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The sun wasn’t as harsh here in the mountains as it had been in the desert. That was old news, of course, but then she was a very old woman. Few of those left even remembered the sands of their ancestral homeland. The blistering heat of day, the terrible chill of the night, the sandstorms that devoured all those caught unprepared…only she remembered any of it now. And soon, even this last whisper of the past would be gone.
The desert had been harsh and unforgiving. It had made them strong, and it had made them arrogant. That arrogance had only increased when they destroyed their ancient enemies. Even she had not been alive back then, but she remembered the tales of her mother as clearly as ever. She remembered stories of the Children of the Shadows, their destruction and exile. And she remembered what happened afterward.
With their nemesis defeated, the Gerudo had believed themselves unmatched in all the world. They were the strongest, and thus, the greatest of all! The chosen people of Din herself! Why should they not do as they please? If others had a problem with that, they had every right to challenge her people, but they shouldn’t expect any mercy!
Such arrogance, and the evil that followed it, could not go unpunished. Din was much like the desert; a kind but unforgiving mistress. As long as you held to a path she could deem righteous, she would reward you with all that you could desire. However, the moment you strayed from that path, the moment you allowed darkness to rule you, she would ensure you were destroyed utterly, without mercy or regret.
They had grown very dark indeed.
She had not been alive when Din’s Monster began its rampage. She had still not yet been born by the time her people realized exactly how much trouble they were in. Fully half of their empire had crumbled beneath the Monster’s terrible wrath, and the dread began to set in. She had been an infant when her mother had left to do her duty and face him. Her mother had been a great woman, brave and strong. She had been a paragon of the Gerudo. It didn’t matter; the greatest woman she’d ever known had fallen all the same. Shehad been a child when she had been forced to take the mantle of leader, with neither her, nor her people, having a choice in the matter. By the ripe old age of 9, she was the last of the Gerudo’s leaders.
She was 15 when she finally met the Monster face to face. That face was one that would be burned into her memory, even into the afterlife. Red and blue facial markings, eyes that shown white with power, a pointed chin and long ears, and the fiercest expression she had ever seen. She would never forget that moment, when she had stepped out of her fortress and seen the being who had slaughtered her people. She had had no weapons; they had nothing that could hurt it, and she was far too young to give it a proper fight anyway. She was the last thing that was standing between the Gerudo and utter annihilation…and it was a fight she could not win.
So she made her choice. She didn’t fight. When the Monster did not strike her down where she stood, she had dropped to her knees and begged. Even now, after so much time had passed, she could remember every word that had followed…
“I know that you wish to destroy my people…I know that you probably don’t care for anything I have to say…but please, I beg of you! Spare us! My people are destroyed; we will never recover from the damage you’ve done. We are finished. So please, just let us live!” She cried to him from the dry ground.
He stared at her solemnly, not speaking.
“We will leave, if that’s what you want!” Tears rolled down her brown cheeks as she pleaded for her life. “We will go anywhere you tell us to, whether it be the jungles or the mountains or even the oceans! Anything we have to give, it’s yours. All of our wealth, all of our knowledge, all of our weaponry, all of our livelihoods…we will give all of it and more, if you simply let us go. If you require a personal sacrifice, then I promise all of that and my very soul. So please no more! We beg you, peace!”
Finally, he spoke. His voice was course, and he spoke slowly. She supposed it made sense; he had been too busy murdering every Gerudo he came across to hold many conversations. “…Child. What is your name?”
That had been the last thing she had expected him to say. “Huh? Uh…it’s…it’s Dajeer, Mighty One.” She stammered, her frayed nerves getting the better of her.
“I will remember it.” He paused. “It has been a long time since I began my campaign of slaughter against your people. Perhaps… perhaps you have suffered enough. More than enough.” The monster sighed in exhaustion. “You need not give me anything, Dajeer of the Gerudo, least of all your soul. There is nothing you have that I want or deserve.”
“Thank you, thank you.” The girl repeated herself, her tears once again flowing freely.
“Do not thank me for not destroying you. Curse me if you wish, or merely remember what has happened, but do not thank me.” His voice rang out harshly as he turned away from her.
And, just like that, he left.
He had been so unlike what she had imagined. In retrospect, she supposed that Din’s Monster had been nothing more than a man. A man empowered by a Goddess to enact her brutal justice. He was but a puppet in Din’s scheme, a literal instrument of her will. She did not pity him, and she could not forgive him for his act of genocide, no matter how justified it may have been. Even so, she found she could not hate him.
The Gerudo had done as she had said they would. Her people discussed things among themselves, and decided that remaining in the desert would only invite more disaster. It was time to move on. Some, who could not give up the thrill of battle, went to the oceans to make their fortune. Those that decided to cut themselves off from the world and use the ways of war only to protect themselves followed her into the mountains. She knew not what had happened to their sisters that they had parted ways with. Perhaps they were prosperous, or perhaps they had been destroyed. It mattered little to her. She had to worry about those that had followed her.
