~Chapter Twenty- Kuro III~
Kuro hid behind a crate as a Gerudo patrolled one of the many halls of Gerudo Fortress. Her breathing became deeper aspresence of the intimidating, female guard standing just beyond the crate and she covered her mouth. It annoyed her how slowly this process was going. She wanted to find Vaati and rip him limb from limb. The sooner, the better, in her opinion. The Gerudo’s footsteps echoed off the walls as the guard slowly went down the hall. Once she was a safe distance away, Kuro ran down the hall that had just been patrolled.
I need a weapon, she thought. Where’s a storage room? She headed up a small set up stairs and pressed herself against the wall. She sidled along it and looked around the corner; there was not a guard in sight. She did not know whether to be relieved or even more cautious, because there was bound to be something afoot. She ducked under the windows and slowly made her way down the hall, when she heard a ruckus outside the window. She slowly rose her head so that her eyes could see what was going on down outside better, without letting herself blow her cover. She looked down below and saw why this part of the fortress was empty. The guards were chasing an intruder and they yelled things like:
“He’s fast! Try to surround him!”
“Don’t worry, that’s all he’s good at!”
Looking at the person they were chasing, Kuro’s eyes widened. She clenched her teeth muttering,
“Idiot.” She slammed her fist against the wall, when suddenly she smirked. “Okay, I take it back. You’re actually helpful, this time, Warro.” She stood up and took one last look outside. She could see the yellow-tunic garbed boy evading the Gerudo chasing him with ease. “Just hold out long enough for me to find a weapon.” She hurried down the empty hallway and wandered carefreely. It did not take her long to find the storage room, where she found weapons. Once again, it did not take her long to find what she was searching for: a glaive, the weapon most Gerudo carried—it was hard to miss a weapon with its size. She heard footsteps coming her way and she pressed herself up against the wall. Sweat rolled down the side of head as she clutched her newly obtained halberd tightly. She knew that this would be the moment: she would have her first kill. This was not like killing Gohma or Volvagia, this was taking the life of someone not much different than herself, but it had to be done; she figured she could get a disguise through this method too.
The Gerudo rushed through the door, lugging hat clearly was Warro’s sword, shield, and Spirit Pendant. She dropped them onto a crate and turned to head back out when she saw Kuro. Her eyes widened.
“Intru—“
“AAH!” Kuro yelled, slashing the blade of the glaive through the across the Gerudo’s stomach. As the Gerudo fell, Kuro stabbed her, and as the blood spilled out onto the ground, Kuro looked at her hands and down at the Gerudo. “I…I…” She was about to cry, when the little voice in her head reminded her,
“You had to prepare yourself to kill Vaati, somehow. It had to be done.”
That was her excuse and as she removed the clothes from the Gerudo, she then swapped them with hers. Kuro felt uncomfortable wearing the revealing clothing of the Gerudo, especially because it exposed her midriff, but if it made her pass off as a Gerudo, it was great. She felt secure behind the purple facemask that matched the rest of her outfit. Before leaving the room, Kuro took the Spirit Pendant with her, remembering what Zelda had told her about it: The Shadow Sage resided inside of it at the time. As she walked out, she focused and asked:
“Why is he following me?”
“Because you are his friend. You’re such a fool for not taking him with you, especially when you are unarmed!” an image of the Shadow Sage, Impa, appeared in her mind.
“But I have a weapon, now.”
“Yes, but that still does not change the fact that Warro is confused entirely. I told him to pursue you, if he was your friend and he did. You would have been killed by now, if he did not follow my instructions.”
“You mean he wasn’t rushing up here on his own?”
“Of course not! He asked if he would be able to use the Magic Cape to sneak in and help you, but I told him otherwise. I removed the cape and forced him to buy you time. He really wants to help you Kuro, even though he has no idea what’s going on.”
“Fine,” Kuro sighed. “Where is he? It defeats the purpose of me pushing him away to keep him safe, if he follows me and gets killed.”
“I get the feeling you do love him.”
“He’s the best friend I’ve had since I came to Hyrule. I wouldn’t jump that far, though. The one I love is still alive and he’s waiting for me to save him.”
“Sounds just like Link and Zelda with their roles reversed,” Impa chuckled. “Well, if you wish to save Warro, I saw a young, redhaired woman dressed in green with an emerald on her forehead take Warro with her upstairs. Because Warro has become attuned to the pendant, I am afraid I cannot help you beyond this. I can sense that that Gerudo woman has taken Warro to the cell at the highest point in this section of the Fortress. Quickly, you must hide the pendant.”
“Why?”
“Are you stupid? If the Gerudos see you with it, you’ll blow your cover for sure!”
“How Warro of me,” Kuro chuckled.
“Actually, I think he’d know that. He’s smarter than you give him credit for, Kuro.”
“Ouch…” Kuro said. She felt around and sighed at the feeling of no pockets to put the pendant. Instead, she pulled her top out and dropped the pendant into her cleavage, hiding it perfectly. She shivered from the cold metal against her skin.
“You have no respect for sacred objects, do you?”
“You said to hide it, so I hid it.”
“Kids these days…”
Following Impa’s directions, Kuro made her way through the maze of a fortress. Occassionally the Gerudo stared at Kuro as she walked along, before she entered the room, where she realized why they seemed so nervous. Inside the cell, Warro was hanging from the wall by a pair of shackles around his wrists and the Gerudo matching the description was up against him with a finger under his chin and her face very close to his.
“You’re a cute one, definitely. You play hard-to-get so well, it’s as if you have no idea what’s going on,” the woman chuckled, trying to lean in some more. Warro tilted his head away from her and asked,
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that I want to—“ the Gerudo’s eyes locked onto Kuro. “It seems I was mistaken when nobody wanted to challenge me for this boy.”
