I want to commission art for this fic. PM me if you're an artist and you're interested.
Also, please review/comment. I can't become a better writer without feedback.
As they were on the road, the five members of the away team encountered a trade caravan being attacked by monsters. They rushed to the caravan's defense and helped fight the monsters off.
"Thank you," one of the traders said once the monsters had been driven off. "Name's Crow. There were a lot of monsters. We might have been hurt."
"Perhaps you should have hired caravan guards," Lorenz said.
"Well...business has been bad," Crow admitted. "We could only hire one guard." He indicated the only one of the men who wasn't wearing an outfit like his, a big muscular man in leather armor. "We need to get the caravan to Kara Kara Bazaar. The Gerudo are rich, richer than any other people in Hyrule. If we don't turn a profit on this trip, we won't able to operate the caravan anymore."
"With the unsafe roads, trade between settlements would have eroded," Lorenz inferred.
Leonie examined the caravan. "What are you selling?"
"Iron and steel, from Eldin," Crow said. "And also Lurelin Topaz. We're planning to trade for clothing, carpets, and finished jewelry."
"Are those high quality items in Gerudo Desert?" Ashe asked.
Crow nodded. "The best!"
"Interesting," Lorenz said. "And what are their main imports?"
Crow gave a laugh at that. "Men! But aside from that...iron and steel. Wheat. Uncut gemstones. Wool."
As they continued on, Crow told them more about Gerudo Desert. Horses didn't do well in the desert, so the Gerudo used sand sleds pulled by sand seals for transport. Their main farm animals besides the seals were goats, and the local staple crops were Hydromelons, tomatoes, corn, beans, gourds, and a type of lettuce that grew well in dry conditions. Settlements were built near consistent water sources.
"They say the desert was once a lush paradise, but the ecosystem was destroyed because the inhabitants before the Gerudo did too much mining," one of the other caravaners said.
"That's just a myth," Crow dismissed him. "Don't listen to Wolfgang. He doesn't know anything."
Crow also noted something interesting about the Gerudo. "I can't speak for the Gerudo in Termina," he said. "There are rumors that they sometimes have Gerudo sons. But Hyrulean Gerudo are all women. Not one of them is a man."
"Really?" Leonie asked. "How do they keep their population above replacement level?"
"There's rumors around that they can't have sons at all. They aren't true," Crow said. "Gerudo can have sons. But they always take after their fathers. Hylian, Terminian, Sheikah. Even still, sons are rarer than daughters for Gerudo. I don't know by how much."
Crow then had a thought. "Why are you going to see the Gerudo? You aren't traders."
"I need to speak with the leader of the Gerudo," Link said. "It's about Divine Beast Vah Naboris."
Crow scoffed. "Good luck. Men need special permission to enter the Gerudo capital. They only grant that permission to men married to residents. And even those men aren't allowed in the town square. The only men who are are the husband of the Gerudo Chieftain and the King of Hyrule. Chieftain Riju is not married, and Hyrule doesn't have a king."
"We'll figure something out," Leonie said.
Some time later, they reached the trading post at the end of the canyon pass. There, a man ran up to them. "You wouldn't happen to be mercenaries, would you? Please, I need to hire you. I got separated from my four friends when we were attacked by monsters. Their names are Oliff, Flaxel, Canolo, and Palme. I need you to save them! I'd go after them myself, but I was injured in the attack."
"Calm down," Link said. The man didn't look injured, but maybe his injury just wasn't immediately obvious. "We'll find them. Where are they?"
The five of them found the man's friends fairly quickly. It didn't take them long to do away with the blue Bokoblins attacking them.
"Thank you, strangers," one of them said.
"Are you Oliff, Flaxel, Canolo, and Palme?" Link asked. "Your friend Sesame sent us to save you."
"Sesame! That good-for-nothing scoundrel!" Flaxel said. "He talks big about being good in a fight, but runs at the first sign of danger!"
"He said he was injured," Ashe said.
"He lied," Canolo said. "When those Bokoblins attacked us, he didn't even try to fight, he just ran as fast as he could, leaving us behind."
"Come on, at least he sent help," Palme said.
"And yet, he didn't come with them," Oliff said. "He just...made up an excuse."
"Dirty coward," Bernadetta agreed. "Even if I was scared out of my mind, I wouldn't leave my friends behind like that."
"No, you wouldn't," Leonie agreed.
"Go give him a piece of your minds," Bernadetta suggested. "We'll escort you to the trading post."
"That's exactly what we're going to do," Flaxel said.
When they got back to the trading post, the five of them watched Sesame's friends chew him out. Eventually, they stopped, and he walked over to Link and his friends.
"Here. Your payment," Sesame said, handing them a gold rupee. "You did good work, you deserve it. I learned a valuable lesson today."
"That you need to be a better friend?" Bernadetta asked.
"Nope. Friends tie you down," Sesame said. "They have all these expectations of you. I learned I'm better off without 'em."
As Sesame walked away, the five of them just shook their heads sadly. "You just don't get it, do you?" Link asked.
"Let's go see about that Shrine," Leonie said.