Part 3 Link in Age of Imprisonment - Link and Ganondorf’s first meeting.
This one requires some context.
First that being that I love a Ganondorf that has a reason or some depth. Yes he’s possessed by Demises curse bla bla bla, but who was he. He can’t be evil and conniving his whole life. Right?
Second I’m also a sucker for Link and Ganondorf friendship/ any positive relationship. Parent - child. Anything (The gravity of we were all friends/family and then it fell apart)
Third. The tictok audio of “I’d die for you, I’d kill for you, ok well I’d be kind for you. I would reject the impulse to indulge in my violent nature for you.” Has possessed me.
So on to the story —————————————————
Link is adventuring with Calamo and Bud. The three going out to look for a place for Calamo to put down roots and help the people of Hyrule. But really Link just needed a break from the castle.
They are soaring over head when Link spots them, a large group of Gerudo marching towards the great plateau. Where Hyrule castle is located.
He remembers the Mummy under the castle dressed in Gerudo fashion. He remembers the stories passed on by Urbosa and later by Buliara about the ancient Gerudo King who stood against Hyrule. And he just has a sinking feeling in his gut.
He tells Bud to land away from the approaching army. Calamo asks what’s happening but Link waits till they are in the ground to explain. He needs the two of them to return to Hyrule castle and alert King Rauru of the approaching army and to ready the troops. He’s not sure if this is an attack or a diplomatic meeting but he’s pretty sure if it was the first that Zelda at the very least would have told him. He doubts the three of them would have been allowed to leave the castle with something that important on the way.
Calamo starts to worry. He doesn’t want to leave Link here alone with a potential army walking his way. Bud is even less willing to leave. Link is so important to him. He desperately wants to protect Link (to repay all the hero has done for the master sword and for Hyrule) Link also isn’t at full strength. His body tires easily as he is still suffering from extreme gloom sickness. Neither are willing to leave him.
Until Link tells them about the guardians. These machines meant to protect Hyrule that were corrupted and used to kill him. Calamo’s shaking. Link’s died? He can tell by the scars covering his left side that the boys been through a lot but death? And is he suggesting that Bud could be possessed and turned against them? That couldn’t happen! Bud wouldn’t fall to corruption. Link and Zelda have been singing the praises of the master sword powering Bud for weeks. He couldn’t get corrupted! Could he?
Link confirms that the likelihood for Bud getting corrupted is extremely low, but the other constructs underground? Not so much. He doesn’t want to reveal Bud to a potential enemy. Not this early. It’s safer for all of Hyrule for Bud to go to the castle and warn King Rauru, Queen Sonia, and Princess/Lady Zelda.
Calamo argues that Link should come with them but Link wants to watch the Gerudo and see if there’s actually anything to worry about. Calamo wants to argue but the army is moving closer and Bud has to leave so reluctantly he leaves Link behind, but only after Link promises to return to the castle wishing the next two days.
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Link kept to the tree line as he spied on the Gerudo troops. They continued their march towards the great plateau, the home of the ancient Hyrule castle.
In the front of the army was a large Gerudo male. Link vaugley remembered Urbosa telling him about a Gerudo King who was involved in the near destruction Hyrule. But the details were fuzzy. His memories of the stories Buliara told him and Riju were far clearer, though hers focused more on the calamity than a king.
The man was followed by two women wearing golden masks. Behind them was a woman with long red hair and a green Gerudo garb.
The woman seemed distracted between watching their surroundings and checking on their troops. Their troops were trying to maintain their dislike in their march but were starting to stumble. Finally the woman’s worry seemed to win.
“Ganondorf we must stop.”
The man stopped and barely looked over his shoulder at her. “Are you questioning your king Ardi?”
The woman seemed to hesitate for just a moment before setting her shoulder. “I’m questioning if our people will be able to continue after marching for two days with barley and breaks and no food.”
That seemed to get the kings attention as he turned to survey his troops. He could see them trying to hold themselves together but the hunger and exhaustion was starting to over come their trading as they were starting to list to the side as they stood.
“You insolent-“ one of the masked women started to yell at Ardi but Ganondorf cut her off, his voice projecting to the crowd.
