The Legend of Zelda: Her Story
Interlude 1: The Unbreakable Barrier
By: The Kirby Kid
Look at Profile for WebsiteDisclaimer:
The Legend of Zelda™ is property and copyright of Nintendo.
Authors Notes:
Short notes this time. First of all, gee…another kinda long chapter. What is it like, my 4th one in a row? Yeesh!
Anyhoo, most importantly, Big Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time: Snowsilver and Idiotbx3, Reader and Dinadan Feasin, thanks for your input. I'm not discouraged. Though I like reviews, a lot…. I don't write for them and I won't stop writing unless I get REALLY bored of this story.
Still, that's not gonna stop me from asking for reviews if you read my stuff, pretty please. :)
On a sour note…I'm really getting pissed at Word 2000 and FF.Net. First I get no more Centering…and now Italics and Bolds disappear at random. Why can't I just upload the story as I write it in Word? Nothing works! It's real frustrating. Anyway, if you see weird formatting…you know why.
Enjoy this Interlude…a peek into the lives of the soon-to-be famous Gerudo twins.
************
To most Hylians, it would seem like the Gerudo of the Desert took the death of Invincible and the subsequent escape of his executor along with the kidnapping of the princess with cavalier. The truth was that the Gerudo felt the pain very acutely.
Invincible was not only a Hero of the Hylians but because he was half-Gerudo, he was the Desert Tribeswomen's hero as well. He was intimate with their dearly departed Nabooru, and was generally liked and respected by all of them.
Zelda was of course the Queen's daughter, and the Queen was very close to the Gerudo Tribe. She was in fact Nabooru's sister by a blood-pact, and so she and her children were forever correlated with the Gerudo. So they were just as angry and as sick with worry because of the recent events in Hyrule as the Hylians were.
However, the Gerudo weren't people to sit and spend their time worrying about things they really couldn't control. The Gerudo tend to concentrate on their matters and they try not to get involved in the undertakings of the other races. This sort of apathy evolved from the years of war their leader Ganondorf had in years past involved them in.
In any case, the tribe was currently involved in another issue of great significance. With a decision that baffled many Gerudo, including Palta and Tella who were good friends of Zelly, Andala had decided to begin the Ascension Journey.
The Journey was a weeklong competition between the best the Gerudo had to offer. It was a test to discover the toughest and the brightest young woman in the tribe, a young woman who would eventually wear the mantle of Gerudo Den Mother. Andala, who currently held that title, and many of the Gerudo elders often remarked about Nabooru; and how if she were still alive, she would be an automatic pick for the next Den Mother, for she had all the qualities necessary for the role.
Palta couldn't understand why Andala chose to hold the test now, of all times. Zelly was her friend! They should have been doing something to help the Hylians find her!
And even after a girl had been picked, she didn't see Andala giving up the position. She was only in her late forties, and Palta didn't see her retiring any time soon. Palta had the distinct impression that invoking the Ascension Journey had the secondary purpose of taking their minds off of what was going on in Hyrule.
Palta did not like that one bit. However, she revelled in the opportunity to show that she had what it took to become the Den Mother. Most of all she delighted in the chance to show that she was better than her twin sister, Tella.
In fact, you could say she lived for it.
So on the same night that they discovered what had happened to Zelly, the Journey began. Thirty young Gerudo, including Palta and Tella gathered around the racing track up on the hill behind the main Fortress. There stood a throng of spectators that included Andala, elders, mature women and children. They were calling out names of those who had volunteered for the Journey.
Tella sidled up to her sister and nudged her in the ribs with her elbow. "Look at all these sad hopefuls, eh little sister?" she said with a smirk.
It was one of her many quirks that annoyed Palta to no end, the worst being Tella calling her 'little sister'. It was something all the women called her, simply because she was born less than half-an-hour after Tella. Because of those measly thirty minutes, Palta was always given the short-end compared to Tella, and she was constantly underrated. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair, and she was going to make sure that it would come to an end real soon.
"There are benefits for those who do well in the Journey and not win," she reminded her twin. "Plus…you know, it is not guaranteed that one of us will win this. There are many talented girls here…"
Nodding her head, Tella added her agreement. She also added, "But come on, you know how the elders talk. They are clearly expecting one of us to take this. It will be our chance to show everyone who doubts us that we are the best the Gerudo has to offer, and it does not matter if we have small Hylian noses. Don't you agree? Huh? Don't you?"
