Gerudo Desert
Soon, Zelda and Link returned from their trip to find the goron champion. From what Young Link managed to hear, it was Daruk, one of the strongest gorons in the land. He was known for his fearlessness and relentless vigor for battle.
Another day, he woke up to knocking on his bedroom door. While still in his oversized nightshirt, he answered it and jumped back in shock when it was Princess Zelda, "Oh it's you!"
She put a hand over her mouth, "Sorry! I didn't realize you weren't dressed yet. Er, anywho, we're leaving for the Gerudo Desert today if you still want to go. It'll take around two days to get there."
"Y-yeah of course! Uh...see you outside the castle." He felt rude closing the door, but he really needed to get dressed. It's not like he was naked, nor embarrassed, but he could only imagine if that had been the Zelda from his world that was his age. 'I'd never hear the end of it!' He thought as he threw on his green tunic and packed up two others along with his nightshirt. He took his Fierce Deity mask and ocarina just in case.
Despite the two days' travel, they were all taking horses instead of a carriage. Young Link didn't complain, it meant that he got to see more of the land for himself. He was surprised to see that Link and a Sheikah woman were coming as well.
"Who are you?" She asked, riding up on a brown and white painted horse.
"You can call me Young Link. And you are?"
"Impa, it's nice to meet you." Her tone was rather flat and straightforward.
His eyes widened, him bowing immediately, "Oh, you're Zelda's personal guard, right?" 'I assume this Impa serves the same purpose as the previous Impa.'
"Uhh.." She cocked her head, "I guess you could say that? Protecting her isn't my first job, but I am her loyal friend."
"My bad."
Link road up next, he was in his armor as usual. Young Link raised an eyebrow when he didn't say hi or anything, he simply nodded to everyone.
'That's weird, he was talking like it was nothing yesterday. I wonder if something happened? Maybe I'll find out later.' He shrugged.
Zelda led the way once they were outside of Castle Town, keeping the pace at a canter on her giant, white horse. Young Link was kept in the middle of their group, either by accident or coincidence. However, he could tell that Link kept a close eye on their surroundings. It made him feel better about taking in the beauty of the world.
They passed through Mabe Village, a small, bustling part of Hyrule Field. The citizens who were out stopped and bowed as the princess went by. On the other hand, the young hero was interested in their different attire in comparison to the people from Castle Town. Their mode of dress was a lot more laid back and was suited for dirtier work, whereas the townspeople were dressed a little bit nicer.
'Hmm, I guess I didn't bring anything to snack on for the trip.' He looked ahead and saw a couple of trees that were fruiting with what looked to be apples. 'I guess all that practice of standing in the saddle really is proving it's worth!' As they approached the snack source, he took his feet out of the stirrups and slowly rose from his seat, keeping his knees bent to make up for the bounce that came with cantering. It took little effort to grab three apples, one in each hand and another in his mouth.
He only noticed Link and Impa's shocked faces after he resumed sitting in the saddle, "What?" A realization struck, "Oohh! I should've gotten one for Zelda!" He hissed back at them, doing a facepalm.
Impa cocked her head, "Um, no. We're amazed that you just did that out of nowhere." Her semi-monotone voice carried farther than he would've liked, as Zelda turned back to look at him after she finished her sentence.
"Excuse me? What happened?"
"All I did was grab some apples. Do you want one, Princess?" He offered, pointing to the two that weren't caught with his face.
"Oh, no thank you. I don't understand what the big deal was."
Impa waved the conversation away, "I'll tell you later, Your Highness."
Young Link shrugged and took a hefty bite, happy that it was sweet with only a tinge of tartness. He automatically fed one to Grace and then tried to offer the last one to the other two, both of them shaking their heads. 'Well, I'll toss it to Link anyways since I know he wants one,' He concluded as the apple flew from his hand and into his descendant's, 'Your tough act doesn't fool me!'
They continued to follow the path until nightfall, passing the Hyrule Garrison that housed soldiers who were in transit between posts as well as the Exchange...Young Link didn't get much of an explanation for that one.
Zelda stopped her horse in front of a stone building that was in Gatepost Town. "I'm sure they'll be willing to accommodate us for the night. I'll let you know."
