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After a full night of deliberating and coming up with theories, they decide to head to Kakariko Village to ask Lady Impa for some of her wise words and advice.
Well, Queen Zelda decides that. Ganondorf is hesitant.
“Why is she so important that we need her advice? I say we ask actual scientists, not an old Sheikah lady.”
Zelda sighs, her boots quietly scratching against the pebbles on the ground, “Well, she assisted me when I needed help during the Calamity, her people’s inventions are the ones we saw in that cave, and I’m not familiar with scientists from this century. She’s our best option at the moment.”
Ganon relents pretty easily (who could say no to Queen Zelda?), but still isn’t happy. Why couldn’t at least one of them been alive from the last century?
As they head up the path to Kakariko Village, they go over what they have and their possible theories about who is in control of Link. Of course, Zelda has recorded everything in her journal.
[Zelda’s Journal]
What we know:
- Link was pulled in and seemingly is possessed by a green hand
- Said green hand held Ganon down for thousands of years and took advantage of his powers
- There’s Sheikah technology in the cave
- Zelda’s theory: They knew he was a wielder of part of the Triforce and wanted that power for their benefit
- Ganon’s theory: Whatever Zelda thinks
They stop by Dueling Peaks for dinnertime, and Zelda decides to mingle with the people there. She hasn’t been able to actually get to know the new people of Hyrule Kingdom since she became Queen, and what’s a better place to start than with people who don’t know who she is? She wants to know who they are, what their interests are, and she can’t do that with the pressure of them talking to the Queen.
Good thing she decided to wear her casual wear today instead of the Blue of the Champions.
Sagessa was a regular at the stable and a very nice woman. They mostly talked about how Hyrule has been doing since the Calamity, but they did have a small conversation about potions. She even gave Zelda one for free! How sweet. She had an attitude that Zelda admired fiercely, especially when talking about Hyrule. She puts the town’s resilient attitude on a pedestal rather than bringing the Royal Family down. (Even if she did, Zelda wouldn’t be angry.)
She also meets Rensa and Tasseren, the owners of the stable. They are astonishingly identical, and it makes Zelda want to research the history of twins and their genetics. But she holds back.
For now.
Hino is obsessed with the moon, and ever since she and Link defeated the Calamity, he’s been a bit heartbroken. She chats with him for a few minutes about the blood moon, what it represented, and why it’s gone now. She hopes it gave him a little closure.
While Zelda is busy getting to know her people in a diplomatic fashion, Ganon’s busy trying to tame a beautiful pure black horse. He asked the weird guy who carried around way too much on his back, but all he wanted to talk about was beetles. So, he speaks with Darton and Shibo, the two little boys right next to the stable. They’re scared of him at first, but quickly get excited when Ganon asks his questions.
“I don’t think you’ll pull it off though, big guy!” says Darton after they answer Ganon’s inquiries.
“Yeah!” exclaims Shibo, “You’re way too big and scary-lookin’ to tame a horse.”
Ganon smiles at them, “Well, you never know ‘til you try, right?”
They both look at each other, then shug, “I guess, man. See you later!”
After Zelda finally gets some food in her belly, she finishes her conversation with Sargessa and sets out to find out where Ganon is. He told her that he’d be trying to tame a horse, but was he successful?
A scene suddenly pops into her head, in which Ganon gets bucked off of a horse not a second after he comes in contact with it.
The image makes her laugh.
She walks for only a minute into Ash Swamp and already sees Ganon and a pure black horse. The only part of them that wasn’t black was the line across their face that was white.
“Wow, Ganon, I didn’t think you had it in you to tame a wild horse,” she teases.
Ganon looks up from where he’s feeding the horse apples and just smiles at her. He keeps feeding them and petting their neck.
Zelda slowly walks up to them, cautious of the hostility of Ganon’s new friend. “Do they have a name?”
“Not sure, yet. Have an idea?” Ganon’s motions and soothing voice calms the horse down even further.
Zelda hurries to say, “Oh no, no, this is your horse. Only you can name it!”
“Sure, but I respect your opinion. What’s a name you feel would fit her?”