“Challenge? Oh, yeah, I do challenge you!” Kuro asked; she felt her cover beginning to slip. She was just going to go with whatever this Gerudo told her and what she knew of the tribe.
“It will be boring beating a patrol, but if you want him that badly, tell me.. Is he your first? Until now, I never found a man young enough for my tastes, so this is my first, if I get him.”
“Y-yeah,” Kuro said. Beneath the facemask, Kuro was blushing. Now, she understood how the Gerudo sustained their people with only having one male every century. They kidnapped men and… she dared not to think what this Gerudo was about to do to Warro.
“I really should not be doing this, though,” the woman said, eyeing Kuro’s weapon.
“Why’s that?”
“You see, the reason my position is so high in this section of the fotress is because of my acute senses,” the woman explained. “I smell blood on your weapon and it’s Gerudo. Your disguise might be able to fool the others—I admit, it is well done—but I see through it. Your ears are round, but you are not a Gerudo. Who are you?”
Kuro’s eyes widened at this deduction. She cursed her stupidity and pulled the facemask under her chin, revealing her face to the woman. “My name’s Kuro, a human from Hyrule.”
“Kuro! I was scared for a moment!” Warro exclaimed, suddenly breaking free from his nervous silence. “I thought you were another one!”
“Yeah, yeah, we’ll talk later, Warro,” Kuro said, turning to the woman. “By the way, I highly doubt he has a clue what you were talking about with him playing hard-to-get. Warro’s not very bright, if you haven’t found out.”
“Oh, really?” the woman asked, sirking, her eyes looking in Warro’s direction. “Perhaps maybe I could ‘teach’ him.” She suddenly was forced to jump back as a blade nearly split her open.
“As if I’d let you try,” Kuro said. “He’s coming with me!”
“Oh, did I hit a nerve? I’m sorry, I didn’t know he was your boyfriend,” the woman chuckled.
“He’s not my boyfriend! If he was, I would have told him what it meant!”
“Then, you don’t mind if I just take—“
“No!” Kuro swung again, only this time to have her weapon deflected by a sword and pinned down by the Gerudo’s foot. “Really, I don’t get why everyone thinks that of us!”
“It’s that you seem so determined to save his precious little head,” the Gerudo chuckled.
“If you aren’t talking about the head on his shoulders, I’ll—“
“See? Even more reason to say he’s your boyfriend, pervert!” Devon lifted her foot and allowed Kuro to pick up her weapon. “My name’s Devon. If you think you can beat me with that wimpy uniformed style of fighting, think again, sister. I’ll give you three days to train. As I said before, I shouldn’t do this, but… I have my own reasons.”
“If they involve clothing removal, I’ll—“
“It’s not involving that boy—Warro.”
“Um… Kuro, what’s going on?”
“I’ll explain later, Warro.” Devon handed Kuro a small piece of parchment.
“Here. Because I can only challenge Gerudo, I’ll make you an honorary one.Besides, you tricked all those guards.”
“Can I be one?” Warro asked. “I bought her time to sneak in!”
“Girls-only club, I’m afraid, Warro,” Devon said. “However, maybe your daughter will—“ Kuro tapped the shaft of the glaive against Devon’s head.
“Hmmm…” she hummed in irritance.
“As I was saying, your daughter will be a Gerudo.”
“Wha…?” Warro looked dumbfounded as he tried to figure this out. What was a daughter?
Devon turned back to Kuro and said, “I’ll take good care of your friend until our fight. I want you to head to the Training Grounds tomorrow morning. I’ll notify the warden of your training request. I won’t fight you unless you have proper training.”
“Alright then,” Kuro sighed, pulling the facemask over her face once more. “You better feed him. Warro will get irritable, when he’s hungry.” She recalled how she had set meal times for them during their stay in the Forest Temple.She was forced to scrap the idea, because Warro would stare at her like a puppy until she gave him more of what she called their “rations.” She did admit, however, Warro was a cute beggar.
“Will do,” Devon said. “You can sleep in my room for tonight. You’ll be spending all your time in the Training Grounds, so you won’t need a room after that.” She turned back to Warro and entered his cell. “Night-night, Warro.” She stood on the tips of her toes and pecked his cheek, much to Kuro’s annoyance. Her eye twitched and her fists clenched. This woman angered her so much, but why though?
I love Drathi! Why am I getting so upset with him getting a little peck? She thought as Devon showed Kuro out of the room. She just tried to imagine what Drathi would look like, when she was reunited with him. He was taller than her, about Warro’s height, maybe taller, in her mind; Drathi was always taller than she was. She put a wizard’s robe on her mental image of the boy, because she knew that he was a scholar at magic, even when they were children, and added in the most memorable detail of him. Drathi had a trademark grin, where he closed his eyes and it lit up even the darkest moments, or just made for a great sarcastic remark, which he usually had made. However, that was not enough to get her mind off Devon kissing Warro. She had to make an effort to not just kill her on the spot. Wait, did I just want to… Kuro cripped her glaive tightly and shut her eyes. I’ll only kill Vaaati…but that Gerudo… I… what am I going to do? she thought, finally managing to somewhat break away from her thoughts as to why she felt jealous.Devon lead Kuro into another room, with a bed against the wall, underneath a window where the moonlight poured in.
“There’s only one bed,” Kuro said.
“I know,” Devon said. “You expected to sleep with me? Sorry, but I’m not your mommy.” Kuro’s hand tightened around the glaive as she resisted attacking once more. She hated people bringing up parents around her.