A scream followed soon after she entered the building, causing all three of them to jump off their horses and listen to what was happening inside. They heaved a sigh of relief when it was just the family who was excited to see the Princess.
A few moments later, Zelda came out and gave the good news. Her and Impa got to share the guest bedroom. Young Link already knew what came next, 'The age-old question between…the armchair or the couch!' With a glance he saw the gleam of competition in Link's eyes. When the other two left they faced each other, "Rock, paper, scissors?"
Link nodded, his expression and overall attitude exuded the restraint he was maintaining from taking the couch for himself.
"On shoot, okay?" They both got into position.
"Rock!"
"Paper!"
"Scissors!"
"Shoot!"
They both played paper.
Young Link felt a bead of sweat start to form by his eyebrow, 'No problem, just a coincidence.' "Oh, are we playing whoever gets it three times?"
"Nope."
"Er, right. Again!"
They both played rock, frowning at the result.
There was more sweat beginning to perspire around his neck now, "Okay there's no way we'll play the same one three times in a row, right?"
He could see the perspiration forming on Link's face as he nodded, that could be because of his armor though.
The next round they both played rock again.
'WHAAAT! How!? We must be thinking the same thing!'
They kept playing the same thing for the next twenty, rapid-fire rounds. It was starting to get exhausting to keep playing again and again, especially to practically no avail. Young Link took his hat off, the cooler air feeling amazing on the back of his head, "Link please . Stop playing the same thing as meee..." He sounded exasperated but he didn't care.
Link sounded tired as well, "It's not my fault you keep taking my moves, kid."
"Y'know what? One more round. If you steal my move again, I'll just take the armchair."
His descendant was in disbelief, "What? If you were already decided then what's the—"
"I am not losing! " He hissed.
The final round was full of electricity. It was to the point that the younger son retreated back to wherever he came from upon entering the living room.
"Rock!"
"Paper! "
"Scissors!"
"SHOOT DAMMIT!"
Both of them had closed their eyes. Young Link was the first to open his, "Aw man!" They had played scissors. "Well, I guess you deserve the couch more than me anyways."
Link grinned, an ornery look on his face from 'winning.'
"I get to change first, though!" He raced out of the residence to grab his things and quickly changed in their bathroom. Link was still taking off his shin guards by the time he was done. "Not to come off, uh, rude, I guess? But I don't envy your armor for that sole reason."
He chuckled, "I mean, whatever keeps arrows from going through my thighs, but yeah, I can agree."
The young hero soon realized that all that was under the metal was a regular pair of blue pants, blue shirt, brown wrist guards, and brown boots. 'Interesting.' He wrapped up in the blanket that the mother had provided, laying horizontally across the chair.
When Link came back, he wore a simple shirt and pants, both were some variation of brown. He was looking for his blanket.
The woman came by again, "Ah, I thought you two were going to share the couch together, sorry." She went back to her room.
Young Link watched Link slowly turn his head in his direction. He heaved a sigh and hopped out of the chair and walked over to the couch, unwrapping himself from the blanket, "Yeah yeah, that was for nothing. Just don't cuddle me."
"Why?"
He was dismayed, "Because you're not soft and you'll make me hot under the covers! Now scoot!"
The next morning, he awoke to warm air on his neck, he was sweating as well. His thoughts were cloudy, 'Ugh, what is that? Why does it feel like a hundred degrees under here?' The same gust of weirdly warm air came again, this time he moved his arm to feel where it was hitting his neck, the movement making him realize there was another limb that laid across his torso.
His eyes narrowed, the annoyance surging up from his gut, "aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Young Link launched his descendant off the couch with a swift push, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO CUDDLE ME!"
Link almost caught himself from completely falling, but he could hardly keep his eyes open, "W-what?"
"I'M NOT YOUR TEDDY BEAR DAMMIT!" He motioned to his body, "Ugh! I feel all sticky now thanks to you!"
Impa had walked out from the hallway to his yelling, "Is there a problem?"
He composed himself, sighing, "No, it's nothing. Just—" His eyes glanced at Link, seeing his now indifferent expression. He slouched, "—nothing…"
She put a hand on her hip, "Well, you'd better get dressed soon. We're leaving somewhat soon. Also you're loud." She returned to the guest room.
