-Joket, Ganondorf Dragmire-

Ganon felt his blood run cold and his heart froze in his chest. His breath caught in his lungs and his world briefly spun. To an extent, it was.

All his life he believed he was the last Dragmire. He had been adopted by the Majora and proved himself strong enough to become their king, but he had never taken on the Majora name. He was always Ganondorf Dragmire, never Ganondorf Majora. There was no persecution in it, it was simply accepted as fact that he was the last.

He remembered the anger, the fury that boiled in his veins so many years. If he had been given the opportunity a few years back, he would have gone to war with Qin and reaped blood tenfold and poured his hate on the plainspeople.

But he was not the last Dragmire, not anymore.

Ganon's legs became as jelly and he stumbled into a table. He held himself on it to steady himself, and to focus on steadying his breathing. All he heard was the crashing of his entire reality around his ears. The shattering of glass, and he felt he would fall into the cracks in that glass with the gentlest shove.

Kuroko Dragmire's defensiveness melted a bit, but she still kept a distance. She was surprised he would not know, and it surprised her how strong his reaction was. Whether this meant to be sympathetic, or extra defensive, she was unsure. "I take it you were not expecting to hear that?"

"How can one be? Just as one can be broken by tragedy, one's tragedy can be broken by fortune." He put his head in his hands. "I know my appearance is fearsome, but I mean no harm. I only wanted answers..."

"Did you get them?"

"Yes... but not in ways I imagined. Or perhaps dimly knew, yet hoped against. Now all I am left with is more questions." He calmed himself and looked at her. "How did you survive? How many others of our clan are there? What are your reasons for seeing me as hostile?"

The woman sighed, "I must apologize for that... the Dragmire have a poor reputation... even amongst each other."

"So there are more?!" Dragmire exclaimed earnestly.

Kuroko did not answer at first. She pulled out a chair and sat across from him. They had no need for candle light, but she lit one anyway. The room was richly red with their hair and candle illuminating the room.

She put her hands together in thought, and asked, "How much do you know about the Dragmire?"

Ganondorf tore through his memories. His mothers had taught him he was a Dragmire, and that power was his birthright. He believed himself to be the last until now. It was a fact his mother's beat down on him... his status as the last. They wanted him to feel the burden of his ancestors.

But what about the Dragmire did he actually know?

"Nothing." Was his answer.

"I thought as much." She sighed. She ran her hand through her hair. "I'll tell you what I know. The Dragmire were a tribe brought from the desert and were among the mightiest in King Shorlin's war. Our only equals was the Mitagi clan and the Fae. We three formed the strength of Qin in its conquest. Ironically, perhaps it was divine providence... since the Mitagi follow Naryu. The Fae are children of Farore. And the Dragmire were once bestowed power from Din."

"Once?" Ganondorf questioned. "What changed it?"

She nodded gravely. "It was shortly after the king's death, and his son took the throne. There was a political shift in the Dragmire. Having been uprooted from their home and moved to Qin, the elders claimed we had lost our way. They said worshipping the Qin's goddess, Din, was blasphemy. At the same time the king's son applied more pressure for us to be stronger than ever." She hesitated. "Our elders turned to demon worship."

"Demon worship," Ganondorf repeated. The Majora worshipped Din and used power of the arcane, divine, and twilight realm, where demons rested, but they did not go so far as to worship demons.

She nodded. "It succeeded in making us stronger, but it also proved to be the final nail in the coffin. The disdain gained its proof. The Dragmire saw the hostility and prepared to fight. No one was willing to talk... and I'm sure you know how it went."

"Total slaughter."

"I don't know who struck the first blow." Kuroko clarified. "It could have been us. It could have been the Qin. In the chaos to follow no one knew anything except to flee. The Fae fled into the forests. The mountain tribes fled to the mountains. And the Dragmire... well, we did not call the mountains home. We did not call the forests home. We had no fortress to speak of, we were entirely nomadic. We had been uprooted from the desert to join Qin, so ultimately the Dragmire had nowhere to retreat to."

Ganondorf felt his heart quicken as realization came to him. "The Dragmire stood their ground..."