“You’re digging a deeper hole the more you talk, Gerudo. When we fight I’mma pummel your face in, so badly that you’d be ugly enough to make yourself sick.”
“Good luck with that, when the time comes,” Devon said lying down on her bed. “You can stop trying to intimidate me, now. My name’s Devon, remember?”
“Right,” Kuro grumbled, sitting agains the cold wall. That night she did not sleep well. She had so much on her mind and was paranoid about Devon sleeping in the same room. She had this constant feeling that Devon would stab her as she slept, should she doze off. She fought her battle against sleep long into the night, before finally giving in, when she realized Devon had been asleep the whole time.
Kuro groaned as she awoke from the nudging at her stomach. She opened her eyes and saw Devon standing over her. “You missed breakfast, you missed lunch; I won’t let you miss training. It’s not my fault if you lose and you’re stuck here. The others know, now. They all agree with me on this wager, which is, if you lose you stay here, as a Gerudo, and are not allowed to leave. Warro is mine as well. If you can win, you can take your boyfriend and do as you please.”
Kuro was too tired to protest, once again, against Warro being her boyfriend; she simply groaned and rose to her feet, rubbing the back of her neck. The floor was definitely one of the least comfortable places to sleep, especially in the Gerudo Fortress. She tilted her head and cringed as her neck popped.
“You should get used to that. You’ll be staying in the Training Grounds for all three days.” Devon took Kuro from the room and headed to Warro’s cell. Bread crumbs were scattered about the cell and some were stuck to the sides of Warro’s mouth; he had obviously scarfed it all down like he usually did.
“Kuro, the guards here are really nice!” Warro said. “They’re giving me food and they let me off the wall! Why didn’t you give me food, when I was stuck in Hyrule Castle?”
“You chained him to a prison wall, there too, Kuro?” Devon asked with a mischevious smirk. “Kinky.”
“You were let go before we had to feed you,” Kuro said to Warro, before turning to Devon. “And he was never even chained up. We just threw him in there.” Kuro knelt down in front of Warro’s cell and took hold of the bars. “I told you I’d explain what’s going on, so I’ll explain now. The only way for me to set you free is to defeat that Gerudo--” she nodded her head in Devon’s direction “—in a duel. Last night as you saw, she is clearly stronger than both of us.”
“Actually, I fought Warro briefly too. He fights like he was taught by somebody who fights with a polearm.” She laughed. “Swords and polearms are like night and day!”
“I taught him how to fight, for the most part,” Kuro said.
“That explains it.”
“Well, anyways, Warro, I’m going to be training for the next few days with the time she gave me. If I don’t win, well, don’t tell me what goes on between you two during the night, okay?” Kuro knew if she lost and Warro tod her, as he most likely would, she’d feel even more angered than she was because of Devon kissing him, let alone about Devon from taking her friend away from him.
“I still don’t get what’s going on,” Warro said, tilting his head.
“I suppose it’s better that way,” Kuro laughed. “Just pray I win, alright?”
“Right.” Warro looked up to Devon, who was smiling.
“Who knows, maybe we’ll have a new king.”
Kuro’s eyes widened and she bonked Devon on the head with the glaive again. A male was born once every century in the clan, and even though it was a joke, Kuro just did not like it. Not one bit.
“Alright, alright, to the training grounds, then,” Devon grumbled, rubbing her head. As they exited the room, she turned around and blew a kiss to Warro, which merited her another bonk on the head from Kuro. Once they were outside of the fortress, Devon led Kuro to the eastern side of the fortress, where an entrance was blocked off by a metal gate. She nodded to the Gerudo guarding it and with a tap of her glaive off the ground, the gate began to open. “I’ll see you in three days. You better be stronger.”
Kuro looked at her and then went inside, saying nothing. What she wanted to say was that she would win Warro no matter what, but that’d make Devon call him her boyfriend again. Inside of the training grounds, she heard the gate close behind her.
“So, you’re the one who killed Serena,” someone said as she entered. Kuro looked up ahead and saw an older Gerudo standing in front of three doors. “Sister Devon felt that I should be your supervisor, because after all, you killed my daughter.”
“I…” Kuro’s heart nearly stopped. This was that poor girl’s mother? Her bones felt like jelly as she stared at the woman. “I don’t know what to…”
“While I don’t like you, I accept her death,” the woman said. “Because that is how the desert is, cruel and merciless. If you lose your fight, I will kill you, likewise, if you do not pass this training. You are taking the place of my daughter. I will explain what your training consists of…” She walked over to the door to Kuro’s left. “Offensive tactics…” she went to the middle one, “Defensive tactics…” and then to the one on the right, “and the final test, where you show what you have learned.”
“This is going to be easy, I bet,” Kuro said. “It’s like learning to fight in units.”
“Yes, but your fighting will be done against strong monsters that we have gathered and brought in from the Spirit Temple.”
“The Spirit Temple?” Kuro asked.
“Yes, and we’re running low on monsters,” the Gerudo answered. “If only that accursed wind mage and Twinrova did not—“
“Wind mage?” Kuro asked anxiously. “Is he still there?”
“Why are you so interested? Keep your mind focused on the training.” The first door opened up. “Your goal is to kill all three floor masters.”
"Alright then," Kuro said, going through the door. As the door slammed behind her, bars trapped in the room. Then, walking out from the shadows of the room were three clawed hands about the size of her torso. If it weren't for the fact they were on the floor, the should have mistaken them for Wallmasters as she recalled her training in the forest Temple with Warro. They had made it up to a higher floor of the temple and after walking through a corridor that twisted as they walked, they came into a stange room. There were doors hanging on the ceiling and it seemed as if the room were able to rotate. Kuro still wondered if that eye switch outside the twisting corridor would have changed something in that room. Trying to finish up her recollection as quickly as possible, Kuro skipped ahead to what happened as they examined the room...
