The sun was just beginning to rise into the dark clouds as she finished her breakfast. She was among the only younger women awake as she threw on what little clothing she wore and headed out toward the main area of the fortress, then jumping into a small boat and rowing herself toward the giant wall between the fortress and the sea.
"Minu?"
The girl froze just as she lay a hand on the vine that spiraled up toward the top of the wall.
"Where are you off to this early?"
Minu smiled nervously as she turned to face her aunt Mervet.
"Clocktown."
"Clocktown?" The older woman raised an eyebrow. Minu laughed nervously.
"You better not be going where I think you're going."
Minu nervously fumbled with a small leaf on the vine.
"I don't go there anymore," she lied. Mervet nodded in faux belief.
"Yeah...better hope not." The older Gerudo pirate picked up her spear and boarded one of the small boats that were used to patrol the fortress.
"Better hope not," Minu imitated sourly as she climbed the vine and breathed a sigh of relief as she looked out into the open sea for the first time in days.
Minu was a Gerudo pirate; young, beautiful, dangerous, and cunning.
She wore her blondish-orange hair in a loose, low hairstyle at the nape of her neck, occasionally letting it hang over her sun-darkened shoulders.
Her amber eyes burned with passion for life and adventure.
At eighteen years old, she was on her second year of rookie patrol, but it didn't mean she kept to her responsibilities.
Or her loyalty to the Gerudo. At least in the lightest sense.
At least when it came to friendship.
Her best friends were social outcasts like herself, but from other races.
Bodo was a Goron boy about her age, with rocky, brownish,dreadlock-like "hair" and a little stone goatee. He was always laughing, and was great company to have when the mood was low.
Sarai was a Terminian girl that worked part-time at the Bomb Shop as a packager and bomb instructor. She was very strange, with her white hair and strange tribal-like tattoos. She was the sister of the store owner, who was quite the social pariah himself.
But never would she associate with the Zora.
The Gerudo pirates and the Zora of Termina had a long-standing rivalry that no one dared to tamper with or intervene socially.
Minu was never one to be prejudiced, but she'd been in too much trouble as it already was for her to throw herself into unnecessary drama.
Minu took a breath as she landed on the platform under the wall halfway down the vine, smiling at the sparkling waves of the Great Bay, which was dark blue due to the overcast weather.
She was going to further her exploration of Stone Tower with her friends today, despite her aunt's warning against doing so.
When the little boat she'd been rowing reached Great Bay Coast, Minu hopped onto the sand and took off toward Ikana Canyon.
xxxxxx
"She should be here any minute-"
"Chill, she's here! Minuuuu."
Minu laughed as she hugged Bodo and Sarai.
"Sorry I'm late, my aunt kept me with her dumb warnings."
Bodo dismissed it with a laugh and a wave of the hand.
"Let's go before that creepy thief shows up," whined Sarai as she threw her silvery hair back.
Minu nodded. "She's right. To the tower!"
xxxxxx
"Wooooooah!"
The girls laughed hysterically as Bodo jumped on the golden switches, causing the temple to invert itself repeatedly.
Upside down, rightside up, upside down...
"This is awesome!"
"Woo!"
"That was amazing," laughed Minu as she tied her winded-out hair.
Sarai smiled as she high-fived Bodo. "Sweet temple. We should check out Woodfall sometime."
"I'm down, my sista," Bodo winked.
Minu smiled. That sounded awesome.
She loved exploring the forbidden areas of Termina, the temples and the 'keep outs' and the caves galore.
She felt lucky to have such adventurous friends. Who needed the uptight Gerudo pirates' company when she had these two?
"Let's go grab a bite or something."
xxxxxxx
It was already mid-afternoon when Minu bid her friends goodbye and headed toward Great Bay, hoping their leader Aveil wouldn't be too angry with her for being away so long.
Humming to herself as she jumped into her boat, she rowed back to the wall of the fortress and climbed the vine over, only to have a pirate swimming in gold jewelry bark at her before her feet even hit the stone floor.
