The Gerudo tribes and the Hylian people had spilled each other's blood for centuries. The newest Gerudo lord known as Ganondorf was raised in this war; he was taught to fight, to lead since the day he could walk. But by the time he became of age to take his father's place, the soldiers of Hyrule had pushed the Gerudos deep into the sandy wasteland that was their home. The proud desert people were trapped, and every day they lost a little more of their land to the Hylians. However, Ganondorf led his tribes through such trials, even though some in his tribe still called him a boy, he swore an oath to protect his people; at any cost.
As Ganondorf overlooked the golden dunes that rose and fell till they touched to the bright blue sky, he remembered the decision he made. The Gerudo's would cease to fight and let Hylian's keep the land they had taken if that meant peace. This shaky treaty was made, but neither side was happy. The sand swirled around Ganondorf as the hot wind blew by; the young lord's horse snorted, digging his hooves into the sand and stopping for a moment. Ganondorf gave a small smile, looking down at his black stallion that once belonged to his mother. The young man reached down, patting the horse on the neck before remarking;
"What's the matter, boy? Don't tell me you are getting too old for this?". The black stallion, moved its head, almost glaring at its rider before letting out a bellowing whinny and shaking his head. Ganondorf laughed, shifting in his saddle. "That's what I thought, Majo," he said before his smile slowly faded a little as his eyes once more looked over the never-ending sands. He again reached down and gave Majo a good pat on the neck. "Come on now, let's keep going, an oasis has to be around here..." Ganondorf trailed off has the heavy hooves hitting sand caught his ears.
"My lord!" The Gerudo ridder called out. She seemed a little frazzled, which was only natural due to the fact she was Ganondorf's personal guard. "The scouts have yet to return; we do not know what is out there, please stay close," she said, panting a little as she stopped her horse right next to the young lord. It was at this moment Ganondorf realized that he was far ahead the rest of the group. Ganondorf blinked before bowing his head and saying in the most regale voice he could muster
"Of course Nana, I understand," the Gerudo women, Nana, smiled from behind her scarf, she was one of the few that believed in the young lord, one the few that didn't see a boy making child-like mistakes but a man doing what he thought was right. But perhaps that was because the two knew each other since they were very young.
"Thank you," Nana sighed, bowing her own head "now, allow me to ride ahead of you," she added before slightly kicking the side of her horse to get it moving once again. Ganondorf watched as she road off. Majo snorted loudly, pawing at the sand as he watched the other rider canter off quickly. The young lord looked down at his steed, smirking lightly.
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Ganondorf chuckled before giving a quick "Eyah!", snaping the reins of his horse, causing Majo to start to gallop and then, the horse began to run. Nana turned just in time to see the blur of Ganondorf riding past her. The sight gave Nana enough time to cry out.
"My Lord!"
"Atta boy!" Ganondorf laughed; he closed his eyes. Feeling the warm wind go against his face, Ganondorf smiled to himself. His unnatural vivid red hair waved and bounced like a fire until he suddenly pulled back the reins, slowing Majo down to a brisk walk. The Gerudo male snapped his eyes open and winced in pain as his hand began to light up in pain. Ganondorf lifted his hand, squinting at the golden triangle that pulsed in a steady rhythm. The young lord gritted his teeth, waiting for the pain to pass. The day Gonandorf's father died was the day the symbol engraved itself onto his hand. The elders called it the symbol of the Gods, Ganondorf called it a pain in the neck. Every once and a while, it would act up like this, and he never could understand why.
The pain soon passed, and Ganondorf took a deep sigh, just then, another light caught his eye. It came from the distance, the young lord blinked and a broad smile formed on his face. "Haha! An oasis, I knew we would find one! Come on, Majo!" Ganondorf laughed, he turned his head back to see that the rest of his group had finally caught up with him. Ganondorf brought his fingers to his lips and let out a whistle to get the rest of the Gerdos attention. Soon the small group rides up to the oasis; all seem very excited and happy.
