Chapter 1: Traveler from Afar

The desert was known for being harsh. Only the strong could survive in a place with oppressive heat during the day, and bone chilling cold during the night. Here among the sands were where the race of women, the Gerudo, made their home. It was in this vast desert that one man's mission lay.

He stood atop a large sand dune, compass in one hand, a map in the other. His brown boots were relatively new, good for keeping the sand off of his feet, and his tan trousers were strapped to his boots to also help keep the sand out. The rest of him was covered in a tan cloak to protect him from the sun's heat. Only his face could be seen. His features were that of a young man just shy of 20 years, a small bit of stubble adorning clearly masculine features. His skin matched that of the desert sand around him.

On his back was a sizable backpack, a necessity for anyone planning a long journey. He put the compass into his other hand which now held both his navigation tools. Reaching back into a side pouch he pulled out a pair of binoculars, and looked through them at the surrounding area.

"Sand, sand, and more sand. No surprise there," He exclaimed, a country accent apparent in his voice. He looked down at his map, then the compass, then back through the binoculars. He eventually spotted something in the distance. "Looks like the old statue I'm supposed to look for. Might take another hour or two of walking. At least I don't have to worry about running out of water," he thought aloud. He had no traveling companion, but he found speaking his thoughts helped him focus.

Regardless, he continued on.

...

He indeed reached his destination in about 90 minutes, and looked up at the dilapidated statue before him. What once must have been a sculpture of a proud Gerudo leader, was now broken and almost unrecognizable.

"Pity, but it can still be of use," he took off his backpack, stuck the binoculars in his pocket, and scaled the statue. Thankfully, the ware and tear provided many a foothold. Once he reached the top he looked through the binoculars. "There we are, spotted you at last!" Well off into the distance, he could see a town in the middle of the desert, a tall rock formation standing atop the town. "If that's the case. I should keep my eyes and ears open for seals, I could use a break from all this walking." He made his way down as quickly as he had climbed up, gathered his belongings, and continued onward. "Gerudo Town, here I come."

While no one would admit to liking guard duty, Dorrah could at least say she took pride in her job. It was made easier by the fact that she and her fellow guard, Merina, got along well. They kept out any unruly monsters, but more importantly, any voe. It was the law of Gerudo Town. Only vai, women, were allowed in. Any voe, men, would be turned away. If any attempted to enter, or were found trying to sneak in, it would not be treated lightly.

"Quiet today, isn't it?" Merina asked.

Dorrah hummed in agreement, "Yeah, there's usually at least one or two visitors by this time in the afternoon."

"You think something's going on at the bazaar?"

"Hmm, possibly. Think we should get a messenger to check on things?"

"Wouldn't hurt. We could ask if- hold on, look there." Merina pointed off to the side. Someone could be seen riding a sand seal towards them. However, as the rider got closer, they could see the rider was riding on the sand seals back. The seal was thrashing about, clearly disliking its passenger, or being handled.

"That's a wild sand seal for sure. Still, even tamed ones wouldn't like being ridden like that." Dorrah remarked.

The seal and rider were almost to the gate at this point.

Merina nodded in agreement, "Looks like we're gonna have to do our jobs."

They both stood at the ready, and watched as the rider hopped off the seal. Its burden gone, the sand seal dashed off into the distance, trying to get as far away as possible. The figure of the person in front of them was obscured by their cloak, but as they came close, the facial features looked more male. This was confirmed when he raised an arm and spoke.

"Sav'aaq, sorry for the mess, never ridden one of those before." He said, no sign of his accent could be heard.

"Sav'aaq," Dorrah replied in kind, he wasn't walking towards them yet, better to try and get some information than to be hostile "what brings a voe like you to Gerudo Town?"

He still hadn't moved from his spot, "I've come a long way to deliver a package and a letter to a 'Vaba Danda', is she in town?"

To his credit, his knowledge of the Gerudo tongue seemed decent. She knew of Danda and her two granddaughters, but still…

"You don't look like one of the usual messengers, where do you hail from?"

He pointed towards the town, "Well beyond the vast desert sands, further than even the lands of Holodrum."