"Amazing," Kuro said as she looked at the ceiling of the rom. Sticking to it was a an elaborate chest made of gold and wood painted green. "This is one hell of a puzzle... What do you think, Warro?" There was no response. "Warro?" She turned around and saw her partner being lifted up from the ground by a hand very similar to the Floormaster. "Warro!"
"Thanks, Kuro," Warro panted after she had dispatched it, holding his throat. "I think I'm no longer afraid of Keese... what was that?"
"A Wallmaster. C'mon," she helped him up, "We need to get out of here, before another comes down!"
Focusing on the present, now, Kuro watched the Floormasters advance. They moved slowly compared to their counterparts--or the Wallmasters were just a lot more stealthier. She got into a stance and flipped the blade of the glaive so that it was horizontal to the ground. "Too slow," she muttered as she slashed across hitting all three of them. All three floormasters fell to the ground, limp, as their fingers were cut off from underneath them. "Alrighty, then, that was simple enough," Kuro said, rubbing her hands together. Sh turned around and saw that the door was still sealed off. "What the...?" All three floormasters were beginning to stand back up. "Don't know when to stay dead, don't you all?" Her eyes narrowed as she swung the glaive at them again. "And stay down!" she yelled as it came across the three, however this time it did not connect with any of the three. The Floormasters had lifted themselves off the ground and the white areas at the joins of their bodies were glowing green. They stiffened as the glaive missed them and flew forward, one following the other. Kuro gasped as the first his her square in the chest which sent her hurling to the sealed wall. As her back slammed up against it, the second floormaster hit her in the same spot before shuld could catch her breath. Her eyes widened again, this time crying in pain, and before she was finished the final floormaster his her again, making her jump slightly from the blow. As the third floormaster joined the others in the center of the room, Kuro dropped her weapon and fell to her knees, coughing. Blood dripped from her mouth as she took hold of her weapon once more, letting out what sounded like a low growl. The adrenaline was beginning to flow through her veins as her blood was wiped from her lips.
These floormasters compensate for their lack of stealth with resiliance, she thought to herself. Taking one out should be safe to see how it got back up. She dashed forward and stabbed the middle floormaster, quickly pulling the shaft back to block the other two that attempted to tackle her in retaliation. Shoving them of the shaft rather easily, she continued her barrage of stabson the floormaster periodically blocking the other two between strikes, until the disembodied hand fell to the ground. Let's see you get back up from that one, thought Kuro as she pulled the blade out of the skin of the floormaster. Dark green blood dripped from its edges. As she began to step away, the remaining two stiffened up and floated toward her swiftly. She held up the glaive's shaft to block them, but lost her blance as the combined force fnally managed to smash through the shaft, breaking the weapon in two. "Not again," Kuro groaned, managing to keep her grip on both pieces as one Floormaster bound her legs and the other bound her arms. As she squirmed, Kuro watched as the defeated Floormaster's skin squirmed and split apart into three smaller floormasters. She squirmed frantically as she finally realized how to defeat the floormasters, now. The monsters holding her did not relinquish their grip, instead they tightened it. "Wait a second..." Kuro muttered, realizing the length of the blade and remaining shaft she held in her right hand was a similar weight to a short sword. "Now, to just..." she groaned as she lifted her left shoulder up until it popped out of place. She had learned that trick from how her teacher had done it against a very large and strong stalchild that had grabbed from behind, four years before. Now, with her shoulder limp, she used the split second she had with more space to mve to jab the blade of her broken glaive into the palm of one of the floormasters. As it released her from it's grip, Kuro lifted her arm and stabbed the other in the middle of the back of it's hand, forcing it to let her go as well. Panting, she grabbed her arm and shifter her should back into place, shuddering at the sound of a pop. The two floormasters split up into smaller ones and began to scurry around with the first batch, before they came together forming the first floormaster again. It was fully healed and raring to get Kuro back for what she did to it.
Finally understanding what she must do to defeat these monsters, Kuro tried to devise a way to defeeat them all with her broken weapon, but first thing was first: she had to get rid of the smaller ones. She had no idea how she knew how to do these things, but it came naturally. Her thought process was different; she was thinking less as she seemed to know just what to do. She crouched down and hed her arm out. Her teacher, a Hylian Knight, had used this attack before. She lefted her leg up and spun around once, her broke glaive slicing through the small floormasters.
"Yaaaah!"
As she finished spinning, the larger floormaster jumped towards her.
"Enough!" Kuro yelled, placing her hand behind the splintered end of the broken shaft as she shoved it through the palm of the floormaster. She felt powerful as the blade ripped through the monster's flesh. She cut it in half and stabbed down at a smaller floormaster that had been foolish enough to stray near Kuro. She kicked the limp body of the large floormaster aside as she stomped onto another small one. "Just die." She was more than comfortable killing monsters, it was just people she had trouble with. As another small floormaster's bones cracked and shattered under Kuro's foot, the large one had split up. "Now, let's get this over with," Kuro said. She crouched down and held her arm out again. Blood splattered on the walls as the small floormasters were caught by the whirling blade. She swayed dizzily as she stood upright. She lost count of how many times she had spun, but now th whole room was spinning. Then something grabbed onto her leg and squeezed tightly, drawing blood. "What the?" she shuddered, shaking. She fell to one knee from fatigue and the pain. She looked down at her leg and saw a small floormaster trying to suck something from her. She reached to rip it off of her leg, but just before she even touched it, it rolled off and died at her side. A chest then mysteriously dropped from the ceiling. "I'm done?" Kuro asked. "Goddesses..." She got on her feet and limped over to the treasure chest. Inside was a large red gem with two straight edges and a curved edge. When she touched it, she felt the soreness in her arm subside and her leg stop bleeding. The gem then floated up and then went inside of her, where her heart was. The bars on the door lifted as sh turned around and she headed out of the room, where she would rest and prepare for her next day of training.