"What was that?" Link yawned, taking his shirt off. He walked over to where he sat his knight armor and picked up his blue shirt.
"I woke up to you breathing on my neck! And...I might have overreacted, or something." He got up and started to head toward the bathroom to change.
"Ah wait."
He looked back, "Yes?"
Link held out the chest plate, he'd already put on the chainmail that goes underneath, "Just really quickly help me get this one piece on. It's the only part that goes better with another person. I'm fine with everything else."
Young Link obliged, standing up on the couch in order to reach, "How tight do you want it?"
"Just don't cut the blood flow to my arms."
"Fair enough."
The family graciously cooked them some eggs before they left. The environment grew more rigid and arid as they entered the Gerudo Canyon. Young Link found the warm temperature to be pleasant, but the extremely cold chill that rolled from the top of them sent a shiver down his spine.
"Dear Goddesses! That's cold!" He bent over in the saddle and rubbed his arms, still shivering.
"You won't be saying that when we get to the Desert." Impa replied, "I'm lucky this fabric breathes, or I'd broil over."
Zelda hopped in, "You also have to keep in mind that it gets quite cold at night too. It's good that your gown has long sleeves, young one."
He blinked, astonished, "Gown? It's an oversized shirt!"
She giggled along with Impa, "My bad. It's clearly very long on you."
He couldn't keep his eyes from rolling, "Either way, I heard one of the divine beasts were found. It's called something like Vah—"
"Ruta," Zelda finished, "It was found within a rock formation that was close to the domain. I'm not sure what kind of beast it was based off if I'm honest. It has a very long snout, big ears, and four legs."
Young Link couldn't imagine what it looked like from the description, "I heard it can spray water for hours on end, seemingly out of nowhere."
She nodded, smiling, "Yes, it can! In terms of water, we'd never have to worry about another drought in centuries!"
"It's the only one we've found so far, but we've heard there may be a possibility of discovering another in the desert," Impa said.
"Huh, that would be cool," he commented. The conversation ended there.
The Gerudo Canyon was an interesting place, especially because of the orange-red rock formations. 'It reminds me of the way to the Gerudo Desert from my universe, only this is much prettier.' He looked back at Link's horse, "Oh hey, I've been meaning to ask you something."
Link looked a little timid, "Yes?"
"What's the whistle you use to call your horse?"
He hesitantly demonstrated, his mount looking back at him with his ears up. It actually sounded nothing like Epona's Song. "What about it?"
"Oh, well I was curious if it sounded like this song. Your horse really likes it." Young Link pulled out his ocarina, the other three watching him as he played his past mount's favorite melody. Link's mount whinnied in response to it, making him smile. "See? I was pretty surprised."
Impa was squinting her eyes at his ocarina, "Is that yours?"
He was almost offended, "Yes. Why do you ask?"
"Because it has the Triforce on it," she plainly replied, "Which means it belongs to the royal family."
Zelda was confused, "Yes, except we've never had an ocarina, and I know that it's not mine, nor my father's. Perhaps that's just how it was painted."
'I am not appreciating this suspicion from Impa. There's also no way to explain that my Zelda gave this to me without it sounding unbelievable.' "I get that you're concerned, but trust me, I'm no thief."
The princess gave her friend a look, turning back to him afterwards, "That aside, you're very good at playing. I didn't necessarily expect that."
"Thanks! I would sure hope so since I've had this for years. It's one of the most important things I own, next to my mask of course." He put it away. 'I don't plan on getting that out again anytime soon. Geez.'
"Actually, whenever we have some free time, I was hoping I could ask you about your mask," Zelda continued, "I tried to find it in my independent studies, but there's nothing about it. My teacher even meant to ask you."
"Really?" That made him a tad nervous, "Well I'll do anything but put it on."
She smiled, "That's fine with me."
Hours later, it was the hottest part of the day and they had just put their horses up at a nearby stable. The desert would be too hot for them to handle.
"Are you gonna be okay in all that armor, Link?" He asked as he handed off the reins to the stableman.
Again, he looked somewhat nervous to talk, "Well, er, I just remember that the armor reflects the majority of the sun, whereas heat is just heat."
"I'm not sure that's how that actually works, but it's good for hope. I'll try not to get sunburned."