Dorrah and Merina looked at each other, they were both skeptical. It was time to try pressing him a bit. Dorrah spoke, "Regardless of your origin, voe are not permitted in Gerudo Town."

The voe put his hands in the air, "Of course, of course, I wouldn't dare try to break your laws. If possible, could you call Danda so I can deliver the package?"

Merina spoke up, "Wait here," she took a step back and waved over a nearby Gerudo.

'Looks like Konora's getting roped into this' thought Dorrah. Neither of them would leave their post. He might try something if only one of them were present. Dorrahs thoughts were confirmed when Merina spoke again, "If you wait here for a bit, Danda should be here soon."

Nodded, he replied, "Very well, good time for a drink anyway." He reached over to his backpack and retrieved a canteen, taking a good long drink. "Ahh, much better. I've gotta say, I've got nothing but respect for you vai. I have a pretty good heat tolerance, but man is this desert heat is oppressive."

"Hmm, sarqso," she cautiously replied, still wary of him.

"Vasaaq," he took another drink, "geez, where are my manners, I'm Jin. Can't believe I didn't introduce myself. Forgive my rudeness."

While her guard hadn't dropped, this voe, Jin, certainly seemed to be doing everything he could to gain their good graces.

"It's fine, though I must say, your use of Gerduo is very good. How long have you studied the language?"

"Merina," looks like the answer would have to wait. The Gerudo from before had come back, but Danda was noticeably absent. "It seems Danda left yesterday for Kara Kara Bazaar. She hasn't returned yet."

Merina looked at Jin, "You heard her right? She's not here at the moment. You could either entrust the package with us, or head to Kara Kara Bazaar yourself to try and find her."

Jin scratched his chin, "I was directly ordered to give her the package myself, and not give it to anyone else, so I can't give it to you. Alternatively, I might accidentally miss her if I head over to the bazaar…Mind if I just camp out outside the town walls?" He pointed to a random spot on the ground, a bit away from the town walls.

Dorrah and Merina looked at each other. What he was asking for was "technically" allowed. As long as he didn't try to enter there was no harm. In fact, they remember the hero Link doing something similar a few times last year during the whole ordeal with Vah Naboris.

"We won't stop you, but if you try anything sneaky then we're going to have a problem."

"Sarqso, I greatly appreciate it." He walked to what appeared like a relatively flat spot on the sand, and took off his backpack. "Excuse me miss?" he got Konora's attention before she could leave.

"Yeah?" she said, acknowledging him.

Jin pulled out two rupees, both purple, "If you use one of these rupees to buy me a random assortment of food, I'll give you the other one as payment."

…

The three Gerudo vai looked at each other, there was a silent understanding. A free test of his character.

"Deal, I could use the extra money." Konora said while approaching him.

"Sarqso, I could use the food. Nothing but dried food gets boring after a while."

Despite the tension, he handed her the rupee before returning to his backpack. Konora went into the town as the two guards kept their eyes on Jin.

Dorrah and Merina watched as over the next couple minutes, Jin put together a simple tent that looked just big enough for one person. He even had a blanket just underneath the entrance to help keep the sand out of the tent. Right about when he finished, Konora returned with a basket full of various fruits and meats.

"I got your food," she said curtly.

"Perfect, I'm looking forward to some fresh food." He accepted the basket and placed it on the blanket. "Here's your payment, and a bit extra." He handed her the promised purple rupee, as well as a red one.

Konora looked at the rupees in her hand, "I won't say no, but may I ask why?"

Jin scratched the back of his head, "Well, not only were you quick, but I always try to treat vai right, especially when they're cute." Was this guy blatantly flirting with her? Dorrah certainly seemed to this so, luckily Konora would clearly see through such an obvious rouse since-

"Sa'oten, I- um, sa- sa- sarqso," oh, right, she was looking for the voe of her dreams. Of course she'd be weak to flirting.

"Hey, voe, stop flirting with Konora! She's not your errand vai!" Dorrah shouted.

"Ah, my apologies, I didn't intend for it to seem that way. I have a bad habit of flirting with beautiful vai…I did it again didn't I?"

