Ghirahim swallowed and kept his eyes down. He didn't want to provoke his new master. He noticed his core was shining. His master had given him energy. Did he want something? What was it? Was he expected to know?

Ghirahim stole a glance up. His master was crouching on the balls of his feet, head tilted back, eyes closed. Ghirahim felt the king's mind expanding, felt another presence there. He was contacting someone.

Ghirahim looked around him. They were in a cave, in a forest... somewhere. Presumably on The Surface. But where were his weapons? He must've teleported with- There. His swords. Gleaming, sharp and right next to his new master. Damn. Hmm. Could he?

Slowly, ever so slowly, Ghirahim edged forwards, reaching out with the utmost care, just brushing the hilt with his fingertips- Shoot. As Ghirahim touched the hilt, his master's eyes opened. Ghirahim froze, meeting the Gerudo king's gaze. Uh oh. Ghirahim started crying, curling up, head on knees, and sobbing "I'm sorry!" over and over. One day. One day and I screwed up. One day and I'm already going to be punished. I'm pitiful. A pitiful excuse for a demon. I can't even get this right.

A large, rough hand gripped his chin and lifted it. Ghirahim was shaking. What's he going to do to me? His master looked at him, crying and pathetic. He was going to break the bond. He could feel it- "I like you." What? Had he heard that correctly? "You're still trying to protect yourself whilst terrified of me. Well done."

His master let go of his chin and walked over to his previous place, crouching down again. He slid Ghirahim's swords towards him. Without thinking, Ghirahim grabbed them, ignorant of the edge digging into his palm, and brought them close to his chest. He instantly felt calmer, the familiar weight of the swords and smell of the oil soothing him. He looked up again when his master started speaking.

"You are Ghirahim, a high ranked demon, correct?" A nod. "Good. I am Ganondorf, king of the Gerudos, and one of the three rulers of Hyrule. I do not expect much of you, only that you aid me in battle and in other areas. You are... required to have a certain level of control and obedience, but you will almost definitely have a lot more freedom with me than with your previous master." At the mention of 'previous master' Ghirahim hugged the swords tighter. They weren't sharp enough to cut him, but dug into his skin nevertheless.

Ganondorf reached towards Ghirahim's swords but pulled back when Ghirahim growled at him. It was dangerous to try and separate a Sword Demon from his sword, and Ganondorf didn't want to chance it. A demon was a force to be reckoned with. More so when injured, as it would be desperate. And a desperate animal is a dangerous one.

"Do you know how long it will take to heal your gem?"

"Core. And about a year to heal fully, six months and it will have healed enough for me to not be... this. Two months before I can transform."

"Alright then. Let's get some sleep, we're traveling in the morning."

****Timeskip****

They woke up early and ate a quick breakfast of carrot and salted meat, before they set off, talking on the way. Ghirahim learned that a lot of things had happened since he was last up and about, not least of which was that the princess, Skychild and his new master were all rulers, due to something called The Triforce. Personally, Ghirahim thought it was a bit stupid to have Skychild as a ruler, but he kept that bit to himself.

They traveled like that for several days, their progress hampered by Ghirahim's injury. Ghirahim learned a lot about his new master, including the fact that he had once been considered an enemy of Hyrule. It... didn't really surprise Ghirahim. Lots of people were 'enemies of Hyrule.' Including himself.

This was clearly shown when he followed Ganondorf through what looked to be The Kingdom being rebuilt. People were openly glaring at him, others called names, and some even spat at him. Ghirahim was used to being worshipped by the other demons. This... actually really didn't have an effect on him. They could all go die and he wouldn't care. Like, at all. 0%. Zero. Zilch, nada, zippo. Nothing.

He may have healed more than he thought.