Din’s Monster would never be forgotten, she had made sure of that. Within the tent of the leader, there were plenty of paintings of his rampage. Rather than a damnation of what he’d done (though she’d been tempted), it was a warning to her children’s children’s children, so that they did not repeat the sins of her foremothers. If they did, the Gerudo would not survive the consequences. Of this, she was certain.
It was strange, focusing on that man now, when she was on her deathbed. Perhaps she was feeling nostalgic though she would have liked to be nostalgic for happier times. Maybe it was merely on her mind, due to the change in the way her people had begun to consider him; no longer an object of scorn and fear, now he was an object of fascination: a fierce and dutiful servant of Din where they had faltered. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised; her people had always valued strength. Why should they not respect a man who had proven his so thoroughly?
She blinked, turning her head weakly to the door of her quarters as she heard a commotion, getting louder and more frantic as it approached. She was strangely serene about it. What had she to fear? There were no sounds of battle, and she wouldn’t survive the day anyway. There was nothing whatever was coming could do to her now.
The door opened, and she just knew her shock was written all over her face. She was surprised, in the small part of her mind that was still bothering with thought, that she’d not suffered a heart attack right then and there.
It was him.
The monster looked exactly as she remembered him. The facial markings (or tattoos? She’d never been sure), the absurd height, the fierce look on his face (though it seemed to be tired as well), and even his outfit was exactly the same. She felt herself smile and sit up, as she would for an old friend, and he sat in a nearby chair. No, there was something different about him; she could see his irises now. They were red. Kind of a dull red, really. It was slightly funny to her, that he should be so larger than life, and yet have such a mundane characteristic.
He sat in silence for a moment, merely observing her as he ignored her sisters and daughters as they demanded he leave her in peace. When he glanced over at them, however, they all fell silent instantly. Only Dajeer dared to speak.
“Hello again.” She crowed. “It has been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Yes. You’ve gotten old.” He said plainly, either not knowing or not caring about tact.
“And you haven’t. I find that unfair.” Dajeer heckled him, wondering if she could crack through his serious exterior.
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” His expression stayed somber, not yielding to her dry humor.
“I suppose I’ll have to take your word for it.” She felt a chuckle well up in her gut.
The man merely stared at her wordlessly, just like he had all those days ago when she begged for her life on the hot sand.
“I suppose that we should cut to the chase.” The old woman tried to move to an upright position. It wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be. She supposed seeing her people’s most ancient enemy again had put some pep back in her step. “Why are you here, Mighty One?” There were a number of reasons that he might’ve come back. Perhaps her sisters and daughters had strayed and he was here to finish the task he was assigned to all those years ago. Maybe he just wanted to wish her old bones a peaceful rest before she went off to the great beyond.
“You are the one who stopped me. I wish to be here when you die.” His dull eyes met hers, seeming tired but serious. It had been the latter reason after all.
“Why?” She couldn’t help but ask. What could an old bag like her have done?
“I wish to pay my respects to my savior.” His voice came out cleanly, as if he hadn’t just given her a strong title like ‘savior’.
“Savior?” She replied.
“I am Sheikah.” He shifted in the chair, causing it to creak quietly. It would only be natural for him to be one of those people.
“Ah, yes, I see.” She folded her hands across her lap, wrinkled and tan as the hide of an animal. “That makes sense.”
“Indeed.” He nodded.
Her expression twisted slightly, her mouth turning down almost as if disgusted. “I fail to see how that would make me your savior. It should make us mortal enemies.”
“To be fair, it was not your efforts alone.” His expression didn’t change at all. “But you are the one who finally freed me from my hatred, and caused me to give up my genocide against you.”
“I see, and?” She blinked at him with her weary eyes. “What happens when I die?”
“I don’t know. I am not the Goddesses, and I have never died.” He spoke candidly.
She almost laughed, not sure if out of nervousness or relief. “You will not take my soul?”
“I have no use for or right to your soul.” He shook his head slightly, his platinum hair swaying from the movement.
“Will it hurt?” Dajeer asked weakly. She couldn’t say she felt nervous about death anymore, but pain was something she hoped to avoid.
“If you are not in pain now, then I would think not.” His voice almost sounded as if he were trying to put her at ease. It was nearly ironic how the man tasked with the Gerudo’s destruction now sat near their leader’s deathbed as a friend. She could never in a thousand lifetimes have imagined that he would sit near her in this moment.
She exhaled in relief, content enough to pull the warm blanket back over her torso. “That’s good. I would prefer to not feel any pain.”
“It’s as good a death as any.” He nodded.
“Far better than yours will be anyway.” She laughed raucously.
