoulder benevolently before going through some stretching exercises at lightning quick speed. "How about a race? To Gerudo Valley and back?"

That piqued Link's interest. "How quickly can you reach Gerudo Valley?"

The running man's chest puffed out, as if Link was challenging him. "Fifteen minutes."

Link's jaw dropped. "Fifteen minutes?!"

The other man took his astonishment the wrong way and instantly crouched into a starting position.

"If it's a race you want—"

"No no no, that's not it at all." Link held his hands up in surrender. "Actually, I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

Fifteen minutes later, Link, Navi, and the running man reached the entrance to Gerudo Valley. The running man had carried them all the way there. Link was set down on wobbly legs. He carded a hand through his windswept hair. The running man wasn't even breathing hard—though he was sweating lightly.

"That was amazing!" Enthused Navi. "Even carrying Link's weight, you still made it to Gerudo Valley in fifteen minutes!"

"But of course!" The runner crouched into a starting position again. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"

And then he was off like a shot, back in the direction of Hyrule. Similar past experiences told Link to shrug the whole thing off, and not think about what just happened too hard. He had more important things to worry about.

Link was hovering somewhere between nervousness and excitement as he and Navi approached the bridge leading into true Gerudo territory. Waiting on the other side of the bridge were only two Gerudos, but Link didn't drop his guard.

He put on an affable smile, even as his body tensed for battle. As he reached the thieves, neither of them gripped their weapons tighter. They didn't consider him a threat.

"Greetings, Gerudo neighbors."

"State your purpose or leave," Said one of the guards, brusquely.

"I've been sent by the King of Hyrule to speak with Lady Nabooru."

The women exchanged glances, and Link held his breath. The King of Hyrule had, in actuality, been murdered by Ganondorf's hand only a few days ago. Navi suspected the word that Hylians and Gerudos were at war had not reached Kakariko yet, much less Gerudo Valley. At least, not through any conventional means. He just had to hope that Ganondorf hadn't shared his plans for world domination with his people quite yet.

"Go back to Hyrule, boy."

Link persevered. He pulled out the Ocarina of Time and showed it to them.

"I've brought this as proof that I am speaking sincerely." The thieves eyed the musical instrument, not speaking. Link faltered a little. "This ocarina is—"

"We know what it is." One cut him off.

"Can you demonstrate that this is the true Ocarina of Time? Can you play a song for us?"

Link cursed in his mind. But unexpectedly, and unknowingly, the other guard came to his aid.

"It's proof enough that he has the ocarina." She shifted to the side, leaving a space for Link to pass through.

"Lady Nabooru will see you in the middle building. You are to go directly there."

Link nodded, and slipped between the guards before they decided to change their minds. He felt their eyes on him until he reached the fortress proper; and once there, the number of eyes upon him quadrupled.

He entered the building he was directed to; it opened up into the same foyer he had reunited with Sheik in a few days ago. He glanced around. Just about everything, all the furniture and such, was exactly where it would be in the future. Link wasn't surprised; though they were thieves, the tribe spent more time honing their skills as warriors than reorganizing and gazing upon their stolen treasures.

A Gerudo posted in the foyer made eye contact with Link, and jerked her head towards another door. Link opened it to see not Nabooru, but Aveil.

He froze in the doorway. Aveil laughed at him—but it was a lighter laugh than before, less cruel.

"You're not Nabooru."

"Lady Nabooru," She snapped, and there it was. There was her temper. She still had it. It was just a little further below the surface.

"Lady Nabooru," He amended.

"She is not here. She left this morning."

There was only one place she could have gone. "Aveil. I would like your permission to go to the Spirit Temple."

Her eyes flashed with suspicion, and Link hastily added: "The Royal Family told me she might be there. The King knows how highly the Lady regards her Goddess."

"You speak well, for a boy."

He gave a slight bow, careful not to overdo it; he wanted to come off sincere. "I would like to be granted permission to visit her."

She arched one red eyebrow. "And how are you planning on getting there?" She looked him over, smirking. Link picked at the edge of his tunic with a touch of embarrassment. His little child legs poked out the top of his boots like twin saplings. The skin would be sure to suffer were he to travel as he was through the Haunted Wasteland.

"It's impossible for outsiders to reach the temple without assistance."

Aveil stood and walked over to him. She crouched down beside him.