She feels pleased with his openness. That’s not something a man would willingly say, and she’s especially impressed with the way he said it so easily, so simply, like a fact.
As for the question, she lamely replies, “How about ‘Apple’? Because she… likes apples?”
Ganon abandons his calming petting for a moment and stares at her incredulously.
“Really? ‘Apple?’ That’s what you came up with?” he deadpans.
Zelda feels her face redden, “It’s logical!”
Ganon throws his head back and laughs, “In that case, every horse would be named Apple! Come on, you’re like, a genius. You can’t come up with anything better?”
Zelda laughs with him, but playfully huffs in mock-frustration, “Link was always the creative one! He named his horse Epona, and he helped me name mine. You know, before the Calamity.”
She stops for a moment before saying, quietly, “He could’ve assisted you if he was here. Sorry for not being of any more help.”
Silence corrupts the air. It’s a beautiful night, with the moon being completely full, but the uncomfort on both accounts is hindering their ability to fully enjoy it. Ganon remedies the atmosphere, “How about I shoot out some names I’ve been thinkin’ of and you decide whether or not it’s a fit?”
Zelda thinks about it before nodding, “If that will help you, by all means.”
“Okay! How about… Shadow?”
Zelda scrunches up her nose, “Too dark.”
“Prince?”
“Too real.”
“Nightmare!”
“No! What’s wrong with you?”
“I just thought it had potential! Fine, how about Ebony?”
“...Maybe… but give me more, I want to see if others have potential.”
“Okay, that’s fine. We’ll put that one down as a maybe. Thunder.”
“No.”
“Lightning?”
“No.”
“Velvet?”
“Hmm… no.”
“Moonlight?”
Zelda thought for a moment. She declined the others because they didn’t really mean anything. They were nice names, but they didn’t fit. But this one…
“I like it.”
Ganon brightens, “Really? We could call her Moon or Light or… just Moonlight, I guess.”
Her laugh is soft, “Yes, I like it. It has significance. We’re under the Moonlight thinking of her name, and she has a scar-like spot on her face where her hair is white, therefore the ‘light’ part of her name.”
Ganon pays his attention to Moonlight, who is as calm as ever. “You like that name? Moonlight?”
Moonlight huffs.
They spend another few minutes gazing at the stars and talking about nothing before heading back to the inn. Ganon registers Moonlight and gets her a saddle before he knocks out, dreaming of death and destruction and light.
Zelda stays up for most of the night, her dreams being plagued of Link.
+
In the morning, they have some fruit for breakfast (steadily becoming Zelda’s favorite meal), and head off. Ganon insists that she ride on Moonlight for the journey.
“You hardly had any sleep last night, Princess, you’ll fall asleep while hiking up the hill!”
“It’s Queen, and I am fully capable of handling a little walking on my own!”
“You’ll only hold us back. It’s reasonable and logical to just ride on Moonlight for half a days ride.”
“...Fine. I won’t be sleeping, though.”
That was a total lie. Ganon had to wake her up twice during the trip to stop her from falling.
The journey was uneventful, but they didn’t mind. Uneventful was nice. They could use uneventful every once in a while. Because of Link, the local Yiga Clan members who usually hide out in certain spots have disbanded, so there would be no one attacking them. Zelda thought maybe one or two bokoblins had been left over from the Calamity, but there was nothing. If there was, Ganon has his sword, Zelda had her bow, and they both had Moonlight. Everything would’ve been fine.
When they get to Kakariko Village, Ganon's impressed. There's such a welcoming, home-y energy, calmly flowing through the trees. It's incredibly relaxing. They both lead Moonlight into the village, and they’re surprised to see so many people outside, simply living their lives. A lot of people in New Hyrule Town were scared of monsters from the Calamity, so Zelda wasn’t used to all of the friendliness and good-hearted nature of strangers. When she asked a citizen why they weren’t worried about monsters attacking them, he simply said, “Link will always protect us in our time of need, so no one worries!”
A pit sat in Zelda’s stomach. How was she supposed to tell the Kingdom that Link wasn’t coming to the rescue this time?
