Introduction: Scarlet

Seemingly cursed by fate, he had only known sorrow. His inferno of inner despise was mirrored by the lava that sprouted from his head in long, lustrous, silky strands. Auric eyes shone with determination despite the bloody path that had blurred his vision for the past decade. The arid desert he left behind was, even now, smirched with a rufescent glow, left behind from his beloved kin who had been annihilated from the world. The legend of evil, attributed to his heritage, spurred throughout the land, not leaving an amiable impression on his faction. News of the birth of the new addition to the royal lineage arose a malicious siege on the already barren lands the Gerudo had long been confined to.

Downpours of blood seeped into the ornamental rug that concealed the boy's presence. Every royal in the palace was mercilessly slaughtered in their home, refusing to divulge the hidden cavern where the miracle oasis, the only male heir of the family in centuries who would surely liberate the tribe from the wastelands, was concealed. True to the nature of their race, each kept an unyielding strength with the desire to keep the boy safe.

While in his cavern, Gantz, though not more than five, had understood the severity in his mother's words; he was to remain silent and still. He heard terrorizing shrieks above him, voices of all the women who had provided his light. As the nightmare continued, the voices slowly concentrated as the scuffling feet above were ushered to one general area. Not far from his hideout, Gantz could piece together fragments of the dialogue. He could hear each determined voice of the strong guardians. None would give the answer to the questions the intruders seemed to continuously bombard them with. Eventually, after perceivably endless refusals, he heard a small explosion. A suffocating silence entailed and then chaos ensued. He listened, as each pair of feet seemed to diverge into all directions. More of the gunshots followed. The clatter above him slowly dwindled as fewer footsteps beset the castle. Shortly after, his heart nearly shattered as he heard a familiar voice.

Servaria had always had a gentle tone. She had shown endearing zeal for her son, demonstrating obvious fondness towards each activity she could spare the time to enjoy with Gantz. The boy had been enchanted with his kind mother. Her rouge wisps that matched his own were always braided in elaborate fashions: waterfalls, fishtails, halos, and spirals. Her golden irises mirrored his own. His mother was undoubtedly the most enchanting empress he could have imagined ruling a country. Now, this melodic voice curdled into a discordant jangle. Servaria shrieked as what sounded like a blade pieced her body. An eerie silence crept though the acropolis. The jumbled footsteps had ceased and all that remained was a solitary clicking that skulked out of the citadel. When his gait no longer echoed the halls, Gantz waited. Soon, he heard a rumble outside his abode. Suddenly, tremors ran through the palace as he felt the castle was slowly breaking. The invaders continued to fire their cannons until nothing but ruins remained of the former empire.

After what seemed an eternity, the young boy scuffled out of his crevice. His former world was nothing more than tattered frames resting under rubble. The exquisite portrait of him and his mother that had once hung above the golden staircase, sat shattered in the shards intermixed with the fragments of stone that lay before him. He stood in awe at the spectacle before him. The bloody sight of battered bodies littered the scene. Gantz stood horrified as the events slowly sank in. He slowly crouched to the ground and, unable to support his weight, collapsed face down as he broke into sobs. A soft voice broke through the heart wrenching cries of the child. Lillian, one of the most loyal capable servants in the palace, placed her warm fingers on Gantz's shoulder. He looked up to the source of serenity and buried his tear stained face into the tall chestnut haired woman before him. Though but a stranger to the child, she was the only comfort he could find in his despair.

This peace, sadly, had to be cut short. Lillian was a bright girl. She had hidden within the secret chambers of the palace, knowing no one would be looking for a simple servant with the adherent fervor that they searched for the queen. Though she hated to show cowardice, hiding was her duty as a nameless maid. Though she had hoped earnestly that it would not be the case, if the palace were to fall, someone must remain alive to guide the now abandoned child to a new home, to safety. Thus, ignoring her very nature, she abandoned her comrades and friends and remained behind in the shadows incase such a despicable outcome were to occur. After the hours of torture, hearing her comrades fall, yet unable to give any sort of aid, she waited until the brutish force left the ruins, knowing that the outcome would be bleak if she were discovered. She found the poor child lying sullied in the rubbish, dirtied by the soil in which he laid. She knew they would not have much time to escape once in the open, out of their shadowy safe haven.