Kuro learned later that night a few things about her opponent--the floormaster trio-- such as why the small floormaster that had latched onto her leg died almost instantly, after taking in some of her blood.
"You see, floormasters have only one way of regenerating their body, after the rest of their smaller versions die, which is by absorbing magic from somebody. You are lucky to be human, because you see, humans are stronger than Hylians and they compensate for that by the lack of magic in their blood. Whatever is in--or not -- your blood is what decided the victor. It required magic and the lack of it was what killed the floormaster." Serena's mother took Kuro to the armory of the training grounds and they looked through the inventory for a weapon to replace the broken glaive. Polearms, flails, maces, hammers, swords... any weapon one could wish for was stored there. Taking this opportunity to equip herself to be more than prepared--especially because the next day was defensive training-- for when she needed a backup plan.
"Do you have any short swords?" Kuro asked. "My weapons tend to take a beating, so I figure that a sword would be a good idea for a backup weapon."
"We have all kinds of weapons here." Serena's mother opened up a crate and te handles of swords of various lengths bcame visible. "As much as we hate him, we're grateful for our 'King' for giving us weapons. The Hylian weaponry is top-notch stuff."
"Yeah," Kuro said. "If I still had my halberd, I wouldn't have taken solong against those Floormasters. It was very durable."
"And what happened to it?"
"Long story involving really hot rooms and lava." Kuro picked up a sword and examined the length of it's blade. Her lips curled into a grin as it whisled asshe slashed and stabbed a the air. "This is one good enough. Now, for a…" Hr eyes widened as she looked down into the dimly lit corner of the room. To her the light was the divine light that shined upon her weapon. Propped up against the corner of the room was a halberd. the design was different. It's blade was smaller than her old one and the speartip was longer. It would take some getting used too, but it was the weapon she was trained with; she would learn. Taking the halberd in hand, Kuro left the room and slept the rest of the night.
As Kuro woke up the next day, she noticed that a loaf of bread and a jug of water was lying nxt to her.
"Eat up." Serena's mother was standing with her back against the wall, looking down at Kuro. Kuro nodded, and not saying a word she bit into the bread and began to eat the rather dull breakfast. She was used to it, though. She would have killed for bread, when she was on that ship six years ago.
Yeah, except, now I actually have the strength to kill, Kuro solemnly thought. She sipped her water and thought of how Warro was holding up. "That b***h," she muttered angrily, remembering Devon was with Warro. She violently bit off another piece of bread, imagining it was Devon's head. It still puzzled her why she was so annoyed with Devon being with Waro, but she felt that it could not be helped, now. After all,she did admit, Warro was fun to have around, despite how many times he nearly killed himself or her through sheer stupidty. Afte eating, Kuro picked up her new sword, and attatched it to a belt she now wore around her waist, where it hung in a leather scabbard. "So, what's next?" Kuro asked.
"Well, I might as well warn you." Serena's mother moved away from the wall and stood in front of Kuro. It was now, that Kuro realized just how tall this woman was. She would even tower over Warro, who until now, Kuro never noticed how short she felt around these people. Warro, Devon, this woman…
Why am I so damn short? she looked down at her chest and grinned. Oh…
"The next door leads to a room filled with ReDeads and Gibdos. You know how these guys fight, right? They shriek at you and paralyze you, then they go eat your brains. This is going to be a tougher fight--Nabooru still has trouble fighting in this room. So, I'd be worried, if I were you."
"Who do you think I am?" Kuro said, with a smirk. "I fought a giant flaming dragon inside Death Mountain!" She headed for the door and walked through saying, "I'm sure I can handle a few these…" the door slammed behind her, "Redeads." The groaning was overwhelming and the smell… the smell was so putrid, so vile. "Okay… this really is defensive training… One, two…" She counted off the ReDeads and Gibos in the room and learned that there were six ReDeads and six Gibdos. "Dang…"
And so the battle began with Kuro slowly approaching the group, before taking a wipe, sweeping slash at the ReDead's and Gibdos hitting them all at once, before they countered. One by one, each ReDead arched their necks as the Gibdos slowly advanced.The combined power of the three ReDeads' screams stunned Kuro badly enough, that she felt as if even her blood stopped flowing. Her eas rang and the only sound she could hear otherwise was the pounding of her head.
Just how I always wanted to die, thought Kuro, being shared in the meal of a group of undead. Just how I always wanted to die. The paralyzation was beginning to wear off--her eyes had narrowed from her frustration. Of course, while this is my fantasy death, it can wait until after I'm done with Vaati. She felt her fingers regaining their feeling; it would not be long before she could move her arms, but she did not know if she had enough time. The Gibdos were dangerously--and visibly--close. One arm dropped to Kuro's side and she felt a blinding rage as the first Gibdostretched its arms out toward her. Then without a second thought, Kuro's freed arm reached to her side and withdrew her sword from its scabbard. without a second though, Kuro flipped the sword so that she held it upside down and then thrust it behind her. The resistance from the blade piecing the decaying skin underneath the Gibdo's wrappings Her legs regained their feeling and she resumed her attack. She turned around, releasing the handle of he sword as he Gibdo staggered back, before grasping it once more. Kuro stabbed the Gibdo again with her halberd as she cut her way through the monster's side, freeing her blade.
