Apollonia

by K.T. Släger

Introduction

Welcome. Take a seat.

I wrote the first version of this fan fiction almost exactly seven years ago, when I was but a youth, under the title "Apionia". Now that the main character's name has changed, and I've grown much better in my writing, I've decided to revise the story. I hope it's a little more grown-up, and a little more interesting. Even though I'm technically an adult now, the Gerudo will always have a special place in my heart for being a kick-ass tribe of redheaded women and fueling my thirst for adventure.

The story takes place about thirty-five years before Zelda or Link were even born, as a young Ganondorf has just taken his throne as king of the Gerudo people...

. . -=-=-=-=-=_-*-_=-=-=-=-=- . .

Chapter One

He never meant to cause an uproar. In fact, that was the last thing he wanted to do. The young Hylian man had been passing by Gerudo Valley on his way back from hunting in the field. Unfortunately, he was returning empty-handed: there were no deer to be found at this time of year, and his aim with a bow and arrow was still bad enough that he missed not one, not two, but four hares hiding in the grass. As the sun began to set, he resignedly mounted his horse and headed back towards the castle town.

Eerie shadows stretched from the rocks forming the entrance to Gerudo Valley. The young Hylian slowed his horse as he neared the valley, glancing in its direction. The rock walls, already a deep-orange color during the day, glowed blood-red in the coming twilight. A salamander skittered over a nearby rock and into a dead thorn bush.

Curious. Dyla had never been to Gerudo Valley, nor the vast desert that lay beyond it. In fact, he had never seen a Gerudo. At least... he had never seen one close up. He remembered a time several years ago, when he was about six or seven, that he had been out riding in Hyrule Field with his now-dead father. Off in the distance, over the crest of a hill, they spotted them: a band of Gerudo women on horseback all clad in flowing black robes, holding aloft their scimitars, blades glinting in the sun. They galloped across the field with wild abandon back towards their hideout, having just committed some sort of thievery or murder or what have you. At that time, Dyla's father warned him never to consort with women like that, Gerudo or not. Unnatural, he had said, it's just plain unnatural.

Now here he was, within spitting distance of their closely-guarded canyon. Dyla twisted himself around in his saddle, glancing all around him for any sign of a Gerudo. Nothing. No one. He listened. From a dying tree, a crow let out a laughing cackle and then took off towards the sunset.

Oh, he had to take just a look, now that he was so close.

It was nearly dusk at this time. The castle town was still some distance away, and here he was wasting time. But the valley... It was rumored that there was a shortcut to the castle town from Gerudo Valley. Some said that was how the Gerudo made such efficient robberies. Of course, no one ventured into the valley, lest they be stabbed to death.

He wouldn't be caught. He would ride quickly. Without another thought, Dyla flicked the reins, bringing his chestnut stallion back to attention. The horse gave a little whinny as Dyla dug his heels into its sides and they galloped into the valley.

Dyla urged his horse over the rocky, uneven ground, the stone walls closing in around them. Here in the confines of the valley, it was virtually night already, as the sun couldn't pierce the tall rock. Dyla searched for a passage in the general direction of Hyrule Castle, but there was none to be found. As he entered deep into the valley, he became more disoriented. Not even the smoky south face of Death Mountain was visible from here. Dyla slowed his horse to a trot, and then to a walk, and then they stopped altogether as he searched fruitlessly for any sign of familiarity amongst the rocks. Perhaps this hadn't been such a good idea after all.

Before Dyla had time to reconsider his plan and turn back, he heard in the distance a cacophony of hooves pounding against the valley floor. Oh, no. Not possible...

Fearing the worst, Dyla yanked on the horse's reins and steered it back they way they had come. Wait, no... that was where the sound was coming from, and it was getting louder. Frantically, Dyla searched for a hiding place. A little ways up a slope he spotted a large gray boulder that looked big enough to conceal both him and the horse. Desperate not to be caught by the Gerudo –– if Gerudo they were –– he slid from the horse's back, grabbed the reins, and pulled the large animal up the slope towards the boulder. The horse wasn't buying this: it dug its heels into the ground and shook its head from side to side, trying to shake off the unpleasant feeling of being yanked forward.

"Oh, come on," Dyla muttered, pulling harder. Reluctantly the horse followed Dyla up the hill.

Moments later, the band of Gerudo came rushing around the corner. The valley filled with the echo of horses' galloping. The sound thundered so loudly that Dyla almost couldn't stand it. Quickly he ducked out of sight, hoping that no one would notice him. He was wrapped in a brown cloak, and his horse was brown –– perhaps they blended in enough with the rocks as to not be noticed. Perhaps.

