Dear Readers,

I'm back! It's been a couple of years since I've submitted something, (college has literally taken over my life), but that doesn't mean I haven't stopped writing! While working on my big "Yu-Gi-Oh! Shadow Games" project, I got into playing "Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword". I beat the game last winter, and since then I've been on a HUGE Zelda fix. I started becoming really fascinated with the Gerudo race, and the series' main villain Ganondorf, and I couldn't help but write about him.

I decided to set the story one year before Ganondorf's takeover of Hyrule. At this point he is putting the final touches on his plans. He is also planning on assigning a second-in-command. When creating the main character, I fell into the trap of making her related to one of the main characters in the series, but in the end I think it was a good choice. It gives the main character more of a reason to want to learn more about Ganondorf, without turning it into a love story. In the end, this is really Niut's story.

This fic is also a lot shorter than most of the stuff I've written (especially my last fan-fic, which was sixteen chapters). One of the reasons this story is so short is because I wanted to finish it before returning to school in a couple weeks. I also felt like I didn't need as many lengthy scenes to get my points across. Even though I'm publishing this story as a completed work, I may find the urge to write another chapter somewhere in the middle to add more detail. At the moment though, I'm treating this as a completed story.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading my stories. If you like Zelda, I hope you find this story to your liking. If you don't like Zelda or haven't really thought about it, I humbly implore you to give my story a try, and maybe even check out some games on your own!

As always, happy reading!

Ari L.S.

Desert Storm
Part One: The Demon Child

It was early morning. Even in those early hours, the heat of the sun stirred the air, making it uncomfortably hot. A woman on horseback removed her cloak, allowing the sun's sweltering rays to touch her dark desert skin. The wind carried specks of sand from the desert into the valley. This light pelting was merely an annoyance that she had grown used to, even when the sand caked her after an intense fight covered her body in sweat.

She had been travelling for three days. Normally spending so long on horseback would make one's haunches ache or one's seat become bruised. However, this woman practically lived on her horse's back. Her muscles were immune to pain from physical activity. Her body was in its peak physical condition. It was necessary for her survival.

The shadows of the Gerudo Valley were expelled as the sun climbed to its place in the sky. Only the deepest crevices in the rocky walls possessed some sort of darkness. After crossing the bridge over the river, the woman slapped her horse's hind and broke into a run down the path. In a matter of moments her destination came into sight. It was a large and overbearing structure. Cleverly colored to blend in with the valley's rock wall, it was a structure that one could easily see if he looked close enough or knew what he was looking for.

Women with red hair, hair that matched the rider's in shade, length, and texture, paced the front of this structure. In their hands they held newly sharpened glaives and their yellow eyes keenly scanned the area for intruders. The woman jumped off of her horse and led the mare towards the entrance.

"Yuma's back!" a voice called out. The multiple guards turned their eyes to the woman, who smiled upon being recognized and welcomed by her fellow warriors.

"How was your journey, Yuma?" one of them asked as she passed.

"I was successful in what I had to do," Yuma replied, bowing her head humbly.

"Let me put your horse away," said another, who placed her hand gently on Yuma's shoulder. "I'm sure you want to see Niut."

"Yes, that would be wonderful. Where is my daughter this morning?"

"She's in the sparring ring with Melaka, as usual," replied the warrior with a small chuckle. "That girl's getting better and better each day."

"I believe it," Yuma said with a smile. She left her fellow warrior's side and jogged into the fortress. While it appeared to be a dark labyrinth to strangers, the hive was her home and she could navigate it with her eyes closed. She reached a door that led to a huge room dotted with torches on the walls. A large sand ring took up most of this room. Two figures, a grown woman and a young girl, were sparring in this circle. The woman was clearly holding back to avoid hurting the girl, but the girl, holding a glaive with a shorter staff to accommodate her size, was putting all of her energy into the battle. Cool and collected, the woman was giving instructions while she defended herself from the girl's slashes.

"Watch your balance, your back foot is at an odd angle, if I wanted to I could twist your body and break your leg, there you go, remember your balance, hah! Sneaky thing, remember you won't have your small size forever, stay grounded! Your strength comes from your core, not the muscles in your arms!"

Sweat rolled down the side of the girl's head. Her breathing was becoming more and more labored as the fight went on, but her unrelenting determination overcame her body's loss of stamina. There was fire in her yellow eyes. She would not rest until her opponent was lying at her feet. With a loud cry, she put all of her might into a final strike, aiming at the wooden staff right below the blade of her opponent's glaive. Melaka's arm was pushed back from the sheer force of the girl's attack, but it did not send the weapon flying like the girl intended to do. A wry smile spread over Melaka's lips.

"Very good," she hummed. "We will continue our training later. I believe there's someone who wants to see you."

The girl's eyes widened and she turned towards the door. Her tired, wilting body was filled with energy again, which made her eyes sparkle with happiness and her lips open into a wide smile.

"Mother!" she cried, tossing her weapon into the sand and running towards Yuma. In turn, Yuma spread her arms wide and accepted the force of her daughter's embrace. She held her daughter close, placing kisses on the top of her head and squeezing her body tightly.

"Oh how I've missed you, Niut," Yuma murmured into her daughter's hair. "You've grown so much in the months I was gone."

"Melaka says I'm getting better and better at fighting," Niut replied. "And she just started teaching me my Hylian letters. We have to read a story every night, Mother!"

"And we will, little one," Yuma hummed as she allowed herself to release Niut from her grasp. She raised her eyes towards Melaka, who smiled knowingly.

"Your mission was a success, I assume?" asked the warrior. Yuma closed her eyes lightly and nodded. She then glanced down at Niut.