Finally, they arrived at Lady Impa’s residence. As Zelda and Ganon made their way up, the guards look at Ganon suspiciously. They look to each other in silent confusion, but leave it be.
The door opens and they’re immediately greeted with Paya, a nervous girl whose eyes widen as her eyes trail up, and up, and up at Ganon. He smiles at her. Her eyes widen as she squeals into her shaking hands.
“Oh!” she squeaks, “I wasn’t expecting g-guests! I apologize Queen Z-Zelda, please, step ins-inside.”
Zelda politely thanks her and heads inside. Ganon follows, inspecting the architecture of the house, oblivious to Paya’s blatant stares.
“Ah, Queen Zelda! How unexpected this visit is!” Impa exclaims.
Zelda blushes, “Well, we’re sorry to intrude without warning, but something… unexpected has unfortunately happened.”
As Zelda recalls the entire story to Lady Impa, who doesn’t question the 6’11 Gerudo man standing in her home, Ganon inspects the artwork meticulously arranged around the home.
He couldn’t care less about what some old woman has to say, but he’ll let Zelda do what she wants. This is her journey, not his. Because of that, he tunes out their entire conversation in favor of gazing at some pretty pots and paintings.
He tunes into the conversation after a few minutes and hears Impa speaking, “We never knew precisely what it was, but we called it the 'Touch of Death' for if anyone laid a finger on it, in one form or another, they died at least a few days after.”
Ganon's stomach twists. He thought learning about it would instill some sort of comfort, but it only makes him unsteady.
Impa continues, “My ancestors tried their best to contain it and research it, but all they came up with is that it’s pure evil and seemingly has no conscious mind.”
Ganon can’t help but to speak up this time (trying to get past the nausea), with a raised eyebrow and a bitter tongue, says, “'Pure evil’ ? Like your people thought of me?”
Zelda wheels around at his words, but Impa continues like he didn’t even say anything.
Ganon quietly scoffs and goes back to examining the house.
A few minutes later, he catches Paya staring at him with wide, glazed eyes when he picks up a book about Sheikah culture, but she blushes bright red, squeaks, and runs upstairs before he has a chance to speak to her.
Confused, he cautiously puts the book down, wondering what he did wrong.
He tunes back into the conversation at the tail end once more, and hears Impa passionately exclaiming, “Zelda, you must save Link. Do all that you can to bring him home!”
He struggles not to roll his eyes as he strolls out of the house. (Part of him wants to scream at her, and the other part of him wants to get away from her as fast as he can. He does neither.)
As he walks down the stairs, he hears Zelda thanking Impa for the information before hurrying to where he stands next to Moonlight.
“What was that about!?” Zelda hisses, “You made me look like a complete fool in there!”
Ganon says, “You already accomplished that, bringing me along.”
Zelda's jaw clenches, “Explain.”
“Really? You don’t see it?” Ganon incredulously exclaims, wide-eyed at Zelda, “She either has a huge crush on me and is playin' hard to get, she has a thing against Gerudos, or she just doesn’t care for me because for thousands of years, her ancestors research was false or purposefully negligent and leaving out that, hey, the man who this green thing is keeping captive, is actually a living, breathing, normal person!”
His lungs run out of breath and he has to take a big, deep one. Half out of pure necessity, half out of trying to calm himself down. His hands run through his hair, and he hopes Zelda doesn’t catch them shaking. "Look. She doesn't hate Gerudos, I'm just-- I'm just upset. The Sheikah are good people and they probably did their best; I know that. Logically, I understand that. I'm just angry she didn't have anything to say for herself, that's all. I want answers, solid ones, and she isn't really giving them."
She's silent for a moment, stewing in the new-found information. “Oh… I see," she replies, simply. "I’m sorry you feel that way, and I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner. It wasn’t my intention to hurt you by bringing you to the people who are the most likely to have held you captive all of those years. It was insensitive of me, and I should’ve known. I apologize.”
Ganon's immediately guilty about his reaction. Why does she have to be so understanding all the time? “I… My anger wasn’t towards you at all, Princess, it was towards her. I’m a big boy, okay? If I didn’t feel like I could go in with you I wouldn’t have,” he says, a bit teasingly.
