Hey everyone, sorry about the delay. Lot's of medical things sprung up on me, but hopefully I can get back into the swing of things!

Years Later

'Are you sure this is a good idea?' Link signed as he surveyed the land. Lesinea had been out of sight for at least an hour now and the sun was in the center of the sky. The land ahead of them was sparse of vegetation and full of massive boulders. He doubted the prey they were searching for was anywhere near them. His dog, Athna, stayed close to his side and watched him intently for a command.

"Yeah, yeah, stop being a baby." Riku responded with an over the top eye roll. "Come on, we have to hurry."

As they approached the array of rocks, Link knew he felt the earth rumble. He tapped Riku's arm to regain her attention.

'Do you feel that?'

"Feel what?"

'The ground vibrate.'

They stood still, neither making a noise. The rumbling grew more persistent, the sand to their left moved as if something was swimming underneath it. Riku said something, but it wasn't loud enough for Link to hear.

'Repeat please.' he signed as Athna barked and began pacing. It was unusual for her to act up, she was one of the best trained dogs around.

"We need to get to those rocks, now." Riku looked mortified, Link had never seen her scared before, save for the exception her being in the presence of their fighting instructor. Together they sprinted to the nearest boulder, ignoring the rumbling behind them. Once they climbed onto the safety of the rock, they looked behind them and saw the form of a giant beast jump into the air. "I-I don't believe it. I thought Mom was making those stories up." The monster submerged itself and circled the area, it's dorsal fins created a dust cloud as it moved through the sand.

Link unraveled his bow and nocked an arrow.

"It's no use, that thing's skin is too thick." Riku sat down and sighed. "I guess we'll have to wait until it goes away. Hey, where are you going?" Link set his bow down and hopped onto another rock, careful not to step in the sand. He gave Athna the hand signal to stay and she sat on the rock while growling whenever the monster's fins came too close. "Whatever, just don't wander off." In the middle of the rock formation he noticed there were a few bushes. Getting to them was easier than he thought it'd be, and the payoff was worth it. The plants were covered with spiny pink fruits. He bunched the bottom of his hood into his hand and used the cloak like a basket as he picked as many fruits as he could. He carefully went back to Riku and handed her the food.

"Oh, thanks." Riku pulled out her dagger and peeled the hard skin off the fruit, which had an off-white flesh. She cut it in half and gave a piece to Link, who gladly devoured the food. They ate the fruits in silence while keeping a close eye on the sand monster, which gave no signs of leaving anytime soon.

They'd been told many times before to never venture into the sand wastes, but Link knew there were small herds of antelope out there. He technically wasn't supposed to have a bow yet either, but he was sure the adults would understand when he came back with a deer or two.

Life lately had been difficult for everyone in Lesinea, food was carefully rationed as was the water supply. They had been in a drought for two years now, and to make matters worse trade with their northern neighbors was for the most part completely cut off. He was only a year away from his official initiation, he wanted to show everyone he was ready to be recognized as a proper Gerudo. Bringing home plump game in these hard times would reflect well on him and his family.

In the distance a cloud of dust rose above the horizon. At first Link thought it might be a rescue party from home, but it was coming from the opposite direction. He nudged Riku awake who had been sleeping for about an hour or two.

"Hmm?" Link pointed in the direction of the dust and waited for her opinion. "I think it's people." Sure enough, it turned out to be a group of Gerudo hunters on horseback. The sand beast sped towards them, but the hunters clearly knew what they were doing. They dodged the beast and launched harpoons into its side. The hunters held onto their ropes and pulled in opposite directions, ensuring the animal couldn't move or escape. Someone up front, who Link assumed was the leader, rode to the front of the beast and delivered a final blow.

"Get down." Riku demanded and they both flattened themselves against the rock. If they didn't want to be seen Link thought it was a bit late for that. They'd both been watching the hunt in awe. "They can't see y-"

"You there, show yourself." a woman's gruff voice interrupted her. Before they pushed themselves up, Riku signed the word for hood at Link. He took that as a sign to make sure his head remained covered, so he nodded in confirmation before standing up.

"Um, hi." Riku said with a hesitant wave of her hand.

"Who are you?" the hunter questioned, her hands were still gripped on her spear rather threateningly. The Gerudo who weren't pulling the sand beast rode over to the rocks.

