Chapter 3: The Horse Teacher

"Since the beginning of time, the desert has been considered a wasteland by those who ignore her beauty. Her golden seas of sand inflict fear into the weak of heart, she drowns those who pay her with disrespect. If you have the heart to love the desert, she will reward you with an oasis of food as far as the eye can see.

It is said that only our people, the Gerudo, are blessed by the spirits of the sands. Our skin is said to have been kissed by the Sun, while our hair has been touched by the spirit of Din. In the past, our people were faced with numerous threats; famine, disease, and war. Long ago our borders extended into the north, far beyond the reaches of the desert. Our ancestors were nomadic, living in the desert in the months of rain and migrating through northern Hyrule during drought. We were peaceful nomads, we only turned into fierce warriors when under attack from bandits and criminals. Gerudo voe were rarely born, they were concealed for their own safety so they wouldn't become targets in enemy attacks.

Because of this, the Hylians spread the rumor that our people were made up of only women members. They did not think us fully human. The Hylians betrayed us and attacked on sight, we were no longer welcome beyond the sands. Our people suffered at first, that is until the tribes joined forces and built fortresses to live safely in. While creating the settlements, they found deposits filled salt and other precious minerals.

The Hylians found out about our newfound wealth and they declared war on us out of jealousy. For decades the wars raged, both sides had thousands of casualties. Hylians suffered greatly in the desert environment, one day their general wove a plain yellow flag in surrender. While they negotiated the terms of peace, a group of the enemy soldiers snuck into the shelter where our voe were watching over the children, they were swiftly slaughtered like barren goats. Our proud people were stricken with grief and we surrendered before any of our remaining children were taken from us.

We were called barbarians, and soon we resorted to thievery for our own survival. While the war was over, our ancestors suffered immensely. A hero arose one day, he vowed for justice and he bravely trekked through the hostile lands to speak to the Hylian king. His name has been lost to time, but we do know his desire for revenge corrupted him and instead he abandoned his people in favor of taking over the Hyrule throne.

In the end, we were saved by a young Hylian voe. However, he was not a Child of the Sand and he did not fully understand our plight. Over the years, the relationship between our races has improved, though we must remain alert. All of you in this room are Children of the Sand, and you will go through the same training as your ancestors. We will begin now."

Link resisted the urge to yawn, most of his teacher's speech had been lost on him. He glanced at his classmates, three of them being his sisters, he took comfort in the fact his peers seemed to be nearly as lost as he was. They were standing in the shade under an awning near the Chaz building, half of them still munching on their lunches. This was his second day of class, the first day had merely been for introductions. He was still unsure what he thought of the whole ordeal. When he signed to everyone that he was six years old, some of the kids stared at him longer than he would have liked.

He wanted to make his dad proud so he decided not to tell him he was a little bit scared. In addition to not being able to speak, he was also the only voe in his class. Luckily his sisters Faru and Nali were with him, but so was Riku, she liked to pick on him.

The group of twenty followed their teacher to the stables, Link made sure to stay next to Nali. She was older than him, but she was always nice to him and she was good at reading his signs. Riku skipped next to him and tugged on his ear, he swatted at her and she walked away while laughing. She had an annoying obsession with pulling on his ears, she was a real brat.

"Here we are, kids." Yamuro, their teacher announced. She was super tall, even taller than his dad. Then again, Link thought everyone was tall. "Dinrae horses are bred only here in Lesinea, can anyone tell me something about them?" Link was feeling brave, so he raised his hand. Yamuro nodded her head at him and he signed 'strong'. "That's right, our horses can pull heavy loads with ease. Anyone else?"

"They're really fast!"

"We sell them for a lot of money."

More answers were blurted out, but Link was distracted. The field had a variety of animals grazing in it; goats, pigs, ibises, but most notably, horses. They were tall with white and cream colored coats, the foals looked funny as they galloped on their long legs.

"You're all correct," Yamuro clasped her hands together and motioned to the herd, "the Dinrae horses are renowned for their unwavering speed and strength, as well as their ability to survive a week in the desert without water. They are the tallest species in the world, perfect for carrying an adult Gerudo. We sell them mainly to Gerudo City for ceremonial purposes, although they are becoming more popular in the north."

Yamuro stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled. The horses pricked their ears forward and trotted to the edge of the iron fence. "Depending on how well you do with the horses in the coming weeks, some of you may be paired with a foal of my choosing. Now get on in there, don't do anything stupid." Link climbed the fence along with his sisters and other classmates, they all carefully approached the horses. A small pudgy gray mare trotted towards them and nibbled on their clothes

"That one there is a Korekshire," Yamuro said from behind the fence, her arms were resting lazily on a post, "she's a Hylian draft horse, she's super friendly."