Tella nailed her again in the ribs and Palta shrugged it off uncomfortably. It was true that she was tired of the other Gerudo calling them Hylisoba, which meant 'Dark Hylians.' It was true that both she and her sister lacked the long majestic nose of their Tribeswomen. Many of the Hylians considered Palta and Tella to be dark, exotic beauties. Some Gerudo made fun of them and considered them ugly, sort of like another famous pair of Gerudo twins…
Palta was still mulling over this when Andala called out her name. She walked up to her, who was standing near the stables, and handed her a chestnut brown mare and a short bow and arrow set. Palta slung the bows across her back, pulled herself up to her horse and started stepping slowly to the starting line of the course.
The first test of the Ascension Journey was a horseback archery competition. The test was built on a point system, and it was designed to remove those who frivolously entered the Journey. There were ten targets, and each bull's-eye brought you ten points. A hit in the inner circle brought you five, and a hit in the outer circle got you one. And of course, you could miss altogether. Each girl had three runs at the course, and the scores were averaged out. Those with an average of 70 or higher passed. It wasn't as if those who didn't pass this were horrible archers. In fact girls who scored around 50 were considered highly skilled. However, this was an extremely difficult test, only those with genius ability had the slightest chance of passing and moving on in the Journey.
Palta drew an arrow and held it against the wood of her bow while using her legs to keep her horse still. She looked ahead at the course; a twenty-yard path that was lined with ten targets several meters to her right. The targets also differed by many feet in height. She had been given ten arrows. Palta had read that this was Nabooru's best event, and that she had actually hit every bull's-eye all three times.
The girl narrowed her eyes and notched her arrow. She wouldn't be left behind. Like her sister said, it was time to show everyone what she had to offer.
Andala blew on her whistle, bringing a shrill note of music into the air, and Palta started off. Urging her horse forward with nudges from her knees, she fired off ten quick shots, and finished the course quickly. All of her arrows hit near the bull's-eye, inside the inner circle, but she didn't actually nail a bull's-eye. She huffed with disappointed and dismounted her mare. An elder wrote down on a black writing board that she had received fifty points. She'd get two more chances before the night was over, and she was determined to improve her score.
A few girls went through the course; some with good scores, and some with scores so low that there was really no point in taking their other two turns. Then it was Tella's turn.
Palta watched as her sister got up on her young black mare and notched her bow at the ready. When the whistle blew, Tella took the course at full speed, raised the bow directly above her head and fired off ten shots. Palta thought that was extremely strange, because that archery stance was more useful for long-distance targets. However it proved useful; Tella got two bull's-eyes and the rest of her arrows struck within the inner circle. It netted her sixty points, the second highest so far. The first belonged to a girl named Anesti, who got three bull's-eyes, six inner circles and one outer circle for a score of sixty-one.
The first turn of the archery competition thinned the applicants to nearly half of their number. The numbers were thinned further after the second round. Palta scored sixty-five points this time around and Tella scored again with sixty.
After the end of the second round, Tella came up to her sister once again. "Great Nabooru," she said as she tugged on her short braids, "if we keep up like this we are not even going to survive this first test."
Palta nodded. "It is quite distressing. I thought we would do better…"
"Well, there is one last turn isn't there?" Tella said with a smile. "We have to do ridiculously well to pass, but I think we can. What do you think?" She put her hand on her sister's shoulders and squeezed reassuringly. "It is time for us to stop playing around. This should be effortless for us, so let's do it."
"I know that," Palta pouted. Her name was then called, and with a shrug to her sister, she left for her horse. She climbed atop of it and let out a settling breath. She could do this; she knew it for certain. She only had to focus. "Focus," she thought critically.
She nudged her horse forward, notched her bow and closed her eyes. All she had to do was focus. Focus in the movement of the horse, along with the movement of the wind, and the length of the target. She had to bring them all into one underlying factor, one dynamic that would effect whether she hit the bull's-eye or not. If she succeeded in doing this, if she could focus all factors into one, then she could find the simple solution towards her goal: the bull's-eye.
So Palta concentrated as her horse galloped ahead on the course in slow motion, and she focused her thoughts. When she opened her eyes, she didn't see the crowd, or the course, or even the horse underneath her. She only saw the targets the size of houses surrounded by pitch-black darkness. The bull's-eye was enormous, and it was begging to be hit. And so, Palta hit them.