When the group departed from the cool canyons into the wide, open desert, the first thing that boggled Young Link was the fact that it was hot . Like, really hot . 'What the!?' He felt his skin already become slick with sweat, 'It's not even this hot at home! It was just really dusty!'
The second thing was that the sand became a weapon of sorts whenever the wind blew. The single grains of sand stung his bare arms and legs each time.
The third and most mind-blowing thing was that this desert was massive . He was already rather small, but the openness of the environment made him feel even tinier. 'How does anyone like living here!? You could get attacked, like, anywhere! And no one would hear it!'
His brows furrowed as he thought, 'I shouldn't let that get to me. My skin may feel like it's simultaneously being melted off and whipped, but I still need to keep my guard up in case anything like that one time happens again.'
And he did, to the point that when a friendly Gerudo woman came passing by, he immediately dashed behind Link, who in turn almost instinctively drew his sword.
A bead of sweat went down his descendant's face when he looked back, "A-are you okay? What was that?"
Young Link didn't hear his question as his mind was living through being captured and having to sneak and fight his way out of their fortress. Even worse, in Termina he had to sneak in again to get these zora eggs for this singer because they had stolen them. Both were unnerving experiences, as being caught meant being roughly thrown out or even killed. He snapped back to the present when Link nudged him, "Huh!?"
The woman was laughing, "Aw! Did I scare the little voe? My apologies." She waved to the rest of them and continued on her way.
Link was concerned while Zelda and Impa were confused. "Hey kid," Impa's tone was slightly snarky, "Don't tell me you're afraid of women."
"I'm not! I've...just had some bad experiences."
"You've never been here before," Zelda countered, raising an eyebrow.
He shook his head, "It's complicated. But seriously, I'm not scared of girls ." He already knew Link was planning to ask him about it later. He came out from behind him and kept going.
They stopped again for the night at the Kara Kara Bazaar. It was a small oasis that was a thirty-minute walk from the town. A large pond sat in the center and a merchant selling the native fruits sat to the left. Toward the back was a building that served as a shop for arrows and as a small resting spot. Palm trees decorated the scenery and provided ample shade.
'Talk about paradise!' Young Link thought, taking mental pictures, 'Well, this one place is.' He saw Zelda take a picture of the pond with the Sheikah tablet, it prompting him to walk up to the water and stick a finger or two in, "Whoa! The water is really cool!" If it were just him, he would have jumped in immediately. 'Well, if the sun was out and there wasn't a chill that came in, then I would have flopped into the water.'
"For sure!" Impa agreed, "This bazaar is probably my favorite stop."
"Oh yeah, before we go tomorrow, can you guys explain how the Gerudo work?" He asked.
"Of course," Zelda gathered the group together, "The Gerudo Town is a women-only place."
Hearing this caused an eyebrow to raise, "Huh?" 'Can they really do that?' He knew they were a women-only tribe , but he wasn't expecting for them to place that on an entire town .
"Here, women are called vai and men are called voe ," She explained, "Since there are no men in the town, they have to venture out to look for their husbands instead. It's quite interesting in my opinion."
"Wait, will they make an exception for me and Link?" 'If not, then what was the point in coming?'
Her expression appeared apologetic, "Well.. maybe they'll make an exception for you since you're so young, but I can't say that's the case for Link. I'm sure he expected it, though."
"If neither of us can come in, then what do we do?" 'She isn't gonna say that we'll have to stand outside, right!?'
She cheekily smiled, "I'm sure you'll find something to do, young one." Her and Impa parted for the motel, "We're going to get some sleep. I suggest you do so as well."
After waving to them, he looked to Link, "Not sure about you, but I'm gonna enjoy the scenery for a bit longer."
The knight sat beside him, "I'll join you then."
Young Link gestured for him to go, "Oh, you don't have to if you don't want to. Don't feel obligated or anything."
"This is home territory for the Yiga, I don't think I need to explain myself."
"Fair enough."
Link looked into his eyes, "So what happened earlier? I mean, the women here can definitely be intimidating, but she was just a traveler."
