I am a new writer. I've written things here and there but never stuck with anything. This is an idea I've had for a long time now. I've always been fascinated with the Gerudo in the Legend of Zelda games and I'm very interested in how their culture would work. I decided to write a chronicle of Ganondorf's life from a sympathetic point of view, trying to explain why he did the evil things that he's done. I written quite a bit of it already but I'm not going to post it all at once. Probably a chapter weekly. Here is the first chapter and I must say that it's not my favorite part of what I wrote so far, so in my opinion, it does get better. Thanks for reading!

On the edge of a vast desert, lies a small fortress built into the side of the cliff. A cry of a newborn baby coud be heard throughout the fortress. Having birthed the newborn child, a midwife held it in her arms and said, "Oh she is beautiful, Mahala…She's so…wait…she is a he!"

"What are you talking about? Let me see my baby!" Mahala gasps. The midwife handed the baby boy over to Mahala. "There you are…" she cooed to the baby and held him close to nurse.

"This is him!" the midwife exclaims. "This is the baby we've been waiting for!" Other Gerudo women present began whispering to each other.

"That can't be," Mahala said. "The Goddess of the Sand chose…me?"

"She must have! There's no mistaking it! That babe is our next king!" The midwife says. The whispering stopped. The other Gerudo in the room began to bow to the baby in Mahala's arms.

"W-what does this mean? How am I supposed to raise a king?" Mahala asked.

"We must show Aurero at once!" the midwife said.

"Aurero? But I don't think she will like the news that her rule is nearing its end," one of the Gerudo say. "She was hoping the next Gerudo male would be born into her family."

"Hmm…you may have a point," the midwife said. "But she's going to have to know eventually."

"What about Koume and Kotake? They are the only ones in the village who's lived through…several…generations of kings. They'll know how to properly introduce the young prince," another Gerudo said.

"Good idea," the midwife said. "Can you make the journey to the Desert Colossus? I must stay here with Mahala and make sure there's no complications with the baby."

"Yes, ma'am," the young girl said and then left.

"My baby a p-prince?" Mahala said, still not quite grasping what was happening.

The baby was cleaned up and swaddled. Word traveled quickly around the village about the birth of the male Gerudo, for others crept by the small corner of Gerudo fortress that Mahala had made her home in order to see "proof" of the new king.

"Please! Leave the child alone! The mother needs her rest!" the midwife exclaimed as she shooed curious onlookers from the room."

All of a sudden a raspy voice filled the room. "So appears the girl was telling the truth, Koume," the disembodied voice said.

"Indeed, Kotake."

There is a flash of light and the two ancient Gerudo witches materialized in front of them. Their hair was as white as snow. They were both hunched over to the point they were half the size of the younger women in the room and their skin was so wrinkled it looked like it was melting off of them. Koume and Kotake were the oldest Gerudo in the village. Not only that, but they were they only ones blessed with magic. Usually, only the King of the Gerudo was gifted with magic. However, there were several rumors as to why Koume and Kotake both possessed them as well. Some say they were granted powers by one of the previous kings to whom they were both married to. Others say they made a deal with a demon in order to gain their magic. Others still, say they were born with their magic, blessed by the Goddess of the Sand so that each generation of kings would have someone alive to teach them how to hone their skills. No one knew for sure and the witches weren't telling. "Well, girl," one of them addressed Mahala, impatiently. "Let us see this 'Gerudo Male'!"

Mahala did as she was told. She removed the bundle of blankets and held the babe out for the witches to see. The witches were silent for a moment and then looked at each other. "So it appears that on this day the future Gerudo king is born," Kotake said.

"Yes, Kotake, this is something special indeed."

"So what do I do?" Mahala asked withdrawing her baby close to her chest. "I don't know anything about being the ruler of the Gerudo tribe. How can I raise a king?"

The witches cackled. "Of course you don't, dear! Look at the state of your clothes!" Kotake said.

Koume cleared her throat. "Ahem…well don't worry, dear. Leave that to us. No doubt he will develop the ability to use magic just like other kings before him. We will teach him how to hone his arcane abilities."

"He will learn Gerudo and Hyrulean history and our ancient language. And we will have the best Gerudo warriors teach him the art of swordplay," Kotake continued.

"What about Aurero? She is the exalted leader of the Gerudo." Mahala said.

"Aurero is the great-granddaughter of the last Gerudo King, Gunorarm." Kotake said.

"But that dynasty is now over," Kotake added. "The Gerudo King can be born to any Gerudo, even yourself."

Mahala was still in disbelief, but looking down at the babe, she could tell he was destined for greatness, regardless of who his mother is.

"So girl, tell us," Koume asked impatiently. "What do we call our new King?"

Mahala paused for a second. She had been thinking about it today, since she had not prepared a male name. She did remember the names of some of the ancient kings and settled on a name that stuck out in her mind. "Ganondorf" she stated. "Ganondorf Dragmire."

