Sands of Destiny
If life were simple and perfect, there wouldn't be any problems. For a time, it would seem to be this way for the people of the Glaicien tribe. This tribe lives in the desert, their neighboring tribe being the Gerudos. The Glaiciens, in appearance, are born with silver hair and ebony markings on their face. These markings represent the element they are capable to influence; however, this ability can only be honed with age. The elders of the tribe are far advanced with their ability, acting as teachers to the younger Glaiciens.
On a normal, sunny morning in the desert, two sisters emerged from their home. They were the daughters of the Chieftain Kalidas, their names were Lear and Begonia. These two girls were different from the others, they were born with the ability to use two different elements. Lear, the older, can influence the wind and the water, while her younger sister Begonia can influence shadows and heal injuries. The two have been training together since they were young, but they aren't capable of doing much to their elements.
"Ay, ay, ay! Feel that wind? It's telling me that today's another smoldering day in the desert, and the Gerudos are playing a fierce game of archery several miles away!" Lear's ability allowed her to hear the wind's soft voice. Such stories it would tell! She could often be seen sitting on the highest sand dune on the outskirts of the village, listening to the tales the gentle breeze had to tell. She longed to explore beyond the desert and to see the things the wind had told her about; the oceans and rivers, the forests and fields... Her sister, Begonia, fiddled with her fingers and stared down at her shadow.
"At least the sun casts such perfect shadows. Let's try this again..." She concentrated on moving her shadow. Her power was one that could be dangerous if not controlled properly. For to control somebody's shadow is to partially control them. Lear often worried about her sister and her powers. To have the Shadow within you is usually a mark that those who follow the Darkness possess. That's why Lear usually worked harder to help Begonia hone her healing talent. She hoped that this would balance out the shadow.
Begonia concentrated on her shadow again, hoping that it'll move in some way. "…c'mon…I've almost got it…" Lear looked over at her sister, who was still trying to make her shadow dance. She sighed and walked over to her, watching over her shoulder. Begonia dropped her hand in frustration "…I still can't get it!"
Lear put her hand on Begonia's shoulder trying to comfort her, "Hey, don't worry about it! You'll get it someday! Why don't we work on that healing ability for now?"
Begonia sighed, "…okay…but, Lear, what if I never learn to use my abilities? They're just so hard to control…"
Lear laughed and turned towards the wind again. "They all are, Begonia! But that's what makes us stronger; trying so hard to perfect them. C'mon, Kalidas will have found out that we're not with the Elders and he'll ring our necks if we're not home soon!" Begonia turned with a sigh and followed Lear towards the village. A whinny soon caught up to them and Lear turned with a heartfelt smile. "Fala! There you are, you silly creature. Where've you been?" A strong mustang galloped next to the sisters. It's white speckled body was strong and beautiful. Fala was a horse that Lear had known since birth. His mother had died giving birth to him and Lear and raised him on her own. They were now thick as thieves and the best of friends. Begonia, however, was afraid of horses and preferred to walk.
Her sister mounted the horse and trotted beside her. "Fala says that you're stingy, thinking of horses in such a way." Lear said after a slight pause.
"I'm not stingy...I just don't want a 1200 pound animal in control of what happens to me." Begonia muttered. She felt the wind kick her hair up and glared at her sister. Lear smirked and turned towards the village.
As they walked through the village, making their way towards their hut, one of the village elders approached them with a scowl on her face. "And, where might you two have gone, during the time that I was supposed to teach you? Hm?"
Lear and Begonia looked at each other, both trying not to laugh, Lear quickly came up with a reason for their absence. "Eh…well, you see…Fala wandered off!"
Begonia caught onto this and joined in "Yeah! We went looking for him! And it took longer than we thought it would…" She tried to avoid eye contact with the elderly woman.
"Are you sure that's what happened? Or were you skipping out again? My, my…it disappoints me to see the daughters of our chieftain acting in such a way…very well then, your father is looking for you." The woman bowed her head and left. Begonia and Lear looked at each other, what would he want with them at this time of day?
As they entered the Chieftain's hut, a small group of the Elders surrounded their father. They were nodding and talking gravely. Kalidas looked up as they entered and the girls promptly sat. The Elders grew quiet and looked between Kalidas and the sisters. The Chief sighed and stood up, slowly walking towards his daughters. "Grave news has approached us, my girls. War will be swiftly upon us. The Gerudos claim this land to be theirs, and they want us exterminated. There's no doubt that you've caught some hint of what they've been planning, Lear?"
Lear looked away and flicked a curl from her face. "The wind told me something of their intentions." Begonia rolled her eyes. She was always the one who was uninformed.
"Then the elders and I have come up with the only reasonable plan for your safety. You will leave at sunrise and venture out of the desert." Begonia started to shout while Lear jumped up and clenched her fists with a yell. "I will not leave my people, father! We stay and fight just as..." Her father's deep voice cut her off. "Our people are a dying breed, and I will not have my only daughters left to the same demise as the rest of us! You will leave, for your sake and the sake of our clan. Now go!" With that, he turned and dismissed the girls.
