The duo galloped through the dry sand, the blistering sun high over their heads and beating down on them. The fortress began to climb over the horizon into view. The hero felt revitalized by the intense heat as he pulled his hat down to shield his eyes. He remembered his last visit to the fortress, they should sneak past less Link get captured again and thrown into their prison cell.

"Hey, Malon." He called to the redhead behind him, holding tight to his waist.

"Yeah?"

"Before we reach the fortress we should get off Epona and go on ahead without disturbing the Gerudo guards."

"Why is that?"

"Well ya see, they are an all female race. One male is born every hundred years, they consider any other men outsiders and imprison them."

"Wait, don't we need to find out where that one Gerudo saw Dark Link?"

"Fuck!" He shouted. "I completely forgot."

"Don't worry, I have an idea. Lets just continue on ahead and get off at the fortress."

"I hope your plan works." He replied before swiping his heels into the horses sides and sending them kicking up heaps of sand in full gallop on their way to the fortress. The gap was rapidly closing, Link decided to slow down the horse and stop just before they got close enough for them to be seen by the guards. Both heroes dismounted the horse and continued on foot with the hero of time holding the reins.

"We should let her roam for now, we can't be riding her into the desert." Malon mentioned as they walked up the path. Link nodded and released the horse, letting her gallop off back to the grassy fields. Then the two continued on toward the front entrance where two guards stood in wait holding a spear in each hand. They saw the two and their eyes immediately locked on Link before they held their spears at the ready.

"Halt!" They both shouted in unison. Malon and Link stopped in their tracks. "What is your business here?" The guard on the left questioned.

Before Link began to blurt out an excuse Malon held her hand to his stomach and stepped in front of him. "We are not here looking for any trouble. My name is Malon, I need to get to the desert and just wish to pass through."

"And who is he?" The right guard asked, keeping the point of her spear focused on the green clad hero's neck.

Malon patted Link's chest and smiled. "This is my bodyguard, Link. I hired him just to protect me on the way here. I promise he wont cause any harm."

The female guards looked at each other before giving the young man a cold glare. The left guard rested the base of her spear on the ground. She put her hand on her exposed stomach and looked at Malon. "My name is Nuava, this is my associate Saturi. Follow me, I'll take you to our leader." She turned and made way through the fortress grounds. Link was right, it was an entirely all female race. They were all tall, dark skinned, beautiful women. They all carried curved swords, most of them practicing with each other or wooden dummies.

"If you don't mind me asking Nuava, why are you bringing us to your leader?" Malon felt she had to ask. From what Link told her she thought they would just be walking right through to get to the Gerudo Desert, not make stops to see their leader.

"Lady Nueve asked us to bring you to her before hand. She foresaw your arrival. 'A young redheaded woman and a tall blond man clad in green.' She so we figured you two were the ones she was talking about."

"Your leader can see into the future?" Malon asked.

"The visions come to her at random, but this one sounded urgent." Nuava led them into a large stone structure, a golden eagle etched above the doorway. Inside was a lightly colored stone spiral staircase that twisted to the upper floor. The rough grainy walls up the staircase were lit with iron torches. Malon stayed close behind Link, she couldn't quite put her finger on it but there was something about this place that made her feel uneasy. A redwood door was at the top of the steps, again a golden eagle was etched into the wood. Nuava pulled the bronze handle to reveal a large room. Link and Malon entered and looked at the thin silk curtains that surrounded a large four poster bed. The dark silhouette of a person could be seen in sharp contrast to the sea green veil surrounding the bed.

"Excuse me." The farm girl spoke. "Are you the leader of this fortress?" A dark arm reached over and pulled the covering back. A dark skinned woman jumped out from the bed holding a large curved blade, she gripped it loosely before throwing it at the hero. Quickly he pulled his shield out from behind him and held it away from his body. His arm jerked from the impact and the sword continued to rotate over the shield, continuing its path. Link thought quickly and grabbed the handle and threw the weapon down with enough force to embed it into the ground.

"What the hell is your problem?" Link growled as he glared at the older woman.

"So you are capable of being a hero." She replied, not really answering him. She walked up to them and nodded to Malon. "I am Nueve, leader of the Gerudo tribe. I see my little sister was paying attention and brought you up here."

