Wings (Oneshot)

89 - Wings

((Another Wind Waker oneshot, this time for the 100 Theme Challenge on deviantART. I actually wrote this a while back, but I think it fits. Some Aryll and Ganondorf-centric stuff, takes place during Aryll's stay in Forsaken Fortress.))

It was finally on the fourth day, a day of resting for the girls, that the Darknut brought his news to Aryll.

"He agreed to make you head of kitchens..." The girls tittered happily at this. "...but he says he wishes to talk to you about your soup, and you will report to his quarters at seven o'clock. I suggest you be there right on time, you don't want to disobey him."

She had nodded, and talked with the girls, and with her gulls, until the hour arrived. A Moblin escorted her up her spiraling stairs to the top of the tower, and left her there to continue her soujourn to the Master's quarters alone. The chilly sea breeze caused goosebumps to form on Aryll's pale, exposed arms, and she crossed them against her chest in an effort to warm them. The Helmaroc King was not at his post, she suspected that he was off chasing seagulls or on some other pursuit, maybe hunting for food. She wondered what the giant bird ate, and made a little sidenote in her mind to ask the Master about this later. The little girl crossed the bridge connecting the mishappen boat to the rest of the Fortress, and was reminded of her arrival to this place as she stood upon the balcony at the end of the walkway. She looked up at the gruesome display around the door, and raised a tiny fist to knock on it. After a soft, persistent rapping, she heard him allow her entrance. The door opened, and she walked through it, into the gaping darkness of the Master's quarters.

It was poorly lit in this room. The dim torchlight allowed her to see most of the room, but its corners were thrown into shadow, where she could swear many little jovial pairs of yellow eyes peered out at her. He sat upon a throne, elegantly carved, with all the poise that suggested he was the rightful owner of the seat and most certainly belonged there. She remembered what the Bokoboblin had said the first day of her imprisonment, and dipped into a polite curtsy like her Grandma had taught her.

Ganondorf noted the show of respect. Maybe the girl was not at all as naive as she let on. He pointed to a wooden stool that was not very far from the throne, almost hidden in the shadows. "Sit," he commanded.

Aryll noticed that he had not said "please", but ignored the percived rudeness and perched herself upon the stool, sandled feet a good few inches off the ground and swinging freely. She was wary of the many yellow eyes she knew were behind her, but did not mind them. She didn't think that anything here took any action without the Master's say so. So far, she had been right, and felt no tell-tale touch on her back.

They sat in silence a few moments before she broke it. "So, did you like my soup?" she asked in a small voice, a glimmer of hope in her deep green eyes.

He turned his sunset colored eyes on her for the first time since she had been in his prescence, and could not help but smile very lightly. "Yes," he answered. She gave a little sigh of relief. "But I do wonder as to where you learned to make it."

Aryll smiled quietly. "It's our family recipe. My grandma makes it - she taught me how to cook it. Actually, we were going to have some for Link's birthday before the bird..." Her animated chatter died in her throat when she realized just what she had been talking about. Her family.

He noticed her quickly stop chattering. There was a pained look in her shimmering green eyes, and she swiped at them quickly with the back of her right hand. He knew she was trying to hide tears, years of observing others told him this. However, he was not going to comfort the little Hylian in any way.

"...Well anyways, I'm happy you liked it," she said in a quiet voice, once again folding her hands in her lap.

Ganondorf thoughtfully stroked his beard, looking into the darkness where a few Shadow ChuChus crept. Of course, each pair of yellow eyes were looking at none other than Aryll. It was to be expected, she was stranger, and she was invading their territory. He only kept them in his quarters for healing purposes, as they were not very annoying creatures and almost always remained quiet.

He turned his firey stare back to the child. "Do you possess any other useful abilities? Besides your talent for making potions."

"Potions...?" she asked confusedly. He must be talking about the soup. "Oh. Right. Well..." She thought for a moment. What else could she do? She thought about the telescope she had loaned to Link... that was out of the question... then she smiled when she remembered her Bait Bag, or more importantly, her bond with the seagulls. "...There's another thing I can do. On my island, we have this special kind of fruit called Hyoi Pears. Grandma says if you have something called a "kindred spirit", the gods give you a special power that lets you use them to... um... well, it lets you be a seagull. Grandma says you steal their hearts." She did not know what to call the special interaction between a bird and human when they joined souls.

Ganondorf had never heard of this strange magic, and was curious about Aryll's description of it. "Explain how it works." he told her with patient tone.

Aryll once again ignored his rudeness, but thought that Grandma would think he had awful manners, not asking politely for things. "What you have to do is take the Hyoi Pear and you have to say the special words and do the dance. Like this!" She hopped off the stool she had been sitting on, and reached into her pocket to pull out the Bait Bag. He restrained himself from snapping at her to sit back down, reminding himself she did not know all of the formalities he required yet. Aryll pulled a tiny pear out of her bag, and chanted words in the ancient tongue, skipping around and twirling about. Once she was done with the ridiculous ritual, she raised her offering to the heavens. He heard something fly by his ear, and a blur of white rushed at the girl and scooped up the pear. It disappeared from her grasp, and her arms fell to her sides, twitching and moving slightly. Her eyes were closed peacefully, and he could tell that she was not present within her Hylian form. What caught his attention was the seagull that fluttered closer and perched itself onto the stool, looking up at him with intelligent, human eyes.