Pretty soon, word had spread through the entire village that a male Gerudo was born to Mahala Dragmire and that it was rumored that the Duzatan dynasty was over. Mahala feared the reactions of House Duzetan and stayed to herself out of fear harm would come to her baby. Koume and Kotake told her they would formally announce the arrival of the young prince. However, day after day went by without a word. Mahala got some curious looks around the village and heard whispering behind her back but, luckily, no one else asked to see Ganondorf for themselves after his birth.

Finally, after a fortnight, the two witches appeared out of thin air in the center of the village and called with their magical disembodied voices for all Gerudo to listen.

"You may have heard these past couple of weeks that a Gerudo male has been born within the tribe. We can now tell you these rumors were true. Mahala! Bring the young prince forth and everyone bow to your future king, Ganondorf!"

Mahala went outside to find other Gerudo emerging from the adobe style fortress with confused expressions on their faces. Before anyone noticed her, she heard an angry voice ring out.

"What is the meaning of this?!" A young woman adorned regally with jewelry and long red hair pulled back in a ponytail stormed forth from the fortress and walked steadfastly toward the witches.

"I'm sorry, Aurero but it is true," Kotake said, although there was no hint of sympathy in her voice. It almost sounded like she was holding back laughter.

"House Duzatan has ruled for the Gerudo for…"Aurero began.

"One hundred years!" Koume retorted. "Ever since your great-grandfather was born and was crowned king!"

"We were there! Have you forgotten that we are over three hundred years old?!" Kotake exclaimed.

Aurero appeared angry but at this she stepped down. She knew the witches could cast dark magic and did not want to anger them. "Very well, let us see this new king!"

"Mahala! Bring him forth!" Koume commanded

The Gerudo around Mahala finally noticed her presence and parted to let her pass. At this point, she was in direct eyesight of Aurero.

Aurero laughed. "Mahala! You?!" Mahala stepped forward cautiously. The witches nodded for her to lay the baby down on the pedestal they had erected at the center of the village for everyone to see. As she lay him down the witches began to unwrap the blankets that swaddled the baby.

"I-I don't want to disrobe him," Mahala said quickly. She was embarrassed that her child was being put on display like an animal. The witches ignored her. The baby started to cry and Mahala bit her lip. There were some wide eyes and gasps from the crowd as it was revealed the baby was indeed male. Some women in the back were squinting and standing on their toes to get a good look at the baby's sex. The Gerudo in the front began to bow and eventually those in the back got the idea and bowed as well.

Aurero did not bow but seemed stricken at how quickly she lost the will of her subjects. "And what kind of king will he be if he cannot even fight?!" she hissed at Mahala. "Mahala is no warrior like me and my kin! The Goddess should have chosen my cousin, Nealefe, as the bearer of our future king! Not a simple pig farmer!" she yelled to the crowd.

Mahala hung her head in shame. Koume and Kotake, however, appeared livid.

"You dare question the decisions of our Goddess!" they yelled together.

Aurero was taken aback by their anger. Perhaps she had forgotten that Koume and Kotake along with some of the other Gerudo elders still aptly worshipped the Goddess of the Sand. The younger generation of Gerudo were not so religious. If asked, they would answer they believed in the deity, but they no longer made pilgrimages to the temple which had long fallen to ruin. Years of their prayers being unanswered made the Gerudo simply lose faith in their deity.

Aurero realized she had said the wrong thing, however. "Of course not," Aurero stated. "I'm sure the Goddess has her reasons. I was just questioning as to why she wouldn't choose a warrior to bear the king." She whispered under her breath so that only Mahala could hear, "Perhaps she wants our leader to be more like a boar than a thief."

"Oh you're just jealous because your child wasn't born with a p-!" Kotake started but was cut off by Koume addressing the crowd.

"Will you not honor your future king?! We shall have this day to honor the great Ganondorf's birth and bring him gifts!"

Aurero looked livid at this point. "Don't worry," Koume stated. "Your time of ruling is not over. The boy will henceforth be known as our Prince until his 18th birthday. Then you must relinquish your title and bestow upon him the title of the King of Thieves."

"You'll be ready to retire by then anyway," Kotake added.

"And what of my daughter?" Aurero spat. "Her nobility is stripped and she is going to grow up to be a commoner!"

"If she is lucky," Koume interjected. "Maybe she'll be one of the great Ganondorf's wives." The witches both cackled. Aurero, looking furious, stormed away. Mahala saw her chance and grabbed the baby to quell his crying.

"Hush little one," she whispered, as she wrapped him back up to protect him from the unforgiving desert sun.

A makeshift shelter was set up and baby Ganondorf was laid in a cradle of the softest fabrics the fortress had to offer. Throughout the rest of the day, the Gerudo came to give their gifts to the newborn king. The Gerudo offered gold, jewels, and fabrics made from fine silks they had stolen from the neighboring province known as Hyrule. Whatever resources their desert may have had was mined clean long ago. As per Gerudo tradition, the metals and fabrics that were stolen from Hyrule were reworked by Gerudo blacksmiths and tailors to reflect their own unique culture and then sold to those living in the village. Although Ganondorf was given nicer things than the average Gerudo, it was still not very much. It reflected the poor state of his country.