"You're tense." She said. Link hadn't realized he was until she pointed it out—but now he could feel that his whole body was coiled and prepared to strike if the Gerudo moved unfavorably. He remembered the torment of the cell all too well.

"That's good," Aveil continued. "That's smart. I didn't want to travel with a fool."

Travel with? "Do you mean—"

"I mean to accompany you. You'd never reach the temple alive without me." Aveil stood and returned to the papers on her desk. "We will leave tomorrow. Early."

It was a clear dismissal. Link partly wanted to argue—he had no time to waste—he wanted to leave immediately. But protest was far from wise at this time. He left the room, and jumped as a Gerudo was instantly at his side.

"Way this." She murmured in broken Hylian. Link was surprised at that—every other Gerudo he'd spoken with was bilingual. Perhaps only those of higher status learned both languages.

She wordlessly led him through a maze of corridors. Link was hopelessly lost, but he could tell that they backtracked every now and then. Though Link was their guest, supposedly send by the King of Hyrule himself, they didn't trust him not to be gathering intelligence on their fortress. He had to give credit where credit was due. Their security was far more cunning and intense than Hyrule's ever was.

He was ultimately led to a rather plain room and instructed to wait. He and Navi chatted idly until the Gerudo returned, along with another woman. One carried a tray with a meal; the other, a bundle of clothes. Link accepted the clothes directly, while the tray was placed on the nearby table.

"They're as close to your size as we can manage." Explained the second Gerudo. She was clearly more fluent in Hylian than her counterpart. "It might feel loose and tight in some places, as they were originally made for a girl."

Link tried not to grimace and her words and held up the clothing articles before him. To his relief, the cloth wasn't blatantly feminine: he'd been given a pair of rough white pants, a patterned, long sleeved red shirt, and a thick red cape.

"Thank you." He said. But by the time he looked up, the Gerudos had already vanished. Shrugging, he laid the clothes out on the couch and sat down to eat. He was about halfway through when his sensitive ears picked up a timid knock at the door.

"Come in…?" He said, a bit uncertainly. He waited a moment, but no one entered. Was he imagining things?

He got up and walked to the door. A quick glance reconfirmed that his sword was still in its scabbard on his back, ready at a moment's notice. Link opened the door.

A Gerudo girl, looking to be about the age he appeared to be, was shuffling her feet before the door. She gave a little start when he opened the door; she hadn't expected him to hear her knock.

"Hello," He greeted her, warmly. "My name's Link." But she just fidgeted.

"Do you speak Hylian?"

A shy nod. Timidity was what restrained her tongue, then. She risked a glance up at him; he smiled at her. Link meant to cheer her up a little, but she just looked back at the floor again. He had never met a bashful Gerudo before. Finally, she mustered up the courage to speak.

"Are you really a Hylian?"

"Yeah. Look." He swept his blonde hair back so his ears were more visible. The girl touches her own rounded ears in silent response.

"Do Hylians…dance?"

What? Of all the follow-up questions he was expecting, that was not one of them. "Of course we do."

"Great!" She came closer and grasped his hand. Her excitement seemed to be overcoming her timidity. "Come with me."

But Link resisted her tug, glancing back into the room. "I shouldn't leave…"

"Oh, come on! Only for a couple hours!" She tugged at his hand a little more insistently, and Link relented.

As she led him through the maze of corridors, something dawned on Link.

"How did you know where I was?"

"You don't know? Everyone's talking about you!" She laughs at Link's baffled expression. "It's not every day outsiders get permission to enter our fortress, let alone go to the Spirit Temple!"

"Aveil told everyone that?" Link thought she might have wanted to keep the entire event rather low-key.

But the girl gave him a look. "Of course! We try to be as honest with each other as we can. Our leaders always tell us their plans, so we're equals." Her voice dropped lower, some of the joy leeching out. "But there have been some rumors lately about Lady Nabooru doing some experiments—brainwashing people at the Spirit Temple—on her own elite guard!"

"It's only a rumor," Link assured her. The truth was the other way around—Nabooru was the one who would end up being the brainwashed one. That was, if Link didn't do anything to stop it. "It's probably nothing."

"Right," She agreed, and just like that, her joy returned.

The girl led him outside, and he was struck by the sight before him. The Gerudo Tribe appeared to be having a festival. Multiple bonfires blazed, tall and bright enough that it could almost be considered day. The very center bonfire was arranged in the image of the Gerudos' Goddess of Sand. The fires popped and snapped intermittently, complementing the pulsing precision of the musicians scattered all around. Round and round the fires danced the Gerudo thieves. The women were dressed in full ceremonial garb, complete with festoons of rare gems. Some stood on the outskirts of the fires, drinking rich wine from gorgeous platinum goblets. The children wore much simpler outfits, but they took to dancing with as much enthusiasm as the adults.

