Author's note: I am really sorry that it took me so long to update. I hope
you like the first chapter. If you review my story I will review one of
yours in return. As I stated in the prologue, I don't own any of the Zelda:
Ocarina of Time things.
~.~.~.~.
Namir walked out of the elaborate maze of mesa Gerudo dwellings, which were built into the mountainside. He had once again gotten in a fight with his mother. It was an occurrence that happened almost every day. His mother never understood him. She raised him as she would a female child that was all she knew how. The only thing was that he was a male.
Namir sighed, frustrated. You'd think that she would've learned by now. He turned left and stalked up the steep hill to the archery area. It was a place he often went to vent his anger.
The archery area was a long oval shaped crevice in the mountains separating Hyrule Field from the sandy wasteland. At either end targets were set high up on poles and several targets where set up all in a row across from the entrance to the area.
Namir walked straight from the entrance to the shade where several extra bows and arrows were propped against the rock wall. The shade was basically constructed of a cloth held up by some wood posts.
Once he had selected a bow from the three that were there and grabbed a few arrows he walked in front of one of the targets. Namir fitted the arrow to the bow and pulled the taut string back. The tiny black dot in the center of the target was fixed in his mind. He released the arrow and watched as it flew straight to the center of the target. With the anger and irritation still flowing through his veins he fired the next few arrows in succession, missing the center every time.
A short while later Namir put down his bow and smiled. He had done better than he normally did and the last two arrows he had shot were embedded deeply in the center of the target. He gathered up the arrows, most of which he plucked from the sand or the target (although not the center). His arms ached from pulling back the bowstring, but he was happier now. Satisfied with his shooting he put the bow and arrow back under the shade and left the archery area.
~.~.~.~.
Namir's skills with the bow grew until he could hit the target's black dot five out of ten times. When he was bored he would often ride his desert-bred horse around Gerudo Valley, wishing that he could see more of the world. It was forbidden to leave the valley until you had warrior training, starting at the age of thirteen and ending, at the earliest, when you reached eighteen. The time until you were to begin training was devoted to studies, such as learning how to read, write, and do math problems. A lot of time was also given to the children to do what they wished.
Namir still didn't get along with his mother very often and his older sister, Elmira, constantly teased him. She did it for no reason other than the fact that he was a male. That was the problem with Gerudo; they were terribly prejudiced against males. Despite two more male children having been born since Namir he still experienced degrading treatment every day, whether from his mother, sister, or other Gerudo he happened to come across. Some just ignored him, or looked upon him with curiosity, but others regarded him with disdain. Most of the younger Gerudo teased him and if they caught him alone would beat him up. Namir tried to block himself as best he could from the blows, without fighting back, but his anger of being hit, and pushed, and teased grew. One of these days he knew he would fight back making them dislike him even more. He knew that they would then think him vicious, and uncivilized.
Namir's fighting skills grew faster as he neared the time to start his warrior training. It was mainly because he would vent his anger by shooting the bow and arrows or playing around with the wooden practice swords he had found by the extra bows one day.
He copied sword moves that he saw seasoned Gerudo warrior's use. By the time he reached the age of thirteen he was far ahead of most of the other thirteen-year-old Gerudo.
The spring of the year that he turned thirteen came quickly for Namir and before he realized it his Gerudo training had begun.
~.~.~.~.
"Namir! Namir it's time to get up!" his mother called up the stairs.
Namir groaned and turned onto his side, with his back facing the door. It was way to early to be up. He ignored his mothers second yell to get up, trying to get back to sleep on his comfortable mattress.
"Ow!" Namir said and got up from the mattress as he felt someone kick him lightly in the back.
"You're lucky I didn't kick you harder, mother told me not to."
"Thanks Mira," Namir said sarcastically to his older sister.
"Oh, yes, mother says that today is the first day of your Gerudo training."
"What!? Oh shoot! Why didn't you tell me sooner? Now you're going to make me late!" Namir said pushing his sister out the door. She left grumbling. Namir quickly pulled on his shirt. As soon as he was done changing he ran out of his room and down the stairs to the main room, which was their kitchen, living room, and dining room. It had a tall ceiling and was made of stone from the mountain the fortress had been carved into.