"I'm Riku, and this is Link. We're from Lesinea, we got a bit lost."

"Come down here then, the molduga is taken care of." Link didn't know what was going on. Riku kept looking at him with panicked eyes, but they were safe now, and maybe the hunters could even give them a ride home. One of them approached Link and glared at him, in his peripheral vision he could see how nervous Riku looked. What had gotten into her today? She was the toughest person he knew.

"You have something to hide?" the Gerudo in front of him questioned.

"He's got a birthmark on his face, he doesn't like to talk about it. Isn't that right, Link?." Riku tugged on his arm and started to lead him away. "See, he's nervous about it. We should really be going home before our families worry about us."

The hunter grabbed Link's free arm, stopping both him and Riku in their tracks. Now both of his hands were restrained and he hated that, he could only display his discomfort by shaking his head. He felt the sun hit his head when his cloak was pulled back.

"A Hylian!" the hunter exclaimed, and soon the others were shouting too many things at once for him to focus on. "Take the spies with!" Before he knew it, he was tossed into the back of an enclosed supply wagon with Riku and two hunters sitting on both sides of them. The ride was uneventful and long, by the time they stopped the sun had set. Link shivered as he was escorted out of the wagon, his current clothes were not designed for the cold night desert air.

The camp was large and bustling with life, in the center he could see an enormous yet contained fire. People stopped to stare at him, why did they look so angry? Right now he wanted nothing more than to hide in his dad's arms. They were escorted to the fire and were seated in front of two people, who he could only assume were the chiefs.

"Well, well, what's a Hylian doing so far away from home? Explain yourself." the Gerudo woman spoke and stood up to get a better look at Link. "If you don't feel like talking then I suppose we can use you as molduga bait."

"Leave him alone." Riku butted in, then added, "He's mute. Please, we want to go home, we're from Lesinea." The chief regarded her words for a moment, then turned to one of her guards.

"Send a message to Lesinea, if we don't have a rider out here by nightfall tomorrow, then we'll use them for attracting moldugas. Toss them in the hole for now." The hole turned out to be exactly that, a shallow pit in the ground with a heavy wooden grate covering the top.

It was a new moon, making it impossible to see anything. Link scooted closer to Riku for warmth, and to his surprise she didn't shove him away. A few stars twinkled above.

"I'm sorry." Riku said just loud enough for him to hear. He wanted to respond that it wasn't her fault, but she wouldn't be able to see his hands. "I know I pick on you a lot, and you're a little dweeb, but we were raised together and that makes you my little brother." Link held onto her hand and hoped that conveyed his thoughts, that was the first time Riku acknowledged him as a sibling. She pulled him into a hug and that's eventually how the two fell asleep.

Link woke up late the following morning, his stomach growled, but there was no food to be found. A lizard basked in the sun, its eyes opened when Link shifted to sit up straight. His clothes were coated in sand and dust, he was sad to discover his cloak was gone, likely it had fallen off when he was taken to this place. The heavy grate enclosing his sister and him was lifted and two guards escorted them out of the dirty pit. They were escorted to a lone tree and they were told to sit while the guards stood on either side of them. Link was pleased to see Athna was tied to it, he didn't know if the hunters had left her to fend for herself.

Link slumped his head into his hands, he hated doing nothing. This was time he could be using to practice his archery or fighting. Instead he was wasting time sitting in the hot sand, his guards looked equally bored. They occasionally looked at him in disdain and muttered a few unkind words. He didn't know what their problem was, nor did he know why they thought he was Hylian. He actually didn't know what a Hylian looked like, to his knowledge he'd never met one before, but still he was Gerudo, there wasn't a reason for these people to accuse him of such things.

"Where are they?!" a voice bellowed out, Link immediately recognized it as his dad's, he sounded incredibly angry. He lifted his head and smiled with relief when he saw his dad and a couple of his aunts walking towards Riku and him. They did not look pleased, everyone moved out of their way as they stomped towards the tree.

Both of Riku's moms shoved aside the guards, no one dared to get in their way. They made sure both Riku and Link were okay and they untied Athna from the tree who instantly went to Link's side. There was too much argument and discussion around for Link to focus on any of the conversations, all he knew was that no one seemed all that thrilled with the meeting.

"I'm so sorry, Link." Riku whispered as one of her moms hoisted her up onto a horse and they rode off towards home. A small cloud of dust kicking up in the air was the only sign of their continued ride.