Quickly, Lillian threw the child onto her back and ran through the barren lands, hoping to make it to the forest that surrounded their wasteland for shelter. As she passed through the once bustling town, she discovered, repelled, that the cannons had not stopped at the palace gates. Bodies surrounded her as she weaved to the village outskirts. She prayed, with all her might, that they would remain undetected until they were out of the seemingly deadly trail beyond the city. Though the cover in the desert was sparse, she knew how to maneuver her homelands better than most. Her mother had worked as an archeologist of sorts, working on the outskirts of the city, even wandering into the borders of the nation searching for treasures she could document and sell. Though passionate about her discoveries, the land she worked in was less than fruitful. Therefore, despite her desire to keep the treasures she found, she sold them to the merchants who periodically passed through the deserts to acquire her famous possessions. Lillian had gone with her mother on many of these journeys. The desert had almost no obvious landmarks, but navigation and speed through the desert trails was crucial for her mother's profession. Every grounded rock, variation in cacti, even certain hills that remained relatively unchanged in the winds of the sand sea, were invaluable guides to pilot the passage before them. As such, Lillian would be able to take Gantz to the forest border on unguided roads, allowing the two to remain undetected.

Getting to the desert was another dilemma. The miscreants who had attacked their home would no doubt be looking for any stragglers. Their most obvious target would be any young red-haired boy that caught their attention. The town was small but there were many hidden streets and turns Lillian knew of to take. Though covered in debris, the more obscure paths Lillian knew of remained relatively free of the destruction that befell the more populated areas of the city. The small grey granite cobblestones that created the narrow paths were unimpeded by the clay homes that still stood above them. Scattered explosions could be heard echoing along the streets, reverberating along the enclosed routes of the city layout. To Lillian's relief, the sounds seemed to come from no particular direction, which she prayed to imply that they had no target in mind and were simply firing artillery at random in hopes of scaring the citizens into presenting the child. More unexpected was the next sound Lillian almost failed to recognize.

Where is Mother?

…Words, sounding almost more foreign than the disruptive firearms in the chaos, left Lillian at a loss.

I don't understand what's going on. Hey…Miss…what's going on?

Lillian had one goal in mind, to get the child to safety, but dealing with his emotional state left the young girl at a loss. Lillian was scared. Hiding and escaping quickly was the girl's best strength. The desert was dangerous, and predators were more prevalent than most would think in such a vapid land, as well as other dangerous humanoids that sought the treasures Lillian and her mother had found. Her journeys had certainly given her the skills needed to carry a small weight without loosing speed or stealth. Dealing with a living burden however was not something she had prepared for. The silence between them continued to linger as Lillian searched for a response. Gantz grew more fidgety and increased the volume of his questions

Hey! Why won't you answer me? Miss what's going on?

Are you one of the ones who made all those noises? What happened to my Mother? Where are we going?

I…

But as Lillian tried to form an answer for the young Gerudo, it was too late. The boy had settled to a panic and started fighting against the girl. His screams grew louder, his words less coherent. Soon Lillian lost some of her speed as she tried to keep the boy settled on her back from kicking and wiggling free of her grasp. She shifted her grip to hold more firmly onto his legs to prevent them from kicking, only to be assaulted by his small fists that pulled on her long, loose strands of ginger hair. She could no longer run and hold onto Gantz. Though small, his movements were powerful and inhibited any further movement. Sighing, she decided it would be best to inform her prince of the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to continue unbridled.

Gantz, he twitched at the sound of his name. She spoke in a soft voice as she tried to mimic her mother's tone when she was a girl, there are men here who want to hurt you. They have invaded and crumpled our home and will not stop until they find us. What has happened is terrible, but we have to move quickly or they will discover us. We don't have time to talk now but I promise, once we are safer, I will do my best to explain what has happened. Please believe me, you have to let me help you. Please release my hair. I will let go of your feet.

As Lillian slowly loosened her grasp on his legs, Gantz looked at her and released his fists. He looked into her silver eyes, water welling under his tear ducts, and hid his face under Lillian's neck, buried under twists of hazel locks.

Thank you.

Gantz remained silent as they continued on the twisting paths. Lillian felt him grip tighter onto the back of her red blouse. She finally turned onto a long path that dwindled out into the borderlands that surrounded the village. Of course, the men who attacked the village were slightly less than incompetent. Though spread more thinly, they had sets of eyes surrounding the perimeter of the town allowing them to spot any citizens leaving, even on seemingly remote paths. As such, only a group of four actually scouted the area the two were escaping from. A shattering bang could be heard as multiple shots were firing at them. However, as many of the large group of ruffians were dispersed throughout the town, few recognized the sounds made shooting at the pair was in fact indicating the discovery of their actual target, easily recognizable even at a far distance, a young boy. Gantz screamed as one of the shooters explosive detonated just twenty feet from their location. As they got further from the city, three of the men started chasing them as one continued to fire. Lillian, however, had covered a fair bit of ground and had quite a decent amount of speed. Still, the men were fairly fast and had portable weapons that could easily overpower her. Having the weight of a small child on her back also significantly decreased her speed.