"Well what I'm going to explain is going to sound crazy, but just take it at face value for my sake." He explained his previous encounters with Gerudo women and how they had been known for being notorious thieves and treasure hunters. He left out the part where he was an adult and that he was technically impersonating another zora on the other occasion. That's harder to explain without more explanation. "Last thing, can you uh, not stare at me right in the eyes? I get that you're listening, but it's not coming off as respectful," he chuckled. 'I realize it's an odd request, but still!'
"Oh, sorry." He crossed his legs, "That was an interesting explanation. I can see where you're coming from if that's the case. Also, I'm sure you've noticed, but it's good to see that those bruises are gone."
Young Link felt his neck at the mention of it, "Oh yeah. Only took a few days too. I hated the looks people gave me."
"It hurt me to look at them too. Especially since I saw you gasping for air and coughing."
"I dunno what to tell you then. I always manage to get hurt one way or another." He held up his left hand and looked at the scar-like triforce mark, "Didn't know courage actually meant clumsy."
Link pleadingly smiled, his eyes centered on his hand.
Young Link stood, "Nooooo, nope! Not gonna happen! You get to wait like everyone else!"
"Dude c'mon! What if Zelda asks questions about it? Are you gonna tell her that?"
"You're damn right! It's no one's business!"
Link put out his bottom lip as his pupils widened and sparkled.
"Are you really pouting at me? A grown knight to a kid?"
He nodded his head.
Young Link laughed, playfully pushing him, "Well it's not working! Nothing sways the Hero of Time!"
"Wait, the hero of what ?"
"The Hero of Nothing! Because heroes don't make as many mistakes as I do, so I'm definitely not one!" He swiftly turned in the direction of the motel, "Goodnight!"
His descendant quickly reached out and grabbed his foot, making him fall, "You sure about that?" His smile was playful.
The young hero pushed him off, "Oh absolutely!" The next thing he knew, they had both drawn their swords and were pretend sparring...for the most part. Young Link was surprised that he was getting the upper hand the majority of the time, but it also could have been that Link was tired in general.
The rough housing ended when he parried behind his descendant, scrambled onto his shoulders, and took him down with his dead weight. Link groaned, "Aw maan, you're gonna make me soooore."
Young Link was panting, "Speak pant for yourself. I wasn't pant even trying." He stood up only to nearly fall again, "I take it back."
When they both entered the motel, tired and sweaty, they nearly fell over at seeing that there was only one bed to share. He didn't feel like arguing, "You're more likely to be standing in the hot sun than me. Just take it."
The knight was already taking off his armor, "Thank goodness."
"Bastard." He collapsed onto the couch that was nearby. Sleep immediately gripped his conscious and took him into its depths.
The next morning, they made the walk to town, passing several rejected men on the way. They gave both Links sour looks each time. Upon their arrival, the guards at the front gate halted them. They wore colorful shining armor, fitted with other clothes that were suitable for the heat. They both were tan and extremely muscular. Young Link did a double take when he first looked at them.
'Whooaaa, if there's a lady I don't wanna piss off, it's either of them.'
"Sav'aaq, Princess," the guard on the left greeted, "It's lovely of you to grace the town with your presence."
"Ah yes, I'm here to have a meeting with Urbosa." She explained.
The one on the right looked at the knight and young hero, "You surely don't intend to take them with you, right?"
Both of the girls looked back at them, "No, but I was hoping you might make an exception for this little one." Zelda pulled Young Link forward, "He's never been to the desert before."
"Hmm," they both leaned forward to get a closer look at him.
"No can do, Princess," said the one on the right.
"We've heard this one is a Yiga magnet," the left replied, "We might have considered it a bit more if that wasn't the case."
"Sorry, young one." She and Impa continued past the guards.
He shrugged and went to go stand with Link, 'I wasn't really expecting anything once they said women only. Oh well. I bet sneaking in doesn't work very well here either.'
Twenty or so minutes passed before he attempted to make some small talk, "So..are you used t—"
Within a fraction of the moment, both him and Link jumped back at the appearance of a Yiga clan bowman, dodging the arrow fire. Young Link was already at the enemy, slicing into his arm before he disappeared.
But that wasn't the only one. A hundred or more appeared out of thin air in front of their eyes, surrounding the town. Both them and the guards immediately went to work at battling them, a horn being heard from the inside of the town.
The young hero dashed to each one, easily getting a hit on them that was good enough for them to retreat. He noticed that Link wasn't too far away from him at any moment. 'Okay I get it, but I can also take care of myself!'