"Come one, dance with me!" The Gerudo girl tugged Link toward the crowd. The adults obviously knew he was there—his plain green garb stood out rather blatantly in comparison to the rich reds and golds. But though they were aware of him, they didn't really seem to care all that much. Their ceremony was far more important to them than any individual. It was refreshing. No one was looking to him to do anything for them. He was free to just…be.

Link followed the Gerudo girl into the din and danced the night away.

"Get up." Aveil said gruffly.

Link blearily cracked his eyes open. They had danced and celebrated far into the night. He glanced out the window; the sun had not risen to its usual place in the sky just yet. They probably didn't have to leave this early. Aveil was just doing this to torture him. The thought of the torture she would go on to inflict to Mutoh was a sobering thought.

He rose from the bed, wincing as his sore leg muscles protested.

"Thank you for waking me." He shuffled over to the clothes he had laid out yesterday. Aveil's eyes flashed with approval—he could only assume it was because he didn't voice any complaints—and she left him alone to dress. Link dressed quickly. He wasn't fond of the cloak, but understood its necessity.

Aveil was waiting just outside the door. She handed him a chunk of bread and a canteen of water. He assumed it was his breakfast. Link at it quickly. He knew from bitter experience that once food was exposed to the open air of the desert, it was sure to get flecks of unwanted sand in it.

Sure enough, Link had polished off the bread by the time they exited the fortress. Waiting for them there were several Gerudos and two hale, stocky horses. Both were a rich russet color, and while handsome, were nowhere near as magnificent as Epona. But then, Link was slightly biased in that comparison. Both horses were loaded up with enough supplies to last four days. Link knew from experience that the trip took only a day. He supposed they were being careful.

"Can the horses travel through such treacherous sand?"

Aveil snorted. "It would be treacherous sand for Hylian horses. Gerudo horses are bred from birth to survive here."

She was trying to bait him, to stir him to anger. Why? To others, he was only a kid. Then again, he had told her that he had been sent by the king himself. The king wouldn't send a simpleminded child to do something as important as deliver a message to Nabooru.

Aveil nimbly mounted her horse. Link needed some of the thieves to give him a boost up. Embarrassing, but necessary. Another Gerudo came between the pair of horses with a length of rope and tied the bridles of the horses together.

"Why is she doing that?"

"So you won't get left in the dust."

Aveil tapped the flanks of her horse, and the beast sets out at a trot. Link's horse matches its speed, striding beside it. It seemed that Link wouldn't have to give the horse much direction, which he was grateful for; he wasn't big enough to suitably instruct it. Instead, he just kept a firm grip on the horse's reins so he didn't fall off.

They passed through the raised gates, leaving the boundaries of the fortress and truly entering the volatile desert. No longer protected by high walls, the wind picks up at once, hitting them with stinging, annoying particles of sand. Link looks over at Aveil. Her gaze is straight ahead, but she's rather relaxed in her form. She's probably made this journey a hundred times already. She was cautious—this was the Haunted Wasteland, after all—but she was in no way afraid of getting lost. Link was glad they wouldn't have to rely on a mischievous poe this time around.

"So that festival last night," Link struck up conversation. "Can you tell me what it was for?"

Aveil chuckled. "You didn't know even that much and yet you still participated?"

Link's cheeks puffed out. He was trying to be nice here!

She continued on, but without the disdain or patronization he expected. "The Goddess gathered together every grain of sand in the universe and pressed them together to make our world. Her sweat became the seas. Her blood became all life. Once a year, we honor her for all she has done for us by living as fully as possible."

Link made a soft noise of understanding. Aveil looked at him suspiciously.

"You're not going to deny what I've said?" Protest that it was your three Goddesses and not my one?"

Link pursed his lips. He had actual proof of the Goddesses' existences, as well as the single God. But this would mean nothing to someone like her.

"There's no point. I won't change my mind, and you won't change yours. Why argue?"

Aveil's gaze returned back ahead. She must have seen something that Link couldn't, because she tugged the reins slightly, easing her horse—and, by extension, Link's horse—to the left.

"You are rather wise for such a small boy." Aveil remarked.

