“Bah!” Ganondorf snorted to himself. “What does he take me for, a pig!?
Ganondorf paused. He’d rather not answer that question.
Through the dark forest the dark lord tred, and how evil it felt, unlike the pretty picture of Canterlot. It was absolutely demonic, and Ganondorf felt right at home. With swords hilted on his back, he pushed through the horrible, itchy plants, which uprooted at the impact of his foot upon the ground.
The further he traveled into the darkness, the more he complained to himself with loneliness.
“I, Ganondorf, being told what to do? Foolish! How idiotic! What have I been reduced to, a peasant? I am a rightful king and I am being led around by a boy that refuses to show his face!
“...But then again, how must I survive without some sort of light in the dark? I refuse to trust him but I must follow him, for I am without knowledge of anything.”
Ganondorf flipped back and forth as he advanced. After about half an hour, he could no longer hear the sirens or see the lights of Canterlot. It was dead silent in the forest, directionless as a black hole. All Ganondorf could do was keep walking.
After another fifteen minutes of rambling about, Ganondorf halted. He looked around him into the trees, unable to see anything.
“Wretched beast, I sense your curiosity. Show yourself!” He commanded as he drew his swords. There was no response.
Ganondorf dropped one of his sword upon the ground in the direction he was walking so as to not lose his way, then grabbing the other one. Gripping the sword with both hands, the power nearly shaking the sword, he slammed the ground with his foot.
To his left, he heard leaves rustle, and flinching, only to see nothing.
“Harumph! Fight me like you have some dignity!” He roared. As he heard no response, he decided to investigate the area in which he heard the noise.
Suddenly, Ganondorf spun around, slicing with his sword. A creature with mean eyes and growling stood before him right in the path of his sword as its sharp edge hit it’s cheek. It moaned in pain as it fell to the ground.
“A wolf…?” Ganondorf wondered, surprised he was almost caught off guard by such a simple creature. Nearly immediately, though, he was reminded of something horrible. A few years back, when he was beaten by the hero, who transformed into a wolf to find Ganondorf’s weak point. Ganondorf’s face soon fell to a mean glare as he gripped his sword.
He stomped his foot upon the creatures neck, and it barked once.
“You pitiful mongrel! How dare you challenge me and remind me of something so damn horrid! Hrrrrah!”
Ganondorf choked on his words as he whacked the wolf with his sword, cutting it and making it bark in pain.
“Leave my kingdom alone!”
He plunged his sword into the wolf’s heart, and a whimper was heard before its eyes went blank. Ganondorf, breathing so heavily it fueled the entire forest with overwork, pulled out his sword from the wolf’s cracked bones and body. His anger slowly faded as the sounds of the forest faded.
“...Hmph.” Ganondorf huffed, still breathing rather heavily. His temper tantrum had ended rather abruptly after the wolf ceased to live, and he wiped his blade off upon a rather large bush and put it back in its sheath. Ganondorf’s anger was not to be questioned.
Slowly, he marched over to where his other sword lay, scooped it up, and continued the way it was pointed. It was an old trick he learned a while back. The forest was dead quiet, as if it knew that sending anything more Ganondorf’s way was a terrible idea.
The Dark Lord continued through the black forest. About a full hour of walking later, Ganondorf heard thunder roaring in the far distance, as if to test him further. He groaned. What an unfortunate turn of events.
“Still this planet’s nature tests me? Harumph!” he pouted.
A raindrop hit his forehead, stealthily and softly. Ganondorf barely noticed it, and it seemed the forest was rather frightened to do anything. Anger and hatred excerpted from Ganondorf, and the forest was absorbing it.
As it began to sprinkle, Ganondorf noticed something peculiar in the distance: light. It wasn’t expected in a forest as dark as this, and Ganondorf was reluctant to advance toward it. Carefully, he inched towards the light between the trees ahead, his hands on the sheath of his swords. He peeked around the corner of the light filled area behind a tree, and his eyebrows raised at what he saw.
“A path…? Here?” Ganondorf wondered to himself. He gave a small nod with his head, rather unfazed. Ganondorf did not care, but it just seemed rather too convenient for his well being. There was a clearance, a path, and a very clear picture of a dark grey castle out in the distance. It looked abandoned, old, and useless, just the way he liked it. Assuming that was where his destination was, he gave a big sigh and trudged on through the thick wood.
