Queen of the Banished

A couple weeks later, the group decided to make their move. They had been keeping an eye on the castle, and knew everything that had gone on in the past couple weeks, from Rabia’s return to the changes of the guard. Sheik and Tet took their places and waited. It was finally time for the evening guard swap. Once the footsteps of the retreating guards had faded, they made their move. Quick as a flash, they jumped out of the bushes from behind the guards at the same time and knocked them out before they could raise the alarm.

“...Nice,” Tet said, raising a hand to fist-bump his brother. Sheik sighed, but allowed the bump. He lowered his cowl and cupped his hands around his mouth, letting out a soft bird call. Tet looked at him weirdly.

“Where the hell did you l-” he cut himself off. There were footsteps approaching on the stone path, followed by quiet whispers. Tet partially unsheathed his sword, waiting. Sheik tossed him a dirty look when his wife pushed through the bushes, hair disheveled. Tet let go of the sword and held his hands up. “Sorry, man.”

“That was the signal,” Sheik said through gritted teeth. “Did you even listen to the plan?” He turned back towards his brother, who was cleaning his teeth with a toothpick.

“...Huh?” Tet flicked the stick away and shrugged. “I don’t really… do plans.” Sheik stepped closer to him, eyes hard.

“You will follow this one,” he said. “You’re the only warning Kaik and Rob will have to get out of here. Don’t mess it up.” Tet gave him a lazy salute and smirked. Sheik clenched his jaw and turned away, counting silently in his head. “Kaik, Rob, you’ll be alright out here?” he asked.

“Right as rain,” Rob agreed. “We got the bird call down, bro.” Kaikoura nodded.

“Yeah, we got this,” she said. “We’ll keep a lookout, but no one comes out here at night anymore.”

“Just… don’t let your guard down. Okay?” Sheik asked. Kaikoura linked pinkies with him.

“Pinky promise.” Sheik smiled.

“Stay safe.” He lowered his cowl and leaned down to kiss her.

“Ugh, bro, save it for the honeymoon,” Tet wrinkled his nose. “Come on, we gotta go.” With a lingering look, Sheik turned and joined the others as they snuck towards the castle doors.



Sneaking into the castle was surprisingly easy. There was hardly a Gerudo in sight. It appeared that the night guard was primarily moblins. This boded well for them - the moblins were rather stupid by nature which made it easy for them to sneak past unimpeded. Even sneaking into the dungeons was easy. The moblins had no peripheral vision and multiple guards would look in the same direction at the same time.

They went down, and down, and down into the dungeon, and each time they came back empty handed they got more nervous. The upper levels of the dungeon were filled with Hylian guards and soldiers, under the guard of Ganondorf’s moblins. They couldn’t help but wonder if Ganondorf knew they were here and leading them into a trap. Finally, they reached the bottom floor and knew they had found the place. There were gold wards over the doors and along the walls.

Suddenly they were surrounded by Gerudo guards, all brandishing spears as they flooded the doorways.

“Hello, ladies,” Tet winked at the guard closest to him. She shoved him back into the center with the others, unamused. Heavy footsteps made their way down the stairs. The guards parted, bowing low as Ganondorf stepped into the dungeon. He stared at the group impassively.

“Let's cut to the chase,” he said. His deep voice echoed off the stone walls. “Tell me where Link is and I’ll look past this… indiscretion.” Tet shifted behind Sheik, but looked away when Ganondorf caught his eye. Ganondorf turned his gaze instead to Sheik, who stared him down stubbornly. After a few moments of silence, he shrugged. “As you wish.” He waved his hand and the guards seized them all but Sheik and hauled them away. Ganondorf glared down at Sheik, fists clenched, before composing himself.

