Ma're continued combing the sandy dunes long past her post. She couldn't help it. Not when she heard a child crying in this goddess forsaken desert. The youngling couldn't have been any older than one if they were still hollering like this. Either that or in immense pain.

And then she found the child. Its skin was red and slightly peeling from the bite of the sun, but still pale enough to contrast with her dark hands. The hair was the color of gold. Clearly Hylian descent. She picked the child up and undid some more of the swaddled cloth to tell that this child was a young boy.

Ma're began humming under her breath and soothing the child while trying to track who abandoned him. A few ways off she found a skeleton. Nope. The desert was harsh, but if this child was left in this unforgiving place today- which Ma're would bet her life on -even the harshest winds couldn't strip away the cloth and skin of a deceased parent that fast. Whoever left the boy here was long gone, and the sand denied any knowledge of where they went and why they left the child.

Ma're headed back to the fort, "Little one, you need shade and water." She glanced down when he gurgled at her. His eyes were as blue as the cloudless sky.

She smiled. He liked her, and maybe she liked him, too. She mounted her horse, saying in a coddling voice, "You're my little arrow, my little Link."

...

Link was ten when he finally got to ride a horse and learn how to fire a bow. Until then he had been helping his surrogate mother, Ma're, do household chores. She did watch for the fortress most of the time, so it was Link and a few other Gerudo women who taught him what to do and the customs of the tribe.

He whooped at the desert wind combing his lanky, curly hair as his horsemanship sored to attention. He'd always watch his mother leave, so now those years of watching came to fruition. The camp was surprised to see the ten year old handling the stallion so well, traveling at breakneck speed and turning on a Rupee. Link had a grin on his face the belied nothing but pride at how many gawked in pride at him.

The little arrow was soaring fast.

He pulled his horse to a rapid, disheveled and dangerously sudden stop (the horse almost tipped onto its side, which would have been at least a crippling sentence if it weren't for Link's instincts) at the imposing glare of the Gerudo chief:

Ganondorf.

...

Link had seen thirteen rains when he went on his first raid. He'd finally gotten approval from Ganondorf that he wouldn't screw anything up. Those were his exact words. It was clear Ganondorf expected Link to be subpar at best.

Still, a thirteen year old was a powerfully determined being when excited. Link's hand shook with trepidation and joy as he nocked an arrow with a wide grin. He could do it! He could certainly get a wheel stopped so the ladies could do the real work. He wouldn't screw up that way, could he? Maybe Lord Ganondorf would commend him this time... Or smile. Or something. All Link wanted was approval. He was thirstier for it than water.

"Link."

Link drew his bow, took aim, and fired. His aim was perfect.

...

Link blew his bangs out of his eyes. They weren't quite long enough to tie back yet. Still had to keep an eye on prisoners, though. The Hylians whimpered and whined in the sun. Suited them for wearing such heavy clothing. All you needed was linen in one layer, maybe an undershirt if you felt the day was cool.

The boy didn't feel any connection with his ancestral kin. He knew he wasn't Gerudo, but he had become a child of the Goddess of the Sands. He Wasn't Hylian either. He'd lost that when he was handed over to the winds and the sands.

He stopped, taking a better look at the flash he saw out of the corner of his eye.

The flash was a lock of blonde hair from a girl three years younger. Her skin was already blotchy red, and her eyes were teary and blue. Link glanced at his fellows, then stared at the girl. Her clothes were fancy. Like Ganondorf's except more Hylian. Royal clothes with a tiara in her sweat-pasted hair and long ears. But what drew Link in was her eyes.

Time and time again he had been told his blue eyes were an omen of struggle, among other fortunes. His adoptive tribe loved telling the future with the windows to their souls. Link had a small knack of the divinatory hobby from watching and waiting.

This girl's eyes begged and screamed with heavy burdens and a great destiny in her future.

The girl stared back, as if she couldn't believe who this boy was. Not a haughty, almighty look given her status, just confused. Link's skin was tanner, but still a very pale shade compared to his fellows.

Link left her, finding the silent questions unbearable and desiring for the girl to leave the desert whenever she could.

...

Link was fifteen. Not quite a man yet, but man enough to get his ears pierced. He sat there with a placid expression while his fellow women winced, whimpered, and cried.

He wanted to be different in a good way. He wanted to be strong like his family. He wanted to be strong for an "outsider".

