*Ninety Years Before*
~~~
"Captain Esosu!" A bellowing voice echoed throughout the Gerudo Palace.
Esosu, a Gerudo captain who was close to the recently deceased Lady Urbosa and Lady Zelda, cringed. Her new chieftain was nothing like Urbosa, and she showed no signs of healing like Lady Zelda. It was almost as if the new ruler was using the tragedy to advance some sort of motive, and with Urbosa lacking any heir but a disgraced, deceased Hylian vai, there was no one to overthrow her.
Akeku wasn't half the chief Urbosa was, she wasn't even half the queen Zelda would have been. Surely the summoning couldn't mean anything good.
Yet Esosu was still bound by duty, at least for the time being. She would respond to her chieftain and see if she couldn't just put up with whatever was to come. She entered the throne room swiftly, bowing to see what the woman atop the throne desired. "Chieftain Akeku, what troubles you?"
"Captain Esosu. As you know, I have only been chief for a matter of mere months. Yet, those few months have allowed me to see that great changes must be made in our tribe to protect us, make us stronger. We must turn our tribe into the words muttered over my aunt's body: Gerudo Forever Strong."
"Chieftain Akeku, I'm afraid I must disagree with you. The Gerudo women have poured their hearts and soul into their strength. The years leading up to the Great Calamity, under Lady Urbosa's hand, were some of our strongest times."
"My aunt is now well deceased. I ask that you remove such living titles."
"I'm sorry, but she will always be a lady. I cannot remove her title, lest she be removed from our history."
"She is too much an example for such a fate." Akeku's voice grew foreboding as her eyes narrowed on her late aunt's top palace guard.
"I agree with your words, but confused by a hidden meaning."
Akeku's sigh was full of disgust. "To think you were my aunt's favorite guard. Don't you see, Esosu? My aunt's choices to follow Hyrule and its Goddess Hylia led to her destruction. Had she ignored Hyrule and followed the Heroines, she would still be alive and on this throne. However, she chose to follow Hyrule's so called Goddess Descendants: a dead queen and her prostitute daughter. If we do not turn back, we will be destroyed with them all."
"Have you forgotten what we owe? Our ancestors and their rules brought the demon into this world."
"We owe nothing to the Fallen Kingdom. Only by turning away from their Goddess to our own, from removing ourselves from their affairs, can we prevent their fate from becoming our own."
Esosu clamped her jaws as she thought over an action she'd considered over weeks. She decided this was the final straw. "If you're so certain that this will save the tribe from the horrors of the Lingering Calamity, then you no longer need me." She then stood and darted out the palace's main entrance.
"Captain Esosu, halt!" Akeku hopped up slightly, before ordering other guards to chase the renegade. However, Esosu was gone before the guards had gotten out of the palace.
With only the clothing and weapons already on her person, Esosu fled the city she'd spent two decades defending and raced towards the Gerudo Desert Entrance, leaving her province for what might be the last time.
...
"Ma'am! You look exhausted. Why not come stay here for the night?" A Hylian woman, likely tall for her tribe and younger than Esosu, gestured towards the nearby stable.
Exhaustion swept over her. "But I have no rupees for the night."
"It's alright. Many have struggled since the Calamity, I will pay for your fare."
"Thank you."
The Hylian took Esosu over to the stable, then paid for her to have one of the softer beds. "Rest well, I have to tend to the horses. I'll be around if you need me. Hylia bless you."
Esosu settled in the bed, looking up at the embroidery that decorated it. Attached to her sword belt, she found a sack containing several valuable gemstones and a few pieces of flint. Relief replaced exhaustion. She could sell the gemstones to steady herself. Hopefully she could find a village looking to hire a Gerudo, as the gemstones would only last so long. Where was that village that Zelda's husband was from? What was it called again?
Nevertheless, beginning a new life was a full time job. Perhaps she could acquire a bow from a monster or ruins and awaken the hunter within her. She could feed herself and sell extra meat and hides for when the gemstones ran out. She would not change her name, she might as well subject to Chieftain Akeku- no- just Akeku's desires. Her Chieftain was named Urbosa, and her Goddess, Hylia. Urbosa was willing to give her strength for an entire world and not leave the broken helpless. Until Esosu's dying day would Urbosa be her Chief. Lady Zelda would forever be just that. Never smeared with the title "Princess of the Fallen," but forever respected as a lady.