“We break here for the night.” The troops instantly relaxed and went to start setting up camp.
Link watched as the exhausted women worked to set up tents. He could hear muttering starting up over who was cooking and how no one seemed to have the energy to do so.
His hand drifted to the Purah pad. Zelda had lent it to him to take pictures of the places they found for Calamo. So they could compare all the best spots for their Korok companion. The Purah pad that was stocked with more than enough food to feed this troop.
It was a stupid idea. This was most likely an invading force. They could easily attack him. He wasn’t at his full strength. Not even close. The gloom had damaged his arm and permeated his whole body. While the brace Mineru and Zelda made for his arm helped he still tierd easily. He wouldn’t win a head on battle here.
Yet as he look at the Gerudo struggling in front of him, he couldn’t help but picture all the friends he had made in Gerudo town. Urbosa and her fierce kindness and her maternal love that she had for Zelda and on some occasions him. Riju who was practically his little sister. Her warmth and determination to lead her people dispute her young age. How she carried far to much weight in her shoulders yet did so with pride. She had even changed the law to allow him in without a disguise. The whole town had welcomed him.
Link hated to watch anyone suffer when he could do something to help them. So while he knew it was foolish, he made up his mode. With a deep breath he stepped out from behind the trees and walked towards the Gerudo camp
He was quickly spotted by a Gerudo woman with her hair up in a bun. “Intruder!” Her call got the attention of the whole camp and in seconds Link was surrounded.
Link calmly raised his hands with his palms facing the crowd. Trying to show that he wasn’t a threat.
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Ganondorf approached the small Hylian male. He carried a sword shield and bow so he was most likely skilled in at least some form of combate. And his form was tone but lithe he was built for agility not head on contest of strength. Yet he walked into a crowd full of Gerudo warriors. He was either arrogant in his skills or reckless and Ganondorf wasn’t sure which was more insulting. Yet his body was covered in scares, the left side of his face and body showing evidence of several burn scares. The young man had lived through something violent and lived to tell the tell so Ganondorf wouldn’t dismiss his strength completely.
There there was his clothes. He was a simple green fabric wrapped over his shoulder and wrapped linen shorts. It was a typical outfit for the Hylian’s except for two things. That shade of Green was for the royal family of Hyrule. Yet he knew that King Rauru and Queen Sonia didn’t have a son. Yet if there was any doubt of his connection to the royal family, the second oddity concerned it. His right arm that look horrible mangled and was supported by Zonai technology.
Yet Ganondorf could sense the dark magic emanating from the boy’s body. It was concentrated in his arm but permeated his whole body. The boy was infected with dark magic. A magic Ganondorf would know anywhere. It was his magic. Or it would be except he had never seen this Hylian before, and the magic was much stronger then anything Ganondorf had created so far. And yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that this Hylian was marked by him. That he belonged to Ganondorf in some way.
“Excuses me.” The Hylian started. Is voice was weak and soft. Not weak with fear but from not talking very often. “I was walking by and couldn’t help but over hear your argument over dinner. If you’d like I could cook for you.”
“Why would we trust a voe from the woods to cook for us?” Came a distrustful voice. The Gerudo woman work her hair in braids and a purple outfit. Ganondorf recognized her as Ronza.
How dare she speak out of turn! Yet her question was fair. Ganondorf would deal with her later. He raised his own voice cutting off the Hylians reply. “Why are you so far from Central Hyrule?” Something didn’t add up about this boy’s presence. If he was part of the royal family why was he not with them? Why wasn’t he trying to warn them about an invading army?
The Hylian cleared his throat. “I was out exploring when I came across your group.” His voice was quiet but steady as he held Ganondorf’s gaze.
“Why would you reveal yourself and offer aid?” This didn’t make any sense.
“Because I heard you were hungry and I wasn’t going to walk by when I could help.” The boy replied his hands moving with his words and his voice started to give out.
“And where do you have all this food you’re going to feed us with?” Ronza snorted.
“Ronza!” Ardi tried to correct as Ganondorf’s glare moved from the Hylian to Ronza. His gaze shifted back to the Hylian when he heard a musical tune. In one hand the boy held a panel of some kind and in the other was a fresh hydromellon. The boy smiled at them.