"Let's just see you try to touch me again," she muttered. She was still deaf from the scream, so she could not hear how different she sounded.As she pulled her halberd away from the now defeated Gibdo, she began her offense with a new strategy: she lowered her body and placed the sword back into its scabbard. She held the halberd at an angle with both hands, because she knew that it would require much more force to swing the halberd as fast as a knight did it with a sword. As the remaining Gibdos came into range, she unleashed a spin attack. Black blood splashed onto the walls and stained Kuro's clothes as she completed her 360 degree spin. After finishing, she tilted her head to the ReDeads and cast them a glare that sent the message of, "I can hear you; don't think I forgot about you three."
Kuro exited the room later, after obtaining another heart piece and looked at Serena's mother. She felt he body calming down and her hearing was back to normal. Serena's mother approached Kuro with a surprised expression on her face.
"Wow, you finished up quickly," she said. "It took Devon twice as long, when she got to this part." Just the mention of Devon's name was enough for Kuro to glare at the woman. "What happened in there by the way? You eyes--they're red."
"Open the next door," said Kuro.
"But you just defeated twelve monsters! How can you not be tired?"
"It was a good warm up, but you can't be killed by the dead." Kuro headed over to the next door and placed a hand on it. "Open it up."
"But--"
"Now."
"Okay, but if you die, you do realize your friend will be stuck here, right?" Kuro's eyes narrowed at the subtle hint of a possible failure.
"Just open the door and let me fight what's behind it. I can win," Kuro said sternly. "I know it."
"You and your friend are tw peas of a pod--both are surprisingly stupid." Serena's mother chuckled with a shake of her head. "I'll let you pass, but don't expect me to let you wake up late for your fight with Devon. I'll tell her you want to fight tomorrow, if you pass."
"Fine then," Kuro said as she walked over to the last door. "Just a little something, though. One: Never, and I mean NEVER say I'm as stupid as Warro. That boy couldn't fin his way out of a ditch without me, and two: tell that witch to keep her hands off him."
"Will do," Serena's mother replied. "Just a warning, the enemies behind this door are armed. One screw-up really can cost you." Kuro's expression remained determined to fight and that was when Serena's moter saw it: Kuro lived to fight, now. She watched as the young girl entered the room with the door slaming down behind her. Kuro could not be human. She just was not normal. Did she ever tire?
Inside the room, Kuro had already started her battle with the monsters inside--a pair of Lizalfos. They were taller than she was and they constantly moved as Kuro blocked their attacks. She quickly pulled back to assess the situation. The two reptilian foes screeched as they opped around the room almost blindly; they did not even pursue Kuro, until she noticed that was the case. Springing back into action, Kuro said to the unfortunate Lizalfos:
"C'mon, you just noticed me now? You're making Warro seem like a genius." Kuro slid along the ground and tripped one Lizalfos as the other attempted to stab her as she went by. Kuro dodged the blade easily and turned around just in time to watched as the blade sank into the tripped Lizalfos's neck. "Ho, ho, friendly-fire. You're not going to shake my standards for good intelligence with that." Kuro rolled onto her feet and drew her short sword. "It's too late to redeem yourself. You are far stupider than Warro ever will be!" Kuro felt the adrenaline going to her head, guiding her thoughts; her words. "Begone!"
The Lizalfos clashed blades with Kuro, having each attempted attack met with Kuro's blade blocking its path. With each block, Kuro countered by thrusting the pointed head of her halberd toward the Lizalfos's abdomen. With each stab, the Lizalfos bled out, it's movements slowed by the pain. Blocked--stabbed--blocked--stabbed…blocked--stabbed… blocked…
"This is it," Kuro muttered. "That was your last move. They say insanity is when one never learns from their mistakes. At least Warro's not insane."
Stab.
The Lizalfos fell to the ground and became lifeless. The room was uncomfortably silent. the doors did not rise, nor did a chest containing a heart piece appear. What could it be? Had the Gerudo decided to trap her?
"What is taking you guys so long? Don't tell me the door broke." Just as soon as Kuro broke the silence, she heard stone moving away from above. Looking up, Kuro saw just how high the ceiling was and that aother pair of Lizalfos--No, they were much larger than Lizalfos. They were Dinolfos. "Hope your size means you're smarter than your friends," Kuro said with an arrogant laugh.
The pair of Dinolfos fell with a collective attack with their blades. Kuro jumped back, blocking one of the strikes while the other grazed the arm she used to hold her sword. Blood dripped onto the ground and the scent of blood seemed to excite the Dinolfos even more. They jumped toward Kuro and began another double-team attack.
I have to disable one of them, thought Kuro. That was how I managed to beat the other two. She slid on the ground again and attempted to trip up one of the Dinolfos. As the shaft of her halberd collided with the leg of one of the Dinolfos, Kuro felt herself being lifted from the ground and then flung against the wall. Her eyes shut tightly as pain shocked her body. "Argh!" She stayed on the ground, on all fours, looking up a the Dinolfos as they approached her. Her halberd had been dropped at the area she was thrown from, and her sword was still in her hand. "This is getting to be annoying." A sound of something being jerked forward quickly, before moving steadily along startled her, making her stand upright. She looked behind her and she saw that the walls were slowly coming closing in on the center of the room. "Okay, NOW it's getting annoying." She felt as if she had decades of experience as she blocked a Dinolfos's attack with her sword, before extending her leg, booting it away from her. "Your luck could not be worse. The situation is one of those that truly…" Kuro rushed forward as the Dinolfos staggered back. "Tick me off!" She blade pierced through the Dinolfos's chest and then cut down the middle, letting it's insides drop out as Kuro jumped away. Her eyes were as sanguine as Warro's as she glared at the remaining Dinolfos. They clashed blades, but this time, before Kuro could try the same trick she pulled on the last one, the Dinolfos turned the tables by kicking Kuro away instead and as she stagger back, its tail whipped her wrist, breaking it and disarming her. As her sword fell from her hand, the Dinolfos reached out and snatched it from the air. Kuro was on her knees clutching her wrist, breathing through her teeth, and trying to ignore the excrutiating pain through her whole arm.
