AN: This is a story about Ganondorf, Link and their complicated relationship. There will be lemons in later chapters, but the story will be rather slow-paced. Their relationship won't be exactly romantic either. (If you know what I mean *wink*) Apart from that there is something I would like to say.
Hello everyone! I'm kind of new here and this is my first story here. I have written stories earlier, but this is first time I'm publishing anything. English is not my first language, but I do my best. If you see any typos or expressions that are not suitable, please tell me! I want to learn from those mistakes. I hope you enjoy! ^_^
1.
The best phrase to describe Ganondorf Dragmire's childhood would be: "One day you shall be the king." To him it wasn't just a combination of words, but the whole definition of his early life. All the fun things he wanted to do, but was not allowed to. All the boring "responsibilities" he hated taking part in, but was forced to. Everything was always explained with: "Because one day you shall be the king."
When Ganondorf asked, why was it that he would be the king, the answers could not satisfy him. "Because the laws say so, my boy." "It's a tradition young master." "It would defy the will of the sand goddess for someone else to be the king of gerudo."
Eventually he stopped asking, since the answers would never change. His elders were rather happy with this, thinking the little rascal had finally accepted his destiny to become the king of gerudo, being the first male to be born in one hundred years.
They could never have been more wrong.
Being the prince was never beer and skittles. The opposite actually. Major part of Ganondorf's time awake was spent in some kind of schooling. History of basically anything related to gerudos was being forced inside his head every morning just after the moment of cuckoos. Battle history and important victories, tradition and religion, sand goddess and her wisdom. All over, until Ganondorf could recite everything aloud in his dreams.
The worst part of education was the etiquette. Not only was it completely unnecessary, but all the tiny rules and exceptions made no sense what so ever. Ganondorf was certain, he would never actually have to remember that he should face the direction of wind while drinking water from a horn in his left hand. (With this they showed gratitude for the goddess for blessing them with sufficient water.)
The common gerudo were mostly vulgar and brute, but their prince lived in completely different world.
The only part of his schooling he really enjoyed was the combat training. "Gerudos are warriors first, only then people." How glad he was this tradition existed. Swords, bows, knifes, spears, fists, if necessary a gerudo would have to be able to fight with their teeth only. For Ganondorf the battle was never a problem. He was a natural talent. Koume and Kotake soon noticed that
physical combat was not the only strength of their adopted son. He also showed great potential in casting magic, especially in dark sorcery. They were so proud about their son.
On the outside Ganondorf looked like a dutiful and hardworking young man. In reality, he could not care less about the whole king of the desert business. He never asked to be the prince. He despised the word king itself. He felt free two times a day. First when battling and casting magic, second during the short whiles he was allowed some time alone. At those times he would sneak out of the fortress and find his way to the ruins a bit apart from the settlement.
There he had hid his greatest treasure, a book some merchant once gave him for free, since some of its chapters were badly damaged. The book was full of descriptions of foreign lands of people. Some chapters told there were people that looked like fish and lakes filled with burning water. Areas filled with trees and a fortress ten times bigger than his own. There even existed a race that would eat rocks for living.
Everything about that book was so different from what his elders ever taught. Ganondorf could hardly believe any of it.
It was a shame there were no pictures in the book. He would have loved to see all that. Every day he was more certain that once grown up he would leave the desert behind and travel. Just travel and see the world and its miracles for himself. The young Ganondorf never cared about governing anyway. No doubt his elders would not agree with him. He knew that well, yet he was naïve enough to try convince them, creating nothing more than a deep gap of bitterness between himself and his mothers.
"Nonsense!" Koume and Kotake would shout in chorus. "Goddess of sands herself has made you our destined leader! You have no right to go against the divine!"
Enraged youth then would run out of the fortress and find his way to his secret lair. This was not his wisest decision. The sand storm was raging and blinding him. Finally there he slumped down behind a wall that shielded him from the wind. Thoughts swirled inside his head. 'Is the goddess punishing me for denying my fate?' 'Why is it that I am to be the one with most power, yet I am chained down by it?'
He raised his hand to take a good look at it. His birthmark shone dimly. Three triangles, one glowing. They said it proved him to become the greatest ruler in their history.
What a stupid mark. No, a stain!
Furious, he hit the ground with his fist and regretted it immediately. The foreign book had fallen victim to his rage. The cover was broken. Hastily he picked the book up to see the damage. Surprisingly he found a folded piece of paper he had never seen before. It must have been inside the cover.
He opened the fold and was amazed. There was a single skilfully drawn picture on the paper. Simply speaking, the picture portrayed a man and a woman. For Ganondorf it was much more. They were tall and slender. Their skin was the colour of sand. Their noses were petite and hair golden. Yet their most striking trait were their ears that were long and pointy. Ganondorf liked those ears. He was a bit jealous of them. All in all he found them beautiful.
Under the picture there stood a single word: "Hylians."
Ganondorf was puzzled. He assumed that "Hylian" was a race somewhere far away, but he didn't remember having read anything about them. Even still, he found a new light inside his mind. He was now more certain than ever. He would leave this accursed desert. He would live as an ordinary, yet free man, and he would live with Hylians. And no one was allowed to say otherwise.
Pleased, he began to make his way back to the fortress. The sand storm too, was over.
AN: I have taken some artistic liberties with this story. Gerudo traditions are completely made up along with some other things.
In later chapters there might also be statements that are not entirely canon. I've tried researching some topics about Gerudo and Hyrule in general, but there are faults and contradictions in different wiki pages and Zelda websites.
Please tell me your thoughts!