The rest of the day passed by like a gust of wind over sand. Aria visited the stables to give Titan a last treat before she would head to bed. The last stall where normally stood the black horse of the king was empty, as was the rack that held the stallion's tack. She spent that night in Aveil's room, curled into the older woman's side as a cold gale swept across the land, their breath hanging in the air.
After breakfast, on the next day, Aria was greeted by Koume and Kotake in the training room.
"Where's G- the king?" Aria glanced around confused. She didn't see his energy anywhere nearby, inside or outside the compound.
The witches looked at each other with raised eyebrows and a rather 'know-it-all' look on their faces that only confused Aria further.
"He has some business to take care of in the spirit temple. He was only your temporary mentor while we were away."
"Why, did you enjoy your time training under him?"
"Prefer him now?"
"No, no of course not. it was just confusing that he wouldn't inform me beforehand."
"Mmm.. Let's get down to training!"
"Fire!"
"No no no, Ice."
"Fire!"
"Ice!"
"Actually, could we work on plant life today? I know I'm not very skilled in it, but I would like to be better."
"I suppose working on something you're not good at would be wise."
"But, why not work on something you're very talented with? Like fire!"
"I just.. I feel like I need to work on growing and manipulating plants."
"Very well." Kotake sniffed, her mouth a tight line.
"You know the basics, so why don't we start with seeing how well you can manipulate a plant into growing in an unnatural setting. Here, this is a fruit seed that grows only in the most shaded and dampest of soils. Grow it in the sand."
"But.. what about water?"
"You'll have to figure that out on your own."
"Oh come now, Kotake, we can give her a hint."
"No. She needs to use her own head. She won't be spoon-fed all the answers."
"... Fine." Koume crossed her arms and sat back on her broom.
Aria paused a moment staring down at the seed. It was a rather plain thing, the case a hard wrinkly brown. She could understand how it could easily blend in the dark soil, keeping it safe from all sorts of critters that would want to eat it, but she couldn't really see a way to convince it to grow in such dry conditions. She could see the spark in it, easily enough. It was brimming with life. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get it to grow. She focused on its energy and encouraged it to sprout, to reach for the sunlight, but it was.. she could only call it stubborn. Like a certain Gerudo.
Aria touched the seed to her mouth, pulling and expanding some of the moisture her lips had left on the casing. Engulfing the seed with water made it shrink back upon itself, and she quickly pulled back most of the water, letting it fall into the sand below her. She put the seed in the wet sand and tried to will the seed to grow, but the sand lacked significantly in nutrients.
Grumbling, Aria spent the next five hours expending her energy trying to get the damned thing to grow. She couldn't just force the seed to grow, nor could she get the sand to bear more nutrients. The seed couldn't tell her what it wanted or needed, and it left her at a loss.
"Well, she had the right idea. Maybe the seed is a dud." Kotake crossed her arms staring down at their apprentice who was desperately trying to get the seed to grow.
"It's not, there's still life in it."
"Dearie, even the recently deceased have a bit of life left over in them, that's just the way of things. Life perseveres. It doesn't mean it will grow. That seed is so old, it just might not grow."
" We'll try again tomorrow, with a different seed, something more adapted to the desert. Just leave the seed there, and go get something to eat. You've earned it." Koume spoke softly, hovering above.
"Can I take it with me?"
Kotake grimaced, sending Koume a look. It wasn't like there would be any harm in her taking the seed. If it was old and mostly dead anyways it wasn't likely their young apprentice would accidentally be strangling any other gerudo with its vines.
"Of course."
"Thank you. Oh.. umm, what seed is it anyways? What plant does it grow into."
"Back when the desert was a valley, before it was cursed by the sun and the Hylians, there used to be this large forest, bordering between our lands and Hyrule. Our border was the river, which has long since carved a deep crevice in the land. This tree, used to grow next to that river, it used to be as thick as the trees in the Kokiri Forest, protecting the valley from the sun and the dry winds that ravage the desert to this day. "
"So what does it look like?"
At that Koume and Kotake shrugged in unison, and left Aria to her own devices. She pocketed the seed, and headed towards the bathing chamber. There was hardly anyone there at that time, so bathing ended up being more business than relaxing. Nabooru was missing as well, Aria noticed when she came into the dining hall for lunch. The main table was completely empty. Aria stared at the seed for most of her lunch, trying to figure out what made it tick. It's life energy was constant, not wavering any more or less than normal, as if the seed itself were stuck in time.
"You're oddly quiet today." Aveil snuck up on Aria, and she jumped- almost dropping the seed on the platter. "What's that?"
"A seed, I haven't been able to make it grow."
"Huh. You've tried watering it, keeping in in the soil and cool?"
"Cool?" Aria questioned.
"You know, some seeds like cold damp places to grow, sometimes very dark. The desert isn't great for that."