The woods showed little mercy, for Ganondorf, as he followed the path, the rain hit a tad harder due to the clearence. The mysterious sounds of the woods were rather unsettling. It seemed like it was always dusk, the sun never setting but not rising either. A neverending path of time-stuck forestry without even a murmur of hope, the only thing moving within it stomping upon the shrubs.
As he pressed further on, the forest fell more dark and more silent. This was not a habitat that Ganondorf was used to, for he was used to deserts and castles. He stopped and shifted his eyes up, still as a statue. Out in the very far distance, he heard something odd: breaking sticks. The sound obviously came from forest and not from Ganondorf’s heavy feet. He halted in alarm.
“...Another wolf?” Ganondorf questioned himself. “Must the forest be so petty?”
He stomped upon the ground with full force, attempting to scare the beast away, but all he heard as a result was a small peep from the bush. He squinted.
“That is no wolf… show yourself, rogue!” Ganondorf commanded as his hand went to his back, reaching for his sword’s hilt. “Or must I force you out?”
“P-Please, no!” a high pitched voice squeaked from the shrub. A pair of fearful eyes peeked from the top, the twigs of the bush shaking such as an old man. Ganondorf huffed.
“You have a right to fear me. Tell me, are you one of those creatures of the upper city?”
“Th-The upper city? You mean Canterlot?” the voice responded quietly.
“You expect me to have that knowledge, fool? City up near the mountain. Flies on some foul magic.”
“I… I’m a pony if that’s what you mean.” the soft voice peeped in terror
“A pony? As in a horse? Come out of those bushes!” Ganondorf directed fiercely, grinding his teeth with frustration.
Slowly but surely, a yellow skinned pony emerged from the shrub, shaking with fear, her pink hair up in awareness. Ganondorf huffed at the pony.
“Harumph! So weak and feeble, but I will save that for the future. Now. I require answers from you. You will answer or suffer by everything you hold dear suffocating before your very eyes.”
“Eep!” the pony flinched. “I… I’ll tell you everything you want to know that I know, mister!”
“Good…” Ganondorf smiled maliciously. “Now. Spit out your truths. First of all, what in the name of all that is unholy are you doing out here this late at night in the middle of the forest?"
"Well you see, t-there's this little animal that comes out at night only. I only wanted to see him!" she explained.
"...Fair enough. Now, for the more important question: In what direction lies the old abandoned castle?"
“Umm… you mean the old gothic one?” she asked softly.
“Idiot!” Ganondorf roared. “You expect me to know? Do you honestly believe I make my home here!?”
“EEE! It’s that way! THAT WAY!” the pony yelled as she covered her eyes with her hoof, and pointed to the way of the path. Ganondorf nodded.
“So this path leads to my destination? Speak!”
“Yes, yes! Along the way there is a bridge. It was broken, but the workers fixed it but I can’t give you word it’ll be safe. Please, let me go…” she begged, shaking with absolutely terror.
Ganondorf smiled. “I see. So I am not being tricked. Hmm. I thank you, small creature.”
The pony peeked out. “Y-you do?”
“Much so. However, you know of my whereabouts, and that is simply too much. I can't afford to trust anyone here.” Ganondorf chuckled as he took steps toward her, producing a half grin on his rough face.
“Oh no… no no no!” she panicked as she got up to run.
“Not a chance!” the dark lord spat as he reached his hand out. Dark magic rushed him to her, allowing him to grab a part of her mane. She struggled, crying slightly, and beginning to scream.
“Stop… stop!” she begged. Ganondorf wrapped his hands around her neck, which started to choke her. She gasped for air as dark magic surround Ganondorf’s wretched black hand. Suffocating sounds came from the poor pony, and as Ganondorf clamped his fist, the poor yellow pony fell to the ground, barely awake. His grin grew wide
“Have a good rest. Huahahaha!” Ganondorf laughed. With a blunt kick to the face, the pony flew against a tree, head first, and then sat there, unconscious and bleeding from the forehead. “And thank you for the wonderful information.”