There were maybe seven or eight Gerudo in all, each one dressed in black and mounted atop some of the most beautiful mares in the country. Some held scimitar; others, bows with quivers of arrows strapped to their backs. They all wore shrouds covering most of their faces and hoods concealing their hair except for the tip of a bright-red ponytail peeking out here and there. As they entered the valley, the band slowed and eventually stopped, a few hundred yards away from Dyla's hiding place. Dyla peered around the side of the boulder at them.

They had stopped just in front of a yawning, bottomless canyon. A rope-and-plank bridge spanned its length. Dyla could see the group of Gerudo milling around the edge of the canyon, triumphantly slapping each other on the back and laughing amongst themselves. Their voices carried through the valley.

"That was excellent," he could faintly hear one of them say.

"Excellent," agreed another, pounding the base of her long-staffed scimitar into the ground. "I told you that old man had a prime stash. "

"An' he didn't put up a fight, neither," said yet another, balancing a large sack on her back.

"Well, not much of a fight." They laughed.

The tallest Gerudo –– the leader, perhaps –– motioned them forward. "Come on, Hellime's waiting." She went ahead and slowly directed her horse over the bridge. The unsteady structure swayed back and forth, but she made it safely to the other side. One by one, the Gerudo crossed the bridge.

Dyla felt his breath coming back to him. He hadn't been caught. These Gerudo, though... they fascinated him. For a moment –– for one mad moment –– he considered following them across the bridge and seeing what their hideout looked like, but that would have spelled certain death. As he adjusted himself, trying to get a better look at the remaining Gerudo, his foot slipped, shifting a bed of pebbles. A few of the rocks tumbled down the slope towards the floor of the valley.

One of the Gerudo turned her head at the noise. "What was that?"

No, she couldn't have heard that. The other remaining Gerudo glanced at her. "What?"

"Shh... "

Dyla remained as still as possible. He didn't even breathe, lest they hear that, too. His horse, however, was oblivious as to the danger, and let out a healthy whinny. No one would have missed it.

The Gerudo said nothing, but Dyla could see her stiffening and the sound. She slowly drew an arrow from the quiver on her back and loaded it into her bow.

Silence enveloped the canyon.

No, thought Dyla. No, no, no. He didn't know why he was saying no. But the denial helped him stay quiet.

Behind him, his horse casually kicked a rock down the hill. It hit another, larger rock, which hit another... and well, at that point Dyla decided that running would be better than hiding. He grabbed his horse by the neck and swung onto its back. He felt something whiz past his ear and saw a freshly-shot arrow shuddering in the ground next to him. No time to think. Run. Run.

The horse barreled down the slope, Dyla barely seated atop it. He headed back they way he had entered, hooves pummeling the earth, praying that his horse was faster than any Gerudo mare. As he burst into Hyrule field, he stole a glance behind him. Close in pursuit was a single black-clad rider, her own horse quickly catching up with his.

Go. Go. Go, go, go... His silent pleas didn't seem to be working. "Come on, come on... " He could see Death Mountain in the distance. And the castle town walls, they weren't far ––

Dyla was blinded for a moment as something crashed into him, knocking him off his horse. He fell hard to the ground hard, the wind knocked out of him, and felt strong arms pinning him down. Then, a metallic shing as the Gerudo pulled out one of her scimitar from the crossed sheaths on her back and held it against his neck.

Dyla gasped for breath and inched away from the Gerudo's blade, trying to avoid having his throat cut. "Don't!" he managed to say, his own voice sounding pitiful. "Don't –– I ––"

"You what?" demanded the Gerudo. Dyla could not see her face, as it was covered in a black veil, but he could see her piercing yellow eyes staring down at him. "Don't what? You filthy trespasser!"

"I wasn't trespassing," choked Dyla. He struggled to find his dagger, which was concealed somewhere in his cloak.

"Oh, no? Then what were you doing?" The Gerudo narrowed her eyes and pressed the edge of the blade against his skin. "Trying to break into our hideout?"

"No, no, I just –– I wanted to see ––"

"Just wanted to see what we looked like, is that it?" said the Gerudo. "Wanted to see the pretty Gerudo women, huh? Is that all you think we are?"

"No, I –– I wasn't doing anything. " Dyla pushed all his weight against the Gerudo, trying to get her off, but she was surprisingly strong. "Please –– just let me go. "

The Gerudo said nothing for a moment. In the distance, as the sun finally slid below the horizon, a lone wolf howl sounded in the distance. Then she chuckled. "Boy, do you know of anyone who's ever seen a Gerudo up-close?"