“I’ve got quite a lot of food stored in here.”
“Fine” Ganondorf gave the Hylian an appraising look.
“Link.” The boy supplied.
“Link” Ganondorf continued, the name settling on his tongue. “You can cook for us. Ronza,” he called addressing his unruly warrior, “you will be assisting him and tasting everything. If the boy meant to poison them Ronza’s death would alert them before he could get to many of them.
Ronza paled upon learning that her life was in the hands of this Hylian but Link just smiled and got to work.
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Ganondorf watched closely as the Hylian, Link, cooked. The young man happily humming to himself as he worked. Stoping occasionally to direct Ronza on what to do. He could see Ardi and Sholani watching the boy as well. What had started as distrust morphed into curiosity, then into disbelief. Ganondorf wasn’t sure why.
Ronza suddenly shout out everyone on edge until they realized she was excitedly praising the Julian’s cooking skills. This caused quite a few of his soldiers to move closer to see what he had made for them.
Link must have instructed Ronza to start distributing food as he approached Ganondorf with a filled bowl. Ganondorf didn’t need to look at the contents to know what it was, he could tell by smell alone. Creamy Heart Soup. A Gerudo delicacy.
Ganondorf leveled the boy with a suspicious glare. He would know if any Hylians had come to his desert. He had never seen Link before. Yet the boy was saturated in his dark magic and knew Gerudo cuisine. Well enough to have his born and bread Gerudo soldiers calling it the “best Creamy Heart Soup” they’d ever had.
Ganondorf was missing a piece to this puzzle and he didn’t like it one bit.
“Where did you learn this recipe?” Ganondorf asked as he took the bowl from Link.
“I met a Gerudo woman many years ago. She was kind to me and taught me a lot about her homeland. Including some of your recipes.” Link’s voice was soft as his hands moved along with his words. Ganondorf didn’t know what the gestures meant but seeing as they moved with the boy’s words they might have been Hylian sign. The boy’s face was set in a fond remembrance. This person obviously meant a great deal to him.
Ganondorf watched Link tune and return to the cooking pot to help Ronza hand out the food to the rest of the troop. Absently he raised his spoon to his lips and tasted the soup.
Suddenly he wasn’t in the camp leading his troops to launch a surprise attack on Hyrule castle. He was back in the desert. A young boy chasing after his older sister and her friends. Back before Koume and Kotake took him away from his family. Before they ‘trained him for his destiny.’ Before his resentment and hatred for the bountiful Hyrulians set in. Before he had mastered his powers over gloom and Darkness. Back when he was just ‘Gan the dwarf,’ his elder sister teasing him for his short height. His small boy chasing after her as they played. Before he was told he was meant to rule them. Before his blood started to sing for violence. When he was a boy coming home for dinner and eating his mother’s favorite soup.
Ganondorf blinked, the memories clearing from his visions. A single tear building in his eye that he quickly blinked back.
He scanned the group once more. There was Ardi. How long had it been since he last thought of her as sister? When did he stop seeing her as family and instead as a tool and later an obstacle.
His eyes scanned over his people. The people he was trained to rule. Once he cared so much for them. Furious with Hyrule and their easier lives and good fortune. Enraged that his people were struggling in the desert when they should be thriving in the abundance Hyrule had claimed. His anger started there, he remember that, but over time it morphed into a hatred for all living things, even his own people. When had that shift started? Why had it happened?
Then his eyes settled on Link. The boy smiling at his people. A Hylian, yet he treated them with kindness. A boy who knew their culture well enough to make an exact replica of his mother’s dish. Who was the woman Link had met all those years ago? He was far younger than Ganondorf was. Was he old enough that he had met Ganondorf’s mother after Koume and Kotake had her banished from Gerudo town for ‘interfering’ with his training?
Whether it was her or not. Link was something special. Ganondorf had felt it from the moment he spotted the young man. He drew Ganondorf’s attention. Something deep in him said to kill the boy on site, but everything about Link was disarming. His soft spoken words, his kindness to take care of the Gerudo soldiers, his knowledge of their culture and the care to make them a meal from their homeland. The fact that he was saturated in Ganondorf’s own magic. A far stronger and more potent version but still his magic.