Namir sat down at the wooden table and hurriedly began eating the breakfast that had been laid out for him. A short while later Namir, his mother and his sister met in front of the Gerudo Fortress. The rest of the trainees stood with their families all waiting for Caethza, the Histrademess or Head Weapons-Mistress, and the other instructors.
Namir felt very uncomfortable. Here he was surrounded by a group of all females. Many of them glanced at him, although some openly stared. The more conventional Gerudo glared at him, practically saying that he didn't belong there. His mother stood proudly ignoring the looks her son received and his sister glowered. She had been forced to come along because it was tradition that everyone in the new trainee's family came. Namir knew that Elmira didn't want to be there. He also didn't honestly care whether she was present or not.
About fifteen minutes later the Histrademess walked up the stairs in front of the fortress followed by four teachers. She commanded the attention of the group of Gerudo without doing a thing. Just her presence left everyone quiet. She stopped at the top of the staircase and stared out at the assembled group, catching the eye of several trainees.
When her gaze fell on Namir he saw wisdom and determination in her eyes. She looked like she was in her forties with shockingly red hair. The other two teachers surveyed their upcoming students with interest.
"You are all here to become Gerudo warriors," Caethza began. "You shall learn the use of many weapons, but I hope also that you learn to be good people. I know that most of our people often steal, but we still have honor. I hope that when you get promoted with the status of 'Gerudo warrior' that you know how to be honest, and have integrity," she briefly paused, "and morals and values of your own that you uphold. I hope that you will understand and obey our laws and that you keep your pride and honor no matter what." The Histrademess paused a moment, "This year, as I am sure most of you have noticed, we have a male Gerudo among us. He will be the first male Gerudo since Ganondorf to complete training." Caethza grimaced as she said Ganondorf's name, remembering her history lessons well of how evil he had become. "As many of you know there have been two more male Gerudo born since Namir and I think it is safe to assume that even more will be born in the future. It is my hope that our people judge these Gerudo males fairly." Several outraged gasps followed this statement, not many Gerudo where ready to accept such change this quickly. Males had always been despised. "And so, I welcome all of these new trainees to warrior training."
Talk broke out as soon as the Histrademess was finished speaking. All discussed the interesting speech that she had given. Namir's mother stood quietly, but his sister Elmira was talking harshly and quickly to one of her friends.
"Would all of the trainees please follow me?" Raimia, one of the instructors said over the noise of the crowd.
The girls and Namir eagerly separated from the group and followed Raimia up the sandy hill to the archery area. Behind them the families broke up and dispersed to their various activities. Namir stayed to the back of the group because some of the girls glared at him while others looked defensive, and a few even seemed frightened of him. Namir made himself breathe normally as rage welled up in him. How long would he have to put up with this!? He was sick of seeing everyone watch him like he was some weird animal. Namir stoically followed the group, his eagerness dissipated.
~.~.~.~.
Days passed quickly as Namir learned at the archery area. It was Raimia and Fali who taught them at this time. Raimia was a short Gerudo with reddish-blond hair, the red being the most prevalent. She was nice and fun and everyone liked her. She taught the studies going more in depth over what the young Gerudo should have already covered at home. It was also said that she was wickedly good with two scimitars.
Fali was taller than Raimia with reddish-blond hair also, except her hair showed more of the blond. She was strict and demanded excellence from everyone. She taught the young Gerudo horsemanship and how to use the bow. The students were separated into groups based on their skill riding and using the bow. Namir was in the highest level with two other girls. As one group was working with Fali the other sat in the shade around Raimia and she taught them studies. For some reason Fali was especially strict with Namir, pointing out his every tiny flaw and critiquing him constantly. The bow work and riding was definitely not Namir's favorite part of the day, but it wasn't anybody else's either.
Namir was still ostracized from the group of girls, but he didn't mind as much as he originally had. He was beginning to accept his solitary state and Raimia was just as kind to him as she was to the girls. So he continued looking up, knowing he could've gotten stuck with a teacher who was prejudiced against him.