"He's clearly but a child!" Dad's voice boomed from behind and before he knew it, Link was placed atop the massive stallion. His dad said nothing as they rode away from the camp, Athna kept a steady pace behind them. Eventually the loose sand turned into the more solid scrub land Link was used to, more familiar plant life sprouted sparsely in the dry cracks of the earth.

By the time Lesinea was in view the horse was at a fumbling trot, his breaths were heavy and his nostrils were flared, his coat was damp with sweat. Link wanted reprimand his dad for pushing the poor animal to its limits, but he could tell now was not the time for that. He'd never seen Dad look so angry before, he could practically feel the negative energy radiating off of him.

When they rode on the street, a few familiar people waved to Link, clearly they were happy to see he was okay. It dawned on him that he made a lot of people worry over him, but it wasn't his fault! If those wandering Gerudo hadn't kept him and Riku overnight, then everything would have been just fine and they both would have returned before a day passed.

When the horse was returned to the field, Link tried whistling for Athna to follow him, but she refused. She sat near a fence post and growled, that was unusual behavior for her. Since she refused to move from the spot then she would have to sleep outside for the night.

Link had to jog in order to keep up with his dad's stride, they both remained silent as they made their way home. The walk up the stairs seemed longer than normal, Link guessed it was because of how exhausted he felt. On top of that there was a sense of foreboding he couldn't quite explain. Usually he was excited to spend time with his dad, but now there was something wrong, he didn't want to be anywhere near him.

"Go to your room." Link didn't have to be told twice, he scurried off to his room and slammed the door. He understood why he was in trouble, the sand wastes were forbidden for children to go into, and for good reason. He never would have imagined that such terrifying beasts lived in those lands, and the people there didn't seem as friendly as his family was. Despite that, he was still upset.

In his frustration, he paced around his room a few times before sitting down in front of his book shelf. He may not be able to leave the confines of his room, that didn't mean he couldn't do anything. After looking at his various books, he picked a random one and began reading it.

The cover was made of worn brown leather, the pages were yellowed with age, at least the print was large so it was easy enough to read. It was a Hylian tale about a knight who went on a journey to save a princess, he was brave and fought off fearsome monsters. The book was different from the others in his small collection, it had been a gift from Riku's moms on his birthday a year previously. Hylian stories were a bit different from Gerudo ones, it seemed they preferred to read tales of knights and princesses. That was okay, it gave him a little taste of something different.

By the time he finished the story, it was night time. His dad had yet to come talk to him or give him permission to leave. He hadn't eaten anything since yesterday, his stomach rumbled and begged for him to eat something. Quietly he unlatched the door and peeked out, Dad was nowhere in sight. Taking the opportunity, he left his room and hastily made his way to the dining hall. It seemed it was later than he thought it was, there was hardly any food left. He grabbed a roll of bread and ate it with what little cactus jelly he was offered.

He felt the presence of someone behind him, when he turned he saw it was only one of his aunts. She looked under the weather, there were bags under her eyes and she looked more thin than normal, yet Link still recognized her. She was none other than his blood aunt, Jia; she had never said more than one sentence to him in his life. Normally she side eyed him or frowned at him from afar, it was weird to see her so close, and for once she didn't have a disgusted look on her face.

Link, not knowing what to do, offered his jelly slathered roll to her. She chuckled and smiled, neither of which Link had ever seen her do before.

"Eat it, you need it if you ever want to stop being so scrawny." Link shrugged and finished off the last few bites of his meager supper. Jia didn't leave, he almost felt uncomfortable with her presence. She never talked to him, why was she being friendly all of a sudden? "Your Dad is in the Grenat building right now, he doesn't know you're not in your room." Oh. Perhaps she was going to tell on him. "Come on, follow me."

Link decided to follow her, he feared if he didn't she would inform Dad he was out without permission. They walked to the Bentu building, it was one Link had never been in before. It was directly behind the Adinaya building, it was one of the more recently built additions to the commune. Inside was different than the older buildings, the walls were painted in yellows and browns rather than having exposed clay and rock walls.

They walked down a set of stairs, tapestries and paintings covered the staircase, they had all sorts of different subject materials. Adinaya didn't have a basement, so it was a new experience for Link when they entered an enormous room. Along the back walls were targets of all sizes and several lockers filled with all sorts of different weapons.

