A/n: Thank you so much for the review and the follows and favorites! You guys are awesome and keep me writing :3 I hope you enjoy this chapter and this story will be picking up very soon!


To Blacken the Lake

Chapter Two: Desert Wasteland

Glancing over to one of the Gerudo women, I feel more disgusted by the second. Their clothing is more revealing than what I wear to bed every evening. It's an atrocity to see such immodesty. To think there are people more unashamed than me is an impossibility. Of course, looking at them now is a different matter.

"And here I thought the young princess was more open-minded than the rest of them. But look at her face, mother. She thinks us more atrocious than even the King of Hyrule. I mean, look at her ugly twisted up face."

I narrow my eyes at the woman insulting me. She is just as orange-red skinned as the other Gerudos, but appearing much younger than the rest. I am surrounded by older Gerudo woman. Most of them are almost twice as tall as I am; however, one of the elders sits with her feet inches above the floorboard of the wagon. She is also the only one holding any sort of smile or genuine kindness towards me. Despite my hatred for the enemy, I am grateful for that small comforting expression.

"I'll say," one of the more snooty women pipes up. "They find us all ugly, but look at them! That ugly white-yellow shade of hair unkempt to their buttocks — repulsive."

My butt scoot forward, but the chains pull me back from getting any closer to the ones sitting on the bench across from me. "Listen here, Gerudo scum, if anyone is ugly here, it is you. You're the one who captured me, right? What have I done to you?"

The giant woman's eyes turn to slits as I lash back at her.

"Alright, ladies," the small elder says. She smiles at me with bright yellow eyes. "She is going to be our new guest in our village. Let's treat her with a bit of dignity."

The youngest woman grows wide-eyed as the women speaks such nonsense. "What are you talking about? She is a prisoner. I would have lovingly handed her over to Vonka, but with how arrogant she is, it sounds like throwing her to Ganondorf is the best option."

The elder smiles again, acting all sorts of funny — of course, it isn't as if I know what she was like normal, but my guess it isn't as cryptic and confusing as she is currently being.

"Throwing her to my son is a great idea." Her smile grows so big in that moment that her eyes squint shut.

My eyes, however, grow wide. "I think I'll take this Vonka she spoke of."

The young Gerudo snaps her head in my direction, shooting another glare. "As if you get a choice."

The wagon rolls over a rock and lurches everyone to the left. My body bumps into one of the Gerudo women who gladly shoves me back to my place. Thankfully, the rest of the way is only swaying rather than any sudden tipping.

Scoffing at me, she snivels. "Princess Tori of Hyrule. Your sister receives an ancient family name while you are named after a small, insignificant lake. How unfortunate for you."

I raise a brow. "You have no more insults that you try and make fun of my name that I rather like? Pathetic."

The more I snap at every remark they make, the more I wonder why I'm behaving precisely as they are. I suppose it best to simply keep my mouth closed.

It was unlucky for me that there are no windows in that wagon to look out of so that my eyes aren't forced to look at the many red-wrinkly women. Instead, I lower my eyes to my bound hands, wandering how one moment I was watching Zelda and Link like a giddy little girl and then prisoner of the Gerudo tribe.

"So why is it that there are only women in the Gerudo tribe? How is it possible to reproduce?" I ask, genuinely curious. I have wanted to ask my father for quite some time, but the tribe was usually something our family never spoke of; especially recently when they threaten to overtake Hyrule Kingdom.

And you bet darn sure I am going to find out what they are up to while I'm prisoner.

I just hope that I'm not a prisoner for very long…

Finally, the wagon slows down and the Gerudo hop out one by one. The woman I ran into only moments earlier shoves me out, making me fall onto another one of them. It's growing more ridiculous. I am surrounded by them and there is no way out. I can hardly move without bumping into an orange-skinned, wrinkly old hag.

Sweat forms on my forehead as the sun's rays pierced the the ground and blanketed my pale skin. The heat here must be a thousand-fold than in Hyrule. My lungs are clearly weak things, having such difficulty breathing in the hot air. I'm an embarrassment to my people; not even five minutes in the Gerudo Desert and I feel as though I'm going to pass out on the sand.

The youngest woman comes up behind and, nudging me to move forward with the group as they walk inside one of the sandstone huts. Though the place is buzzing with life; it doesn't feel as such. The women are quiet — their faces are stern and void of expressions as they marched back and forth across the village with spears in their hands.

They lead me to one of the longer buildings. I'm not sure if the building is supposed to be as dark as I see it or if seeing the sun at its brightest creates an illusion of pure darkness. Whatever the case, I am thankful that one of the women felt me a threat enough to grip my arm, causing her to guide me through the pitch black.