The trainees lived in bunks in one of the larger rooms of the Gerudo fortress. Namir being a male had his own room although it wasn't much bigger than his pantry at home. In the morning he was woken up with the other trainees (including the older ones in training) and went through conditioning exercises working on their strength, endurance, and agility. They were given a short breakfast before the thirteen-year-old trainees had to meet in the archery area. The older trainees went with their teachers to do whatever they were learning. At the archery area they worked on their skills with the bow, riding and their studies. One day they would ride and the next they would work on archery switching day by day. The trainees ate a late lunch (by that time everyone was starving) and then they met in a large circular chamber in the Gerudo fortress where they began learning how to use different melee weapons. After they finished that training they were allowed to eat dinner and have free time.
During melee training the students were taught how to handle all of the Gerudo weapons including staffs, single and double swords, glaives (a pole arm with a six inch blade at one end), axes, spears, knives, daggers and several others. After a few weeks everyone found that they preferred one weapon to the others. Namir's favorite weapon, were the two scimitars.
In his free time after dinner Namir was often found in the circular training area working with the two blades. It was his new way to vent, because it often got to dark for him to shoot very well.
After dinner, a few days after melee learning had begun, when Namir was working on the sword patterns they had been taught he noticed that Raimia was watching him. He stopped in the middle of the pattern and waited for her to say something. She walked over to him and repositioned his arms and feet.
"Try doing the pattern again. This time remember what Fali and I have been telling you." She said
He felt embarrassed that he hadn't been doing it right, but he complied with what Raimia said and redid the pattern keeping in mind their lectures on balance and fluidity.
"Much better," Raimia said, "Do you mind if I practice my sword work here? I feel as if I'm getting a little rusty."
Namir was shocked. A teacher was asking him permission if she could practice in the melee area? "Sure," he said.
Raimia warmed up doing some stretches and patterns without her swords before she unsheathed her two scimitars and began going through a complex pattern. To Namir it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. She seemed to dance flowing smoothly from thrust to parry to side cut in a blur of movement. She finished a few minutes later to the staring audience of Namir.
"Someday you can be that good, or better," Raimia said.
"I don't know...that was amazing!" Namir said.
"Practice."
~.~.~.~.
After that night, Namir and Raimia were often found together in the circular training area practicing together. Raimia helped Namir in his swordwork and they would sometimes spar together with wooden swords.
One starry fall night as Namir was walking back to his 'room' he noticed shadows out of his peripheral vision. He took a few more steps and found himself ringed by five of his year mates. They were wearing clothing in the style of the Gerudo guards. Loose pants, a face cover, and a breast bands. They didn't look nice. Namir made his stance defensive and waited for one of them to do or say something. A tall girl stepped forward from the circle. He couldn't make out whom she was because of the cloth that covered her face from the bridge of her nose down.
"So. You think you're special do ya?" she began.
He frowned, confused.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"You know exactly what I mean!" she hissed. "Practicing with Raimia. Do you think that you can get her to bed, or do you wish to take over the world as Ganondorf did? You. Are. A. Male. And you will always be one. You will always be despised. How can you think to go through training! Acting like you are better than all of us just because you are in the advanced groups." The others ringing him nodded agreement.
"But, I don't..."Namir began before she cut him off.
"Oh, yes. You've also corrupted Zara, who was my best friend, until she decided that you weren't, as I knew you were. A stupid, pathetic male! She even told me that she would like to get to know you better!" the girl was almost spitting. "Enough talk though, we didn't come here to chat."
Namir spun instinctively and blocked a blow coming at him from behind. Before the leader could hit him with his back turned, a girl ran up from the hallway leading to the bunks. She pushed two of the girls out of her way and went to the middle of the circle. She faced the leader of the gang of girls with her hands on her hips. Fury emanated from her body and sparks practically flew from her eyes in the dim torch lit corridor.
"What are you doing?" she asked softly.
"None of your business traitor!" the leader said glaring at her.
"I knew you disliked Namir, but this is despicable!"
The leader of the gang spun around and stalked away with a gesture to her friends to follow. The group vanished down the corridor to the bunks. The girl sighed in contained anger and turned to face Namir. She had reddish-blond hair and her eyes were light green in the faint light. She was a little taller than Namir, but most of the girls were.
"I hope you're all right and you should just forget about whatever they said. I think it is neat having a boy in training." The girl said before walking the way the other girls had gone seeming embarrassed.
Namir was amazed. No one had ever stood up for him before. He went back to his small room feeling both happy and angry. One girl liked him obviously, but there was still the majority that didn't. He almost wished that the girl hadn't stepped in, than he could've beaten the group. Well, he admitted to himself he probably couldn't have beat so many. Not yet anyway.
