Hello, hello! A new fic for you, dear readers.
IMPORTANT note before you start : My Beta told me that, in Gerudo culture, only one male is born every 100 years. Well, for the sake of this story, let's reduce that to 40 years, shall we? (I didn't know that before she pointed it out, and, if I modify this to fit canon, many turning points in the story won't work anymore :/)
Enjoy!
The harsh desert sun shone mercilessly upon the red dunes of Gerudo desert, destroying everything which could not hide from its rays. Yet against the cruel glare two figures stood proudly over their horses, pushing the beasts on within the choking heat. They were clothed in light leather and thin silk, the weathered, bronze skin of their muscled arms showing under the sleeveless tunics they wore. A veil covered their noses and mouths, offering to the searing desert wind only their golden eyes to attack.
"I am telling you I saw something around here!"
The words had been filled with frustration, the voice deep and rich but still unquestionably feminine. A sigh escaped the other's lips.
"We should go back. It will be night in barely two hours. You know we shouldn't be out here when it comes."
Once again, it was a woman who had spoken. Despite the warning, they both rode on, their keen golden eyes scanning the desolate landscape for any sign of life. Suddenly, a cry rose and an arm shot forward, pointing at the top of a nearby dune.
"There!" she cried, pushing her horse into a gallop before the second woman could speak.
Shaking her head, the other followed her companion. The two horses had no trouble running over the shifting sand, their hooves touching the ground but a second as they climbed the steep, sloping dune, seemingly flying over the treacherous earth. As both women reached the summit they pulled on their reins, their eyes widening at the sight before them.
"By Din…"
"Is that – Is that what I think it is?"
Before the two women lay a child, unmoving under the blistering sun of a desert it should never have set foot in. Long, golden hair, pointy ears and rich, soft clothes, too hot for the desert wind, easily betrayed the child's origins.
"A Hylian girl," one of the women whispered, as if for only herself to hear. "But… no scouts reported any Hylian presence inside our borders. How did she – "
Her voice trailed off as the other sprang off her horse and approached the motionless child before kneeling next to her, gently brushing sweat-drenched, golden locks off the girl's face.
"By Din, what are you doing, Sasri?" hissed the first woman, glaring daggers at her companion.
"We can't let her die out there, Siama," the other snapped. "You can leave if you want, but I won't abandon her like her parents have."
"She is probably merely lost, Din knows how precious Hylian children are to their parents," Siama spat, shooting nervous glances around, although nothing but sand was to be seen. "We should leave before those bastards find us here and accuse us of kidnapping their children – again."
"You said it yourself," Sasri replied as she lifted the girl off the ground, cradling her delicately against her chest. "There are no Hylians here. You can stay or leave; but I won't let it be said that a Gerudo has left an innocent child to die because of the sins of people she knows nothing about."
Heavy silence fell as the last words left Sasri's mouth, and she refused to look at her companion as she placed the child on the saddle before her as she mounted her horse, holding the girl firmly but gently against her. Turning away from Siama, she spurred her horse, leading him and her precious cargo toward the Gerudo camp. Sighing again, Siama slowly followed her companion, the only sign of her displeasure the furrowing of her brows and the rage in her golden eyes.
The wind howled far above the two women, and, somewhere, in a place no mortal had ever set foot, the ghost of a cruel smile passed on a woman's lips. Din chuckled darkly.
"It seems I have won this time, sisters."
Heat and thirst. Those were the only two things she could feel as she lay under the harsh glare of the desert sun. She had gone for as long as she could, searching for somebody, anybody, who could tell her why, how, when, where? She had gone until her mind was blank with pain, until she couldn't remember her own name, until she collapsed and couldn't pick herself up once more like she had done countless times before. As she rolled onto her back, as she felt sand infiltrating any place it could reach, scratching at her pale, delicate skin, she let her eyes slip shut although she knew she shouldn't, just to block out the fiery light of the sun for a second, a minute, an hour, just to replace it with the black curtains of her eyelids. She didn't know how long she lay there, as she drifted between consciousness and oblivion, but suddenly there were voices and shouts. She felt something warm around her as a rolling motion softly brought her mind back into the waking world. She felt herself being picked up and put back down a second later on a cool, hard surface. The girl tried to open her eyes, but her body refused to obey her. People were still talking around her, feminine voices speaking a strange language she had never heard. A cool liquid suddenly dripped onto her lips, and her tongue darted out reflexively, tasting the fresh liquid. Water. More. As she opened her mouth to speak, the rim of a cup was pressed to her lips, and she drank greedily, choking as she tried to swallow too much at once but relishing the feeling of cold water cascading down her parched throat. The heat didn't seem as unbearable now, and her head soon fell back and a deep, dreamless slumber quickly took her.
"We should take her back to Castle Town."
"No! Of course not! They will think we kidnapped her if we do. I say, leave her on Hyrule's border and let her find her way!"
"I have a better idea! We should enslave and torture us like the other Hylians have done to us for centuries!"
"Sister, she is but a child! What has she done to us?"
"Nothing… yet!"
