[The Legend of Zelda and all of its elements are the property of Nintendo.]
The hot desert winds blew from the west, buffeting the earth with dry air and sand. Everywhere they went, the land seemed to wither and die- nothing short of scorpions and leevers being able to thrive in the harsh elements. The only relief from the wind was in the occasional cliff or canyon, regions where the terrain itself defied the force of the wind and sheltered a few plants or water sources. It was from one of these regions that two figures emerged.
The first, an older Gerudo woman, was not a particularly remarkable sight. Her red hair had been cut to shoulder length, and she wore a vest along with a pair of loose fitting pants, both colored a light tan to reflect as much of the harsh sunlight as possible. She carried a thin box strapped to her side, like one may store a sword in. A seasoned warrior, she carried herself with grace and pride, but then so too did all of her people. The small figure walking beside her, however, was a much more curious sight. He was young, barely ten years old, but held his head high and refused to be intimidated by the winds raging about them. To see a child in the desert was rare enough, but to see a boy in a land populated almost exclusively by women was rarer still. The race only gave birth to a male a handful of times each millennium, and tradition dictated that said male was to be their king until his death.
Today, however, Link did not feel like a king. Koume was one of his hardest teachers. He knew she only did it to ensure the safety of their people, for there was no room in the desert for the weak, but he still wished that she would sometimes give him a break. The elders expected him to take the throne when he was of age, and as a result he underwent a training regime harsher than that of the rest of the Gerudo youth. His joints still ached from the previous day, when his instructors had sent him through the training grounds only to follow it up by making him spar against four of the other youth. As the other kids had taken turns to ensure they didn't tire, he had been required to undergo match after match. Though the trainers had seemed pleased with his performance, it had been one of the hardest days of his training so far, and he dreaded what lay before him this day. The biting winds had already sapped much of his strength, but he masked his weakness and kept stride with the older woman.
Finally, she led him into a canyon which protected a small oasis. After pausing to take a drink, she unstrapped the package from her side and opened it. Link watched in anticipation, having wanted to know its contents since they had departed that morning. Reaching into the package, she withdrew a thin, metal rod. Turning to him, she explained, "Today, you have two tasks to undertake. You are not to return to the village until you have either accomplished them, or I have returned to fetch you, understood?" Link just nodded, knowing that Koume detested unnecessary words. She then handed the pole to him. "Your first task is to bend this rod."
Link hesitated for a moment, confused by the task. He was only required to do two things, and one was so simple? Seeing her cross her arms and stare at him, he decided to just follow her instructions. Gripping the rod in both hands, he tried to bend it under his own strength but found that the rod did not yield. He then walked over to a rock, bracing the rod on it and using his weight to deform it. Once he had bent it over to a v-shape, he straightened and went to return it to his instructor. Waving it off, she continued, "Your second task is to now bend it back into its original shape, once you do so, it should fit back into its box." With that, she turned around and began the trek back to the settlement.
Still a bit befuddled, Link returned to the rock and bent the rod back. Picking up the box, he tried to return the metal piece but found that a slight curve in the middle prevented him from doing so. Frustrated, he placed it back on the rock and tried to flatten the kink out, but only managed to deform it further. Placing the rod on the ground, he went over to the oasis and took another drink before grabbing some smaller rocks and returning to the dropped item. Sitting cross-legged on the dirt, he began to hammer it with the rocks, seeking to shape it back into a perfect rod.
...
After several hours Link had lost all patience with the piece of metal. When he had started, he positioned his hits carefully to try to minimize bending it further out of shape. After seeing his project steadily gain more deformations, he had finally lost his temper and was content to hit it as hard as he could. Though he was protected from the winds, the heat from the sun still smothered him. Sweat drenched his clothing and poured from his brow. For a little while, he toyed with the idea of sitting in the oasis while he worked, but realized that the last thing he wanted to do was to stir up dirt in his only source of drinking water. As he worked, he let his mind wander to his people. This was their legacy: endless sand and heat, not even managing to survive off the land they occupied. Though they could grow some crops, their sustenance came from the groups who wandered east into Hylian territory. Hyrule was a land of prosperity and fertile fields. He had never been there, but always wanted to visit it. "One day," the elders always said. The groups that ventured into these lands would either steal from the wealthy inhabitants or raise funds in other ways that his teachers promised to explain when he got older.