"Why did you call us here?" The redhead asked. "Nuava said you had a vision."

"Yes." She pulled her sword back out of the ground and knelt down with it by her side. "Please, take a seat." Malon looked at her friend next to her and sat down first, Link followed soon after. "As the leader of our tribe I am gifted with the ability to see into the future. Recently I had a vision that two hero's would be trying to pass through to the desert. A young girl with fire red hair and a gentle face, with a tall battle hardened male wrapped in green with beast like blue eyes." She took another look at the two and continued. "After the vision I told my guards to bring anyone who fits that description to me."

"Well what do you want with us then?" Link asked, more concerned with getting out of there and going after Dark Link.

"Because there is a great evil afoot, it needs to be stopped."

"That's the whole reason we are trying to get to the desert. I heard that a Gerudo saw a dark man head to the desert so that's where we are headed." Link was getting annoyed.

"Yes, that's the evil one that I sensed in my vision. However, you must not pursue him."

"You just told us that he has to be stopped!" He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "We have to hunt him down as soon as we can."

"If you are to go after the dark one now you both will surely die." She calmly replied. When Link nor Malon spoke up she decided to explain. "In my vision, along with you two, I saw an ancient tomb barely uncovered by the shifting sand. I know this place, it is the tomb of the first Gerudo queen. Something is there that you are going to need, surely your enemy knows this as well and will send his forces to stop you."

"Then we will go there now." Link replied as he stood to his feet.

"That wouldn't be wise. The sun will set before you reach the tomb and you will surely freeze during the deserts bitter night." Nueve stood as well and stared at link with dark brown eyes. "I invite you both to spend the night so that we can prepare you for your travels before sunrise."

"That's probably a good idea Link." Malon stood and pulled his arm so that he would face her. "We need to rest and stock up on supplies, we have no idea what Dark Link may have already sent out on us."

Link's eyes darted back and forth between the two women before he let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine, we'll stay the night and leave first thing in the morning." He walked back out of the room, obviously agitated.

Malon turned to Nueve and clasped her hands together. "I'm sorry about Link, he is normally very mild mannered."

"Its fine child, I sense a dark cloud looming over him. He needs you to watch out for him." Malon nodded, showing that she understood. "Now lets get outside. Every night our tribe gathers for a celebration."

"For what?"

"Just for the sake of enjoying ourselves. We dance, drink, laugh, a good way to unwind from out rigorous daily practices." She placed a hand on young Malons shoulder as they walked out.

Later that evening, as the sun was setting, a large fire was burning fiercely in the middle of the Gerudo training grounds. Everyone circled around the flame, playing music dancing, drinking wine, and all out enjoying themselves. Link on the other hand, stood away from the fire with his arms folded. He was leaning against one of the structures and gazing up at the multicolored sky. He didn't have time to relax and have fun, he had a duty to save Hyrule. With his eyes fixated on the stars above he mentally cursed the Goddesses who decided he was to be the Hero of Time.

"Hey mister, whats wrong?" Links attention was ripped away from his thoughts as he swiftly looked down at a young Gerudo girl, eleven or twelve years old, and she was holding a bowl in her hands.

"Nothing." He replied. "Just doing some thinking."

"My mom said you were a hero who is going to save everyone."

Link crouched down to the young girls level and nodded, a serious look still on his face. "I'm going to try."

"Oh, well." The girl looked away from his crystal blue eyes as he handed him the bowl. "This is for you, hero's shouldn't starve themselves." She turned and ran back towards the fire in a fit of embarrassment. Link looked at he bowl, it was some kind of stew and it smelled really good. The little girl had a point, a hero needs to eat.

Malon was joining the other women around the great fire. She watched he Gerudo dance around, their movements as graceful and fluent as their fighting style. Nuava was standing with her holding a bottle in her grasp.

"C'mon." The woman offered. "Just a sip, a taste. We make some of the best wine around."

Malon palmed the back of her neck and smiled nervously. "I really shouldn't. All I drink is milk from my family's ranch."