"Damn," she muttered, narrowly avoiding a dual-bladed strike from the Dinolfos. "You just don't know when to give up, do you?" The walls had already greatly reduced the space that the two combatants had to fight in. Her halberd laid on the ground, unmoved from where it was when Kuro had last looked and she made a break for it, being wary of the Dinolfos pursuing her. Stretching out her good arm, she reached for the sword, but skidded to a halt as the Dinolfos cut her off. "Faster…" she uttered in irritance. Smaller and maller the room became as kuro ran in circles, tying to get to her weapon with her path being cut off each time.The walls came closer and closer and soon, the only way to move was practically forward. "This is it," Kuro muttered. "Now, or never." Dashing forward, Kuro kept her eyes soley on the halberd before her and paid no heed to the Dinolfos that charged toward her from the other end of the narrow passage. As she closed in on her halberd, Kuro ignored the pair from the stone floor scratching up her leg as she slid along the ground. Success! She gripped the halberd closer to the blades as she stopped sliding. The only moves she could make now were a thrust and a vertrical slash, due to the lack of space. "I want my sword back!" she yelled as she rolled along the ground, worsening her injured wrist. As she neared the Dinolfos, she used the strength she had left in her arm to thrust the blade up and into the abdoment of the Dinolfos. It cried out, dropping both of the swords it and staggered back with the pointed edge of the halberd leaving its body. The Dinolfos's eyes glared at Kuro as it staggered forward, using the last of it's strength to reach her, but falling just before her.
The room was silent again, save for Kuro's panting; the walls had stopped moving. She prayed that there was no more, because she had no strength left. Just then a loud click echoed through the now narrow room and the walls quickly went back to their original positions, revealing a chest at the far end of the room. She limped over to it, bothh of her legs aching with each step and opened it up. Seeing a Piece of Heart inside elated her hopes. It's healing properties could be felt from where she peered down at it; she felt stronger just being near it. Reaching down and touching the piece, a bright light shined and her wounds were healed instantly and her wrist's bone was fixed up. Turning around, Kuro picked up her sword and halberd and headed out of the door, leaving behind nothing blood blood splatters and four corpses lying on the floor.
"Look at you, now! You're a mess!" Serena's mother said, rushing over to Kuro, holding something. "It's a good thing my daughter is still alive and we could wash the stecnh of blood from these clothes f yours. I mean, just look at you!"
"I told you I was going to win," Kuro said. "So what if my clothes got a little ripped up?" "A little" was an understatement for the state of Kuro's attire. The pants that were once down to her ankles were now a shreded piece of fabirc, resembling a skirt around her waist and her top was bout to split in half.
"Just put these on," Serena's mother said, handing Kuro her old clothes, bandana and all, freshly cleaned from the scent of blood. "Your fight with Devon is tomorrow. She was surprised to learn you progressed so quickly."
"It's why you don't screw with my friends."
The next morning, Kuro ate her breakfast as quickly as she could. Today was her fight with Devon and the day she freed Warro. She was elated at the thought hat her wounds did not kill that poor Gerudo girl. I must have missed the vitals, she thought as she discarded her "disguise" and put on her original garb. After latching her sword to the belt around her waist and fastening her bandana around her head, Kuro was approached by Serena's mother.
"I must admit," she said. "I underestimated you. Even though my daughter was nearly killed by you, I'll give you a little piece of information. Ever since our King, Ganondorf, had invaded Hyrule, the women have become…." She paused for a moment. "Doubtful of his capabilities as a leader."
"I thought the Gerudo were just petty thieves and lived for such power," Kuro replied coldly, bviously not caring about what Serena's mother had to say.
"Even for a thieves, we have our morals. That man--and I'm not afraid to say this-- is the worst king we have ever had. I am lucky that the witches are not here… when they took our female leader, Nabooru, to the Spirit Temple, she never returned. she was the first and only one to rebel."
"And?"
"I'll let Devon tell you the rest." Kuro stared at Serena's mother, in the silence that followed. Her eyes had grown to be an even richer red than they were before. "By the way, my name is Isha."
Kuro nodded to her as she exited the Training Grounds. As the doors opened up, her eyes squinted as the bright sun blinded her momentarily. Looking around, she saw a large audience of Gerudo standing at the steps to the fortress, looking out from the different floors of it, and to the side of the training ground as if they were setting up boundries for the battle. Isha came out behind Kuro and approached Devon, whispering something into her ear, before heading inside the fortress.
"So, I take it you were eager to fight me," Devon said with a chuckle. "I hope that you did not tire yourself out from the training. Warro's over there, if you want to say anything to him." Devon nodded over to a wooden pole, where a tattered, red flag waved in the dry, morning breeze. There, tied to the pole by rope, was Warro. His hat was missing and Kuro smiled, laughing to herself, as she had not seen Warro without his hat since she saved him.
"I sped things up, just for you, Warro," Kuro laughed. "You owe me even more, now!" She turned back to Devon and pointed her halberd at her. "So, let's get this started; you better not have done anything to him, or I might have to hurt you a bit more than I intend to."
"I like the look your giving me," devon said, brandishing her falchions. "It's making me curious." She ponted a blade at Kuro. "So, are you just going to stand there or are you going to feed my curiousity even more?"