"Niut, you're going to be a big sister," she said with a tender smile. "I'm pregnant." Niut's smile became even bigger.

"Really? Oh Mother I've always wanted to be a big sister!" she exclaimed as she jumped up and down in her place. This caused Melaka and Yuma to laugh together.

"The bond between sisters is one of the strongest ones we experience in life," Melaka said, placing a hand on Niut's small shoulder. "Your little sister will look up to you, she'll follow your every footstep when she starts to walk, she'll be so eager to show you every new fighting move she learns, and most of all she will seek your praise and love."

"As an older sister," Yuma added, glancing towards Melaka, "you will watch over your little sister, protecting her from the sandy winds and any fears she might have. You'll give her pointers for her fighting technique, ride horses with her, and read with her at night when you're supposed to be asleep. You'll care for her always, and love her with all of your heart. I'm sure that you two will be the best of friends."

The nine months passed quickly before Niut's eyes. She watched her mother's stomach expand to a size she had never seen before. Her mother looked rather silly with her bulbous stomach sticking out shamelessly and uncovered. To protect the stretching skin from the hot and sandy winds, Niut fashioned a gossamer veil that could be attached to her mother's tops. Yuma wore the accessory to be polite, but she much preferred to proudly bare her pregnant stomach.

In the earlier months, Yuma would leave her home and do what she could to benefit the others in the fortress. While she couldn't fight or ride horses, she guarded the lower threat prisoners, groomed the horses, and observed training sessions, giving pointers to new and veteran warriors. But as the child inside of her grew, Yuma found that her own strength was fading. She began to feel ill and tired, and eventually she was confined to bed. Her once strong body was wilting before everyone's eyes. Her eyes appeared sunken in their eye sockets, and those yellow eyes themselves seemed to have the light sucked out of them.

Niut did what she could to make her mother's pregnancy easier. When her mother was confined to the bed, Niut performed every chore in addition to learning her letters and training. She never grew tired, even when the moon rose high in the sky and the valley became cold and unwelcoming. She would drape blankets over her mother's trembling body and place rags on her forehead when it was hot and dripping with sweat. She would run to the Twinrova, the Gerudo sorceresses, and ask them for potions that would build up her mother's strength.

In the middle of a clear, starry night, the desert wind suddenly began to pick up. It stirred sand and the freezing night air, tossing it all through the Haunted Wasteland and the Gerudo Valley. This icy wind even penetrated the strong doors of the fortress. On that night, Yuma felt the unmistakable spasms in her abdomen. The baby was coming.

Niut called for Melaka and then ran to the home of the Twinrova. As the oldest women in the compound, they typically oversaw every birth. They gathered their potions, tightly pulled on their cloaks, and stepped into the cold. They could hear Yuma's moans of pain echoing throughout the grim halls of the fortress.

Melaka had propped Yuma up using every pillow Yuma and Niut owned. Every candle was lit, but the room was still quite dim. The shadows on her mother's face reminded Niut of a skeleton.

"Where's the hot water?" Koume, one of the Twinrova, spat as the waddled to the bed and squatted between Yuma's legs.

"It should be done heating," Melaka responded, wincing as Yuma gripped her hand at the onslaught of another contraction.

"I'll get it," Niut offered. She grabbed a bowl from their small kitchen and poured the water from the pot into it.

"We need towels!" Kotake, the other sister, screeched. She nudged her sister slightly, trying to make room for herself.

"You're taking up too much room, Kotake!" Koume snapped.

"Am not! It's you and your fat rump that are taking up all the room, Koume!" Kotake squealed.

"Here's the water and the towels," Niut interrupted. She placed the items near the bickering sisters and returned to her mother's side.

"Niut," Yuma whispered.

"Yes, Mother?"

"Niut I don't…I might not…" she let out a wail of pain from another contraction.

"Yuma, you can do it, just hang in there," Melaka said, trying to be encouraging. However, with one glance Niut could see the despair and helplessness in her aunt's eyes.

"Mother…"

"The baby! The baby's coming!" one of the sisters exclaimed. Yuma moaned again, trying her best to push. Niut interlaced her fingers with her mother's, hoping that her strength would enter her mother.

"Push Yuma, come on you can do it!" Melaka cried, her voice breaking.

"Come on Mother, just a few more pushes," Niut tried, grasping her mother's hand as tightly as she could.

"The head!" one of the sisters screeched.

"Niut…"

"One more push, just one more and your daughter will be here," Melaka whispered.

"I can't…he'll kill me…" One more push, and suddenly she went limp. The sound of the howling wind faded away. All Niut heard were the cries of a baby.

"A boy," Koume gasped.

"Yuma, you did it," Melaka whispered, placing her hand on her sunken cheek. "Yuma, your child is born."

"It's a boy!" Kotake exclaimed.

"But…she's supposed to be my sister," Niut protested. For a moment she turned away from her mother, trying to catch a glimpse of the baby. The Twinrova swaddled the baby, keeping him hidden from their sight. Only his cries proved that there was indeed a child tangled up in their arms.

"Niut…Niut!" Melaka called. Niut turned around. Her mother's eyes were softly closed, her head nodding to one side of the pillow. Her lips were parted ever so slightly and trembled under the weight of the words she wanted to say. Niut's eyes widened as she scrambled to her mother's side. Her body began to tremble as fear took over her.

"Mother…Mother I'm here!" she said, grasping Yuma's cold, limp hand.

"…I should have…he'll kill…I should have known…"

"Mother, no!" the young girl wailed, too distraught to listen to her dying mother's prophetic words.

"I love…you…Niut."

"I love you too, Mother."

When Niut could finally look away from her mother's lifeless body, she discovered that the Twinrova had slipped away with the baby boy.