She smiles sweetly. It’s like sunshine. “Please never be afraid to speak to me about instances that are uncomfortable for you. But, I believe you, in this case.”
"Good." He nods, once firmly.
After they eat their dinner and talk with Pikango about his paintings (he asks Zelda if he could paint her, and when she declines, he directs the question towards Ganon. Although Ganon turns the same shade of red as his hair, he declines, as well), they head to the inn to go to bed.
Something's still bothering Ganon, though. “You don’t have to, you know.”
“I don’t have to what?”
“Save Link,” he replies, somewhat casually. “You aren’t obligated to do anything, no matter what some old, wise hag says.”
Zelda snorts before catching herself. She tries on a disapproving face, but fails as there’s a playful smile on her face, “There’s no need, I’d help anyone if needed.”
Ganon couldn’t let it go too easily, though. It puts a sour feeling in his mouth, what Impa said to Zelda as they left. “And, I could do it myself, you know. And you could continue being the Queen of Hyrule. I don’t know anything about politics, but I’m sure your advisors don’t feel too happy over your decision to save Link.”
Zelda pauses in her stride, “What is going on with you right now? Of course I have to save Link! Are you mad?”
He raises his hands in defense, “I’m just stating the facts here. You have a kingdom you need to rule. Hyrule isn’t just going to stop because a knight disappeared.”
She rounds on him, a finger raised in his face, “Link is not just ‘a knight’! He is the backbone of Hyrule Kingdom, and anyone in the kingdom can tell you just as much! He saves people, Ganon. He cares for people and they care for him, too. He’s just as much of a King of this land as I am a Queen, and everyone knows it. He’s done so much for Hyrule. He has for years and years. Isn’t it time we pay him back?”
She walks into the inn, not bothering to see Ganon's reaction.
Ganon stares at her retreating. Yeah, he definitely crossed multiple lines there. He didn't mean to offend her, of course, but he should've known. She was incredibly defensive of Link, and by dishonoring all of the sacrifices he's made, of course he'd make her upset.
But that's not the point he was trying to make, not at all. Of course they were going to rescue Link, why wouldn't they? Zelda's his friend (Maybe? Write down in mental list titled "Things to ask Zelda later." Already on the list is: "What are those huge birds and why is one playing an accordion?" and many, many boring political questions) But it's how Impa said it. Like she had to. Like she has no other choice.
He'll make this right. He'll give her the night to cool down, but he'll make this right in the morning.
-
The first thing Ganon says the next morning to Zelda when they meet up by the campfire outside of the inn is a rushed, “It wasn’t my place to say what you should and shouldn’t be doing. And, you're right, Link is so much more than a knight, and being in Kakariko Village, seeing all of the people he's helped, should’ve made me realize that.”
She apologizes as well, for acting rashly.
Ganon smiles in response, “You have nothing to apologize for... But, I just want you to know that there are options, Princess. You don’t have to save Link, just because it’s your duty, or destiny, or whatever Impa told you. You can just be the Queen. You can just be a scientist, you can just be anything! But you don’t have to be the Wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom. You can just… be Zelda.”
Zelda smiles pityingly, “Of course I can’t just be Zelda. The Wisdom is written in my DNA, in my blood. It’s the burden of the Triforce. Surely you understand?”
His heart hurts for her. Even knowing her for just a few days he feels this intense urge to protect her, a similar feeling that he experienced as a brother, looking after his little sisters. A feeling like if you can't protect her, then at least make her try and understand. She has to know, she has to.
Honesty always worked best with his sisters, and he's learned that Zelda values honesty, so honest he shall be.
“My mother raised me as a Chieftain. 10,000 years ago, the male Gerudo of the century was supposed to be the chief because we believed that lone male of the century was special and powerful. Understandable. Why else would Hylia grant us one male every century? Now, I think it’s different, but it was our way, once upon a time. And with that, I also had the Power of the Triforce in my possession. I've had it for as long as I can remember, but my mother never told me it was my destiny or my duty. She told me that no Goddess in the universe could tell me what I could and couldn’t do. She even said that I didn’t even have to be the chief if I really didn’t want to, which. Wow. It was laughable, then, to even think that the male Gerudo wouldn't take the throne. So, no. Truthfully, I don’t understand. I understand what it’s like to have to live up to something, to someone, but not to carry the Burden of the Triforce. And you shouldn't have to either.”