The hallway is long and narrow. Or at least, I figure it's narrow from how close the Gerudo women walks next to me. I try moving away but quickly run into a cold, uneven surface that feels like metal bars.

Though I'm sure it's been only seconds since we entered the building, the silence makes it feel like hours.

"Where am I going?" I ask.

"Shut up, prisoner."

To be funny, I fake a shocked gasp. "I thought I was a guest. I must say, I'm quite hurt."

"EllaRosa is a case. Best you ignore her no matter how nice she is to criminals," the women who led me says.

We stop at the end of the hallway. There is a dim light coming through a high, oblong window. The room is small. I'm not sure a small child's bed would fit in this room. The woman opens the metal barred door and shoves me inside, shutting it tightly with a key and tucking it into her pocket. The Gerudo women quickly disappear into the darkness.

I'm all alone in this tiny cell…not even a bird chirping to keep me sane.

Fortunately for me, I am no helpless citizen of Hyrule. If one couldn't tell from my story so far, I get into a lot of trouble quite frequently. Once upon a time, I fell into a Sheikah trap meant to catch bears and other large critters for meat and hides. It was an easy lock to pick, mind you, but I can't imagine that Gerudos are somehow smarter than the technologically advanced Sheikahs.

Pulling a small pin from my unkempt hair, I began away at the picking. Just as I assumed, the lock was nothing more complicated than a Sheikah padlock. It falls to the floor with a small clink — a clinking that sends shivers through my skin with pride and joy.

I'm not a typical princess. This is good.

I quietly make my way down the hall, my slippers making more noise than I hoped. Slipping them off, I continue to the entrance, gripping them in my hands.

The village is rather small in radius. Most of the buildings are built skyward rather than across the sandy ground. I try scanning the area as swiftly as possible. There are guards and groups of women training with weapons in almost every corner. Getting out without getting caught will be a mighty large task.

But what else am I supposed to do?

The buildings are close together, creating narrow alleys and great shade for sneaking around. I walk out of the prison and make my way slowly to the back of the village. I keep a close eye on the group of women closest to me who are waving spears around as they practice the art of stabbing imaginary enemies. I shiver at the thought of one of those piercing my gut.

As plummeting as my luck had been so far today, it shoots right back up as my eyes lay on a natural canyon-made archway leading to the outside of the village and the rest of the wastelands.

The journey here was long, but dying out there is much better than being tortured here.

I take a single step beyond the arch, peering behind me to make sure no one sees me. The coast is clear, and I take off at high speed across the desert sands. It is an even greater miracle that running across the dust is a quiet matter. You could barely here a horse gallop a mere five feet away.

I run until I no longer see the Gerudo village or the massive canyons surrounding it.

My heart races so fast I worry that it will beat right out of my chest. Leaning over with hands placed on my knees, I breath in and out with great force. The heat makes it so difficult to catch my breath.

The sun is sinking low on the horizon, goading me to continue my walk before it gets too dark. Of course, with the length of the wagon ride, I'm not so sure that hurrying is going to do me a whole lot of good. The night is approaching fast.

As the hours pass, the sun disappears and the darkness takes over. I was hoping there would be stars and a brilliant moon to light the path ahead, but there isn't a single star in the evening sky. The only thing lighting my path is the eighth moon high above, appearing much further away than I'd ever seen it.

I may be wild and enjoy my days outdoors, but it seems none of that has prepared me for such an strenuous journey across desert sands. My body is already growing weak, my throat is thoroughly dry, and I've stopped sweating profusely from the lack of water in my body. It was dumb of me to have left without so much as a drop of water. Now here I am, ready to give up and pass out for the vultures to feed on.

With a slight shake of my head, I furrow my brows and try to focus on the good thoughts while trekking.

Images of Zelda and Link cross my mind. I picture them happy with their conversation despite it having been a set up and living their lives honestly and happily.

A faint smile reaches my face as I recall the two of them.

If only they hadn't snatched me so soon.

But eventually, the weariness and dehydration catch up to me.

I slowly come to a stop, closing my eyes to get rid of the blue and purple spots blurring my vision. I want more than anything to lay in bed and pretend all of this is just a dream. The pain and exhaustion is more excruciating than anything I've ever felt. My life was always so easy and simple. I never went hungry, I never grew thirsty, I never had to walk further than the courtyard…I never had to fear for my life.

Though my mind seems to be in a mush, I can faintly hear something behind me. It's hard to focus on the sound, but it is evidently there. If I'm to be honest and reveal just how weak I truly am, I don't care about that noise. All I want is to lay down and sleep after a cold glass of water.

I try to keep an even breathing pattern, continuing to ignore the approach of the figure behind me. I feel my knees giving out from under me, the air swooping my hair to cover my face as I fall as my eyes close shut…

The strangest thing is, I don't feel my body hitting the ground.