A roar from the crowd brought her out of her focus, and she realized that she was at the end of the course. She dismounted and looked back with amazement. Palta had gotten all ten of the bull's-eye for a score of one hundred. Palta beamed, it was just as Tella said: a ridiculous score.
As Palta was congratulated and embraced by a few of the girls, she made her way to the blackboard and saw that her score averaged out to 72. She had barely passed the first test.
Palta was able to celebrate with a few of her friends for only a short time when Tella took her turn on her dark horse. The test judges had not had the chance to remove Palta's arrows from the targets by the time she got to the starting line. Tella got into a full gallop and again she raised her bow high above her head, and she closed her eyes just as Palta had done earlier. This time around, however, the eyes did not open. Tella simply took the shots.
The crowd roared and raised their hands into the air, some with exultation at seeing such a deed, and others just in plain shock. Palta jumped into the air to see over the heads of the others, and she saw that Tella had hit every single bull's-eye. Even worse, Tella had pierced Palta's arrows straight down the middle. All of this and her eyes were nearly closed the entire time! What a monster! Palta was extremely furious, but she said nothing, even as Tella came up to her and jumped into her arms.
"Did you see that!?" Tella asked in elation.
Palta frowned and nodded stiffly. "Did you really have to make such a show of it, Tella?"
"Huh? Well what does it matter, little sister? I mean we have both passed the first test right?"
Palta put the calculations through her head. Tella had passed with a score of near 73, just barely above her own.
Just like it always seemed to happen.
Pushing her sister away from her, Palta started towards the living quarters under the guise of needing to rest. Tella accepted the excuse and turned to celebrate with some of the other girls who had passed. Besides, it was the truth; Palta did need to rest. She was tired…sick and tired of being second best.
But Palta took comfort in the fact that tomorrow would be a new day…
************
The next day also brought the second of the three trials in the Journey to Ascension. Out of thirty girls from the first test, only eight had passed. They gathered in the training grounds a few hours after dawn. As the desert sun rose into the sky and a desert wind began to warm in the air, the invigilators of the second test arrived. They planted a blackboard into the sand, with the names of the competitors written on it in a tournament format.
With the field thinned to only the best of the girls, this contest bid to have them face off against each other. They were one-on-one fights in which the first girl to hit the ground lost and was immediately eliminated. The fighting arena was a circle twenty feet in diameter, and outlined with white chalk. Getting a girl to break the chalk circle of the ring. Combatants expected to fall to the earth several times during the course of a battle, so this test was designed to bring out the quickest, and the smartest fighters.
Palta keenly inspected the board. She and her sister were at opposite ends of the tournament spectrum. It seemed that the elders were hoping to see Palta and Tella fight. Palta laughed to herself and smiled determinedly. She was looking forward to it too, and she was looking forward to winning.
Her first match was with a girl named Ende. She was a nice girl with extremely short braids, and she was a notoriously aggressive fighter. Palta nodded to her in the centre of the fighting ring, and Ende did the same. As they stepped back from each other, Ende quickly added, "Good luck Hylisoba."
Palta smiled. "You too, stilts." Ende was extremely tall, more than six feet, and some of the girls made fun of her for that. Palta figured that if the girl was going to try to get Palta rattled by insulting her, the most she would get would be another insult back…even if her comeback was kind of lame.
"Contestants, ready?" a judge asked of the two. Palta said nothing, but she got into her fighting stance. She extended her left arm in an inviting pose, and she placed her other hand behind her back. The judge threw her hand down and shouted, "Begin!"
"Here we go!" Ende shouted as she burst forward. Ende was known to be an extremely aggressive fighter, but she was also a smart one. Palta had expected her to wait the fight out and try to use her long legs to trip her. She didn't expect a frontal assault.
Ende crashed into Palta with a shoulder charge, and Palta took the attack gracefully. She bent at the waist, pushed her right hand against the ground and swung her left leg out, taking Ende's feet out from underneath her, taking her down and finishing the match in less than a minute.
The judge whistled the end of the contest, and Palta pushed herself up to a standing position with her hand. "Uh…you did well, stilts," she said as she helped Ende up to her feet.
"Are you kidding?" Ende said with a grin. "I got floored. You're just too much, Hylisoba."