He agreed without hesitation. Something about her teasing had seemed to resonate in him. She hadn’t expected that. She found his acceptance of his own probably horrible fate strange. Did he simply not care, or was there something more that she wasn’t seeing?
“You know, I feel like thanking you myself…” Her voice trailed off.
“I told you not to thank me for not destroying you.” His voice had regained its edge.
“No, it’s not that. I haven’t quite forgiven you for destroying us so thoroughly, I’m afraid.” Her amused tone shifted to one that was somewhat bitter.
“Oh no?” An eyebrow went up. “Then, what is it that you’re thanking me for?”
“For coming here and letting me see you like this.” Dajeer had grown a little somber herself. “In the end, you really are just a man.”
“I have never been and will never be anything more.” He agreed with her, much to her pleasure. She had always thought of him as a monster, a creature of an angry goddess’s retribution.
“No, I suppose not. Not to you, anyway.” She scanned his face for some flicker of emotion as she spoke. “But others will see your deeds, and see your might. No matter what you say, they will draw their own conclusions, I think.”
“That is their right. It matters little what they think of me, as long as they don’t use it as an excuse to hurt others.” The firelight flickered gently off his armor, same as it had been all those decades ago. She had found it so terrifying back then, but now it was merely there. It was more a part of the background than anything else, akin to the chair he sat in, or the roof above their heads.
It was amazing how context could change perception.
“It does matter. An immortal being with great power, capable of destroying an entire civilization by himself? What could that be, if not a god?” She wondered what it would be like to possess such unbridled might. He was truly a fierce power to be reckoned with.
“I am not a god.” His eyes narrowed slightly, finally breaking through his serious façade.
She watched his expression darken with delight. That squint looked like victory to her. “It doesn’t matter what you are. They will believe, no matter what you say. I do not envy you.” Cackling loudly, “What’s wrong, Mighty One?”
“It’s nothing. I will deal with that when the time comes.” He regained his composure rather quickly, stifling Dajeer’s laughter.
“When the time comes… when will that be, I wonder? And what will you do in the meantime?” She inquired, eager to hear about the time span his life had been allotted to.
“Repent.” So simple a goal, and yet so difficult.
“That’s impossible.” She shook her head, sending a gray lock down to tickle at her nose.
“Regardless.” He was adamant, to be sure. At least he knew he could never make up for what he’d done.
“What a sad person you are, Din’s Monster. I’m afraid I’m not a good enough person to feel sorry for you.” She began to laugh loudly again, only to have it be stemmed off with a bout of coughing.
“Understandable.” He nodded, utterly indifferent to her sudden coughing fit.
“How much time do I have?” She felt strangely peaceful, now that she had both feet firmly in the grave. There was no point in fearing death when she was at its door.
“Until you die?” He raised an eyebrow, prompting her to nod gently in reply. “None. You died when I entered the room.”
“Oh…” she whispered. “Well, I suppose that explains how I could have such a hail and hearty conversation. When will I, you know, pass on?”
“Soon.” He said calmly.
“How do you know?” She laughed, suddenly more nervous than she had been a moment before.
“You don’t have the face of someone with regrets.” His mouth upturned into a gentle grin. She wasn’t even sure if he had been capable of something like that. Wonders would never cease, it seemed.
She couldn’t help but smile back at him with a small sigh. “That’s true…I’ve done the best I could.”
“It was enough. The Gerudo may not thrive, but they will survive for a long time yet.” He nodded. “Because of you.” It was as high a compliment as she could expect, really. Certainly more than she had expected when he arrived.
“You’re surprisingly soft, Child of Shadow.” She laughed once more, feeling light as when she had been just a young maiden.
“I’ve had time to mellow out.” He shrugged, finally beginning to loosen up. “Besides, you’re no threat to Termina. Not anymore.”
“And if I were?” She sassed, closing one eye and grinning.
“I would destroy you.” He said it so simply. It wasn’t a threat or a warning. He was merely stating a fact. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
She settled on gentle mockery. “Oh, so scary…you shouldn’t be so mean to an old lady, you know.” She paused when he did not respond, before looking over at him. Despite not aging a day, he looked so old to her now, and he was only going to get older. How many years of conflict awaited him? How many decades? How many centuries? How long could he go before he broke?
His image began to flicker before her as the world faded away. A golden light began to envelop her and she could only smile. Look at her, worrying about a man she should despise beyond reason. What a silly little girl she was. Whatever awaited him, he could handle it. He would keep going until the world no longer needed a living god.
As she took her first steps into what awaited Beyond, she decided that she’d find him again when he arrived. And then? Who knew? Maybe she could finally let go of the past and forgive him for doing what needed to be done.
As the last bit of life left her body, the man formerly known as Din’s Monster looked at his savior’s face for a long moment, so peaceful in death. He nodded, stood, and left. He could waste no more time on personal matters. He had work to do.