With hand marks around the pony’s neck, Ganondorf left her to go along to the path. His destination, his future, awaited at the castle.
Many moments passed as Ganondorf wandered the forest. Noticeably, the path became narrower, and more faded. The wind stopped blowing, the grass halted, and the moon no longer shined. Besides the grave footsteps of Ganondorf, it was so silent you could hear a mime. All of a sudden, Ganondorf noticed something peculiar about a tree to his left. It was very scratched up with claw marks all over it and an ominous half of a bone next to it. This worried Ganondorf a bit, as he knew now what kind of territory he was in. He looked around, and began watching his back.
Not but a moment later, Ganondorf found another bone off the right side of the path. The dark lord raised an eyebrow in curiosity. However, he convinced himself it was nothing and kept going with a strange feeling; a feeling of being lurked. Whether or not something was following him, he pressed on.
The rain was now hitting even more hard, with a steady light shower now occurring. Ganondorf was relatively unfazed, however. He was not opposed to the rain, for it felt rather relaxing to him as a matter of fact.
Many steps later on the now nearly invisible path, he heard something odd. Winds in the distance sang a song of despair and sickliness, a song Ganondorf knew all too well. The melody of the dying flutist sang to him, a song no man has the right to hear. Off in the distance, he saw what he was to believe a bridge, wooden and tied shoddily. It reminded Ganondorf of an old home: one cut off from the world by tyrannical legionnaires under the King of Hyrule. He remembered the day they cut the bridge to the kingdom. Ganondorf clamped his fist as he slowly walked, filled with anger.
As he approached the bridge. he lay his hand upon the top of one of the wood poles firmly and looked down over the edge of the chasm. The winds carried the sound of pain and the scent of death. The air had a bitter taste to it, and it made Ganondorf form a nasty frown. He dare not wanted to know what kind of horrid creatures were at the bottom of the chasm. Suddenly, the forest seemed a lot more safe. Ganondorf was powerful, but not invincible, and he knew that better than anyone. Gravity had nearly claimed him more than once.
Ganondorf spit down the chasm in protest to it’s intimidation. As he analyzed the bridge, he could see that it was not the most stable in the world. Perhaps the yellow pony he bludgeoned was correct. Ganondorf needed to be careful, for that wasn’t really his specialty to begin with; being careful that is.
He took the first step upon the bridge, and doing so, he pressed on it rather hard, to confirm its stability. His hands upon the rope handles, he put his second foot on the plank of wood. A few creaks came from it, but so far so good. Only about 25 feet to go. Ganondorf sighed.
A few steps later, when Ganondorf placed his foot upon a plank, he heard it nearly snap, and he lifted his foot up right away.
“How cliched.” Ganondorf said to himself as he stepped over the dark, brown, moldy plank and onto the next.
Suddenly, a gust of wind hit the bridge and it began to shake violently. The dark lord hung on with all he could to the ropes, but he felt something odd when gripping the ropes. As he looked back, he was devastated to find that the bridge ropes were untying themselves due to the harsh wind. There was no time to spare, with as much precision as he could, Ganondorf hopped from one plank to the next, trying to not get sucked to his left by the ghostly blows. Suddenly, he heard something whip behind him. His eyes widened as he saw one of the ropes undone and he began to leap to the other side.
The bridge collapsed from under him, the edge so close to him, not but ten feet away. Ganondorf leaped from the plank before it was too late, but the ledge was too far away.
“Gah!” Ganondorf shouted as the wind pummeled his face. He reached his hand up as he began to fall. The Triforce in his hand shone as dark magic surrounded his body, allowing him to boost up in a shroud of darkness. With one hand, he grabbed onto the ledge of the cliff, the rain pounding his eyes, and in putting his second hand on the edge, he managed with much strength to pull himself up.
He stood up straight, looking at the broken bridge before him and snarled.
“Not this time, scums! Not this time will you keep me away from my destiny. Curse you, you ugly creatures!” He roared into the sky. “I will bury you when I have such strength! Your fate will be written in blood. In blood!”
With a swift turn, he pressed onward, breathing heavily. He had felt insulted, and the forest was no longer silent. The sky was black, not even a star shone in the night, and before long, the forest began to clear, and before him was a towering ruin of a castle. The wind still sang its song, and castle did nothing but further amplify it. The path was now gravel, crunching with every step Ganondorf made. Finally, after hours, Ganondorf had made it to the castle. He could only hope what was inside was not to disappoint him.
