Year of the Great Kingdom 583
The great chasm stretched on for miles, veering sometimes north or south, but always bending back and leading north-eastward, away from Telma's home. No markers, signs, or structures existed here, but the road beneath their feet was made of square-cut, expertly laid stones. After the third day from Agnes' bar, the valley suddenly opened wide into a sprawling, fertile grassland.
The small Gerudo child had never seen so much green in her short life. The entire landscape seemed to be painted in its color, and flowed and waved like a massive ocean in the breeze. To her left, set against the cliffside, rose an intimidating tower made of grey stone blocks. Its shape was different from the Gerudo Fortress that she had lived in. It was much taller, curved, and more elegantly constructed. Mama Vai however, regarded the Citadel of Aryn with a dark scowl, and urged her daughter to move on with greater speed.
That evening, as the fortress receded away behind them, and the road now ran downward toward the soft grasslands, a pair of riders quickly came up behind them and shouted to the two women to stop. Once again, Telma cowered behind her mother's legs, as the tall Gerudo warrior raised one hand – palm open – towards the approaching men. She did not know very much Hylian, but she knew that crossing into these lands was a dangerous thing to do – even if she were leading a child.
They halted, only a few paces away from her, and lifted the visors of their helmets. Telma had never seen a man before and was frightened by how strangely they looked. Their shoulders were wider and their arms were thicker than the 'Vai' she had known, but the most terrifying thing was how different their faces were to her. They were hard and fierce – with hair growing on their cheeks and lips.
One man, raised his right hand – palm open – to her mother, answering her signal of peace. "What is your business here?!" he demanded, as his partner rested a hand upon the hilt of his sword. "Find… Father." Mama Vai answered in rough Hylian and tapped Telma's arm with her hand, "Lost young." The two men glanced at each other skeptically, before the first came down from his horse, and stepped closer to them. Telma could feel her mother's body tense, but she did not draw her knife.
"When does a Gerudo return a lost child to Hyrule?!" he barked, curling his lip at the little girl, "And since when does a Hylian child have such skin?!" he finished, pointing at Telma's arm. The poor child was terrified. She did not understand Hylian, but the tall man was shouting and pointing at her now. "P-please… Mama Vai… help me!" she whimpered, in Gerudo. The soldier quickly narrowed his eyes and turned his head to listen more closely, but Mama Vai reached down and lifted her daughter up.
"See?! Look!" she answered, pulling back Telma's brown-red hair, and revealing her pointed ear, before drawing back her own scarlet hair and showing her own, rounded ear. "Hylian Vai! Hylian Vai!" she finished, with an unfamiliar note of desperation that Telma had never heard her use before. The two men stared at the girl with their mouths hanging partly open. They had never seen a Hylian woman before, with the tanned skin of a Gerudo. What did this mean? Had the girl lived under the desert sun so long that her skin had darkened naturally?
After several moments' pause, the soldier spoke again – much more softly this time, "It is commanded, that no Gerudo can cross into Hyrule without the leave of Lord Aryn – the man of the tower." He finished, waving his arm back at the fortress behind them. Mama Vai set Telma down and crudely answered him, "Find father. Give Vai. Then… go… back." She pointed back down the valley, toward the desert when she finished. The soldier considered her carefully before answering, "What is his name? Where is he?"