As the two girls left the hut, they looked at each other, knowing that they have to prepare. They headed towards their own hut, and when they made it inside, Begonia exploded. "How can he say that?? We are NOT children! I am not leaving. I'm going to fight!" Lear tried to calm her sister down, she grabbed her sister by the shoulders while standing in front of her. "Begonia, you have to understand. Father is just worried about us. I want to fight too, but it may not be a good idea…" Begonia cut her off. "Lear, we have to fight! Just look around at the people of our tribe! They're all old! You know just as well as I do that we will lose, if we do not fight." she stared intensely at Lear, waiting for a response. Lear began to pace around the room, listening to the wind. She then stopped and turned towards her sister. "Maybe…we could make it look like we left, but return when the fighting starts. We, and Father, are the only ones who have been trained to use twin swords…the wind…it tells me that the Gerudos will be using twin swords, and archery."
Begonia, for a moment, began to wish that she could use her power. She knew that the power of shadows is great, but since she's unable to control it, she must stick with swords. "Lear, let's get ready to go. We should leave tonight and return at dawn." With a final nod, the sisters went their separate ways to prepare for what lay ahead the next day.
As dawn approached, Lear's head shot up. Fala's ear's flicked back and he bucked his mane with a whinny. The Elder that had been accompanying them was younger than the rest, and he too turned his head to the noise. "What is it?" Begonia asked, trying to steady her own horse.
"Gerudos...and they're coming quick! Begonia, RUN!" Lear shouted and spurred her horse in the opposite direction. Suddenly Gerudo soldiers burst over the dune several feet away. An ambush! The young Elder turned to run, but the soldiers overtook his flight. Lear and Begonia ran ever faster over the sand, sweat gathering on their horse's manes. Fala was one of the fastest horses in the desert, his hooves accustomed to the sand. But Begonia's horse was slow and the soldiers were catching up.
Begonia looked back to see how close they were and panicked. She yelled to her sister. "LEAR!!" At the sound of her name, Lear turned her head to see that the gerudos were catching up to Begonia, for her horse was slow. She urged Fala to turn around and head towards Begonia. "Begonia! Hold on, I'm coming!" when she was running side-by-side with Begonia's horse, Lear urged her to jump onto the back of Fala. "Begonia! Hurry, jump onto Fala's back! We have to get out of here!" Despite Begonia's fear with horses, she complied and steadily stood up on her horse's back, almost being hit by a spear, she then jumped, barely making it onto Fala's back. "YAH!" Lear yelled, urging Fala to run quicker.
Fala's hooves flew across the sand. The Gerudos were falling behind. Soon it was only the desert and the hard huff of Fala's labored breathing. Lear slowed him to a stop and slid off, her sister following. "Let's let him rest a bit. He's saved our lives, he deserves that much." Lear stroked the mustang's neck and tried to relax him.
The following morning, at the crack of dawn, Begonia awoke with a start. She had had a nightmare of the events of the day before. She decided to get some water from the nearby spring to make some breakfast before her sister and Fala woke up. She sighed, hoping that the war will end happily, she then gathered up the bucket from their supplies and headed over to the spring.
The water was cool and refreshing. Water was scarce in the desert, and mysterious to those who lived there. She dipped her hands into the pool and wondered what the water would tell her if she had the power of it within herself. She considered waking Lear to get her to read the water, but she remembered with a dark air the war. Life was no longer a playful childhood game. She stared at her reflection in the rippling water. Was that dirt on her nose? She started to scrub at her face when the water exploded around her. Pfft! Arrows suddenly whizzed around her as Gerudo guards leaped about and grabbed her flinging limbs.
Begonia tried to scream, but to no avail. The Gerudos had covered her mouth. Before she knew it, she had blacked out. The Gerudos who had captured her got sick of her flailing, so they hit her on the head with the but of a sword. One of the gerudos grinned evilly "We could use a slave…take her to the fortress and throw her into the dungeon!" The gerudos who were carrying Begonia threw her onto a giant boar, then one mounted it and rode off towards the fortress.
Lear woke to Fala pawing the ground and neighing loudly. She looked over the camp and realized that her sister was gone. She left everything and hopped on Fala's back, urging the wind to tell her what had happened. Catching the Gerudos image on the breeze, she hurried to rescue Begonia. A thwack suddenly sounded and she felt an intense pain in her right arm. Crying out, she fell off of Fala and tumbled to the ground as Gerudo warriors began their attack. She got up and pulled the arrow from her arm, running as fast as she could in the direction Fala had gone. Arrows rained around her and she looked back to see how far away the soldiers were. Her footing came out from under her and she fell off the ledge and into the river below.
Lear found herself in the river, the currents were as rapids. She was thrown around by the river, she begged for it to stop, but her efforts were in vain. She then hit her head on a large rock, knocking her out; she floated down the river, luckily face-up, the currents carrying her away from the bloody war above her.
A/N: Thank you for reading! A friend and I are writing this story together, and we are very excited to finally get started and post! We have a TON written right now, and we are currently finishing a couple things.
She and I are also artists, and we will be doing a lot of art for this story. I have already done some art, and so you are more than welcome to go view them (it will help you visualize Lear and Begonia). To see the links, go to my page.
Another thing I would also like to note, is that Lear and Begonia are based off of ourselves; Begonia is me, and Lear is my friend. If you are to address us, please call us by our character's names!