Zelda's quiet for a moment, pondering his words. She finally looks up at him, “You’ve had the Power of the Triforce in your possession… since you were a kid?”
“Uh, yeah,” He chuckles, memories from his childhood coming to mind, “There were some… strange side effects that came with it. Everywhere I went, those little stone Goddess statues always spoke to me. It was always so frustrating, I had to send our tribes to be stationed somewhere where I didn’t wander daily. Very distracting.”
Ganon sees Zelda's melancholy expression, “Woah, woah, woah, what’s wrong? What did I say?”
Zelda titters at his panic, waving a hand through the air, “Oh, it’s nothing you said, it’s just… All my life I've tried so hard to get through to the Goddesses before the Calamity struck. I prayed to of the two main statues for hours and hours at a time, begging them to give me my Widsom, so I could stop him… but it never came. Only until everything was destroyed, all my friends and family dead, and all my hope lost is when it came to me. Now, even after all of this... I could never use the power she gave me willingly. Even the whispers of the Master Sword became quiet.”
Ganon sat stunned. Quite frankly, he was horrified. And to be even more truthful, he hated the fact that he was the Power of the Triforce. He despised it. He could never learn how to use it, or control it. He was a time-bomb, ready to explode, at any moment! All he wanted to be was Ganondorf, Chieftain of the Gerudo, kind friend, and a wise leader. He never wanted to be anything else, and he was never forced to be anything else.
But… Zelda. She was different. She had no choice. She was forced to use her power, a power the Goddesses didn’t give to her in her time of true desperation, even when she begged them to have mercy on her. Her Kingdom up in flames, and the only thing that could win the fight was four under-prepared Champions and their Divine Beasts, a Hylian knight with a big sword, and a princess who couldn’t harness her own power.
As a leader, it makes him sick. As a brother and friend, it makes him angry.
All he can do in his sudden anger is spit out, “Hylia has a funny way of doing things, I suppose.”
Zelda flinched at the bitterness of his voice, and is firm with her words, “She has a plan. She always has.”
Ganon he pushes his anger, deep down. This is not the time, nor the place to blow up. He just shakes his head in wonder, “Why do you defend her? The one who “blessed you” with your power, but didn’t let you wield it until everything and everyone was destroyed?”
“Because everything wasn’t hopeless! She gave me power when I needed it the most, and Link and I helped get Hyrule back to its rightful inhabitants. We didn’t lose, Ganon, we won. And it was because of her. I should be the one she despises, as I was the one who lost faith in her. All that I can do now is ask for her forgiveness and hope she still has faith in me.”
Ganon exhales and runs his hands over his face, suddenly tired. His uselessness is killing him. “I don’t understand you sometimes, Princess. I thought you were supposed to be a science person? What’s with all the belief, all the faith?”
Zelda leans against him. “I suppose I’ve always had it. My mother and father raised me to believe in Hylia, and respect her always. I’ve never thought to disobey that, especially when we needed it the most.”
“Maybe it’s time to, then.”
Zelda says nothing.
Ganon chides, "Come on, a little disrespect from a teenager never hurt anyone."
Zelda puts her head on his shoulder and picks at her sleeves, "I'm the Queen of Hyrule, Gan. And an adult. I'm nineteen years old!" She huffs out a laugh, "Or technically, one hundred and nineteen."
"Psh!" Ganon says, "One hundred and nineteen? Try ten thousand and twenty-three!"
Zelda laughs. It feels like a sweet victory.
“Well,” Ganon says. “You want breakfast? I saw a den of chickens as we came in, do you think I could snatch a couple without the guard looking?”
“Ganon!” Zelda rolls her eyes and starts walking away.
“It was just a joke! I was joking-- Come on, Princess, ever heard of a joke?”