The Legend of Zelda- Ocarina of Time

Minuet of the Forest

A Gerudo appeared, cutting down any of the Blin who'd attacked before yelling orders at the other monsters, who immediately backed off.

Saria had tried to run, aware of other Kokiri calling out to her, but she sensed other creatures approaching, and something stood out from the confusing tangle of thoughts that threatened to drown her. She sensed the horse before it struck her, a frantic cry so close she could have sworn the animal had spoken aloud.

Thundering hoofbeats shook the earth, and Saria threw herself towards the nearest tree.

Hoofbeats. A rider's shocked cry, and then a searing flash of pain as something hit her. She'd struck the earth, and then... nothing.

The next thing she knew, Mido was leaning anxiously over her, his back against the bars of a cramped cage. Surprisingly, her wounds were bandaged, but the pain rivaled anything she had experienced before. But that had had meant little in the face of their ordeal.

The Kokiri had been taken to a stone monolith in a land devoid of trees. A realm where rock and sand, glimmering golden in the evening sun, stretched as far as the eye could see. It was a harsh land, the inhabitants harsher, and Saria couldn't help but wonder how the Gerudo could live in such an inhospitable place.

After that, the inside of the red stone walls of what the Gerudo referred to as the Fortress of Sands became the Kokiri's home. Occasionally, Saria and the other Kokiri were sent with a detachment of the Gerudo army to tend to their horses, fires, and other needs the forest children could meet. The first year had been the worst. Almost every day, a Kokiri would collapse from the heat or be brought to Saria with their feet blistered and burnt. Many were afflicted by sickness or were injured by their captors. Saria was supposed to be a healer, but here, her remedies were useless, and Saria could only watch helplessly as her friends suffered. After a time, a Gerudo healer was assigned to her as an aide, but the suffering continued. Saria prayed to the Forest Spirits and the Mother Goddess, Farore, but the only answers she received were vague and unsettling dreams.

Sometimes, she thought of Link. She had waited for him, as she'd promised she would. When the birds bore her tidings of a tragedy in the north, she had known Link was dead. She still remembered the day she had first seen him, wrapped tightly in a white swaddle beneath the canopy of the Great Deku Tree, red-faced and angry, unable to understand why he'd been torn from his mother's embrace and forced into an unfamiliar wilderness. She would never forget that day.

Saria nearly jumped out of her skin in fright.

She clung to her blankets, squinting at a sudden intrusion of light, and saw a young Gerudo staring at her, holding a lantern.

"Sorry," the girl whispered. "I didn't mean to scare you... I came to see if you were okay."

Saria could see the concern in the girl's eyes as the lantern light illuminated them.

"I'm fine," Saria whispered back.

Physically, she was fine, despite the bruising Shinju had given her. It could have been a lot worse. The Gerudo weren't completely cruel. On the other hand, the Bulblins and the larger Moblins were pig-like in appearance and behaviour. They were brutish and had no qualms about hurting the forest children. Their masters, two ugly hags, permitted it. Even the Gerudo hated the witches, whom they barely tolerated, along with the Blin.

Not all the Gerudo were bad. Some pitied the forest children and seemed uncomfortable having the Kokiri as slaves. Letitia was one such Gerudo, as were the healers Saria worked alongside. Letitia taught Saria and the other Kokiri the Gerudo language; sometimes, she smuggled food into the Kokiri's tents, including a range of Gerudo sweets. The only thing Letitia could not retrieve was the Kokiri's fairies. They were kept elsewhere in the camp. The Gerudo knew the Kokiri could not be separated from them for long, particularly over vast distances. The witches were aware of this, too, sometimes using it to their advantage by deliberately separating a Kokiri from their fairy as a means of discipline.