"MINU!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Minu stared at the floor.
The pirate forced Minu's chin so that they were eye-to-eye.
"I- I like your eye shadow today, Aveil-"
"Enough!" barked the leader of the Gerudo.
"If you neglect your duties one more time, you'll regret it."
And with that, Aveil turned on her heel and strode off.
"That goes for all of you," she said sharply before heading into her throne room.
"Bitch," murmured Minu with a roll of her eyes, only to earn her a shake of the head from her cousin Kusha.
"You've got to stop being so irresponsible, girlie."
"Oh, save it, will ya?" snapped Minu as she stormed off to grab her spear.
"Save it, huh...yeah..sure," Kusha shrugged as she glared after her cousin before resuming her post in one of the boats.
xxxxx
"Fuck my life, man."
"Language."
"Sorry, Ma."
Minu lay in her bed as her mother, aunt, and cousins chatted quietly over their dinner of lamb and rice.
"Minu, come eat, seriously, enough theatrical bull-" Kusha faltered under her aunt's gaze,"..bul...baloney."
Minu turned away from the women and cursed her life inwardly for having to share a room with her family.
"Not hungry."
"Minu, chill, Aveil bitches at everyone- oh, sorry, Auntie-"
Minu groaned and threw herself off the bed to eat dinner. Her mother eyed her sternly before loading a plate up for her daughter.
"Mind your attitude."
Minu fought the urge to sass as she took her plate. "Yes, Mother."
Funny how you're so vicious toward outsiders, but want me to keep polite, the girl thought as she ate her dinner.
"So, Yezra," Aunt Mervet addressed Minu's mother, "Did you hear about the carnival?"
"What of it?" Minu's mother asked firmly as she took the empty plates to the sink.
"Carnival? When?" 17-year-old Kusha piped up as she and her sister, Kenya, leaned in for an answer. Aunt Mervet raised her brow.
"The Carnival of Time. It's in about two weeks."
Minu caught her mother shoot her sister a warning look. Aunt Mervet bit her lip.
"It's nothing, girls, I just wanted to tell your aunt about the news over in Clocktown-"
"I wanna go!" exclaimed 13-year-old Kenya as she wrang her hands excitedly.
"Please, Mother, please?" Minu watched in silence as her cousins begged their mother, who oddly enough, seemed to be considering it, against their Aunt Yezra's wishes.
"We'll see...shh! Shh! Girls!"
Aunt Mervet attempted to calm her daughters' shrieks of excitement as Minu's mother placed a hand over her forehead in defeat.
xxxx
Later that night, on her way outside to blow out the torches, she overheard two women speaking on the other side of the stairs outside the sleeping chambers.
Minu held her breath and leaned against the wall.
"Yezra, they've never been to one-"
"Mervet, this is serious," Minu heard her mother say in a high voice, "You know our reputation among the others isn't a light and easy one-"
"You and your 'reputation', no wonder Minu's always so tight, honestly.."
Tight,huh... thought Minu resentfully. Well, she did have a point.
"Mervet, it's not a good idea. I'm older than you, listen to me for once-"
"By what, two years? Come on, Yezra, they're young, let them enjoy themselves."
There was a pause, the only sounds being the rippling of the sea outside the fortress and the crackling of dying torchfire.
"I'll think about it. But don't expect a yes."
Minu tried not to gasp in excitement.
She secretly wanted this. Never had her strict mother let her go to any event, party, concert, or anything involving association outside of the Gerudo pirates.
"Minu?"
"Mother!"
Yezra raised an eyebrow. "Heard it all, huh?"
Minu smiled and nodded. Yezra sighed.
"Don't get your hopes up. Especially if you're going to keep abandoning your responsibilities-"
"Thank you, Ma, thank you!" Minu embraced her mother tightly. The girl saw her aunt wink from behind her. Minu smiled.
"Put the lights out and go to bed with your cousins," The women took turns kissing Minu's forehead.
"Goodnight."
"Night."
xxxx