Raising his makeshift hammer above his head, Link brought it down with a ferocious swing. Why!? He wondered, Why is this our lot? The teachers talk about the chivalry of Hyrule, how its knights claim to be willing to sacrifice themselves before harming women or children. Why would they curse our race, comprised entirely of women and children, to such an existence? His own mother had passed a few months after his birth, her weakened body not able to take the elements. Being the mother of their future king, she may have been able to rest inside the fortress, but she would not take a life of luxury while her sisters still struggled to sustain their people. There were no tales praising her for her selflessness once she had passed, she was just doing what needed to be done for them to survive in the desert. After an especially hard blow, the rod bounced from where he had wedged it in the ground and right up into his face. Uttering words he had learned from some of the guards, he brought his hand up to his head to feel the bump. Just like the desert, you give it everything you have, only for it turn on you in the end. Picking up the pole, he inspected it. Though its general shape was straight, the length of it was now covered with small bends and bumps. The only way for it to ever be made straight again would be to melt it down in a forge and create it anew.
"I see you have failed in your second task." Link winced as he heard Koume's voice. He had been so focused on his thoughts that he hadn't heard her approach. Turning, he hoped that she hadn't seen him get hit in the face with the rod. If the slight tightness around her eyes was any indication, she had.
"I am sorry elder," he responded, "I have worked since your departure but could not get return the rod to its case."
She stood there for a moment, taking in his physical state, before turning and walking towards the water. "Come sit with me for a moment before we return to the valley," she commanded. Obediently, Link ventured over and sat by her side. "You have progressed remarkably in your physical strength and skill, yesterday's test was proof of that. However, you have now reached an age where you must learn more than that. To protect our people you must also learn how to lead them, today was your first lesson." She gestured towards the pole, "When you took the rod from my hand and bent it, you did not realize how difficult undoing your action would prove. You have spent hours trying to reverse it to no avail." Turning away from him, she looked over the small body of water in front of them. "When you are a leader, you will face many choices. If you act rashly and make a foolish decision, then all of your good intentions will mean nothing when you try to reverse it. Some say that it was a past king who made the choice which has cursed our people to these lands." Link looked at his teacher and saw that her normally stoic face betrayed the pain in her words. "Our entire existence, threatened by a single choice. When you are king, the elders and the people will follow your word, regardless of how wise or foolish your commands may be. Don't burden your sisters like your predecessors may have."
With that, she stood, turning back to the entrance of the valley and gesturing for him to follow. Link, sobered by her lecture, bent to collect the rod and then followed, leaving the case to rest in the sands.
Link finished rubbing the last of the dirt off his skin and then placed the soiled plant on his desk. Water was invaluable in the dessert, but a few generations back a Gerudo mother had discovered that a certain kind of cactus, once dethorned, could be used to cleanse the skin almost as well as a proper bath. Koume had given him leave for a few hours before the evening meal and he hadn't hesitated to get back to his quarters to cleanse himself. Drenching oneself in sweat and then walking through a light sandstorm didn't do wonders for one's complexion. Looking at the mirror fastened to his wall, he contemplated the face looking back at him. His hair was mostly red, the color of the other Gerudo, but a few blond streaks had recently made themselves apparent. His ears too, were a bit abnormal. Though mostly rounded like those of his sisters, the tips had scrunched up into a point. Though neither of these features were offensively Hylian, they set him apart from his sisters in more than just his gender. Neither of these brought him as much discomfort as his eyes however. Though his sisters all possessed eyes with the color of the sands, his shone a bright blue. He wasn't ignorant, had he been born a girl he would have probably been cast out of their society. Still, the fact that he was male meant that the elders couldn't be quite as picky.