~.~.~.~.
~.~.~.~.
Namir walked out of the elaborate maze of mesa Gerudo dwellings, which were built into the mountainside. He had once again gotten in a fight with his mother. It was an occurrence that happened almost every day. His mother never understood him. She raised him as she would a female child that was all she knew how. The only thing was that he was a male.
Namir sighed, frustrated. You'd think that she would've learned by now. He turned left and stalked up the steep hill to the archery area. It was a place he often went to vent his anger.
The archery area was a long oval shaped crevice in the mountains separating Hyrule Field from the sandy wasteland. At either end targets were set high up on poles and several targets where set up all in a row across from the entrance to the area.
Namir walked straight from the entrance to the shade where several extra bows and arrows were propped against the rock wall. The shade was basically constructed of a cloth held up by some wood posts.
Once he had selected a bow from the three that were there and grabbed a few arrows he walked in front of one of the targets. Namir fitted the arrow to the bow and pulled the taut string back. The tiny black dot in the center of the target was fixed in his mind. He released the arrow and watched as it flew straight to the center of the target. With the anger and irritation still flowing through his veins he fired the next few arrows in succession, missing the center every time.
A short while later Namir put down his bow and smiled. He had done better than he normally did and the last two arrows he had shot were embedded deeply in the center of the target. He gathered up the arrows, most of which he plucked from the sand or the target (although not the center). His arms ached from pulling back the bowstring, but he was happier now. Satisfied with his shooting he put the bow and arrow back under the shade and left the archery area.
~.~.~.~.
Namir's skills with the bow grew until he could hit the target's black dot five out of ten times. When he was bored he would often ride his desert-bred horse around Gerudo Valley, wishing that he could see more of the world. It was forbidden to leave the valley until you had warrior training, starting at the age of thirteen and ending, at the earliest, when you reached eighteen. The time until you were to begin training was devoted to studies, such as learning how to read, write, and do math problems. A lot of time was also given to the children to do what they wished.
Namir still didn't get along with his mother very often and his older sister, Elmira, constantly teased him. She did it for no reason other than the fact that he was a male. That was the problem with Gerudo; they were terribly prejudiced against males. Despite two more male children having been born since Namir he still experienced degrading treatment every day, whether from his mother, sister, or other Gerudo he happened to come across. Some just ignored him, or looked upon him with curiosity, but others regarded him with disdain. Most of the younger Gerudo teased him and if they caught him alone would beat him up. Namir tried to block himself as best he could from the blows, without fighting back, but his anger of being hit, and pushed, and teased grew. One of these days he knew he would fight back making them dislike him even more. He knew that they would then think him vicious, and uncivilized.
Namir's fighting skills grew faster as he neared the time to start his warrior training. It was mainly because he would vent his anger by shooting the bow and arrows or playing around with the wooden practice swords he had found by the extra bows one day.
He copied sword moves that he saw seasoned Gerudo warrior's use. By the time he reached the age of thirteen he was far ahead of most of the other thirteen-year-old Gerudo.
The spring of the year that he turned thirteen came quickly for Namir and before he realized it his Gerudo training had begun.
~.~.~.~.
"Namir! Namir it's time to get up!" his mother called up the stairs.
Namir groaned and turned onto his side, with his back facing the door. It was way to early to be up. He ignored his mothers second yell to get up, trying to get back to sleep on his comfortable mattress.
"Ow!" Namir said and got up from the mattress as he felt someone kick him lightly in the back.
"You're lucky I didn't kick you harder, mother told me not to."
"Thanks Mira," Namir said sarcastically to his older sister.
"Oh, yes, mother says that today is the first day of your Gerudo training."
"What!? Oh shoot! Why didn't you tell me sooner? Now you're going to make me late!" Namir said pushing his sister out the door. She left grumbling. Namir quickly pulled on his shirt. As soon as he was done changing he ran out of his room and down the stairs to the main room, which was their kitchen, living room, and dining room. It had a tall ceiling and was made of stone from the mountain the fortress had been carved into.
Namir sat down at the wooden table and hurriedly began eating the breakfast that had been laid out for him. A short while later Namir, his mother and his sister met in front of the Gerudo Fortress. The rest of the trainees stood with their families all waiting for Caethza, the Histrademess or Head Weapons-Mistress, and the other instructors.