As Lillian ran, she remembered one of the closest locations he could take cover in and hopefully escape from, a hidden burial chamber. Fortune was on her side as the men were far enough behind that she could enter the underground maze without the men easily seeing the way to unlock the entrance if she could just keep up this pace. After twenty minutes of the harsh continuous running, she finally approached the sand mounds lining a large rock with thousands of tiny markings in the center. By now, her pursuers were but a few hundred meters from the weary Gerudian woman. It was also insured that the goon who had stayed behind had surely informed his ragtag group of their flight into the wastelands, ensuring further search. Reaching the rock centerpiece, she pressed her hand to the sideways lowercase h marking decorated with a curl on the end of the familiar letter, and the rock rumbled, as it shifted to reveal a large tunnel. Quickly she ran down the carved stairs and pressed a symbol akin to a snail shell with an outstretched arm as she sprinted down, causing the rock to reverse it's path and start to reseal as her last strands of hair flew down the cavern with her, leaving her nearing pursuers at a loss as to how to continue the chase.

Once in the seemly sealed cavern, the pair became encompassed by darkness. Somehow Lillian made it to the bottom without any major stumbles, and placed the child on the ground. Using the power of her race, though comparably weak to most, she lit her hands with a small blaze, illuminating the tomb. Lillian had never been especially skilled at magic, but even she could concoct such a basic form of fire. Though above it would seem the tunnel was closed from the outside world, small pockets of dry, sandy air seeped in from holes above, along with small streams of solid sand, shielded from unwanted onlookers from the dusty sand winds that constantly swarmed the desert, but keeping the caverns from becoming humid and dank as a consequence of the aeration. The magic permeating the cavern kept at bay large pools of sand from burying the underground chambers, keeping the sentimental place in tact.

Lillian peered down at the child who accompanied her, looking amazed at the tunnels they walked through. She kept him at a steady pace knowing the monsters who had ravished the town above them would bring enough firearms to wipe clean the guardian of the mausoleum, allowing them to continue their mad pursuit. Gantz, however, stopped. The tunnels glowed with radiant red gemlike gleams that shone from the miniscule light floating in Lillian's hands. The catacombs held intermittent statues or other types of monuments giving honor to the fallen ancestors of olden times. Even more infrequent were grave makers with writing. One such momentum was a large, imposing statue of a great man. He featured long unkempt hair, a polished beard, and sharp piercing eyes. His hair was encrusted with a marvelous crown, embellished with a large jewel that fell just before his imposing eyebrows that seemed to shine with a golden gleam, despite the fact that the statue had been carved in marble. His garments included a long, regal cape, and an elaborate costume that mimicked battle amour of ancient warriors of the Gerudo clan. The breastplate had a main centerpiece lined with two plates that stretched out to the belt. The belt had two parts, crossing in the center, each adorned with three ovular plates decorated in a fantastic pattern at the bottoms. Though the pants were simple, they ended with decorated boots, which matched the amour like gloves protecting his arms. Seeming to forget his shock and curiosity for the abhorrence above, Gantz addressed Lillian with questions regarding the outstanding marker.

Miss, who is this man, he looks to be the same race as us, but his attire seems to be rather regal. Was he of our clan?

Gantz, this man is the legendary warrior of our tribe who is the very reason those men are after you. According to the tale passed down for many generations, he was once a great ruler of our people who desired to expand our empire from the lifeless desert into the lush forests of Hyrule. He set out with wonderful intentions for our people, but in the end, he was corrupted by his personal desire for power and was defeated by the ancient green clad hero. This monument was build not only in memory of his great intentions for our people, but also to remember how desire for power can lead to corruption. The crypt in which we stand was once essential to our monarchs, before you or I drew our first breaths. For each ruler that came after this man, the statue of Ganaondorf, reminds them both aspects of power, in hopes of preventing zealous ideas of freedom and better lives for our people to cloud their better judgment.

Statue… of Ganondorf… Miss… what is your name?

Lillian let out a soft chuckle that the boy would ask such a question after all of their short time together. After the nightmare above, it was almost calming to have a somewhat normal conversation with the child.

Lillian.

Lillian, that's rather odd for a Gerudo.

Oh, well that's not my birth name; I have just used it for so long it is natural to introduce myself as such.

I don't understand?