"Praise the Goddess" a young Gerudo cried out, jumping from her horse and running towards the water, many followed her. Nana smiled, looking over at Ganondorf as he slides off his horse, leading Majo to the small pound. Ganondorf looked over at the Gerudo women, smiling at her before bending down to scoop up some of the water.
"Let's get a drink, boy!" he said. There was a pause; the young lord narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the water in his cupped hands. Dark strings were flouting and wiggling about in the clear liquid. Once more, there came a flash of pain in Ganondorf's hand, causing him to cry out in shock and making him drop the water. Nana overheard this and quickly rushed over, dropping to her knees, landing in the sand with a thump.
"My lord! are you okay?" she asked frantically. Ganondorf took a sharp breath in, looking up at Nana.
"Th-the water," he said hoarsely before looking up and instantly getting to his feet. "Stop!" he yelled out. Many of the Gerudo women looked up; some were already waist-deep in the water. "This water, it is...cursed, we can not drink this," Ganondorf siad.
"Are you sure?" Nana asked, Ganondorf looked over at her, his eyes dark as he gave a stern nod. Nana was about to say something but stopped herself as two riders came galloping over the dunes. The scouts had finally returned, Ganondorf looked at them and noticed their faces her hard and almost frightened.
"My lord, we have found a Hylian camp in ruins over those dunes, not two far from here," one of the scouts said after bowing her head to the Gerudo male. Ganondorf narrowed his eyes, "Hylian's, this far south?" he thought to himself, "have they already broken the treaty or had they become lost." Ganondorf looked up and gave a short nod
"Show me."
~~~
The Greudoe arrived at the campsite, rather, what was left of it. Tents had been torn apart, and some buried in the sand. The area reeked of rotting flesh, Hylian bodies littered the desert floor, some of their faces, sunken in, were forever twisted into a look of utter horror. The smells were so bad that once Ganodrof got off his horse, he instantly covered his mouth and nose.
"Who could have done this?" Nana asked, getting off her horse and walking behind Gonadorf. The young lord took a few steps forward, kneeling next to a body riddled with arrows.
"It seems, they were in some kind of battle," Ganondorf murmured, reaching down to pull out an arrow from the corpse. Dark, almost black, blood slowly oozed from the hole where the arrow once was. "And by the look of it, it wasn't with our people but amongst themselves," he added, showing Nana the weapon. It had all the signs of Hylian craftsmen ship.
"But why?" Nana asked. Ganondorf could only offer a shrug as an answer. The Gerudo lord then called out to the rest of his group, ordering them to fan out and search for anything useful. "After all, the dead won't need them now," Ganondorf thought as he started to head out into the campsite, giving one final warning about survivers.
"Do not harm them, but bring them to me," he ordered. Ganondorf ventured through the ruins, wondering why this could have happened. He stopped as he felt a shadow loom over him. Looking up, he saw the Hyrule flag, still waving in but tattered and torn. At the base of the flagpole lays a Hylian man. Ganondorf squinted at him, noticing something was off about the corps. Then, looking around at the other bodies, he saw something off with them as well. "These Hyliens...they all showing black veins". The sight filled the young Gerudo male with dread, what could have caused that? An illness? Ganondorf didn't have time to dwell on the thought for long. His ears suddenly caught something, a soft sound of music coming from a tent up on a dune. The young lord narrowed his eyes and followed the sound.
The tent was just in shambles like the rest, once Ganondorf lifted the fallen flap. The first thing that met his eyes was a figure sitting on the ground. The sight caused the Gerudo to jump, but he quickly calmed down, seeing the figure was not moving. It was a Hylian woman; her hair, a golden color, was matted with blood; her head was bent down so Ganondorf could not see her face. Her right hand still clutched a stained sword, and like the rest of the bodies seen, she too had black veins. However, for a moment, Ganondorf ignored the dead woman and instead paid more attention to the music box that was the ground. A gree lizard quickly scurried past him. "The lizard must have knocked it over," the young lord thought, reaching down and picking up the small wooden box, shutting the lid with a snap, silencing the melody. Ganodrf rubbed the golden engravement of the symbol of the God's that was on the top of the music box before placing it within a pocket. He then slowly turned his head to look at the dead woman. He notices that her back was leaning up against something, a large basket covered in a gree cloth. Slowly, Gandorf stalked towards the covered basket, one hand resting on his dagger that hung from his hip as the other quickly pulled the green cloth away. Ganondorf's golden eyes widened, and two words escaped his lips.