The castle was much larger than he had envisioned. How towering it was, for it seemed like it leaned over him. There was a very big, rustic, Gothic door to the castle, and the front yard seemed like a graveyard. He was positive this is where he needed to be. He pulled on the cobweb ridden handle, and as expected, it did not budge. Of course it wouldn't be that easy.
"This world loves to test my strength doesn't it. Tch. Let it feel the pain of a foot in its mouth, then." Ganondorf grinned as he raised his foot. He rammed the door with his boot, causing the first disturbance the castle had seen in quite a while. Crows fled from the scene as they felt the rumble of a thousand angers, and the door gave no fight as it went straight forward and thudded on the floor, spreading dust in all directions. As Ganondorf stepped inside with every clink and clang from his armor breaking the silences, he observed the inside of the castle. It was so very large with so many rooms, seemingly impossible to navigate with all of the broken and worn signs everywhere. It was dark blue coloring all around, however the night nearly made it black.
"Well?" Ganondorf asked the castle with his arms open. "I'm here! I require some kind of lead now, cretin!"
As Ganondorf expected, another letter hit his feet from behind. He was more than unhappy they kept sneaking up on him, for the place was purely empty, so why can't this Don Ferrous show his pitiful face? Whether he was agitated or not, he had to read the letter.
Ganondorf
I see you've made it to the castle! Bravo, sir! Well, I suppose I, Don Ferrous, should keep this simple enough. If you look to your right, you'll see a room with a bone next to it. Enter there and explore the old storage room inside there. Surely, you'll find the way there. I promise you.-Don Ferrous
"Harumph." Ganondorf snorted. He tossed the paper aside and searched around for the so called 'bone to his left'. Sure enough, though, he found it, laying next to a door, clean as a whistle. It was nearly shining in the dark it was so clean, which was unnatural for a castle such as this. He picked up the bone and examined it. At first he was about to toss it aside, but something odd was labelled on the back of it.
"...Bone Furnace." Ganondorf read. It was written in black on the back of the bone, and it was a little more than unsettling for Ganondorf. Now Ganondorf was a little bit more than reluctant to open the door in front of him. One hand on his sword's sheath, one on the handle of the door, he opened it up.
"Gah!" Ganondorf grunted as he jumped back a few feet, unsheathing his sword. Out from the door fell a skeleton, one that resembled those horse creatures. Ganondorf grinded his teeth.
"What is this? Some child's prank!?" he roared angrily. On closer inspection, though, the skeleton wasn't fake. It was real, and very, very old. Ganondorf kicked the damned skeleton aside and cautiously entered the room. Skulls hung from the wall, and bones were scattered all over the place. The floor creaked horrid sounds as he explored the dark room. Spider webs all over the place, skeletons scattered among the floor, and the same two words were written above the wall.
"Bone Furnace." Ganondorf said aloud again, this time, however, it was painted in red. "What in the name of Hyrule does that even--"
Ganondorf stopped. The floor underneath him began to creak even louder simply from his own standing. He felt the room get exponentially hotter all of a sudden as the door closed.
"What buffoonery is this!?" He roared as the ground began to snap. He felt his body sinking, creating a dip in the floor. Suddenly, the Skeletons started to rumble, and their eyes lit up in a great orange flame.
The floor collapsed. No dark magic was to save Ganondorf here, for he was falling at a rapid pace along with the rubble of the ground and the skeletons, still with their eyes lit. He struggled in the air to maintain himself, but he was unable to see himself well. He looked down as he was falling to see a light: a light illuminating up the ground below him. His eyes widened as he gasped.
"GAH!" he grunted. Then, with a smack, he thudded on the ground along with all of the skeletons and pieces of concrete. He couldn't open his eyes with all the dust around him and the pain that filled him from the fall. He lay in front of a gigantic room, filled with fire, mechanics, and hatred. The sounds resembled those of a large factory, and above the pained Gerudo was a wooden sign hanging from the ceiling.
"BONE FURNACE: CLOSED AREA"