"Huh.." Aria stared at the seed again, as if it would give her a response to this new insight, but it was just a seed.
"Come on, let's give your mind something fresh to focus on." Aveil grabbed her hand, dragging Aria outside to the training grounds.
"I know Nabooru isn't here right now, but we can still get some good training in." Aveil offered, tossing Aria a dagger. Aria caught it, but not before it made a sharp cut on the palm of her hand. She winced, it was her own fault for not having fast enough reflexes. That wasn't to say she wasn't getting faster, but it still hurt when she caught it wrong, her pride stinging more than the cut.
"Where's Nabooru and Faruin?" Aria asked as they practiced, racing around the arena trying to get a hit on one another. Aveil had stopped being solely defensive with Aria a little over a month ago, and they'd been working on offensive against offensive fighting.
"King Ganondorf took them out on a scouting mission. They probably won't be back for several months, but they should be back before the tournament. Nabooru might return before then, just to help set up and make sure everyone qualifies. Thinking about entering?"
"I.. I'm not sure."
"You should, it'd be good experience. I'm sure with a few more months of training you could make it to the semi-finals!"
"How, everyone else here has had years of training!"
"Yeah, but we've all been trained basically the same way. You're different. You have previous experience, different knowledge, and magic. Magic is allowed in the semi-finals."
"I'll think on it."
"Alright, but I'm still going to be training you for it."
"But.."
"No buts. You're getting the training."
That month was a pain and a half, as each day Aria was tested to her limits. She spent the mornings training with Koume and Kotake, still focused on trying to get the seed to grow. Her evenings were spent shirtless, training with Aveil until sunset, where she spent time with Titan, working on mounted archery, or just laying in the hay while the stallion grazed. That wasn't counting her new lessons of learning and living the various customs the gerudo had. Dancing, for one. Aveil told her it would help her advance in her fighting, so Aria found herself taking beginning dance classes with many of the younger Gerudo. The children loved her, maybe it was that an adult was just beginning to learn the dance like they were, or maybe it was because Aria spent time after class showing them small tricks with magic. Koume and Kotake might've thought she was abusing her powers, but what was the point of having magic if she couldn't make others happy with it? It wasn't hurting anyone, except her if she tried too hard.
It was a long month in the magic aspect, as she switched from forcing the seed to grow, to changing the soil so that it was compatible to the seed. It didn't need much changing, she found out after the second week of trying, as it wasn't the sand she wanted- but the once-enriched soil hidden a few feet beneath the sand. It was late in the night that she'd made the discovery that changed the entire game for her. Aria had been sitting on her bed, messing around with fire, as the the nights in the Gerudo Valley were freezing, and the only way to stay warm was to have a lot of covers, which she had so little of, sleep with another person, or to start a small fire in your own room. Most people chose to sleep with others, but Aria hadn't curled up with Aveil that night. She chose to work with mastering her fire, the heat of the flames and using magic keeping her warm. A large gust of wind had blown through the window, feeding the fire and making it jump. A spark of it had landed on the hard brown seed. Aria gasped, pulling back the flame, but the damage was done.
The hard brown case had broken open.
Concentrating, she looked at it's spark, to see if it was unsalvageable, feeling like someone just chucked a stone in her gut. Instead, she was surprised to the spark had grown, as if she'd just broken open a seal, and it was a hungry spark. Carefully, she gave it water from the flask on her bedside table. It arched into the water, but shrunk back upon direct contact. Carefully, Aria set the seed inside the enriched soil she had sitting in a pot on the table. She willed it to grow, carefully pouring water into the soil until it was mostly damp- but not swimming in liquid. A small sprout curled forward from the seed, but Aria couldn't make it thrive as rapidly as the desert vine had.
She sighed, setting it to the side for the night. The moment the cold of the room hit it, the seed's spark seemed to wither a bit. Aria cursed, lit a candle and brought it close to the potted plant. It was an odd idea, that a plant that enjoyed moisture so much was born from fire and disliked the freezing nights of the desert.
Still, it was a start, much better than what she'd had before.
At the end of the month, Aveil slid up next to her, draping an arm around Aria's shoulder.
"So, tomorrow we're going to Hyrule. Do you wanna come with?"
"What's in Hyrule?"
Aviel gave Aria a lecherous grin, leaning closer. "How exactly do you think the Gerudo keep growing?"
"The King?"
"No! Gosh, no! Sometimes, every once in awhile he'll find a woman he likes and he's not related to, but no." Aveil cackled as Aria's cheeks heated up.
"Wait, so besides him, where?"
"Hyrulian men. The gerudo blood is so strong in us that we only birth more gerudo women, except once every one hundred or so years, where a king is born."
"So, Ganond-" Aria paused, going to correct herself with 'King'.
"You can say his name without the King, Lord, or "His most majestical being when he's not around."