The rest of the competition went on through the afternoon, and Palta and Tella both ploughed through their next matches. Tella had a relatively tough semi-final with Anesti, who tried a series of extremely fast and furious kicks and sweeps to get Tella off of her feet. Tella evaded the attacks and was able to use a counter throw to take her to the ground. It was the fiercest attack Tella had used so far, but Anesti got through it okay, and even though she didn't win, she qualified for the final test.
Now it was the match Palta had been waiting for. Across from her stood her sister with that same, confident smirk she always wore. Looking at her was like looking into a mirror; Her smooth coffee-coloured skin, angled auburn eyes and her short braided ponytail were exactly like hers. However, the look in her eyes was different than Palta's. It was filled with a dangerous determination that always shook Palta down.
She wasn't going to be shaken this time. Even the law of averages stated that she had to win against her one of these days…and today would be it. If not today, there was still the final test…
…But she couldn't think like that. Those were the thoughts of a loser.
Tella gave her a little wink as the judge raised her hand into the air. "Contestants ready?" she asked, before swinging her hand down and shouting, "Begin!"
For a minute, Tella and Palta faced each other without moving. They were gauging each other, looking for any weaknesses, and formulating a battle plan. The spectators looked at them expectantly, waiting for the first move with baited breath.
Finally it was Palta who made the first move. Without any indication that she was going to act, she shifted five feet to her left, a whirl of sand billowing at her feet. However, she was stunned to see that directly across of her, an identical whirl of sand was billowing at Tella's feet. She had made the exact same move, at the exact same time.
Palta growled and shifted ten feet to her right, and as she came to a stop she saw that her sister had mimicked her again. She moved back to the centre and walked forward calmly. Tella copied her perfectly and also walked over until she was nearly nose-to-nose with her irritated sister.
"What do you think you are doing?" Palta growled.
Tella smiled and winked again. "You need to relax a bit, little sister," she calmingly. "I just want to see how you plan to do this…"
Palta suddenly made a move to get behind her sister, but Tella saw it and copied the move. They faced each other again and as they did Palta thrust out an arm to her sister's chest. Tella did the same and grabbed Palta's free arm as Palta grabbed hers. They twisted around a bit, connected together as they were before Palta released Tella. Then just as Tella released her, Palta jutted out her arm and struck Tella in the chest, while at the same time leaning back so that Tella's counter thrust wouldn't connect to her.
Tella saw the opening and took it enthusiastically. She shot out at the leaning girl with a high kick to the head, but Palta leaned back even further while flailing her arms to keep balance. Tella then bent down and swept at Palta's feet, and the girl jumped over the attack and landed fully on her feet, completely righted.
Again the twins faced each other, ignoring the sounds of wonder coming out from their audience. Tella grinned once more. "Very sneaky, little sister."
Palta returned her smile, though it was mirthless. "Let's make a deal. I win, you stop calling me 'little sister'."
Tella shrugged. "Deal."
Palta stepped backwards towards the edge of the ring while never taking her eyes off of her twin. Tella copied her movement back to the ring and kept her eyes on her sister. As Palta neared the edge, she stopped, smiled at her sister and took several more steps back.
Tella mimicked her movements, and suddenly came to a premature stop. She wasn't near the edge of the ring any more…she was nearly over it! She was right at the line and she was waving her arms to keep balance and to prevent falling over. Palta had tricked her!
Smiling, Palta burst forward towards her sister during her vulnerable moment. When Palta was able to attack with the super-quick thrust, she pushed her sister back a few inches. Tella didn't account for those inches when she copied Palta's moves. While Palta was back peddling towards the end of the ring, Tella was several inches closer to the edge than she realized, and since she kept her eyes on her sister, she never knew until it was too late.
Palta appeared quickly at Tella's feet, and she bent down and swept her legs out from under her. Tella fell to the ground…and as she did time seemed to slow to a crawl. Tella smiled, struck out with her right hand and snatched Palta by her leather blouse. As she pulled Palta down, she struck her with her left foot, and used the force to further pull Palta until she was side to side with her. Finally they hit the ground with a dull thud, and the Judge threw her hand up into the air.
Palta stared at her sister with a modicum of awe. Tella wasn't just beside her. She was clutching on to Palta for dear life, and her legs were intertwined with hers. To the naked eye it would seem that Tella and Palta were both on the ground, but Palta knew it was not true. Tella was hanging on to her…to keep from hitting the ground. Technically, Tella was still in the air.
