Heart of the Gerudo

Chapter 1: Desert Heat

Part 1Heart of The Gerudo: Desert HeatWritten by Silken ScribeOriginal Story inspired by the Gerudo Link works of HeartGear

Gods. Why did it have to be so hot in the desert? It was like ever since the world had been changed by recent events of the calamity and the upheaval, The desert heat had been cranked up to eleven. Heat haze whorled up and around the lone singular form stumbling across the sun-heated sands. In the distance, the sound of a Molduga rumbling beneath the sand could be heard, a rhythmic rumbling that sent most travellers running.

Of course, this was no regular traveller. No. This was a young man who'd taken one wrong turn too many in his haphazard flight from his past. It hadn't been so bad being chased through the open fields of Hyrule, or the hilly picturesque mountains. But then one wrong step and he'd found himself at the bottom of a cliff with nothing but desert stretching out in every direction.He was no rock climber, so there was no way back up the sheer and intimidating cliff. Nor was he a seasoned traveller. So the desert stretching out like a yawn of sand was nothing short of intimidating.

On the plus side, his pursuers hadn't followed him down the cliff. Why would they? He'd barely made it down in one piece. One piece being generous given the half a dozen scrapes up and down his sides, his torn-to-shreds clothing clinging to him with barely a whisper. One particular wound in his shoulder left his arm slightly immobile. Luckily he had shredded clothes to spare and so a tightly bound sheath of cloth kept the blood flow in check before he took his first hesitant steps into the deep sands of the Gerudo Desert.

That's how he'd ended up here. The mountains were left far behind him, barely a speck on the horizon now as he stumbled along, his mid-back length tawny brown hair falling about him in sweat-slicked spikes while his breath came in ragged breaths.

He'd made it a long way at this point. The pair of hydromelons he'd found clinging to an impossibly growing vine had given satiated his hunger and thirst for now. But how much farther could they take him? How long before that distant rumbling creature beneath the sands found him?

He looked down at the pitiful-looking dagger belted to his side. Somehow he doubted it would be much help against such a creature if its shadow in the distance when it broke the sand like a whale cresting the waves of the ocean was anything to go by. It was massive.

"What have you gotten yourself into this time Avery?" He mumbled to himself in his rather soft-toned voice.

His bright hazel eyes stared into the distance. At least there was a hint of hope on the horizon. He hadn't been sure of it at first, but the further along he got, the more confident he was becoming that the flapping green object in the distance was a flag of some sort. Hopefully, it was attached to some structure, some haven of society located out in the desert.

Of course, he knew of the Gerudo who inhabited a village in the desert though he knew very little about them. There were also a few other villages dotted about the various oases the desert had to offer. His only hope is that he made his way towards one of them. He had to make it.

As the morning turned to midday the heat cranked up even higher. He found his vision swimming slightly. He'd taken the last few bites of the hydromelon in his pack and saw no others nearby. His journey had led him to a veritable hill of sand which had taken no small amount of effort to surmount and now as he crested the ridge he could only feel a sense of relief as the sight below greeted him.