My mother was a treasure hunter of sorts, to simplify the tale, and thus took me with her on her adventures. After the accumulation of whatever goods she desired to sell, we would meet up with merchants. Since Ivili Kigosa is not the easiest name to pronounce, my mother simply introduced me as Lillian, the closest sounding name she could think of that would be easy to address me as.

Ah, I see, Lillian is preferable then?

His sudden change in speech was a little concerning, but Lillian brushed it off.

Either way is fine.

Right, Lillian, this man, Ganondorf, once you said that name, for some reason feels incredibly familiar. What is it about him that drives these men to harm me?

Err… Lillian was starting to feel a bit erturbed by the fairly high level Gantz held for one so young, and the increasing confidence his tone was starting to hold, making her feel the need to address the boy more formally, …your highness, the legend states that royal male Gerudo's are in fact his reincarnation… or some such silliness. But as far as I can tell, the devilish races of Hyrule look for any excuse they can to persecute and attack our people for as long as I can remember. Our people today, however, will not soon forget this treachery. Gantz, the boy again gave a small twitch at the use of his name, your highness, I don't have words for my sincere consolation. You are very young, but seem to understand the gist of what has happened.

Yes, I do apologize for my earlier outburst, my mother, the queen; she raised me to behave more respectfully then some sniveling infant. I apologize for my previous persona I can only attribute to hysteria with regards to my loss. I understand your need to address me so informally as by my name, but do try to keep your position in mind, Lillian.

My, majesty, I… I do apologize for my informality…Then you… do you know… understand what happened to your mother?

Their conversation came to a halt. Gantz peered towards Lillian, then, after one final look at the strangely familiar feeling he got from the statue, continued walking at their previous pace. His demeanor had changed dramatically from the sobbing child Lillian had believed she had saved. As his shock seemed to subside. He became more regal, despite his age, and walked with a dignity and elegance Lillian could not believe she could ever be capable of. His sudden transformation seemed incomprehensible to the girl. She felt a bit stiff as she tried to straighten her posture for respect. They traveled through the dimly lit catacombs until reaching a sealed end of the tunnel. They stood in front of a huge decorated stone that seemed to be guarding some sort of entrance. Lillian was unsure of what to do. She had never been this far in the caves, but she had been sure the tunnels were meant to lead to a second entrance. They were known to be an ancient path used for the tribe to escape intruders. However, this knowledge had long expired from common, and few texts even claimed to prove this true. Her stomach sunk as she realized the knowledge she believed she possessed on the passageway could have just lead them into a dead end, with an army behind them. Gantz however, since regaining his true nature, stared at the markings that resembled a door, and strategically placed his fingers onto three different markings, then removed his hand and resettled his palm in the center that formed a circle.

The crypt shook as the sealed entrance slowly opened and light shone through the darkness that the pairs eyes had accustomed themselves to. Lillian cried in relief as she looked around and recognized their exit as ancient stones she had often seen on her trips to the desert that had always baffled her mother as to its purpose. She peered Gantz who looked directly forward, completely unfazed by the miracle Lillian believed she had just witnessed. His emotionless look encouraged Lillian not to prod him for answers about what he had just done. Instead, she informed him that she knew where they were, and excitedly claimed they were mere hours from the forest she sought to take the boy to safety. The two made their way out of the dusty wasteland into the greenery of the forests that was the border to Hyrule as the mysterious tomb door closed behind them.

Author's Notes || Comments

Hopefully Ganondorf's statue description is alright, but if you are having difficulty picturing his image, he is suppose to look like the Ganondorf from Hyrule Warriors :)

Also, for those that didn't know, my goal is to update every second Thursday EST(bimonthly). I will post a note if something comes up (exams, vacation, illness-god forbid)!

Let me know what you think -if you like how I've transitioned the story (happy with the background story, hate it and and wondering what happened to the main timeline story, think the placing is odd or wonderful), if my dialogue sucks (but actually sorry about that...), what you want to see more of (or less of), and anything else you like or hate (surprise me!)- with a review :D

I do have all of the story laid out, but the chapters are all loosely defined so the story has wiggle room, but for those of you who are worried about it being dropped or whatnot, rest at ease as it has a defined outcome and a basic plot it intends to follow... just thought I would mention it because when I read a FF, I die when I read like 3 amazing chapters or whatever, and then the story never resurfaces again (not that my chapters are amazing but if you are enjoying it, I know it would be annoying if it died :0 )

Anyways, ;ove you all for reading my story and hopefully you'll enjoy sticking with me for the next chapter! See you in two weeks with chapter 3, or whatever the title is ;)