She shuddered, "I was young at the time, but I still remember the men marching to war. I remember the sheer size of Qin coming down on us. It was like trying to fight the world. Our army was broken. They came for us. We fled in all directions, but we could do nothing. All were killed or captured and sold into slavery. I was a... a slave for many years until a kind man bought me and married me to his shy nephew."

"You don't see your marriage as another form of slavery?" Ganon wondered.

"What are the odds of a slave being married to a decent man? Nothing. Slave girls..." Her eyes darkened. "Are little more than sex objects."

"I am sorry."

"Its fine." She looked up at the ceiling above them fondly. "I try to avoid thinking about the past. I have a future to look to. In a way... I don't regret it. The tragedy in my life is what brought me to this place. It gave me Malon."

"That is a very mature way of thinking. I respect that." He commented. "And the Qin... do they treat you well?"

Her eyes avoided his. That told him all he needed to know. He growled low in his chest.

"How bad?" He demanded, suddenly protective.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Before? Badly. I earned myself the attention of men I otherwise would not want to be known by. Of late, it is better. I did some things. Things I would be judged for, but it earned me a healthy fear. Most know better than to mess with me, but this has not stopped everything."

Ganon stood, tall and angry. "Then know this! Anyone who brings harm to your family will pay dearly. I see no reason to bring retribution for their sins against us when they were too young to commit and those responsible have passed into death or anonymity, but I will not ignore what they do now. If you need for anything, send for me."

With that said, Ganon turned his back, picked up his blades, and departed. He needed to clear his head, and though it was dearly sought after, her company this night was only making him angry because she remembered the deaths, and how could he continue on ignoring them as he always desired when its evidence was before him?

She stopped him at the door, aggravated herself. "I did not ask for your protection!"

"It comes without saying. We are kin." He looked back at her briefly before being drawn to the candle light in a window above them. They could hear faint voices. One was clearly the young girl. "You have done well. Our family would be proud. You have endured and brought about what may be our salvation. She does not have the anger that possesses me, but has the innocence I wish I had. What kind of scum would I be to not recognize the rarity of your gift to us all in a world such as this? What kind of a soldier does not protect such things?"

Seeing she could not sway him, she sighed. "If you insist, then we will happily accept your protection. So long as you do not cage us in your efforts. I will not trade one master for another."

"Trust me. A cage is the last thing I desire for anyone. I know you did not do it for our family... but thank you."

Ganon bowed to her. In all his life he did not recall bowing to anyone. He never bowed to his mothers. He did not bow to the prior Majora king. He did not bow to the king (High Princess) of Qin, and he did not bow to the Fae king despite how much he owed the spirit.

But she proved him right. She proved him right in thinking he did not need to be caged or burdened with the ancestor's pain and failures, he did not need to be engulfed in hatred towards the innocent when the inflictors had passed, because there was a way. Her way was perhaps silent and meek, but it was stronger still because it endured. It reminded him of a lesson the Fae king offered him once.

A strong body with a weak spirit endures nothing.

A weak body with a strong spirit endures all.

-Joket, Link-

Link found it was nice being a guard.

Now that he was no longer a slave he didn't need to be bossed around as much. He was still given orders, but it wasn't with the same weight hanging over his head. It was as equals in society. He helped carry things more because he wanted to than because he needed to. And speaking of needed to, he didn't need to do anything but simply be present to make sure bandits and other shits didn't touch his villages stuff. Which meant...

He could sleep under the warm sun. A lot.

That was until two fingers pressed themselves into his forehead.

He heard heavy stomps heading toward him, and faintly he felt it was time to wake up. He was working on it, he swore he was, he managed to get his eyes opened by slivers by the time a shadow came over him, but the fingers were just unnecessary! Grumbling, Link swatted at the annoying hand. In response, the hand (quite a strong one too) grabbed his face.

"Wha!?" Link yelled. He grabbed the hand and opened his eyes. It was Ganondorf. He panic turned to glee. "Oh, hey! How's it going?"

The other Qin from his village were at the other side of the carriage panicking. Link simply smiled casually while upside down looking up at the dark-skinned man.

"What is this?" Ganondorf asked.

"What is what? Oh, you mean the crap I'm on top of? Its stuff to trade. What are you doing here?" Link asked.