"Yes, yes you did." Dorrah couldn't see Konora's face, but imagined she was blushing right now.

"I'm…I'm gonna go…sav'orq," Konora quickly turned and ran back into the town. Dorrah could confirm that Konora was blushing. She sighed, was this guy serious? She watched as he fished out a hydromelon and began cracking into it with a small knife he had pulled out from his backpack. No matter, until the end of her shift she'd keep an eye on him.

It was dusk now, the sun was about to vanish from the horizon. Jin had minded his own business the rest of the day. He ate some fruit throughout the day, wrote some stuff down in a book he had, and was currently roasting some meat over a small fire. While she remained wary, she also felt she didn't need to constantly watch him. Besides, there was something else that was of more concern for her.

"You noticed it too, right Merina?" she asked.

"Yeah, no one came through today. No visitors, and no returning Gerudo. Only Jin showed up, and he supposedly came from the other direction."

"Right…we should let our captain know. Something might be going around Kara Kara Bazaar."

"The end of our shift is coming up, we'll let her know the moment we're done."

Jin was enjoying a nice chunk of meat, it tasted like beef to him. He wasn't picky. After all the dried and preserved food he ate on the way here, it tasted glorious. However, he was starting to think aloud again, "No one came by the entrance after I showed up, I wonder if that's normal?" His accent was present again, "...Could I ask the guards?...Maybe, but I doubt they trust me much at the moment. Can't blame them, they're probably used to voe like me trying to sneak, bribe, or force their way in…not that I entirely blame them, the Gerudo are very, VERY attractive. Still, they shouldn't bother them. Their laws are their laws, you have nothing to gain by angering them…" Jin finished up his meal, and cleaned the sand off his backpack. Once cleaned, he placed it in the tent, he couldn't risk someone taking it while he slept.

"Alright…think I'll check in with the guards before I turn in. Definitely going to sleep early tonight." He made his way towards the guards. They watched him approach, but made no hostile moves. "Hey, I'm turning in for the night," When talking to the guards, his accent was nowhere to be found, "but before I do I have a question." They both nodded, and he continued, "I couldn't help but notice that no one else came by today, is that normal?"

Merina answered before Dorrah could interject, "No, it is very unusual. We plan on letting our captain know once our shift ends in a few minutes."

"Gotcha, well, I'm turning in early. Will you both be back in the morning?"

"We intend to, unless our captain says otherwise," said Merina.

"Alright, I'll see you both in the morning then, sav'orr."

"Sav'orr," they both answered as Jin made his way back to his tent, taking his boots off before entering.

A few minutes later, their replacements came by to relieve them of duty for the night. Dorrah and Merina let them know of Jin staying outside before departing. They made their way through the town towards the barracks together.

"We watched him all day together Dorrah, what do you make of him?" Merina asked.

"Hmm, his knowledge of our language was quite impressive. You don't find many Hylians, let alone a voe, that learn it so thoroughly."

"Right? Almost as if it was his primary language. But that couldn't be the case."

"If he spoke the truth, he isn't from Hyrule. I don't know anyone, especially a Gerudo that would dare try to enter Hyrule through the desert. A boat would have been the best option, but now I'm getting sidetracked."

"Yes, we have to let the captain know of this situation immediately."

"You mean the lack of visitors, or Jin?"

"Both."

She stood outside her room, her duties completed for the day. Riju was just about ready to retire to her room for the night. Being the leader of the Gerudo was a monumental task, made harder due to her being the youngest leader on record. Whenever she doubted herself, she would think of her ancestor Lady Urbosa, and the hero Link. They helped to inspire her courage.

Looking up at the stars in the sky, she had a strange feeling. It wasn't a bad feeling per say, she just felt like…

'Something big is going to happen.'

What's this? Another story? Yeah, this was one I had in my head for some time now. Still going to have some romance, but I want to ensure I can properly write some fantasy action scenes, instead of my usual sci-fi armored suits. If it works out, I have a crossover story that I've had in my head for literal YEARS, but have been too nervous to start due to the necessity of action scenes and the inevitable LONG length of it. Regardless, I don't know how long this story will be, but I don't plan on making it outrageously long.