“Now that the boy has completed his task, it would be best to kill him my king.” Koume whispered into Ganondorf’s ear.
“No.” Ganondorf spoke without thinking, his eyes still locked on the Hylian. Koume seemed shocked but Kotake quickly covered for her sister.
“I agree my king. The boy could still be useful. But we should chain him up. We can have him cook for our journey and then use him as a hostage when we attack. Judging by the color of his tunic he is close to the royal family. I’m sure they would give up quite a lot to keep him safe.”
Something deep in Ganondorf agreed with her plan. But the idea of the Hyrulian family having something that was his made his teeth grate.
He pause suddenly. Link wasn’t his. Yet the boy was so soaked in his magic every instinct in Ganondorf screamed that the boy belonged to him. He watched the boy’s warm smile as he took care of Ganondorf’s people. He imagined the look of betrayal when he chained the boy down and never let him free. The fight the boy would obviously put up. No, he didn’t want that. This Hylian belonged to him and would chose to stay by his side, give enough time and proximity.
After all Ganondorf was old enough that he should have an heir by now. Yet all the training he had been through, he had never had the time to find a partner. He had heard the the Hyrulian Royal family had a ‘distant relative” visiting but they were behaving as if she were their daughter. Why could he not claim this strange Hylian as his son? His future heir. The boy was already marked by his magic.
It was a strange thought. Ganondorf had never worried about the future pass securing his place as king. He still planned to do that. But now he might have to take a more delicate approach.
“No.” Ganondorf finally spoke. “There’s been a change of plans. We are going to Hyrule to negotiate a trade deal.” Koume and Kotake looked at him the same way they did when he was a child and not following this instructions perfectly. Unfortunately for them he hadn’t been a child for a long time. (How many of his decisions were actually theirs?) “Tell the troops we are on a mission of peace.”
“But sire, I thought we were going to claim Hyrule.”
“We are.” Ganondorf said his eyes catching Link’s as the boy looked over and smiled at him. How long had it been since someone genuinely smiled at Ganondorf? How long had it been since he had been look at with anything that wasn’t fear, contempt, or hatred? He wanted to keep this moment. Too keep whatever perception of him Link currently had. He don’t want this one person to look at him like he was a monster. How long has it been since he wanted to protect someone? Since he thought about another persons feelings? “But now we have a new puzzle piece. If he is important to the royal family won’t it be far more fun to corrupt him against them. Let’s play the long game.”
Ganondorf can be patient. Especially when the prize is worth the wait.
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Link being genuinely nice and kind to the Gerudo. Rauru, Sonia, Mineru, and Zelda are wary, and honestly so is Link. But he’s not going to fight until the Gerudo give him a reason to.
The more time Ganondorf spends with Link the more he’s starting to realize that he wants to be a good person, even if it’s just for Link.
If Link is around Ganondorf is starting to revert to his old self. One that cares for the Gerudo people.
If Link isn’t around Denise’s curse starts to slip back into control, enhanced by Koume and Kotake manipulation.
Ardi has always hated the two witches. She notices the change her little brother is going through whenever Link is around and starts to try and make sure Ganondorf is spending more time with Link than Koume and Kotake.
But Link is still a wander. He still needs time alone. Rauru doesn’t like Link going off alone with so many threats nearby. Ganondorf doesn’t Link Link out of his site, originally because he doesn’t know how to see him as a person and not a possession, later because there have been several attempts on Link’s life (Koume and Kotake)
But Link still goes out to spend time with Calamo and Bud. The two are staying away from the castle while the Gerudo are there. No one wants Ganondorf or Koume and Kotake to know about the living war machine. Link is trying to protect his new construct brother but he also wants to see him.
They are able to keep Bud hidden for a bit but eventually someone finds out and this leads to the forbidden construct being created. But who does that?
Ganondorf is constantly being pulled between his Demise given instinct to destroy and the better man he wants to be. First for Link, later for Ardi and their people.
But wouldn’t it be a gravity if something happened to Link driving Ganondorf right back into his Demise head space….
