Zelda's eyes widened at what she had just witnessed.
It didn't seem real, the life had drained out of him so quickly. He had been so helpless, his eyes wide with confusion, before his vision had faded and became glassy.
Her body was racked with shudders as she tried to wipe her tears away. She had to be strong now.
"Mom?" her son asked, glancing up at her with watery blue eyes.
His bottom lip was quivering again, his nose running as tears ran down his cheeks.
She didn't say anything back to him, instead she hugged him again as he cried.
Zelda gently ran her fingers through his hair, trying to put aside her own grief for the moment to comfort him.
She had no idea what was going to happen next to them, she stole a glance over to the Gerudo, who was staring at her hands and then down at his body in shock. Some of the blood was still speckled on her face, she had forgotten all about it. Zelda could hear her muttering under her breath but it was barely discernible.
Link's body was already so pale, the blood in stark contrast against it. She saw his eyes staring upward, the Gerudo hadn't bothered to close them.
Zelda felt tears welling in her eyes, making her vision blurry and distorted. She flicked her gaze away- willing her tears to not fall. She had to be ready for whatever was to come.
Another Gerudo entered the cell on the other side of the room, her eyes widening as she saw his body on the floor.
The other one looked at her with helplessness, her hands still raised.
"... I didn't mean to. Please... you have to believe me!" She said, Zelda saw her eyes flashing with fear. Was she going to be punished?
The Gerudo who just came in laughed, her voice echoing across the room.
"Wait till the Boss hears about this!" Her voice was in hysterics.
Zelda turned her attention away from the Gerudos, wondering when they were going to remember who was still here.
The conversation faded and a silence pervaded the room.
"Ah, the Hero's family. I almost forgot what I came here for." The Gerudo who had been laughing said, turning to address Zelda.
Zelda maintained eye contact, trying to level her breathing.
As the Gerudo stepped back to the door she tilted her head as a gesture, the two guards on either side of the two took their chains and began to drag them out of the opening on their side of the chamber.
I wonder where they're taking us, she thought, feeling the cold metal biting into her wrists as she struggled to keep up. She hadn't really noticed before, her mind had been too preoccupied on Link, but she had been weakened too. Not to the extent he had been, but enough so that trying to keep up with the guards' long strides began to tire her out.
She figured they had been somewhere near the top of the Spirit Temple, since now they were descending down a flight of stairs, the red rug on the steps sandy and faded from age.
Her son stayed close to her side, and she could tell he was fighting back tears, his eyes on the floor.
An apology formed in the back of her throat, she felt that she was to blame for his father's death. But she didn't say anything, she would say it later, if they got out of this mess, although, at this point she was doubting she'd have that chance.
They were walking down a dimly lit corridor when a commotion of voices was heard.
The guards leading them stopped in their tracks, glancing at each other with confusion.
"Mom? What's going on?" he said, whispering.
"Ashton... I'm so sorry... I-i don't know." said Zelda in an equally quiet tone, a lump forming in her throat.
Shouting filled the hallway and people were running in and out of it, panic on their faces.
"Where's Nabooru?!"
"I found her body!" another Gerudo shouted over the chaos.
Everything froze.
In the chaos the guards escorting them ran off with some other Gerudo, the mystery concerning Nabooru's death hung in the air.
It took Zelda a few moments in the confusion to realize they had a chance of escape.
She turned down to her son, grabbing one of his hands.
"I think we might be able to escape now..." she began, wondering how in Hyrule she would be able to pull this off, "i-if anything happens to me on the way out... run."
He nodded, bitting his lip to stop it from trembling.
Zelda glanced down the corridor, it was completely empty by now.
She had no idea where to go, her mind drifted back to Link, he would know where to go.
Don't think about him right now... just worry about getting out of here, she thought to herself, grabbing Ashton's hand before heading the way the Gerudos has gone.
The rest of the way down was easy, too easy. Torches lit down the stairs and hallways, eventually taking them up a curved set of stairs set with more red carpet and into a room with pillars on the walls, a stone throne of sorts on the other side of the room.
Since the Gerudo had set up camp here, they had turned this room into a weaponry of sorts, wooden racks set up along the perimeter of the room and covered in bows, knifes, swords, and the like. Two large sets of armor were also in the room.
As they made their way to the opening past the throne, a speck of blue caught Zelda's eye amidst the browns, reds, and silvers of the rest of the items in the room.
She dropped her son's hand, her eyes widened with skepticism, could it be?
As she lifted the item up from a pile of shields, she made a sound of relief.
The Ocarina of Time had been confiscated when they had first arrived, along with his weapons, and Zelda had her doubts she'd ever find it again, which troubled her. But she had found it, holding the glossy blue instrument to her heart.
It was her last piece of him, her having given it to him in the months after he had first shown up at the castle, looking as battle weary as an experienced knight.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts of him, feeling a lump in her throat. She pocketed the ocarina quickly.
Ashton was standing by opening, waiting silently. He felt that he should keep quiet, knowing how much that ocarina meant to his Mom, and had to Dad.
Zelda took the lead again, feeling the cool desert air. It felt so odd to be out in the open again after those tormenting days of being trapped in that room.
They were out on one of the hands of the Desert Colossus, overlooking the desert. The desert spread out past the alcove they were in as far as the eye could see, a sea of sand.
On the other hand, Gerudo stood clustered together, looking down.
Down on the stone floor near the front entrance to the temple was a body, head down and surrounded by blood.
Zelda went cold, the whispers from the other hand audible to her.
"What happened to her?"
"It wasn't me, if you're wondering."
"I heard she jumped."
Her eyes widened, shocked, she backed into the shadows with Ashton, trying to sort through her muddled thoughts for how to slip away unseen.
But she couldn't get Nabooru's body out of her head.
"Are we gonna get out of here?" Ashton asked, looking to his mother for guidance.
"Y-yes. I'm sorry sweetheart, let's go now." She said, biting the inside of her cheek. She had to get her and her son to safety, and then she would sort through this mess.
Together the two slid down the side of the rock, dropping carefully into the shadows. No one had seemed to notice them.
They snuck to the side of the Temple, spying some horses near them, large Gerudo stallions, their tack gear shining in the moonlight.
Zelda had always tried to keep a clean record for the most part, but she felt stealing was justified- at least just this once.
>*<
Hey guys! What did you think of this chapter? I'm sorry if it was bad/boring.
I tried to portray them realistically, I thought Zel would be so focused on getting her son out safe she'd forget momentarily what had happened.
Also what do you think of the son's name? I thought Ashton worked since I started thinking about a phoenix and how they rise from their ashes, just like he's going to have to do after Link's death. Yikes... I try symbolism and fail a lot lol.
Anyways.... hope you enjoyed! I'll start using this posting schedule! I'm on chapter eight in writing currently so I'm ahead.
See y'all next week!