He glanced around as one ear was slowly being pierced, watching Ganondorf a ways off reading scrolls that had been retrieved in their last raid. The chief kept looking at Link recently like he was poison. Of course, most of the women kept saying that Lord or not Ganondorf was starting to slip in his sanity.

Ever since he had learned of the Triforce and Sacred Realm of Hyrule

...

Link had seen seventeen rains when his mother was lost.

His hand trembled, unable to burn the funeral pyre in the middle of this moonless desert. It was always the vanished moon when they went out into the desert with the intent for the deceased to be lost in the sands, never to be found again and permanently released to the Goddess of the Sands.

Ma're's closest friend, Saran, guided his hand and lit the dried palm leaves. Link turned to her and bawled as his hands scrambled for something to cling to. He'd been raised by the tribe, but his mother wasn't like anyone else he'd met.

...

Link ate his dinner in silence. The sun was down and the chill of night was creeping into his bones. He made this little hut of his by himself after Ma're died. Ganondorf had denied anything Link's mother left behind for him to little uproar. While it was small it was there, which was odd considering the respect Ganondorf got as the sole true Gerudo male. He was grateful for all who stayed with him to build his home. He just wished he had more of a family.

The canvas of his door brushed aside, and Link nodded in respect to whoever was entering.

He did a double take and paled when he realized Ganondorf had come. Link quickly prostrated himself on the ground and hoped for mercy. He felt Ganondorf grab his arm, felt only air as he was tossed out of his own house, and finally lost any of the breath in his lungs when he crashed into a pile of wood and building tools.

Link was hoisted out of the rubble by Ganondorf, who threw Link to his feet, "Do you know how old you are, Uknir?!"

Link swayed a little and tried steadying his head. He knew "Uknir" was the family name he had taken on. And by taken on he meant forced into choosing by Ganondorf. No one wanted Uknir. Uknir meant "broken".

Link stood as tall as he could, squaring his shoulders and becoming wary of the crowd, "18, Lord Ganondorf."

Link ran when he saw that fist reaching for his head rather than his chest, "Exactly!"

The crowd gasped and huddled backward into their homes as Link began running along walls and rooftops to try and escape. The Gerudo chief was on a rampage. Link jumped up out of Ganondorf's reach, knowing he was much more nimble-

Ganondorf grabbed his leg and sent Link rocketing back to the earth. Link rolled away just as two scimitars launched at where his neck used to be. He looked at the gouges in the sand with wide eyes, then at Ganondorf; what was this madness?

Ganondorf pointed a scimitar at Link. His eyes were monstrously blinded with rage, "18. A man. Eligible for my throne."

The crowd murmured with dissent. Link was not eligible, in fact. He wasn't the once-in-a-hundred-years man. He was just a little one found in the desert. At best the child could hope for being a captain or second-in-command while Ganondorf was alive.

But Ganondorf was beyond reason with this, and Link held up his arms in desperation to keep the Lord's scimitars away from anywhere more vital. He cried out, and soon brought his arms in to hug them and staunch their bleeding. Link began running again. He knew he just had to outwit Ganondorf and get somewhere where he would be safe.

Link grabbed a bow and tried firing to make an impromptu trap, but realized he had greatly underestimated where the Gerudo chief was as a sword pommel slammed into his eye. Link staggered against a wall, holding his right hand against it while his left made sure his eye was still working.

"Hero Who Protects The Triforce! Feel the sting of my blade!"

Link screamed as Ganondorf's scimitar rammed through his right hand, pinning it against the wall.

The women of the tribe were at a loss. This had never happened in the tribe's history. There had never been a squabble for power like this. Maybe Lord Ganondorf had gone mad. Actually, no maybe about it. Still, it was clear that even though Link was male and identified as Gerudo, he was by all technicalities Hylian, and unable to ascend to the rank of chief unless he went through much more strenuous trials and hardships to prove himself. Even then Ganondorf had to be supplanted. Or murdered. Perhaps the insane one had some reasoning. It was still chilling to watch while they couldn't lift a finger without fear of opposing Ganondorf, though.

Link was holding up his left arm to block sword blow after sword blow. He couldn't take much more of this, and his hand needed to be treated. Already tears were washing black rivers of diluted kohl down his face in a disgraceful sight. He pulled out the blade and began running again. There wasn't much else he could do. Ganondorf outclassed him by miles.