Namir felt very uncomfortable. Here he was surrounded by a group of all females. Many of them glanced at him, although some openly stared. The more conventional Gerudo glared at him, practically saying that he didn't belong there. His mother stood proudly ignoring the looks her son received and his sister glowered. She had been forced to come along because it was tradition that everyone in the new trainee's family came. Namir knew that Elmira didn't want to be there. He also didn't honestly care whether she was present or not.
About fifteen minutes later the Histrademess walked up the stairs in front of the fortress followed by four teachers. She commanded the attention of the group of Gerudo without doing a thing. Just her presence left everyone quiet. She stopped at the top of the staircase and stared out at the assembled group, catching the eye of several trainees.
When her gaze fell on Namir he saw wisdom and determination in her eyes. She looked like she was in her forties with shockingly red hair. The other two teachers surveyed their upcoming students with interest.
"You are all here to become Gerudo warriors," Caethza began. "You shall learn the use of many weapons, but I hope also that you learn to be good people. I know that most of our people often steal, but we still have honor. I hope that when you get promoted with the status of 'Gerudo warrior' that you know how to be honest, and have integrity," she briefly paused, "and morals and values of your own that you uphold. I hope that you will understand and obey our laws and that you keep your pride and honor no matter what." The Histrademess paused a moment, "This year, as I am sure most of you have noticed, we have a male Gerudo among us. He will be the first male Gerudo since Ganondorf to complete training." Caethza grimaced as she said Ganondorf's name, remembering her history lessons well of how evil he had become. "As many of you know there have been two more male Gerudo born since Namir and I think it is safe to assume that even more will be born in the future. It is my hope that our people judge these Gerudo males fairly." Several outraged gasps followed this statement, not many Gerudo where ready to accept such change this quickly. Males had always been despised. "And so, I welcome all of these new trainees to warrior training."
Talk broke out as soon as the Histrademess was finished speaking. All discussed the interesting speech that she had given. Namir's mother stood quietly, but his sister Elmira was talking harshly and quickly to one of her friends.
"Would all of the trainees please follow me?" Raimia, one of the instructors said over the noise of the crowd.
The girls and Namir eagerly separated from the group and followed Raimia up the sandy hill to the archery area. Behind them the families broke up and dispersed to their various activities. Namir stayed to the back of the group because some of the girls glared at him while others looked defensive, and a few even seemed frightened of him. Namir made himself breathe normally as rage welled up in him. How long would he have to put up with this!? He was sick of seeing everyone watch him like he was some weird animal. Namir stoically followed the group, his eagerness dissipated.
~.~.~.~.
Days passed quickly as Namir learned at the archery area. It was Raimia and Fali who taught them at this time. Raimia was a short Gerudo with reddish-blond hair, the red being the most prevalent. She was nice and fun and everyone liked her. She taught the studies going more in depth over what the young Gerudo should have already covered at home. It was also said that she was wickedly good with two scimitars.
Fali was taller than Raimia with reddish-blond hair also, except her hair showed more of the blond. She was strict and demanded excellence from everyone. She taught the young Gerudo horsemanship and how to use the bow. The students were separated into groups based on their skill riding and using the bow. Namir was in the highest level with two other girls. As one group was working with Fali the other sat in the shade around Raimia and she taught them studies. For some reason Fali was especially strict with Namir, pointing out his every tiny flaw and critiquing him constantly. The bow work and riding was definitely not Namir's favorite part of the day, but it wasn't anybody else's either.
Namir was still ostracized from the group of girls, but he didn't mind as much as he originally had. He was beginning to accept his solitary state and Raimia was just as kind to him as she was to the girls. So he continued looking up, knowing he could've gotten stuck with a teacher who was prejudiced against him.
The trainees lived in bunks in one of the larger rooms of the Gerudo fortress. Namir being a male had his own room although it wasn't much bigger than his pantry at home. In the morning he was woken up with the other trainees (including the older ones in training) and went through conditioning exercises working on their strength, endurance, and agility. They were given a short breakfast before the thirteen-year-old trainees had to meet in the archery area. The older trainees went with their teachers to do whatever they were learning. At the archery area they worked on their skills with the bow, riding and their studies. One day they would ride and the next they would work on archery switching day by day. The trainees ate a late lunch (by that time everyone was starving) and then they met in a large circular chamber in the Gerudo fortress where they began learning how to use different melee weapons. After they finished that training they were allowed to eat dinner and have free time.