The judge knew this too, and she declared Tella the winner by a hairs-breadth. Again the spectators cheered with the enthusiasm of seeing a legend in the making. To them, Tella was simply too amazing.
She disengaged from her sister and rose to her feet with her hands in the air. Then, with a large grin, she bent and offered Palta a hand. Palta accepted it and rose to her feet.
"Real close, little sister!" Tella chided as she threw an arm over Palta's shoulders. "Seriously though, you are too good. You were really thinking when you tried to get me to go over the side."
"Yeah…" Palta said unenthusiastically. "I was…"
But once again, it wasn't enough.
***
That night, as Palta was removing her clothes to get ready for bed, Tella and Anesti returned from a night of partying with some of the other girls. Though no one was allowed to leave the Fortress during the Journey or play around intimately with others, there were still fun times to be had with games and the like. Palta was too tired for any of it though, so she had stayed home and studied on Nabooru the Sage and her accomplishments.
"Palta! I am glad you are still awake," Anesti beamed. "I wanted to congratulate you on second place today. I don't think I had the chance."
Whipping a bed sheet out into the air, Palta turned to her and smiled back. "Thanks. You did pretty well too. You have made it to the finals after all."
"Heh. I do not think the finals matter at this point."
Finished with the making of her bed, Palta blinked as she slipped on a pair of flimsy white underpants. "What do you mean?"
Tella sat down on her messy bed and smoothed out the edges half-heartedly. "I thought you read about it, didn't you little sister? The Vengeful Desert. I hear it is extremely difficult, and only one can win at it after all."
Anesti shuddered and clutched at her long ponytail. "I just hope I can survive it…" she whispered.
"What are you talking about?" Palta said loudly. "I'm sure you will do fine. You can even win this."
Laughing, Anesti jumped and bounced on her bed a little. "Oh I do not think so. This competition is basically between you two." She said with a giggle.
"Anesti, do not give up. Nothing is predetermined!" As Palta said this, she gave her sister a knowing stare. Tella, still sucking on a piece of fruit, glanced up at her with her eyes and then shrugged.
"Well, if you think so. Anyway, good luck tomorrow Palta. Sweet sands."
"Sweet sands," Palta said warmly. She expected to give Tella the same blessing as the girl tucked into her bed, but she simply turned to her and said:
"Sweet sands, Tella."
"Sweet sands, Anesti," Tella returned through a mouthful of fruit.
So…no luck needed for her perfect 'older sister'…was that it? Palta shook her head and tried to shrug it off. Anesti was a very nice girl and a close friend, and she was sure she meant no disrespect. It didn't matter though. Tomorrow was her final chance to show them all. She was not going to blow it.
Tomorrow, Palta would conquer the Desert.
************
"Ladies, I welcome you to the Vengeful Desert."
Under a pale morning sky, Andala made the announcement; standing at the edge of the Fortress grounds, surrounded by a number of elders and watched by spectators. The Desert was the other, far more dangerous way to the Desert Colossus. Anesti, Palta and Tella stood before a violent maelstrom of dark and stinging sandstorms. The sound it made as the winds whipped and whirled was rough and lilting, like a song filled with malevolence.
"It is said that a Gerudo shaman, shunned by the King she loved so much, created this Desert to forever perform her will." Andala folded her large arms across her chest and grinned balefully. "Her will, of course, was that everyone who entered the Desert would die a horrible death. Of course…. it is only a story, but who really knows?"
She gestured into the mad winds and continued. "This is a dangerous Desert that no one but the Gerudo know of. Even the Hero has never traversed it. It will be days before you find any water, if you're lucky enough to find any at all. Monsters will continually rise from the sands and this sandstorm that you see before you never ends."
Palta and Anesti's faces blanched, but Tella's wore an enthusiastic grin.
"You will be allowed one dagger, a compass and one small bottle of water, and nothing else. Because this test is so dangerous, I suggest that you work together at first," Andala said with a wag of her finger. "But remember, this is still a competition. It is up to you "
Palta gulped, and her eyes narrowed. She agreed wholeheartedly. This was the real test. It was worth more points than the other two put together. Whoever succeeded here automatically triumphed in the Ascension Journey.