The sun was setting on the Gerudo encampment, the choking heat of the day quickly receding to allow the pleasant coolness of the night to take its place. A large group of women had gathered around one of their sister's latest discovery, whispering between themselves as they eyed the find suspiciously. The Hylian girl was sleeping, her small, sunburned face finally relaxing into a neutral expression.
"Perhaps we should send her back into the desert, let her go back to wherever she came from."
"I don't care, as long as she and the rest of her blasted kind never come near us again!"
"Enough!"
The voice was deep and powerful, easily covering the women's whispers. A large figure shouldered its way to the first row, followed by a much smaller silhouette. Silence had quickly fallen upon the group, and all eyes were trained on the two newcomers.
"Who found her?"
A woman stepped forward, bowing low as she answered.
"I did, your Majesty."
She waited for the blow that would inevitably come. She cursed herself now for her foolishness. Bringing a Hylian to their camp, even though she was a child, would surely-
"Very good."
The woman's head snapped up at the pleased tone as whispers rose once more around her.
"But, my King, I don't understand…" Sasri stammered, eyes once more trained on her feet as the man's eyes swept her way.
"Koume and Kotake had long since told me of her arrival. Din hasd grand plans for this child," the king of the Gerudo said, staring down at the slumbering girl. "She must become one of our own."
A stunned silence answered him, but shouts and cries of protest and outrage quickly rose from the crowd, many women stepping forward menacingly as their golden eyes darkened in rage. However, with a wave of the king's hand, the clamor died down, although many still glanced at the leader with suppressed rage.
"So has spoken the almighty Din," stated the man matter-of-factly. "Thali!"
The called Gerudo stepped forward, bowing before her king before she spoke.
"Yes, your Majesty?"
"You speak Hylian. You will take the girl in your care and harden her. I trust you will make a true Gerudo out of her," the king stated, the authority in his voice preventing any protest.
The woman's eyes flicked to the sleeping child, and there was a second of silence before the only answer she could give passed her lips.
"Yes, your Majesty."
The man silently turned on his heels and walked away briskly, signaling everything had been said and done. The group slowly started to disband, and soon there was no one left but Vivian and the small figure who had come with the king, both staring at the fair-skinned creature who had started to stir. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, her gaze first meeting with the bloodied sky of the desert sunset and then sweeping over the endless sea of sand, her brows knitting together in confusion. Before she could dwell further on her surroundings, however, a voice spoke up.
"What's your name?"
The voice was juvenile, yet the tone was already commanding, a thick accent making his words difficult to understand. The girl's eyes settled upon a young, dark-skinned boy, a few years older than herself, perhaps. There was a fierce scowl on his face and a wild glimmer in his eyes. Next to him stood a tall woman, her skin as dark as his, and her fire-red hair tied high in a ponytail. Even then, the crimson strands cascaded below her waist. As the girl's eyes traveled back to the boy, she opened her mouth to speak, before realizing she didn't know what she was to say. She sat up, her brows furrowing in thought as she searched for the lost information.
"I-I don't know…"
Her voice was weak and cracked from lack of water. She looked up at the woman, tears welling in her eyes.
"I don't know," she repeated pitifully.
"What do you mean, you don't know? Don't mock us!" the boy snarled at her, his small fist tightening in anger. As he stepped forward, a hand prevented him from going further.
The woman stared at the girl with a raised brow before kneeling in front her, gripping her arm tight as she reached for her neck. The girl recoiled but couldn't escape her hand as it rummaged around her delicate neck.
"Ah, Hylians and their ridiculous trinkets," she sniggered as she finally found was she was looking for. "I knew I would find something like this. Useless junk."
With a sharp pull, the delicate, golden chain snapped from around the girl's neck, bringing tears to her eyes at the bite of metal rubbing against her skin.
"Here," said the woman, distracting her from her pain. "Zel-da. You name is Zelda."
She had extended a golden pendant before her. On one of the two faces was scribbled a name in Hylian letters.
"My name is… Zelda?" the child mused, feeling the strange, foreign name roll off her tongue.
She nodded. She decided she liked it. She stared back up at the boy, looking at him expectantly. She said nothing, yet the question was obvious.
"I won't tell you my name, slave!" spat he, once more taking a threatening step forward.
"Don't listen to Ganondorf," the woman suddenly said, stepping forward.
She roughly shoved the boy away, glaring daggers at him. He stared back at her defiantly, jerking his chin upward before walking away.
"He should know that being prince does not mean much here, before he proves himself," she said before her eyes settled back on the Hylian. "I am Thali, and you are among the Gerudos. I have been ordered to care for you.
"Am I a slave?" Zelda asked, visibly frightened at the prospect.
"No," the woman answered, and to the child it seemed like there was bitterness in her voice. "You will stay and be raised as one of our own. So hasd spoken Din. Now, come, and don't stray away from me. Many here want to see you gone."
At the child's frightened whimper Thali's lips curled into a smirk. The faintest hint of malevolence had glimmered in her eyes when she had spoken those words, as if amused by the child's fear. As the two made their way to the camp, the moon rose high above the dunes, clear as it never had been for many years, heralding the birth of a new Gerudo.
Feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think about this new story. =)