Link was sure she wouldn't appreciate modesty, so he stayed silent.

At long last they reached the Spirit temple. Link dismounted his horse, the distance jarring his legs a little. He hurriedly flipped through the various pouches strapped to the animal until he found a canteen. His hands, stiff from a full day of riding, fumbled to undo the straps, but he at last got it free. Link guzzled down what remained in the container, sighing with relief as his cracked lips and dry throat were soothed. Meanwhile, Aveil had dismounted as well. She made no move to reach for one of her own canteens—she had evidently trained his body to survive on less water. Link wouldn't be surprised if all Gerudo thieves underwent some such training out of necessity.

"If you're finished, we should go." She headed for the temple's entrance.

"Shouldn't we tie the horses to something?" He said, a little alarmed. Even though the horses were calm now, they could still get spooked and run off, to be lost in deadly waves of sand.

"They're smarter than that," Aveil dismissed, so, with reluctance, he followed her into the temple. The temperature was far cooler inside, Link noted with some satisfaction. By the entrance was a haphazard pile of rations.

"Link, someone's over there!" Navi said, directing Link's gaze to the left.

Sure enough, after he climbed a set of stairs, on his left side was Nabooru, crouched down in front of a small crack in the wall.

"Lady Nabooru!" Said Aveil.

The Gerudo gave up for the moment and straightened. Aveil swept into a deep bow; out of politeness more than true deference, Link bowed also.

"Aveil." Nabooru gave a sharp nod to her second-in-command before flicking her gaze to Link. "I haven't seen you around, kid. What do you want?"

"Lady Nabooru, he's—" Aveil started.

Nabooru held up a hand. "Wait! Before we get into all that, can you do me a favor, kid?"

"I—" Link started.

"Wait!" Nabooru interrupted again. But it was hard to be annoyed at such enthusiasm. "Do you have any affiliation with Ganondorf?"

What was the right thing to say? Ganondorf was the King of the Gerudos. Nabooru was its queen. But on the other hand, she was obviously destined to be a sage.

Throwing caution to the wind, he responded: "I despise the man and want nothing to do with him."

Aveil was deeply affronted, possibly on the border of drawing her scimitar, but Nabooru only laughed. "You've got guts. I think I like you."

"Lady Nabooru!"

"Though we're both thieves, both Gerudos, I'm completely different from Ganondorf."

Aveil was clearly put off balance and struggling to comprehend her queen's reasoning.

"Even though our laws dictate that the lone male Gerudo must become king, I will never bow to him. Never again."

She shook her head slightly, as if sloughing off some unpleasant thought. "What's your name, kid?"

He gave it, and the Gerudo Queen smirked. "What an odd name. Now Link, will you do me a favor before we talk business?"

Link had the feeling he couldn't really say no, so he nodded. Nabooru crouched down by the small hole in the wall again, beckoning Link closer.

"There was a cave in in the right wing of the temple. The easiest way to move it would be if I could use the silver gauntlets to lift the rubble. They've been enhanced with magic to increase the strength of an adult by ten." She jerks her thumb toward the hole. "Problem is, the cave in effected the left side as well. The gauntlets are a few rooms past here, but I'm too small to fit through."

"So that's where I come in." Link unclasped the cape and hung it on the nearby banister—it would impeded more than aid him at this point.

"Lady Nabooru, please reconsider this course of action." Aveil persisted. "We have no guarantee the boy won't try to steal the gauntlets for himself.

Link bristled. "I'm no thief!"

Nabooru dismissed her subordinate's worries. "He has to come back this way to leave the temple. Not to mention the fact that he can't get past the Haunted Wasteland without one of us."

That wasn't quite true, but Nabooru didn't correct her.

Nabooru glanced sharply at Aveil.

"I have reason to suspect those wretched witches caused the cave in, and deliberately."

"Why? What Gerudo could in good conscience harm our Goddess' temple intentionally?"

"I believe they're hiding something in the innermost chambers, and I intend to find out what—but again, I can't do it without those gauntlets. So how about it Link?" She leaned in close to him, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "Get me those gauntlets and I'll do something real nice for you." Link pulled away from her, flustered, quite aware of what she was insinuating.

He wriggled carefully through the hole, and, before he knew it, was out on the other side. He could hear Nabooru and Aveil talking faintly. Now that the "child" was gone, they were probably talking more seriously about Nabooru's allegations against Ganondorf.