This was a competition. This would be her last real chance to rise above her sister.
"Contestants ready!" Andala shouted, as she raised her hand into the air. Tella reached for Anesti's hand, Anesti took it and reached for Palta with her other hand. Palta glanced at it with aversion, but eventually took it too.
"Begin!"
With the cheer of the crowd blasting behind them, the three girls leapt into the violent winds of the Vengeful Desert.
***
"All'rite listen up you two," Tella started. "Keep your eyes out for water, and keep your ears open. Monsters will probably make noises and they will probably try to sneak up on us. Use your vests to cover your face during the night so that the sandstorm won't clog your airways. Find moisture wherever you can, like in plants…and forget about eating until-"
"Enough!" Palta shouted. She let go of Anesti's hand and continued forward, throwing her sister an annoyed glare. "We're not children, Tella. We know how to survive."
Tella spread her hands and shrugged. "All right. I didn't think it would annoy you so much, little sister." She ignored her twin's fierce gaze and looked to Anesti. "These sands are mystical, so use your Commune to find water and survive fights."
Anesti slowed down a little and looked down shyly. Palta stopped and put her hand on her hip. "What is it?" she asked.
"Umm…" Anesti began, "I can't Commune. I've never undergone the ceremony."
Tella and Palta gaped. For a girl who was born magically gifted like Anesti was, for her not to undergo the ceremony was truly shocking.
The Sand Communion ceremony was used on girls who were born magically inclined. That accounted for around one percent of the Gerudo population. The last Nabooru wasn't born magically inclined, but the first Nabooru, Nabooru the Sage was. Tella and Palta were also born magically inclined and they had undergone the ceremony at a young age. It was a painful procedure, in which the girl sliced open her right hand and allowed the sands of the desert to heal her. Once it was done, the girl would be able to Commune with enchanted sands, and use it to perform magic. In the sacred texts, it was said that Koume and Kotake first created the Communion Ceremony for their son, Ganondorf.
The confidence Tella and Palta had for this stage in the Journey was mostly because they had the ability to Commune with these bewitched sands. Palta couldn't understand why Anesti would risk life and limb knowingly without that ability.
"It's like you said before, Palta," Anesti explained. "Nothing is predetermined. Just because I cannot Commune, doesn't mean I will lose. It does not even mean I will die."
Tella nodded enthusiastically, but Palta just shrugged. "I admire your tenacity, and I wish you both luck. I'm off now."
Tella stepped forward in shock. "What, you are leaving us already?"
Looking back at her coolly, Palta said, "It is like Mother Andala said, Tella: This is a competition." With that, she leapt forward in an entirely different direction and distanced herself from the others.
***
Two days into Palta's voyage in the Vengeful Desert and she had seen little action. She had kept a steady pace during the day and she slept only for a few hours at night. She hadn't found any water, but she did have an encounter with a couple of Lizardfos that sprung up to ambush her. Palta dispatched the monsters with her daggers and a spell that caused the whirling sands to strike at the monsters at her command.
Shortly after that battle, Palta used her Commune once again to search for water. To her surprise, sand began to whirl at a location thirty feet ahead of her. She ran towards it gleefully, took out her knife and dug at the spot the sands suggested. After a few feet of digging a fat green leaf peeked out from the grainy earth.
Palta dug with her bare hands and brought the plant out into the air. It was a small flower with four huge fat leaves called Eeisan. She plucked out one of the leaves from the stem and popped it into her mouth, and water immediately burst out of it, filling her mouth with a cool sensation. She moaned with joy as the liquid trickled down her throat, and she sucked on the leaf for a moment before pulling it out of her chops.
Plucking out the rest of the leaves and putting it into her drinking jar, she continued onward, elated with the fact that she had found water. As she trekked forward, Palta wondered about the others. She hadn't seen Tella or Anesti up to this point, and she wondered whether she was far ahead of them or not…
***
The next day, she found her answer.
Palta's twin came forward from the blazing sands and when she saw her, she sighed and bent over. She looked exhausted, and her features were sunken in from dehydration. She was also covered with a few cuts on her arms and chest. It looked like Tella had had a far tougher turn in the Desert than Palta had.
"Hey, you are looking well, Palta…" she gasped fitfully.
"Hey. Glad to see you are still alive." Palta continued to walk forward and Tella skipped along tiredly beside her. "Have you seen Anesti?"