Pleased with her emotional settlement, morning came swiftly. She rolled out of bed to be met with the crisp breeze of a Hyrule morning.
"Cold, ma'am?" The stable master asked without a hint of offense. "It's definitely colder here than in Gerudo. You might try Rito Village to the north or Kakariko and Hateno to the east. Clothing for cooler locations is sold in all three towns. I'd imagine Hateno has the most rounded gear, as the weather is moderate and the village is mostly farmers."
"Hateno?"
"Ah yes, you're from Gerudo. Pardon me. Our late Prince Link was raised in Hateno. Hylia bless his young soul."
Sorrow filled Esosu's heart. "May he rest in peace. I... knew his wife well. Were there any survivors?"
"None from the battlefield. Duchess Sydnei survived the night, as she was in Hateno, but the rest of the Royal Family perished. King, Princess, Prince, and the little one of course."
"Is the Duchess still in Hateno?"
"Of course! She's but a small child!"
"Well, then it looks like I know where I'll go next. How do I get to Hateno?"
"Ah! Follow the southern road until it turns east towards the Dueling Peaks. The stable just past the mountains will have precise directions from there."
"Thank you so much." She paused for a beat. "Hylia bless you."
"You as well. Have a safe journey."
Esosu continued her trail on foot, following the road to the secluded Hylian village. She made her way quickly to avoid any monsters or Guardians in the burned central province until she arrived at Dueling Peak Stable.
"Ah! Welcome to our humble stable. It's not often that we have Gerudo visit. How may I help you?"
"Hello, I'm looking for Hateno Village. The master of another stable said you could show me the way?"
"Of course, ma'am." He stepped out of the stable and pointed northeast. "This road we're standing on will fork up ahead. Turn right at the fork. If you see the fort, covered in Guardian remains, you're on the right road. Continue straight on that road until you arrive at the village."
"Thank you."
"Anything else? You sure you don't need a horse?"
"I have no horse, sir. And I'll be alright, I made it all the way here on foot."
"Alright, safe travels."
"Hylia bless you." She offered, feeling a sense of freedom while saying it.
"Hylia bless you as well, ma'am. May you find what you're looking for."
Esosu made her way swiftly to Fort Hateno, then paused at the field of Guardians that had wreaked havoc only a few months before. Tears sprung to her eyes as she spent a moment of silence at the fort for all who had fallen there. Although she didn't know who they were, she valued their sacrifice as Urbosa had.
The trail from Fort Hateno to its namesake village was long and somber. Animals that had decorated the paths before then were gone now. Light fell on a cemetery placed in a small inlet of the cliffs, highlighting each stone.
Perhaps... they buried their prince here...
When Hateno finally did arrive, after a long trek upwards, she was indeed greeted at the gate by a heavy-set farmer. "Welcome to our humble village! If you need anything, please ask."
"Do you perhaps know where Duchess Sydnei is? I'm... a friend of her late brother's wife."
Tears fell from his eyes. "He was a good man. Shame he was taken so soon. Sydnei is home, she hasn't really come out since he died." He pointed at a large house out of the way.
When she went over and knocked on the door, a man with tear-stained eyes answered. "You look... familiar."
"My name is Esosu. I'm the former Captain of the Palace Guard. I'm looking for Duchess Sydnei."
He turned into the house, but he didn't look any less somber. "Sydnei?"
A small, blond haired girl slowly approached them. Had she not known better, Esosu could have mistaken the small girl for Link and Zelda's own child. A princess.
"Hello, Duchess Sydnei."
Sydnei looked up with aching eyes. "You're... Lady Urbosa's best friend..."
"I am..." She smiled softly. "I've come to see you, and to submit myself to whatever you or this village might need. I'd rather spend the rest of my days serving the kingdom my chief loved instead of following a chief I cannot trust." Esosu lowered to her knees, holding out a hand for the small child. "As Lady Urbosa was for Zelda, I will be here for you until my dying day. A Gerudo's word is not swiftly broken."