"Let's find those gauntlets quickly," Said Navi. She fluttered around the room a little ways in front of Link, searching for any enemies that might try to spring out at the hero. "I have a bad feeling about this."

The fairy wasn't alone—Link also felt a bit restless, as if something was about to happen.

There was nothing of interest in their current area, so Link walked down the end of the hallway. There was an arched doorway carved into the stone, but no actual door. He wondered if the entire temple was designed to be just as open. If so, wouldn't the temple get too cold at night? then again, the Gerudos probably didn't spend many nights here; they worshipped, then left.

"Watch out!"

Link sprang to the side at Navi's warning, and just in time; a wallmaster pounced upon the area he had just been standing on. Link drew the Kokiri Knife and edged closer to the monster. But, before he could get close enough to strike, the monster scrabbled up the wall and back into the darkness of the high ceiling. Link craned his neck, looking upwards, but he couldn't see anything. And the monster was high up enough that even his ears couldn't pick out the characteristic scraping of the wallmaster's large fingers on the ceiling.

"Don't stay still, so it can't get an opening." Navi flew into the next chamber. "There's a chest just up ahead! I bet the gauntlets are inside!"

Link jogged into the next room. Dead center was a lavish chest. Navi fluttered by its lock. He caught up to her and tried to pry open the chest, but it was locked shut, and not quite rusted enough to break off easily. Link glanced around. He didn't want to linger here if he could help it—but he couldn't help it. He needed this chest open. Getting Nabooru the gauntlets might soften the thief up enough to listen to his warning. Though he suspected it would be a fruitless endeavor, Link tried to hit the lock off with the butt of his sword anyway. His prediction was right; the lock didn't budge.

"Link…" Navi was nervous. Link could hear the scuttling of the wallmaster now. But it sounded off—too much noise was being generated. Unless—there was more than one of them?

Link squatted a little and shoved his shoulders into the side of the chest. His boots slid and scraped against the sandy stone floor, but the chest didn't budge. Gritting his teeth, Link threw all his strength into it. Slowly the chest started to move, tracks of grime and rust left in its wake.

"Navi, see if there's an elevated area in the next room; somewhere I could throw this down from."

The fairy flew into the next room, and Link continued to push at the chest. Since he couldn't spot the wallmaster from the ceiling, he kept his gaze to the ground; their shadows should give him ample warning. it seemed that just as he glanced down to check, the shadow was thickening and widening. Link rolled to the left, and seconds later, two wallmasters came crashing down. Unfortunately for him, they didn't break the chest. But at least they were where he could fight them now.

Link charged at them with a battle cry. Both the wallmasters, unprepared for such aggressiveness, skittered back. They were trying to reach the wall so they could climb up again and have the advantage. But Link wouldn't let them. With an extra burst of speed, he reached the nearest wallmaster and ran his blade straight through the creature. The monster spasmed and thrashed around, making it difficult for Link to pull out his sword. He put his boot on the monster to brace himself as he yanked it free.

"Link!" Navi darted up to his side. "The next room just opens up to the statue of the goddess we saw earlier! We can throw the chest off the side!"

"Let's finish off this last wallmaster first."

Link hefted the sword once in his grip and headed for the second monster.

"Wait! That's not—" The rest of Navi's sentence was swallowed by the sudden rush of air as yet another wallmaster dropped down from the ceiling. This time, Link wasn't ready—the creature fell on top of him, knocking him to the floor, on his stomach. He gasped as the air was pushed from his lungs, but resisted the urge to let go of his sword; Sheik wasn't here to bail him out this time.

He hadn't recovered much air, but he didn't hesitate. Link put his hands beneath himself and roughly pushed himself up, knocking the wallmaster off his back. Now the creature was on the floor, palm up, fingers twisting bizarrely in its attempts to right itself.

"Don't forget the other one!" Navi warned. He whirled to see the other wallmaster scuttling up behind him. The dastardly thing had tried to jump him while he was distracted with its kin. Link bent his knees and extended his sword arm, summoning cutting magic to the tip of his blade before launching a devastating spin attack. Three fingers of the wallmaster were severed, and the other suffered a large slash. As the latter slumped to the ground, dead, Link disposed of the last surviving one.

They were all finally dealt with, but Link didn't relax quite yet. He pricked his ears and waited for a long while. Only after several minutes had passed was Link assured of the fact that the threat had too. He pushed the chest across the room—Navi's chatter distracting him from the strain—and into the next one. The room was not so much a room, but the palm of the enormous statue.