"I see no reason to answer that." The Dragmire replied. He was on his way out of the city to run when he caught sight of someone he recognized, but he saw no reason to explain himself. While originally he saw the boy as nobody when they first met, he gained a smidgen of respect for Link when he stepped in to stop Zelda from murdering Kyou. At least enough respect for him to be worth noticing. It took a lot of balls to step in and stop a monarch.

"Secretive and shit, alright. That's fine, but what are you doing at Joket?"

"You..." Dragmire looked down at him in disbelief. "You cannot be serious... You are serious..."

"Of course, I am."

"I own this city."

"You what?!" Link sat up in surprise. "You own Joket?!"

"Did you not hear the discussion I had with your princess about my people being given land? Did you not hear of the talks we had following the battle at Kanyou? Are you really this dense?"

"Hey, hey, hey! I was a little slave alright? About all the shit you two said went over my head. I just knew enough to nod and look like I was paying attention!"

Ganondorf felt a vein in his forehead pulsing. He did not know why, but he had the ungodly urge to pound the kid into the dirt. Something about the kid got under his skin. Ganondorf sighed.

"But guess what! I'm not a slave anymore! I own a spit of land, got a shitty hut to call my own, and got a job! At this rate, it won't be long before I'm a great general and your equal." Link smirked as he finished his statement.

Ganon felt his eye twitch. "The day I consider you my equal I will cut my hair."

"I don't know... I think you might look good with short hair."

Growling, Ganon snatched his face. He felt his power burn in his veins threatening to explode from his fist. "Keep talking. Give me an excuse."

"You have really big palms." Link observed.

As much as Ganon wanted to pound him, he also was left stupefied. It was as if the kid lacked all common sense. "Do you practice this?!"

"Practice what?" Link asked incredulously.

Calling on all of his reserves of patience, and praying to Din, Ganon forced himself to calm, and released the boy's face. Ganon looked to the cowering Qin traders. "Anything else here besides inventory for trading? Anything for tribute I should know about? Anything interesting?"

The men simply shook in fear. Ganon looked permanently angry, and Link hadn't helped in the least. Link laughed, "Yeah, some for the palace. After here we will be heading back to Kanyou to pay some respects to Zelda."

"Then it's not worth my time." Ganon clicked his tongue, and his wolf moved out of the shadows to follow him out the gate.

"Hey, aren't you remotely curious?" Link called.

"No."

"Not even a little?"

"No."

"It's spicy!"

Ganon stopped mid-step.

Link smirked. He may lack common sense and a lot of things went over his head, but he wasn't stupid or unobservant. He remembered how the black man reflected once on wanting to explore things, to taste things, to see things, to simply expand his horizons.

"Gotcha." Link whispered.

His fellow villagers tried to shush him desperately, but it was too late. Link knew it was a bit of a gamble, but he wanted to see just how far he could get with the man, and just how curious the big man was. As much of a mountain of power and presence as he was, seems the red haired man had one major weakness: curiosity.

Slowly Ganon took a step back, and continued backpedaling until he was next to the smirking boy again. The traders gulped and desperately wished they could just move in and get the job over with without the barbarian's scrutiny. They had never met a Majora before, and suddenly having the leader of these strange, and rumored to be bloodthirsty savage people, inspecting them left them fearful for their lives. Link lacked any and all of those instincts. Link didn't know why, but he had the ungodly instinct to get under the man's skin.

The chief avoided the boy's gaze. "How spicy?"

"It will make your tongue as red as your hair." Link replied.

"That's spicy."

"Mhmm."

Ganon's red eyes briefly scanned over their company (entirely avoiding Link along the way). Link smirked wider as he saw the inner battle in him. He could practically see the man's pride going at war with his insatiable desires.

"It seems to me you are lacking proper protection to make the journey." Ganon observed. "You are not nearly enough."

"Excuse me? I can handle it!" Link huffed.

"You can't handle a blade of grass, much less iron and steel. That settles it, I shall take on the job of accompanying you. You may thank me later." With that said, Ganon took hold of the carriage with one hand and started turning it around towards the road leading away from the city.

Link struggled to sit upright on the suddenly shifting collection of rocking barrels and sacks. The man was strong enough to move all of it with one hand?! Link realized may have underestimated the combination of power, desire, and self-given authority that the man was.

"Heyheyhey! We need to trade first!"