Tella shook her head and then suddenly shot out her hand and grabbed Palta's arm. "You know what, you look really good."
Palta looked down at her and said nothing.
"You found water, didn't you?" Tella gasped with a smirk on her face.
Palta glanced to the floor, and continued her silence.
"Palta…I'm really thirsty…?"
She grunted and forcefully removed Tella's arm from hers. "Sorry. This is a competition," she said as she continued forward.
Tella blinked and laughed incredulously. "You've got to be kidding! Palta!"
Palta steeled herself, ignored her shouts and cries and disappeared into the sands.
***
As another day came, the sands thinned and Palta emerged from the Desert spitting and sputtering. She fell to the ground and savoured the tranquil air and the shining sun. She made it!
She looked ahead through the wavering air and saw Andala and the elders standing at the entrance of the Desert Colossus. She started forward, and when she was about halfway there, she saw Tella burst forth from the Vengeful Desert. She looked just as bad as she did the other day, but this time she wasn't alone. She was carrying an unconscious Anesti over her shoulders.
Turning back to the finish line, Palta ran at full speed, her arms stiff and angled and swinging at her sides, and her legs bursting forth with long, high strides. She wasn't going to lose, not when she was this close. Even with a body over her shoulders, Tella was running too, but it wouldn't be enough. Palta had only a few meters more…
She finally reached Andala and fell to the ground with a huff. Tella was loping ahead a few meters back, but it was too little too late. Palta was elated.
"Haa…Haa…" she gasped. "I did it. This time, Tella, you can watch my back!"
Reaching over and picking Palta up by the arm, Andala dusted some sand from the girl's short braids and said, "Well done."
"I…I made it first," Palta gasped.
As Tella came up with Anesti, Andala nodded and turned to the other too. "Yes, you did. You came first Palta." Andala checked on the unconscious girl and poured water down her throat to bring her around. Anesti sputtered, but she recovered quickly. She stared at the others sheepishly, and Andala patted her on the head.
As the Den Mother rose, she said "Well done," again…before finally facing Tella. "Congratulations Tella, on succeeding the Ascension Journey."
Palta's jaw dropped, and she stared ahead unblinking, not believing what she had just heard.
"When I retire, you will become the next Den Mother. It is a great deal of responsibility, but I am sure that you will continue to live up to our expectations." She went to Tella and placed both hands over her head in blessing. The girl stared ahead stunned, and a large smile began to widen on her face.
Palta stiffly turned to Andala, her mouth still agape. "But…but why?" she cried. "I…I came first."
Andala came to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "We've been using a Commune to watch you girls from the beginning…and we know that if it were not for Tella keeping an eye on you and Anesti throughout the entire time in the Desert, she might have won."
Palta couldn't speak. Her mouth moved but she couldn't form any words. Wasn't this a competition? What is this talk of 'might haves' and 'could haves'?
"Palta, part of being a leader is being able to sacrifice yourself to help your sisters, to be there when they need you…even if they do not know they need you." She turned to the elders and continued with arms spread. "We are all we have. If we need help, who do you believe will come to save us? The Zora? The Gorons? The Hylians? Some of us may be close to them…but let us not kid ourselves. They still believe us to be thieves and amazons and wretches. Not all of them, but that does not matter." Again, she turned to Palta and placed her hands firmly on the young girls thin shoulders. "All we have is each other. The Den Mother must understand this, and she must be able to put her own goals aside for the sake of her sisters."
"But…but why did you say that this was a competition…if we were supposed to help each other?"
Andala smiled. "I lied, because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to test you accurately. You were supposed to know what to do. Tella did, and that is why she has Ascended." She rubbed Palta's here cheerfully and added, "You did quite well Palta. You should be happy with yourself. I'm sure your sister will continue to need your support." Andala finally herded the Gerudo Elders and started towards the regular Desert with Anesti in tow. "We will meet you back at the Fortress and prepare the celebrations. Congratulations again!"
As they left, Tella came up to Palta and threw her hands around her. "Can you absolutely believe it!? It is a dream come true! Don't you think, little sister?"
"Yes…it is," Palta said quietly. When she didn't move after Tella's hug, Tella straightened and looked her in the eye. She saw that Palta was crying, and her eyes widened in shock and concern.