Link kicked the chest over the edge, then peered over. With satisfaction, he watched the chest split open at the bottom. He even fancied he could spot a glimmer of silver peeking out of the ruined planks of wood.

Link hurried back to the Spirit Temple's entrance, so he could inform Nabooru and Aveil that the gauntlets were outside. He didn't want them to get blown away or covered by sand; Aveil would surely blame him for their loss.

As he reached the crack in the wall he heard a woman's scream.

"Let me go!" It was Nabooru, undoubtedly. Link shoved his body through the hole, and was horrified once he reached the other side.

Aveil was sprawled on the floor, half of her body violently burned. She could do nothing but shudder as her flesh bubbled and sizzled, eyes half-open and filled with pain. It made Link's stomach turn.

In the center of the room, Nabooru was being sucked down into a vortex of dark magic. The two witches—Koume and Kotake—circled her on their brooms, cackling.

The Gerudo Queen was trying to claw out of the vortex, but to Link it was apparent that she was fighting a losing battle.

Link ran towards her. There was still time. He could reach her. He could pull her out—

"Link!" Nabooru screamed his name, halting him in his tracks. "Get out of here! Now!" She slipped deeper into the darkness.

Link ignored her and started running again, only to find his way blocked by the witch sisters.

"A Hylian brat was no business here." Kotake raised one wrinkled hand high, and it sparkled with powerful ice magic.

"Link, you have to dodge it! You can't take them head on, not like this!"

Kotake blasted the magic right at him. He raised the Kokiri Shield. The wood splintered and cracked as the ice expanded inside it. The width of the magic was wider than Link had anticipated; ice crawled along his shirt. Link was thankful he wasn't wearing the Kokiri garb; the skin would have been totally exposed to her magic.

Link's shield arm was effectively disabled, as it was frozen in that one position. Past the witches, he saw the crown of Nabooru's head disappear into the black magic. He couldn't help her now. Furious, he rushed at Kotake. But she was faster than he anticipated one so old being. She shot off another precise blast, freezing his sword arm solid. This time the ice directly made contact with his hand, and Link couldn't hold back his howl of pain.

"Enough, Kotake." Koume sneered. "He's not worth the effort."

Link sank to his knees, the pain far worse than he had prepared for. The witches disappeared in a swirl of magic. Breathing hard, Link beat his shield hand against the ground until the shield broke off, freeing his hand. After shaking the arm out to make sure its motion was freed up again, Link tried the same with his sword hand. Small bits of ice chipped off, but the sword was still firmly frozen to his hand.

"N-Navi…I need a fire."

"There are torches in the corners of the room." The fairy anxiously led him over to the nearest one. He held his arm as close as he could safely get to the flames, and, slowly, his arm and sword began to thaw out.

"Navi, can you heal Aveil without expending all your energy?"

She deliberated for a few moments. When she did speak, her voice was thick with reluctance. "I can, but I wouldn't have enough for your hand, Link."

"Do it."

"But—"

"Do it. I'll be fine without your help, in time. She won't be."

So Navi darted over to Aveil and set to work. For a long time, all was silent. Eventually, Link's hand thawed enough that he could pry it away with the chilled blade. He slid it into his sheath with his shield hand as he went over to Aveil and Navi. The Gerudo's eyes were still partially open. At least she seemed to be in less pain than before.

"You can rest now." He infused his ten-year-old voice with as much authority as he could. "I'll take care of everything."

She didn't have the energy to even flash him a disbelieving look. Her eyes just slowly slipped shut.

Link stood, heading for the entrance.

"Keep watch over her," He instructed Navi. "I'll be right back."

Once outside, Link walked over to the remains of the box. He picked out the silver gauntlets. He should give them to Aveil, but something told him he might need them in the future. He put them in his item pouch with stiff, clumsy fingers. He turned out to be a thief after all.

There was no safe way for Link to cross the Haunted Wasteland with Aveil so disabled. So he did all that he could. He instructed the ponies to return without them. After some coaxing, they did leave.

Link warped himself and Aveil to Hyrule Castle Town. Navi directed him to a healer she knew wouldn't discriminate against Gerudos. He tucked all the rupees he had into Aveil's pockets, to give her fare for travel back to the Gerudo Fortress.

He had tied up every loose end that he could. It was time for him to return to the future.

-TBC-