"N-no... "

"Or talked to one?"

"No, of course not ––"

"That's because we don't usually leave trespassers alive."

Dyla said nothing in response. So, this was how he was going to die. Slain by a beautiful woman. Well... he supposed she was beautiful. He could only see her eyes, but he knew that they were indeed lovely. Not such a bad way to go. "Alright ––" he began to say, but was interrupted as the ground burst open a few feet away and a stubby, grimy skeleton clawed its way out of the soil.

"Shit," said the Gerudo, releasing Dyla from her grip and jumping to her feet. As the skeleton charged towards him, she swung her scimitar, decapitating it immediately. The head fell to the ground, but the body of the skeleton toddled around blindly.

Another skeleton unearthed itself behind Dyla; he sprang up, surprised, and darted away, but there was really nowhere to run as yet another skeleton popped up nearby, and another, and another. The Gerudo kept swiping at the skeletons as they appeared, chopping off various limbs and heads, while Dyla did his best to dodge them all together. One of the skeletons got a little too close to the Gerudo and swiped her in the arm. She didn't cry out, only gave a quick hiss, and stabbed the skeleton in its ribcage, which only slowed it down.

Dyla whirled all around, looking for some safe haven. A little bit away from them was a low, crumbling stone wall, something that had probably been part of a house at some time. It might do.

"Hey –– come on!" he called towards the Gerudo as he ran to the wall and climbed atop it. The skeletons, some headless or limbless, swarmed around him but couldn't reach him. "Come on!" he said again. "They can't get us up here. "

With one last strike, the Gerudo fled and joined Dyla atop the wall. She leapt and landed gracefully on the crumbling stone structure. Dyla could see she was breathing heavily from the exertion, and her arm had been cut deeply. Blood seeped through the tear in her black shroud.

They sat there for a minute, catching their breath. The two horses, long forgotten, stood chewing on grass nearby, not bothered by the skeletons at all.

"That figures," said the Gerudo, gesturing off towards the horses. She slid her grimy scimitar into its sheath. Then, after a moment of thought, pulled the heavy crossed-sheaths from her back and set them on the wall. She glanced over at Dyla with those yellow eyes. "I won't kill you yet," she said, tearing off a piece of her shroud and wrapping it around the cut on her arm.

"Yet?"

"Yeah." She adjusted the veil over her face. "You're still a trespasser. "

Dyla stared at her, trying to see through the blackness of the veil. He could barely see a row of blunt red bangs above her eyes. And her brows –– sharply angled, a few shades darker than her hair. He longed to see the rest of her face. "I... " he began, but didn't know how to continue. "I really wasn't doing anything in your valley. "

"No?"

"No. I was just passing through. "

The Gerudo nodded, and Dyla could see a hint of a smile in her eyes. "Just passing through," she repeated. "Well, don't you dare pass through again, you hear?"

"I hear. "

Again there was an awkward silence. Below them the rabble of skeletons had quieted down, occasionally staring up at them like eager puppies. They wouldn't be gone until the first light of dawn. Dyla sighed. It was going to be a long night unless he made a run for it now. He glanced over at his horse, which was slowly wandering further and further away as it grazed.

"I guess we're stuck here, huh?" the Gerudo said suddenly. Dyla turned towards her. he was crouched defensively on top of the wall, arms hanging loosely in front of her, long, calloused fingers curling gently, ending in sharp nails.

"Yes, I suppose we are. " He paused. "What's your name?"

The Gerudo narrowed her eyes. "Like I'd tell you. "

"Just trying to pass the time," Dyla muttered. He hesitated before offering: "I'm Dyla."

"Dyla," repeated the Gerudo. "You from Kakariko?"

"No, the castle town. I was born in Kakariko, though. "

"Ah." The Gerudo nodded. Again, silence.

Oh, boy.

"And... you are...?" asked Dyla.

She only stared at him.

"Come on... please," he said. "If we're going to be up here all night, I'd rather know who you were. If you could take off that hood ––"

"Are you crazy?" said the Gerudo. "Then I'd really have to kill you. "

"Then at least a name," said Dyla. "Please. "

She considered this. Her long lashes blinked thoughtfully over unnatural eyes. Dyla was beginning to love those eyes, and yearned to see the rest of her. He nearly lifted his hand to lower her veil, but stopped himself as she finally nodded.

"Apollonia," she said.