"A bit wont kill you." She handed the redhead the bottle. Malon just stared at the liquid inside for a moment. "Maybe just a swig." She mumbled putting the mouth of the bottle to her lips and tilted it upward. The bitter liquid traveled down her throat, the stinging tickle caused her to involuntarily cough. She handed the bottle back to Nuava before she bent over to put her hands on her knees. After her coughing fit she finally was able to catch her breath. "Did it go down the wrong pipe?" She asked.

Malon nodded violently before standing back up. "I wasn't expecting that."

"You didn't like it?"

"No, it really wasn't that bad. But maybe a glass would work better."

"Say no more." Nuava smiled as she walked into one of the stone buildings. She came out a few seconds later with an ivory cup in hand. "Here you go." She handed her the goblet and poured some of the dark purple wine into it. "Better?"

Malon took a sip from the cup and nodded. "Much, thank you."

Nuava took a large gulp. "So your 'bodyguard', whats his story?"

Malon nearly started choking on the wine again. "Pardon?"

"The cute blond you came in with. He isn't really your bodyguard is he?"

Malon was not sue weather or not she should come out with it. She took another sip. "Okay no, Link isn't exactly my bodyguard."

"Boy toy? The woman grinned.

"No!" She shot back. "Link is just an old friend, we met when we were about ten." She sighed and looked over at the hero who was standing by himself off away from everyone else. "There isn't anything romantic between us." She said softly.

"Sounds like you wish there was." She said as she sat on a bench like rock and offered Malon a seat.

"I don't know, he has always kept to himself for the most part. Now that Dark Link is threatening the world he is even more so." Malon swished the wine in her glass for a moment. "I feel like I'm just going to end up slowing him down."

"If you keep thinking like that then it will happen." Nuava explained. "Prove to him that you belong by his side." She took another gulp of wine.

"I might screw up and get him killed."

The Gerudo sighed. "You would never last as one of us with all that negative thinking." She stood up and looked at Malon sternly. "We are a race of strong resilient female warriors. If we want a man we don't worry or become afraid we will fail, we go after our goals. Start thinking like a Gerudo Malon and prove your worth. Make him realize that you are what he desires, what he urges for." She pulled the red head up to her feet and held onto her shoulders. "You can be a hero just as strong as he is, stronger. You just need to get those negative thoughts out of your mind."

Malon looked at her, then back over at Link who now appeared to be eating quietly. "Your right, I need to see myself in a new light if I want to be of any use."

"That's more like it. Now come, I have something that would be useful to you." Nuava led Malon back into the building, leaving the current festivities.

Link by now had finished and put the wood bowl on the ground beside him. He looked around for Malon, his companion was nowhere to be seen. Link figured she probably went to bed, a good idea if they were planning on leaving early in the morning. He walked over to see Nueve who was enjoying the party. "Lady Nueve."

She turned to the blond hero. "Yes, do you need something Link?"

"I was just wondering if there was a place I could sleep."

"Tired already?"

"I just want to get a fresh start in the morning, that's all" He replied, lacing his fingers together behind his head.

"Very well." She made way for the barracks with Link following behind her. The doors to each room inside looked all the same. Just wooden doors big enough for a person to slip through with large stone bricks making up the door frame. Nueve stopped at a door just short of he staircase to the next room and opened it. "You can stay here for the night, we will be sure to wake you and your friend up in the morning."

Link nodded a response. "Thank you." He peered into the room, there was a mat and a warm looking blanket on the floor and a wooden training dummy in the open area of the room. He looked back at his hostess "Mind if I use that?" He said pointing to the dummy.

"Feel free, anything to help." She smiled as she turned to leave and shut the door.

"Well then." The hero told himself as he looked around the room again. "Lets get some practice in." He went over next to his mat and lied down his tools and weapons, leaving only his sword and shield. Link went over to the wooden human replica and held his shield up. He gritted his teeth and slammed the metal plate into the torso before raising his blade up and slashing across the dummy, then gave a solid thrust right through the ribs. Then while holding the shield up again he spun around while circling the target and finally back slashed it, cutting it diagonally in half. Link nodded in satisfaction at his accomplishment, his skills were as sharp as ever. A little more confident now, he could feel fatigue overcome his tired body. He glanced over at the mat and blanket over in the corner, it looked comfortable. He removed his weapons and tools before leaning them all against the wall. Link flopped down and pulled the thick wool blanket over his head and waited for his exhaustion to overtake him.