“Come with me, Sheik. I’m sure Rabia would love to catch up with you,” he said. Sheik didn’t make a move to follow, though he couldn’t help but notice the flecks of red in Ganondorf’s eyes. Ganondorf ground his teeth in annoyance, then let out a breath. “Come.” He turned and headed back up the dungeon stairs, cape billowing behind him. With nowhere else to go, Sheik did as he was told. Once they got to the top of the stairs, Ganondorf grabbed Sheik’s arm and continued to drag him into the castle’s depths, keeping him close to his side.

“I thought you said Rabia wanted to talk to me. Where are we going?” Sheik asked. He looked around as they moved, searching for any escape route.

“We’re bringing you to someone else first,” Ganondorf answered. The two walked until they reached a creepy, dark corridor that led down to another part of the basement, close to the dungeons. Sheik thought that perhaps he would be locked away too and Ganondorf hadn’t wanted him to know where the others were. They abruptly turned to face a large, rough-hewed wooden door that Sheik couldn’t recall for the life of him. Ganondorf pushed it open without preamble and threw Sheik in ahead of him.

The room was so dark it was almost impossible to see. Two ugly, misshapen noses appeared in the air before him, followed by two pairs of crazy eyes and high pitched cackling. Sheik backed away, bumping into Ganondorf’s chest. Ganondorf gripped his hair roughly and shoved him forward again.

“Don’t be frightened, boy,” one of the hags cooed. The other witch snapped her dry fingers together and ice sprang up like a jail around him. Sheik looked back at Ganondorf.

“Why are you bringing me to these witches?” he asked. Ganondorf raised an eyebrow.

“Why do you think?” he said. Sheik didn’t answer. “I’ll let you talk to Rabia. But first… you have to do me a favor.” The two witches floated, untroubled, around the ice prison.

“I’m not doing anything for you,” Sheik said.

“Are you certain of that?” Ganondorf asked with an amused grin.

“You don’t scare me, Ganon,” Sheik said. Ganondorf’s grin fell.

“Then you are a fool,” Ganondorf said. “Perhaps they will change your mind. If not…” Ganondorf looked to the witches and shrugged. “...oh well.” He turned away, the door closing behind him with a thunk. The two witches continued to giggle, and the one that created the ice cage lifted her giant wand. She waved it around above her head before striking it down. A beam of cold steamed out and enveloped Sheik.



Aside from their footsteps, it was silent as Gunner, Tet and Nasty were marched down the hall by the guards. It wouldn’t be long before Rob and Kaikoura were discovered outside the castle, and Tet couldn’t allow that to happen. He glanced towards Nasty, who tripped. His bulk was enough to topple most of the guards as he fell into them, apologizing. As Tet’s guard moved forward to help her comrades, he slipped the keys from her pocket and moved quickly and silently in the opposite direction. No one knew the secret passages of the castle like Tet did, and soon he was cuffless and toppling out of a hidden doorway just outside the castle gates, where Rob and Kaikoura were waiting.

“Tet?” Kaikoura gasped. He stood back up quickly.

“Ganondorf found us. Go!” he shoved them forward and they all took off in a sprint, keeping to the shadows, as they ran back to Kakariko Village. The town was empty, as curfew was near, when they arrived back at Kaikoura’s home. Tet locked and bolted the door behind them and pulled all the curtains closed.

“Sheik?” Kaikoura asked after a moment. Tet shook his head.

“Nasty, Gunner and I were taken by his guards - they’re still in there. Sheik… stayed behind with Ganondorf.”

“Why didn’t you get him?!” Kaikoura demanded.

“I promised him I would get you out, no matter what,” Tet said sharply. “Sheik can handle himself just fine. I can’t stay here - they’ll be looking for me. Don’t go looking for trouble, Kaik.” He gave her a short hug and left the house as quickly as he’d arrived.

“I’m sure Sheik will be okay,” Rob said, settling a hand on Kaikoura’s shoulder.

“He’s alone in the castle with Ganondorf,” she said.

“And Rabia,” Rob replied. “She wouldn’t let anything happen to him.”

“I very much doubt she has a choice.”