"You know what they say," Kuro said charging forth. With a wide slash of her halberd, she hoped to give Devon a taste of her strength. Without the confinements of a wall and ceiling, Kuro had no worries, when she was blocked. "Curiousity killed the cat." Devon's blade was caught between the spearhead and behind the blade of the halberd.Kuro forefull brought Devon's right-handed sword to the ground and then put the spearheaded end of the halberd deeply into the soft ground as Devon brought out her other sword from the left. She leapt off the ground, socking heryone as the halberd went up at a ninty degree angle with Kuro coming down the other side, behind her, trying to split her head open with the halberd.
"Guh!" grunted Devon as she just barely maaged to block the attack with her sword, staggering back to back with Kuro. "You almost had me there."
"Next time, I won't give you the chance to block," Kuro said, taking out her sword and stabbing behind her. "This is for the little kiss your sneaked on Warro and for any other ones you possibly gave him!"
"You're so cynical," Devon laughed as she dropped her sword and grabbed Kuro's wrist, the blade just grazing her side. "I may be a thief, but I don't mess with another woman's man, unless I win him from her." She forced Kuro's arm back and let go of her wrist. Devon then lifted her arm and elbowed Kuro in the back of the head before she could turn around to attack.
"You kissed him when I found him," Kuro snarled as she turned around. Her thoughts were focused on one goal: beat Devon into the dirt. "You expect me to believe you?" She charged toward Devon and thrust her halberd at her.
"No, I suppose not," Devon nonchalantly replied, sidestepping Kuro's attack and vertically slashing at her. She was blocked by Kuro's sword. "Of course, your anger is only hindering you… Your body got stronger, but your heart did not." They were in a deadlock with Devon and Kuro trying to over power the other's swod whle Devon held Kuro's halberd by the end of the shaft, to not allow her to use it. She looked at Kuro's eyes and she noticed the desperation. They were tearing up as she tried to overpower Devon. What she could not see was the memories surfacing in Kuro's mind. Failure to protect a friend, failure to save them; being too weak to do either. They enraged her.
"I won't let you take him from me!" she said. On the sidelines, Warro's eyes widened. He recognized this tone. He struggled against his bindings, knowing what would happen if he did not get to her soon. He felt the same feeling he had felt as he fought along side Kuro in the Forest Temple. He felt stronger.
"Kuro!" he called out.
"Don't worry," she said. "You'll be free." Kuro felt the same feeling Warro felt. Devon's blade began to shake under the pressure of Kuro's. "I will make sure the only one who loves you is me."
"That word again," muttered Warro. "What does it mean?" The strength coursing through his body was even greater and as his strength increased, Kuro's did as well. He had to act fast, because Kuro obviously did not take her pills. He felt the ropes loosen and he slid under them, rushing onto the battlefield.
"The boy escaped!" a Gerudo yelled.
"Stop him, quickly!"
"Kuro!" Warro yelled as he huried to Kuro, who was just about to overpower Devon. "Stop! Kuro!" Leaping forward, the boy tackled her and they rolled on the ground. "Kuro…"
"…I love you," she said, leaning in and kissing him on the lips as Warro reached into the pouch on the back of her belt, retreiving a pill that Cyrano had ordered her to take daily. As she pulled away, she mouthed out those three words again, while Warro slipped the pill into her mouth. After swallowing, her eyes returned to their normal color and her breathing slowed as she fell asleep.
"Can you please just tell me what that word means for once?" Warro sighed.
"It's a word that you got to find out on your own, Warro," Devon said. "The match is a draw. Is she sick?"
"Yes, but she should be feeling better tonight," Warro replied. "So… is she a Gerudo?"
"I'll explain everything when she wakes up."
It was dark outside as Kuro woke from her slumber. She looked around and rubbed her head. Everything was a blur. The last thing she remembered was the beginning of her fight with Devon and then…
"You're finally up. Nice kiss by the way, way to prove he's your man." Kuro blinked seval times and turned to her side. Leaning against the wall was Devon, looking down at her.
"Wh-what? Warro's not my--"
"Then what was this, "I love you" crap then?"
"Wh-wh-wh-what? Is he even here?"
"He's over there," Devon nodded to Kuro's other side. She turned and saw on her bedside, Warro sleeping with his head laying on her bed. "If he's not your man, you're wasting a very nice one. He stayed up as long as he could, watching you."
"If he wasn't stupid, I'd consider that creepy."
"I find it cute, but that's not what I want to talk about," Devon said. "Congratulations, you’re an honorary Gerudo, officially, after equalling me in combat. Now, I will hold up my end of the deal and let you have Warro."
"So, you identify yourselves with a paper?" Kuro asked with a weak chuckle.
"Yeah, it was Nabooru's idea. Which brings me to my reason for challenging you. I want to rebel against our king. He has gone mad with power--everyone in Castle Town must have died, now." Kuro flinched, haring that her suspicions about the smoke from the day before were true. Castle Town was sacked. "Ganondorf's right hand woman, Nabooru, was taken to the Spirit Temple by the day before Ganondorf had ordered a section of our people to attack Castle Town. She has not returned."
"And you want us to look for her?"
"No, I want you to help me," Devon replied. "I have heightened senses and I sensed a dark wind heading out to the Temple… I need someone of your strength to help me take on whatever lies in the Spirit Temple."
"I will help you, if you tell me what you know," Kuro said. "I'm looking for a man named Vaati. Has he passed by here? The last time I saw him, he said he was heading here for a trading agreement."
"Sorry, I don't know anything, but perhaps those witches will know," Devon said. "So, what do you say?"
"When do we leave?" Kuro asked.