Ganondorf chuckled at the bird. "Very interesting," he mused.

-S-

She looked up through her new eyes at the man. He sure looked different through bird-eyes. But she did not understand why her little heart was tremoring at he sight of him. She gently prodded at the bird's mind, and it offered its information to her.

Bad. Need to get away. It is wrong, not of this world, not natural.

Why is he bad? What do you mean "not natural"?

Bad! Death! EVIL!

Please tell me why. I don't understand!

The figure before her seemed to transform, the facade of a man melting away and revealing a frightening boar-like beast. That was what the bird was scared of. Aryll cringed in fear, he was not a person as she had first believed...

She scrabbled her talons on the stool, and took off, out the window. She was scared, she wanted to fly away, fly back home to Grandma and Orca and Sturgeon and...

But she knew she could not. Even if she did fly back to Outset, she would just be another seagull, and her body would remain here, at Forsaken Fortress. And if she left, he might destroy her body... and she would be a seagull forever...

Aryll enjoyed the feeling of freedom, swooping around the towers of the Fortress, gliding down and over the waters. She stretched her white wings wide, blinking against the sea spray as it lashed against the grey stone walls of the fortress. She circled a few times, and let out a high-pitched cry when she noticed the large shadow of the Helmaroc King loom over her. She dove automatically, and flew into the glaring yellow light of the searchlights. Mila had told her about those. But now was not the time to think about human things.

Aryll remembered what she had seen. She didn't want to, but she knew she must return. And when she did, he would most likely be angry with her. She clicked her beak in irritation, and beat her wings, ascending to the Master's quarters. She cautiously perched on the windowsill, but before she could even blink, a large hand made a swipe at her and knocked her from her perch, hurting her wing. She felt the world spin...

-S-

Aryll felt a jolt as she was snapped back into her body, a whimper escaping her lips as she clutched her injured left arm. Upon opening her green eyes, she saw Ganondorf clutching the seagull in one hand, eyes blazing with rage.

"Please don't kill it!" she cried. His eyes slid off the avian creature and fell on her. She shrunk back from the infuriated stare as it was focused upon her. He dropped the bird, and it fell to the floor with a light thud. His face was an eerie, placid mask as he drew himself to his full height and advanced on the small girl. She was scared of that calm look, backing up even further.

"I thought you had already flown away in pursuit of your island," he said quietly, taking a calming breath. It did nothing to surpress his fury. "I asked you to explain the trick to me. I didn't give you permission to take off and leave in your little seagull form. Do you think me stupid, child?"

Aryll cowered in the corner, noticing the threatening noises coming from the shadows behind her. "I- I didn't mean to! The seagull showed me something... it scared me..."

His rage stilled for a moment as he registered the exact situation. He had not seen something so weak and helpless as the Hylian child in a very long time. Her dark green eyes were wide in fright, and her lower lip was trembling. No doubt she was telling the truth... how could a child grasp something as enlightening as an animal's knowledge? It had probably shown her his true form. The rage slowly dissapated. He shook his head, growling incoherently as he tried to grasp the last bit of anger and turn it into something useful, but it merely slipped through his fingers like the sand of his homeland and melted under those eyes.

Ganondorf turned away from the little girl. Had he really "gone soft" over the years, as Hylians put it? No! He was a proud Gerudo warrior, child of Din, wielder of the Triforce of Power! He was not dissuaded by pathetic Hylian children! But he knew he was in denial, those innocent eyes had a way of twisting his soul until it was weighed down with guilt.

He said nothing, only stood rigidly, facing away from her. Aryll cautiously approached him and let the words flow. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you... the seagulls have a way with me, and it's easy to get caught up in their minds, sir. Especially when they want to stretch their wings..."

He grit his teeth in annoyance. "Leave me, young one. Return to your cell, now."

Aryll looked down, and decided to do as she was told, opening the door and walking back outside to the balcony. She wondered if she would ever talk to Forsaken Fortress' master again as she journeyed back to where the other girls and monsters would surely be waiting.

Ganondorf sat back down upon his throne with a heavy sigh, his sunset gaze wandering to the injured bird. Its' white wings were bent at an awkward angle, and its' black eyes shimmered only slightly, the life in them quickly dimming. Showing a bit of mercy, he reached over, picked it up in one hand, and wrung the wretched thing's neck with the other. Fragile bones cracked beneath his palms, and he vaugely thought that had she not been wise enough to draw out of the bird's psyche, Aryll would have much greater injuries than a hurt arm. He did not know why, but he was somewhat glad the child had not noticed just how bad the injuries were.

He did not know if he would speak to her again. But he would have to regain her sympathies if he wanted any leaverage over the boy. With those thoughts, he fell into the meditative state he used in the absence of sleep. Perhaps he envisioned a little girl dancing, and the beating of pristine white wings.