He sighed and sat on his bed. It wasn't the first time he had felt as though he were an outcast. Others assured him that the fact he was male probably explained why he didn't exhibit the dominant Gerudo traits. Still, never in his lessons had he heard of a blue-eyed, Gerudo king. Even his name sounded more Hylian than Gerudo. He often wondered what fit of madness had possessed his mother to give him such a label.
Glancing around his room, he reminded himself of who he was. He was Link, future king of the Gerudo. It was his destiny to lead his people into a brighter future. The walls and floor of his room were adorn with horse-hair rugs, colored in many different shades of orange and red. The people had become proficient in making dies out of the clay, and their art reflected it. Truly the desert is a terrible place to live, but it has also given us things of such beauty. He reached out and gently stroked one of the rugs. This is who I am, and these are my people. I will not let them suffer needlessly. A knock at his door returned him to the present. Throwing in his vest, he walked over and opened it to reveal a pair of Gerudo youth.
"Link!" shouted the younger, "We heard that that old witch had finally given you a few hours off, you have to come to the archery range with us!" He winced a little at their nickname for Koume, but had to admit that it was slightly amusing.
"Now girls," he admonished, "You shouldn't speak of one of the elders that way."
"Oh when did you become such a stick in the sand?" The older, Nasira, pressed.
"I know, I know!" exclaimed the younger, Kalila, "It was when the witch and her sister started giving him weird potions."
Link rolled his eyes and tried again, "Alright, I'll come with you, but you need to stop talking about the elders that way. Not only is it disrespectful, but if you were overheard you could be in serious trouble." This seemed to satisfy the sisters as they bounded away, with Link following behind. Nasira was one year his junior and Kalila was three. Growing up in the fortress, they used to play together but over the past two years he had fewer opportunities due to his training. Stepping outside the fortress, he paused for a moment and took in his surroundings. The Gerudo Valley settlement didn't sit within the desert proper, rather it was tucked away in the mountains that protected Hyrule from the desert winds. Taking advantage of the partial cover, most of the Gerudo's agricultural crops and husbandry had developed in the region. Over time, the settlement had developed into the Gerudo capital and a primitive fortress was erected. Though not particularly grand or impressive, it had two major features which made it largely impenetrable. The first line of defense was the approach. Any army attacking from the East had to deal with narrow paths which cut through a series of canyons, providing any defenders with numerous opportunities to ambush from above. It would also take days to move any large force through the various paths, effectively splitting an attacking army when it was most vulnerable. The only alternative approach was through the desert to the south. If an attacking army managed to overcome the elements, it would find itself facing a massive gate. Rising at least the height of ten men, piercing it would be difficult under the best of circumstances. Having just come from the barren sands which possessed no material for siege engines, an attacking army had no chance to do so.
Though it boasted little in terms of battlements, the fortress itself served as the second line of defense. There were no locks on its doors or traps for the unwary, just a confusing labyrinth of passageways. The Gerudo, who had grown up in these halls, could rapidly move about the structure but attacking soldiers would quickly find themselves lost in its corridors. Such an obstacle also made infiltration nearly impossible, as the guards were quick to take note of any individual who lost her way in the fortress.
Link smiled with pride, it was said that the Hylians had once tried to force the Gerudo further into the desert, but here they had made their stand and driven their rivals out. Had that day been lost, the Gerudo people would have ceased to exist. The valley was their lifeline, providing them with shelter and their only reliable access to water. In some ways though, the valley seemed like a tomb where their race would be forever imprisoned…
"Well, you coming?" Link winced a little at Kalila's shrill voice. Returning his thoughts to the present, he turned and bounded up the path.