Telma was never certain what her precise age was; her mother never told her what day she had been born. She was, so far as she could tell, an unwanted child. "Mama Vai" -as she called her mother- was a distant and fierce woman; rarely noticing her youngest daughter, unless the girl had drawn attention to herself from others or committed some minor infraction around the home.
Mama Vai was a fearsome Gerudo fighter and assassin -completely devoted to her training and strict warrior creed. Children were an unfortunate necessity for the continuation of the tribe, but, for some unknown reason, she seemed to bitterly hate her littlest girl from the moment she had been born.
Telma's earliest memories were of living with her mother and elder sister in the Gerudo Fortress. These were few however, and always becoming more and more difficult to recall, as the girl was sent away from her mother after only a few years.
Telma: 1-The Inspection
Year of the Great Kingdom 583
They lived in a small stone room, near the top of the compound in the Northwest corner. Her mother had a framed bed to herself along the east wall, while Telma and Aveil -lovingly called "Sissy"- shared a mound of torn blankets and rags on the floor.
Aveil was Mama Vai's elder daughter, but she and Telma did not have the same father. Even at her young age, little Telma could tell that there was something was different about her sister, but she struggled to understand what it was. Where Telma would be commanded to remain by her mother's side, Aveil would be encouraged to run, play, and fight with the other girls. "Stay here! Don't speak!" Mama Vai would shout, and little Telma would obediently remain by her side, watching her sister run free with the others.
As the young girl grew, she began to notice that others in the compound would treat her differently from her sister as well. Rude sneers and cold stares made the poor child fearful that something was wrong with her or that she might not be safe outside of her mother's reach. Several times, when Mama Vai was speaking with the other Gerudo, she would make comments under her breath that the child was "wrong" or "a sign of weakness" for her, but the little one's young mind did not understand what these things meant. She just felt miserable and worried that she had done something wrong.
A day came, when little Telma was taken to meet with a much older member of the tribe. This woman did not give her name and the young child was frightened by the old witch's appearance. She was white haired, grey skinned, and her veiny, yellow eyes menacingly stared down at her with a ghastly sneer on her face. As the little girl cowered and whimpered against her mother's leg, the old woman pinched and pulled cruelly at her pointed ears and tugged at her dull red hair.
"She has the look of a Hylian Vai!" the old hag spat, "Why did you not cast her off immediately?!" Mama Vai hesitated – though she gave no outward sign of fear or weakness. "The ears were not… obvious at the birth. Her skin was of the desert." She answered. "Hrmph!" grunted the old woman, "She is not pure! She offends the Goddess of the Sand with her life! Dispose of her at once!"
Mama Vai bowed obediently to the old woman, and firmly grasped her daughter's hand, dragging the little girl out of the room. "Mama? Mama Vai?!" she tried to ask, but her mother silenced her with a fierce look, and swiftly dragged her back to their room. Little Telma became afraid. There was something different about Mama Vai now – she was moving very quickly and speaking very little – even for her.
"Take this!" she shouted as she roughly shoved a bundle of Telma's clothes into her arms. The poor child began to sob. She didn't know what was happening, but she felt terrified that something awful was going to happen. "Mama?" she tried again, but Mama Vai just screamed at her: "SILENCE YOU DAMNED CHILD! DO NOT SPEAK!"