"A child." It was a boy, not quite a baby but still too young to even know how to walk. Like the women, the child had golden hair. His eyes were a vivid blue; they were filled it confusion. The Hylian child looked up at Ganondorf, tilting his head to the side, before suddenly reaching his arms up towards the Gerudo. The young lord leaned over the basket, giving the child just enough space to set up quickly and touching the gem that sat on Ganondorf's forehead. The little boy let out a soft giggle, smiling as he tugged at the gem only to let go. He looked up at the bewildered Greduo male with a wide smile. Ganondorf could not help but smile back, taking his hand to Hlet the child hold onto it, which he did, holding onto it as he managed to sit up. There was something about the little Hylian; he wasn't scared of Ganondorf. It impressed the Gerudo lord. "Well then, little one, what is your name?" Ganondorf asked softly, the child, however, simply laughed, letting go and clapping his hands. Something else told the lord his answer. The blanket the little Hylian was sitting on. On the side, there was lettering stitched in; it read Link. Ganondorf smirked a little as he said, "Link hu? you Hylian's do have a knack for picking strange names." But, Ganodrf's mind was made up, he reached down and scooped the child up, cradling him in his arms ever so gently, "You will be coming with Link, how does that sound?" he asked. Link only responded in cheerful nonsense words, holding onto Ganodefs shirt as he was carried out of the tattered tent.
Nana was the first to spot the young lord returning. The Greduos had picked the distorted camp side cleaned. They found what little water was left, along with will valuables that could be used in trade. Not a single survivor was found. Nana called out to Ganondorf, but has he got closer, she noticed something in his arms, something that was moving. "What did you find?" Nana asked, raising her eyebrow. The Gerudo lord smiled, shifting his arms to show Link. The golden-haired boy tilted his head and smiled at Nana the same way he had done with Ganondorf. A few other Greudo's came over to see, all with confused looks.
"This little one will be living with us for now on," The young lord declared.
"What! My lord, you can not be serious!" a Gerudo warrior yelled out. The small group parted to show who had spoken. It was an older woman. Ganondorf frowned, pulling Link away from the gawking eyes. The small child began to tug at the lord's shirt, blissfully unaware of the argument that was to come.
"I am," the male said. The woman scoffed.
"That brat is of Hylain descent! Why does he deserve your mercy? When his kind torments us still! I say, let him die with his people!" she sneered. Ganondorf straightened his back before replying.
"I will not allow any harm to come to this boy! He has done nothing wrong!". The group that surrounded the two were quiet. The older woman let out a heavy sigh. Eyes narrowed in disgust.
"He..it not one of us," she said. Ganondorf stared at her for a long time, slowly, he held Link a little closer, almost trying to hide him. His eyes glanced down at the Hylian child who was alone in this world, made orphaned, but whatever horrors overran his people's camp. This war was not his fault, and he should not be punished for a crime that he knew nothing about.
"We came from the swirling dunes, children of the Goddess of Sands," Ganondorf started, now looking the older Greudo dead in the eyes. "I found him in the desert; therefore, he too comes from these sands. From this day on, he is one of us," the lord said in a steady voice. He stalked towards the woman, looming over her as he finished with a question; "Do you dare to disagree?" The older woman stayed silent, starting at Ganondorf then down at the small child in his arms. Her eyes were filled with disgust. With one last glare, the Gerudo woman turned her head away as Ganodrf started to walk past her; the rest of the group parted ways. Nana watched the Gerudo lord with a concerned look.
"Gonadorf...what, are you thinking?" she asked softly to herself. Once the group returned to their horses, setting off towards the setting sun, leaving the Hylian camp far behind to be swallowed by the sands.