With his luck, a swarm of them surrounded him, all being scythemen. "You'll have to do better than that!" He did a spin attack right as they lunged for him, causing significant damage and bloodshed. This made the closer Yiga focus on him, they all were headed in his direction and were warping around.
'Something feels different,' he noticed as he hacked at those who got close to him. He glanced down at his hand, seeing the yellow triforce of courage glowing brightly, 'I knew it! Stop glowing dammit!' However, he was starting to get into a rhythm like he did in the previous universe.
'Actually, I wonder if that triforce move works now that's glowing…' He separated himself from Link and the other guards and ran into the thick of the Yiga clan members. He held his sword skyward, feeling the same power from his previous battles surge through him. As quick as light, he cut the shape of the triforce into the surrounding Yiga, the ground lighting up and blasting those who stood on it with intense light. "Yes! It worked!"
Young Link continued to best his opponents until he felt a sudden pain pierce through his left knee. He fell to the ground as a result, trying his best to get back up. When he looked down, he saw that the tip of the arrow had started to pass through his leg but hadn't yet. With little thought, he yanked it out, picked up a nearby bow from a fallen member, and shot it into the head of another.
'Okay I need to get back to Link, there's not a lot of backup over here.' He ran to the best of his ability back to the entrance gate to Gerudo Town, not seeing the knight anywhere. "Link! Where did you go!?" He assisted the two guards who were holding back scythemen from getting into the town before going in himself and nearly dodging the sharpest gale of wind he'd ever witnessed, "What the hell!?"
Another whizzed by him, the direction from where it came from telling his eyes where to look. In a blink of an eye, a giant, muscular Yiga swordsman appeared in front of him with a deep laugh. "Prepare to pay for your actions, infant!"
He tried his best to dodge the attacks, but they were practically nonstop, 'Argh! My left leg is really slowing me down!' Young Link thought up a tactic that sometimes worked when dealing with powerful enemies, "Oh, I bet you want to see my head on the edge of that blade, huh!"
The swordsman laughed, swinging at him more, "It seems we're in agreement, then."
"Except that it's not gonna happen!" He threw himself between his legs when the opportunity presented itself and cut the back of the Yiga swordsman's ankles with a swift slash. Bluff always took enemies out of battle.
"AAAAAAAARRGHHH!" He furiously howled, falling to his knees.
Young Link expected him to disappear now that he was severely handicapped, but his moves simply resorted to stabbing the long kitana-like blade forward, sending the sharp gusts of wind from before. 'I still have the bow from earlier, I just need an arrow and I can finish this guy….there!'
He escaped the buff Yiga member for the moment and hobbled toward a struggling Yiga scytheman that had a dagger caught in his neck. He yanked it out, making him go limp. The idea was to shoot it into the swordsman's face or heart, whichever was more available. When he returned, his enemy's demeanor changed.
"Wait! Don't kill me!" The deep voice pleaded, the attacks stopping.
Young Link drew back the drawstring, his aim was exact, "You can't fool me."
"No! Please!"
"Fine, you can send a message then." He kicked away the sword, bringing his aim closer to his foe, "Leave. Me. Alone."
"Okay okay!" He frantically nodded.
'Hmph, I don't like the way this feels,' Young Link concluded with a frown. Without warning, he released the dagger into the Yiga member's upper shoulder, him crying out in pain before disappearing.
He dispatched whoever was left in the town and noticed that the clouds had become dark and full of electricity over the course of the battle. There had been lightning strikes hitting the sand in the background as well. Young Link fell over when he ran into Urbosa, mainly because his left leg really had enough after getting shot.
In seconds he had a scimitar to his neck, causing him to scoot back, "Friend or foe?" Her voice was powerful.
"He's a friend Urbosa!" Came Zelda's voice. She ran out from behind her and stood between him and her blade.
The Gerudo leader put away her weapon, her fiery eyes glancing down at his leg, "You're hurt. Bring him inside."
Link, who seemingly came out of nowhere, picked him up and brought him into the throne room. Other women were receiving bandages and help from participating in the battle, some of which had worse wounds than he did. The knight gently sat him down on the steps of the staircase that was to the right of the entrance to the throne room.