During melee training the students were taught how to handle all of the Gerudo weapons including staffs, single and double swords, glaives (a pole arm with a six inch blade at one end), axes, spears, knives, daggers and several others. After a few weeks everyone found that they preferred one weapon to the others. Namir's favorite weapon, were the two scimitars.
In his free time after dinner Namir was often found in the circular training area working with the two blades. It was his new way to vent, because it often got to dark for him to shoot very well.
After dinner, a few days after melee learning had begun, when Namir was working on the sword patterns they had been taught he noticed that Raimia was watching him. He stopped in the middle of the pattern and waited for her to say something. She walked over to him and repositioned his arms and feet.
"Try doing the pattern again. This time remember what Fali and I have been telling you." She said
He felt embarrassed that he hadn't been doing it right, but he complied with what Raimia said and redid the pattern keeping in mind their lectures on balance and fluidity.
"Much better," Raimia said, "Do you mind if I practice my sword work here? I feel as if I'm getting a little rusty."
Namir was shocked. A teacher was asking him permission if she could practice in the melee area? "Sure," he said.
Raimia warmed up doing some stretches and patterns without her swords before she unsheathed her two scimitars and began going through a complex pattern. To Namir it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. She seemed to dance flowing smoothly from thrust to parry to side cut in a blur of movement. She finished a few minutes later to the staring audience of Namir.
"Someday you can be that good, or better," Raimia said.
"I don't know...that was amazing!" Namir said.
"Practice."
~.~.~.~.
After that night, Namir and Raimia were often found together in the circular training area practicing together. Raimia helped Namir in his swordwork and they would sometimes spar together with wooden swords.
One starry fall night as Namir was walking back to his 'room' he noticed shadows out of his peripheral vision. He took a few more steps and found himself ringed by five of his year mates. They were wearing clothing in the style of the Gerudo guards. Loose pants, a face cover, and a breast bands. They didn't look nice. Namir made his stance defensive and waited for one of them to do or say something. A tall girl stepped forward from the circle. He couldn't make out whom she was because of the cloth that covered her face from the bridge of her nose down.
"So. You think you're special do ya?" she began.
He frowned, confused.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"You know exactly what I mean!" she hissed. "Practicing with Raimia. Do you think that you can get her to bed, or do you wish to take over the world as Ganondorf did? You. Are. A. Male. And you will always be one. You will always be despised. How can you think to go through training! Acting like you are better than all of us just because you are in the advanced groups." The others ringing him nodded agreement.
"But, I don't..."Namir began before she cut him off.
"Oh, yes. You've also corrupted Zara, who was my best friend, until she decided that you weren't, as I knew you were. A stupid, pathetic male! She even told me that she would like to get to know you better!" the girl was almost spitting. "Enough talk though, we didn't come here to chat."
Namir spun instinctively and blocked a blow coming at him from behind. Before the leader could hit him with his back turned, a girl ran up from the hallway leading to the bunks. She pushed two of the girls out of her way and went to the middle of the circle. She faced the leader of the gang of girls with her hands on her hips. Fury emanated from her body and sparks practically flew from her eyes in the dim torch lit corridor.
"What are you doing?" she asked softly.
"None of your business traitor!" the leader said glaring at her.
"I knew you disliked Namir, but this is despicable!"
The leader of the gang spun around and stalked away with a gesture to her friends to follow. The group vanished down the corridor to the bunks. The girl sighed in contained anger and turned to face Namir. She had reddish-blond hair and her eyes were light green in the faint light. She was a little taller than Namir, but most of the girls were.
"I hope you're all right and you should just forget about whatever they said. I think it is neat having a boy in training." The girl said before walking the way the other girls had gone seeming embarrassed.
Namir was amazed. No one had ever stood up for him before. He went back to his small room feeling both happy and angry. One girl liked him obviously, but there was still the majority that didn't. He almost wished that the girl hadn't stepped in, than he could've beaten the group. Well, he admitted to himself he probably couldn't have beat so many. Not yet anyway.
~.~.~.~.