Link petted the mare's nose before she turned to get attention from the other children. The other horses joined in on the action and impatiently weaved through the commotion looking for treats and attention.

"Alright, now that you've introduced yourselves it's time to see you ride them." Yamuro announced with a grin. Link looked at his classmates with unease, they looked just as unsure about this as he did. His teacher hopped over the fence and led a white horse to the center of her students. "Ah, Link, thanks for volunteering!" he did no such thing. To his dismay he saw that all of his classmates stepped back so he was standing the closest to the teacher.

'No thanks.' he signed and attempted to retreat. Before he could escape, Yamuro lifted him up and placed him on the horse.

"I see you have your father's sense of humor. Now then, all of you will start off bareback, having a saddle and bridle are privileges that are earned." Link was squeezing the horse's sides with his legs to keep himself from from slipping and he had a fistful of her silky mane in his hand to keep his balance. While being high off the ground was a little frightening, being on the horse was cool. He petted the horse while his teacher continued to speak. "By the end of the month, I suspect only half of you will remain under my training. Don't take it personally, but the Mounted Guards must be picky with who they allow in their ranks. Link, try getting Luna to move for you."

Link dug his heels into the horse's side like he saw the adults do. As Luna walked forward, Link clung onto her mane and hoped he wouldn't fall. Eventually the horse made a u-turn and stood in place in front of Yamuro. Once he was helped off, the rest of his classmates took turns trying to ride the horse. Some of them clung on Luna's neck for dear life, others slid off, one of them even went as far as refusing to go near the horse. Riku accidentally kicked the horse's rump and she fell off when Luna bolted.

'You fell.' he signed to her when he made sure she was okay.

"Thanks, genius, I don't know what I'd do without you." she replied and dusted the dirt off her pants. Link stuck his tongue out at her and ran away before she could retaliate.

"Okay children," Yamuro yelled so the dispersed kids could hear her, "class is over for the day, so go on ahead and do whatever it is you do. Link, Nora, Taloo, please stay behind for a moment." the three of them stood in place and watched their friends run back to the commune. "You kids did great today, here, give these to your parents. You are dismissed." She handed each of them an envelope and she patted their heads as they grabbed them. Link clutched on the note and he sprinted home, excited to tell Dad about his day.

"How are you feeling?" Dad asked when they were resting on the couch. Tonight's dinner had been small and he was still hungry, but Dad told him the rainy season was still two months away so everyone was hungry.

'Good.' Link signed, then he dropped his hands onto his lap. He pulled orange woven blanket over his shoulders and nestled against his dad's warm side. He closed his eyes and wriggled until he felt Dad's arm wrap around his shoulder.

"Do you want to hear a story?" Link nodded his head in response. Riku liked to make fun of him for still reading stories with his dad at night, but he didn't really care what she thought. Story time was the best time. "This is a story passed down in the Adinaya family." he took a sip of his drink before continuing.

"Long, long ago, long before the Calamity struck, the Gerudo people did not live together as we do now. We were split into multiple tribes and the different families didn't get along very well. The Gerudo Fortress ruled over all the tribes, they gave provisions and aid to the families who could steal the most valuable things. Back then, Gerudo men were scarce, there was only one to a tribe.

"The male in each tribe was a powerful chief, they were in charge of stealing goods for their families. The Adinaya's chief was young and small, every year they were unable to steal anything valuable. Their tribe was poor and starving.

"One day, the chief had enough. He marched into Hyrule with the intentions of kidnapping the princess. Valiantly he fought through the Hylian forces until he captured the princess. Upon returning home, he was seen as a hero, his family would no longer suffer. When the Hylian soldiers came through the desert to retrieve their stolen royalty, the chief fought them away.

"Once his family was given the food they earned, the chief made a deal with the princess. He agreed to send her home if a peace treaty between the Hylians and the Gerudo could be made. And so it was done. The desert became a province of Hyrule, the different races could trade freely.

"The chief did not stop there, however. He built more homes and invited the other Gerudo families in. Together they built a large city which would be known as Lesinea. He was not only a hero to the Adinaya family, he was also a hero to the Gerudo." Link rested his head on his dad's leg when he was done speaking, then he smiled to himself.

He wanted to be a hero, too.

A/N: This chapter is pretty short, but the good news is that Link is growing up, so I can use his PoV now, and start writing more exciting scenes. There's a lot of allusions in this chapter to another fic that I have on the back burner. As with all oral stories, details tend to change ;)

Thanks so much to all of those who reviewed! I greatly appreciate it and I look forward to more reviews in the future. (And to answer one of the guest reviewer's questions, yes, I made up the Sun and Moon story myself.) Until next time!