"Palta…"
It was an unbreakable barrier…
"You won…and it isn't because you are favoured by the others," Palta sniffed. "It isn't because you're luckier, or more liked. It isn't because you were born first."
She saw it clearly now.
"Palta…"
Some things were predetermined.
"It's because you are better," Palta squeaked. She squeezed her eyes closed, and new tears created a trench through her sand blasted face.
"Palta…I…I am not better…"
In every thing they did…. in every endeavour, and in every contest, she came out first.
*
"Okay girls," Andala began. "Today is the big day. Today we will start your Commune ceremony." She produced a large curved knife and held out her large hand. She showed the girls a curved scar that ran along her palm, starting at the flesh below her pinkie.
"Wh…what's that?" a six year old Palta said nervously.
Andala knelt to the ground before a large pit of sand. "This is where I cut myself and gave my hand to the sands. You must do the same. It will hurt, and if you're unsuccessful, you could bleed to death. However, I think you can make it."
"You mean you don't know!?" Palta squealed.
"Give me that knife!" Tella said, jumping up and down. Andala warned the girl about how this was not a toy and the Ceremony not a game. Still, she handed over the knife to the girl. "Watch me, Palta!" she shouted, and she cut the knife deeply into her hand.
The silly girl pulled the weapon away quickly and shouted out a strong curse word before plunging her hand into the pit of sand. Palta blanched and nearly fainted at the sight, but Andala just smiled. A minute later Tella brought out her hand, completely healed, by the mystic sands, and she laughed at her new scar.
Andala turned to Palta. "It is your turn now, girl."
As she was given the knife, she began to shake violently. "I…I do not think I can do it…" she cried, tears forming in her eyes.
Tella came up from behind her and held her at the waist. "Do not worry, little sister!" she said forcefully. "I will not let anything happen to you."
"I cannot do it Tella…It is going to hurt."
"If I can do it…you can. You are just like me, aren't you?"
Palta glanced back at her, looked back to the knife and bit her lip. With a quick swing, she sliced the knife through the side of her hand. Blood immediately spurted out, and Palta cried out in shock and in pain. It poured into the ground as if from a fountain, and she thought it would never stop.
"Ahhhh! Help me! I'm gonna die!" she cried.
"Palta! Put it in the sand!"
Obeying her sister's command, she ran to the pit of sand and dunked her hand in. She felt the pain sear through her arm and she saw the sand began to take a tint of red. She was still bleeding; the sand wasn't working!
Tella was there with her, and she hugged her from behind again. "You can do it, Palta! Stop being a wimp and use the sand!"
Palta gritted her teeth in pain and squeezed her eyes shut. A new sensation burned down her arm, and with a start she removed her hand from the sand and saw that it was perfectly healed…except for a curved scar. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Tella grinned and hugged her again. "See. I told you to always trust big sister."
*
She really was her big sister. In every way, at every time…she always bested her. For years Palta was angry…she always thought it was unfair that Tella get all these accolades. That Tella would be the celebrated one, the 'older one'. Palta knew now why she did. It was because she deserved it. She was just better, and there was nothing Palta couldn't do about it.
Tella stepped back and looked at her sadly. "I…you know I am always joking about that 'little sister' stuff, don't you?"
She even bested her on her way out of the womb. From minute one…
"Palta?"
There was nothing to be done. It was an unbreakable barrier, and she could never surpass it.
"Congratulations, Tella…" she said quietly. "You deserve everything…"
Tella stepped forward and took her twin into her arms. Above them, the desert sun beamed and spread forth a warming light. Palta stood limply in her sister's arms, finally realizing her position in this life. She realized it, and she hated it…but what choice did she have?
That was just the way it was, deep in the dry lands of the Gerudo.
************
Zelda and Rin have had some success in their ocean travel to the Kingdom of Calatia…
But not in a way that would make a Princess proud…
However, can an encounter with a new group of people, one of which who comes from a race soon to be extinct help the pair complete their journey?
What will find them on the other side?
Dangerous enemies?
Long lost friends?
Next Chapter:
The Legend of Zelda: Her Story
Pirates!! And the Blue Eyed Devil
It's going to be another long one…I'm gonna have a lot of stuff happen in that chapter. I might split it in half…I don't know. In any case, I hope you enjoyed this look into the Gerudo…cause I've got big plans for them for the future. Please review if you read. Until next time – (o'.')o