"Do you know what this place is?" Jia asked while taking a seat on one of the few chairs. Link shook his head and stared at his aunt. "It's an indoor exercise and training area, nothing more. Usually it's only for the Bentu family, but I have connections. Come on, let's see what you can do."

Link went to a locker and grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows. He stood next to his aunt and started shooting at the targets, he aimed for the big and close ones first, even though he knew it'd be more impressive if he hit the smaller ones. Still, hitting the easier targets was good practice, he eventually would get to the harder targets. He took his time shooting the smaller targets, eventually he ran out of arrows and he went around to collect them from the sand filled targets. He repeated the process a few more times, he didn't know if Jia was ever going to give him permission to stop.

"It's interesting you go for the big targets first," Jia remarked, her head rested against her hand, "most people I know go for the challenging ones." Link frowned and lowered the bow, did she really bring him down here to make fun of him? "There's no shame in that. If this were a battlefield, you'd want to hit the definite targets. There's no time for showing off in a fight to the death. That being said, go on, aim for the smaller ones, there's no one here to judge you, take your time."

Link heeded her words and took aim at the more difficult targets. It took more time to hit them, and in the end he missed two. A bit disappointed, he placed the bow down and collected the arrows once more, he somberly walked towards Jia and lazily put the arrows back in the quiver.

"Hey now, none of that. You did a great job, you're better than I was at your age, that's something to be proud of. Now come on, I want to see if what else they say is true." Link hurriedly put the bow away and followed his aunt outside to the pasture. He was glad he was wearing warmer clothes, the night air was chilly and caused him to shiver. He climbed over the fence and walked over to the grazing horses, it dawned on him that he didn't know what it was Jia wanted him to do.

He hopped onto one of the unbroken horse's backs and petted its neck when it knickered and stomped its hooves in frustration. Link patted it reassuringly and did nothing for a few moments, eventually it became used to him and stopped being so agitated. He whistled low and dug his heels into the horse's flanks, it whinnied and cantered forward. They did a few laps around the pasture, Link was too exhilarated from the ride to remember he was freezing.

Link dismounted and let the horse wander away, he hoped that's what Jia wanted to see from him. Clearly she was impressed, there was a slight bit of smile scrawled on her face.

"So it is true, it seems you have a way with animals. Most horses like that take weeks of training until they let you ride them. Come now, it's too cold to be standing around here." Link silently agreed. Together they walked home, his dad was still gone. Jia sat on the couch and made herself comfortable, Link awkwardly stood in front of her. "I'm sorry."

Link didn't know why she was apologizing, he didn't know how to respond other than shrugging his shoulders.

"There's more to being Gerudo than being born into it, you know. It's all about the effort one puts into it. I regret treating you the way I have in the past, can you forgive me?" So that's what this was about. With a smile on his face, Link nodded. "I am glad. There's something I'd like to tell you-"

Before she could tell him whatever it was she wanted to say, the door swung open.

"Link? What are you doing out of your room?" Dad asked with a serious face, he frowned and crossed his arms.

"Don't take it out on him, I was the one who told him it was okay." Jia responded cooly.

"Jia?"

"And what were you thinking? Were you not going to feed your own child? Honestly, I expected better of you."

"What are you-"

"But don't worry, I made sure to feed him for you. Poor thing's going to be scrawny forever at this rate."

"Jia-"

"Yes, thanks for reminding me my name, I nearly forgot it. Sheesh, Gan, you act like you've never snuck out when you were his age."

"What-"

"By the way, did you know Link can use a bow better than even some of his older siblings? Incredible!" With an irritated sigh, Dad rubbed his forehead and and muttered something under his breath.

"Link," he finally said in a calm tone, "please go to bed, we'll talk in the morning."

Link obeyed and made himself comfortable under his blankets. He couldn't hear what his dad and aunt were talking about which was a bit of a shame, he was curious.

There were too many thoughts running in his head, it was difficult for him to fall asleep. He was still thinking about the nomadic Gerudo tribe and about what they had called him. A Hylian. Could that be true? He didn't see how that could be, this was the only life he knew. There was no way that was possible, and yet, he still had his doubts.

Eventually he was able to fall asleep, he had a feeling all would be revealed to him sooner rather than later.