"Alright, so Ganondorf was just given the throne because he's a male Gerudo? That's a little sp-"
"He earned the right. He wasn't given anything, except intensive training since he was a young child. Our kings aren't spoon-fed babies like the hylian princess. Ganondorf had many hard trials, you've been out on the desert with your horse, he had no horse. He had a knife and the clothes on his back."
"And extensive knowledge of the desert"
"Well, yes, that goes without saying- but he was just a child at the time. He was to travel to the Spirit Temple in seek of spiritual guidance at the age of 10. He came back changed. It's a long hard journey, body and soul, not unlike your own. "
"Changed? How changed?"
"A warrior. He was… older in a way, as if he'd seen many horrors of the world, of years before him. I.. I do not claim to know what he saw, what the Goddess of the Sand deemed for him to see, I doubt it was as pleasant as a cool breeze on a hot day."
"Oh." Aria sat there in silence for a while, questions racing through her mind, questions that only the King could answer.
"Anyways. You've been here for severals months, and we were wondering, would you like to join us on the trip to Hyrule?"
"I.. I'm not sure I'd be the best of company in um.. that type of situation." Aria blushed, rubbing the back of her head.
"Oh.. OH! Well, then it'll be a treat to take you. Don't worry, we'll show you how to have a good time. Not all of us are going to be going in for the opportunity to increase ranks, there's plenty to do in Hyrule."
"Sure, when do we leave."
"Tomorrow, bright and early. We'll ride out before dawn so we get a full few days, maybe a week if we're lucky."
"What should I bring?"
"Oh you know, a few pouches, in case you feel like pickpocketing, daggers, bow and arrow, maybe a sword, something for hunting, something for protection, your horse, traveling clothes, traveling gear- like your flask, just common sense things. Oh and umm, don't hide your ears."
"My ears?"
"Yeah, Hylians have pointed ears. They're more likely to trust you if you show them. Gerudo aren't well looked upon by Hylians, not after years of war and strife."
"I haven't been told a lot about the issues between Hyrule and Gerudo. Is it like… my old country, where Hyrule just wants to take over anything and everything within its reaches?"
" Not exactly. Hyrule has expanded over the years, blessed some would say, but that doesn't mean they're without fault. They've got this huge power hidden away that they use to force their land to be fertile, but it comes as a price. It's not.. a proven fact, but I'm sure that that power they abuse sucks up the magic and resources from outside turning it into wastelands like the desert."
"But… the desert can grow.."
"Life survives, of course, but.. our people suffer. I've seen ancient carvings showing the Gerudo thriving, forests, lakes, even a few meadows at one point- but mostly forest."
"Ancient? How old?"
"I'm not sure, older than Koume and Kotake for certain."
"What about the Sand Goddess? Doesn't she protect you?"
"The Sand Goddess protects us as she can, but if the power the Hylians hold on to is truly that powerful and is draining the magic from her and the land she protects, then…" Aveil faltered for a moment, conflict rising in her golden eyes. "Then… if she weren't protecting us, the Gerudos would already be extinct, and the desert would have no life left in it at all, no plants, no oasi, nothing but hardened cracked ground and the vast sand dunes." Aveil stared down in her lap. "They say it's because their goddesses favor them, that it's somehow the wills of their three goddesses that we aren't thriving, but… what goddess would be so cruel as to destine an entire race to extinction in a slow, long, torturous way? Even monsters aren't that evil."
"I… I'm sorry? "
"It's not something you can be sorry for. You don't even speak of the culture of your old country."
"I wasn't really a part of it honestly, there is a belief in three gods, but I never really spent time in the temples. Master Nicar had more important things to do than worship."
"Your old master.. what did he look like? What was he like? You never really talk about him."
'I.. he was.. He was a handsome man, dark brown eyes, hair as black as coal. He was so skilled in manipulation, transmutation. He could change sand into flowers, and he had such soft hands."
"Soft hand huh? Not a warrior?"
"No. He was.. magic, he was flesh, blood, bone, and wind all wrapped in one being. He was so sweet when he wanted to be too."
"Sweet, sounds like you had a thing for him, huh, huhhhh?" Aveil nudged Aria in the ribs, teasingly.
"I.. no! No! He was my master, my teacher, that's.. that's extremely looked down upon. It would've made him biased towards me and and.."
"Looked down upon? Biased? It should've made him work you harder- to be the best you can be. That's what people who love you should strive for. Yes, you don't want your loved ones to be hurt, but you should want for them to know how to protect themselves, to be their best. "
"That's not how they see it."
"That's… odd."
They spoke no further on the subject, instead Aveil began pulling out items for Aria to bring with her, helping her pack well past sunset. That night as Aria laid in Aveil's arms she thought on the missing King, wondering of the trials he faced in the desert, what he saw in the temple that changed him so.
She dreamt of a bright triangle surrounded in fire, and for some reason it hurt- as though something was ripping her soul from her and leaving her bare; and empty shell.