He stumbled up the steps to the temple of the Sand Goddess, hoping and praying he could do something-

Link was yanked back by his pony tail, left to fall onto the steps. He sat there when his journey was over, dazed. Blood oozed past his eye. He had trouble thinking, but managed to will himself to sit up. He looked up to see ebony metal glinting in the torchlight. Ganondorf was yelling something, and women were finally screaming for it all to end.

Link backpedaled rapidly, climbing the steps and onto his feet. The ground shook at the strength of Ganondorf's blade crashing into the earth. Link didn't know what to do. He watched as Ganondorf lifted his sword again with a single desire to see Link's blood all over the stairs he stood on, "Perhaps your blood will grace these steps as a lovely offering to the Sand Goddess."

Link held out his bleeding arms to the sky and tossed his head back to the heavens, "GODDESS OF THE SAND! I BEG OF YOU TO HEAR MY PLEA AS ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN!" Silence fell on the courtyard as Link's voice dwindled away, "Please... I seek asylum, I seek sanctuary."

Link watched Ganondorf, wondering if that wasn't enough. Then the torches dimmed. Their dancing flames stilled and fell away. People gasped in awe when they flared back to life again, decreeing it a sign the the desert goddess heard Link and was proclaiming her ward over him.

Link took his chance and threw himself into the temple before anyone could say otherwise.

...

His arms ached in their bandaged prisons of white linen designed with orange and blue and green in healing glyphs of the Goddess of the Sands. His right hand was near useless. Link smiled a little hopefully at how he knew he was taught how to use both hands. That would be handy.

"Link? Link, dearest oasis, where are you?"

Link sprang to his feet and ran for the voice, and found himself stumbling into the arms of a friend, "Saran! Oh Saran!"

Saran patted his back, "Yes, I am here, I am here." She pulled away and held up his chin, "You were so brave."

Link shook his head, "I don't feel brave. I feel scared."

Saran backed away and began pulling things out from underneath her robe, "That in and of itself is bravery." Link counted water and food that would last for about a week between horse and rider, saw a star chart bound with silk. He looked at Saran, confused.

Saran gave him the provisions, "Ganondorf still asks for your head. He won't rest until he knows you are dead."

"Of course." Link nodded grimly and began attaching the water to his belts.

Saran continued, "His Lordship says that the flames flaring once was a sign that you only have tonight as protection. Many are uneasily agreeing to his plan to make you an arrow holder the moment you step out tomorrow morning."

"Then why do I need this? You need it more than I do!" Link cried, handing back the gifts.

Saran pushed them back into his hands, then wrapped her black cloak around him, "Because Ganondorf said in the morning. The night still sleeps. You can escape."

Link took them back, frowning. Saran guided him to a horse, and watched as he mounted it, "Follow the stars I marked with red. That should get you to Hyrule and there's just enough water and food to last. If anyone asks, say you seek asylum from the Gerudo."

Link shook his head, "N-no! No Saran I-I can't you know what they'll do-"

"Link, dearest oasis," Saran snapped, "this is a matter of your life. The life Ma're thought was worth salvaging from the sands that should have swallowed you." Saran hugged Link for what she knew to be the last time, "Link, you know she would want you to leave and seek sanctuary among your true kin."

Link began crying again, adding more black on his cheeks in clumped patches while some tears washed it away, "No, no I don't want to go-"

"Link, we all love you." Saran said, "We raised you into a strong warrior who will find a path straighter than any little arrow could take."

Link clinged to the hug for as long as he could. His voice cracked as he whispered, "Saran, my love for all of you burns hotter than the sun, and is colder than the moon."

Saran nodded, but she pulled away with tears in her amber eyes. She smacked the rear of Link's horse with a yell, and watched as the black dot on the horizon became smaller and smaller.

Link couldn't help but watch as his home became lost in the ever shifting dunes, then kept his eyes fixed on the stars that would guide him to the safety of Hyrule. Slowly, his gaze lowered to his left hand, clutching the reins with a pale, golden glow of three triangles.


okay Gerudo!Link backstory has just been eating me forever and now I just sit and write almost 3k in one sitting. I just hope that this is the origin of the Zelda 2015 Link because gosh this is so intriguing to me.