Author's Note: The first ten chapters of this is actually nnceLIBSTAnnce's fic. She was unable to continue it, and asked for someone to pick it up. Since it was one of my favorite stories, I offered to take it on.

Fuck, fuck, fuck...

I was racing through the gates of the Haunted Wasteland, on my way to the horse's stables. I crossed the forbidden desert to find the Spirit Temple. It's like my own personal beacon of hope in this world of hate and war. I found my way to the roof, and sat staring at the endless sands until sundown. I feel like anything is possible when I'm there. Endless desert, endless possibilities. Nobody can hurt me. Once I realized how late it was, I ran across the Wasteland back to the Fortress. It was my duty to look after the King's horses. If they weren't fed at a certain hour, I'd be locked up…or worse. I finally got to the stables, without any of the 'highly trained' Fortress guards noticing me. Pssh. Highly trained. They didn't even see me. I have had no privilege of training, and I was far more skilled than any of those mediocre girls.

As soon as I fed the horses their meal and brushed their manes, I made my way to the water troth by the large window. I removed my veil (rag actually) and dunked my head in. I was covered in sweat, and this was my only source of remotely clean water. As long as I'm not caught polluting the water the spoiled horses won't even drink, I'm fine.

Then I heard footsteps. I flipped my hair back out of the water, and it slapped against my back. It made a loud noise that alerted the horses. They started to snort, and that caught this girl's attention. I silently made my way to the shadows, behind a horse's stable. I got chills from my wet hair dripping down my back along with the chill in the winter night air. I was suddenly thankful to not live in the northernmost parts of Hyrule; it must be snowing by this time of year. I peered out from behind the wall and saw this person take the King's stallion out of its stable, saddle up, and take off. Nobody was allowed to take the horses out of the stables but me, and I only left them tied outside for another girl to get them for the King. So, not wanting to be held responsible for the King's horse's kidnapping, I started to follow. I wasn't quite sure what I would do about this, but I thought it an obligation to at least try to do my simple job the right way.

It was pitch black outside, and I couldn't make out this mystery thief. They started heading out to the Haunted Wasteland, but stopped short at the gates. I sidestepped behind a large rock as quickly as I could. I was frozen in fear as I heard heavy footsteps getting closer and closer. I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing I could disappear. Suddenly, there was a big hand around my left arm, pulling me toward a looming shadow.

Joy...

"Who are you?" A deep voice demanded. It was the Gerudo King himself, Ganondorf. This is my first time seeing him. And I hated it. I was loosing feeling in my arm from his grasp, as he asked again, "Who are you?!"

"Nabooru, at your service, your highness." I bowed my head, trying not to show struggle on my face from under his powerful grip, and water dropped onto his arm from my wet, stringy hair.

I was suddenly pushed to the ground. I was sort of glad to feel pain in my back and hip; at least he wasn't crushing my arm. I tried to compose myself.

"Do you think you had the right to follow me out here?" He stood above me, his angry eyes fixed on me.

"No, I don't, your highness."

"Then why did you?" He was starting to get angry, I could tell.

I hesitated. "I am responsible for your horse, your highness. I couldn't see you, and thought maybe somebody was stealing it."

He started to laugh. It was a pretty creepy laugh, actually. "So you thought that you could stop them? A pathetic disgrace of a girl like you?" He smirked at me.

I said nothing. He was really starting to anger me. I could have taken him down if I didn't know any better. I've been teaching myself how to wield a scimitar since I was ten. I looked at him, and could feel my face transform into an expression reading: Of course I could handle it, what did you think?

He snapped his fingers in the air, and out of nowhere a guard still decked out in her purple uniform jumped me, sword in hand. I whipped out mine in defense, nearly ripping straight through my rags. I jumped up, still blocking her slashing movements, and she backed off immediately. She tried to elbow me in the stomach, but I sidestepped and put my right leg through hers and elbowed her in the throat, knocking her to the ground.

After a moment of hearing nothing but her gagging and my heavy breathing, Ganondorf spoke. "You are dismissed." He glared at her with low opinion in his eyes. I had almost forgotten that he was there.

The girl who attacked me slowly limped off, still gasping for air after my harsh strike to her gut and throat.

I stood face to face with the King of my race. He must have been at least a head taller than me. He didn't look like he was even trying to look mean and scary. That's just how he was. He looked at me up and down with a certain, very noticeable amount of assessment.

"Why haven't I seen you in the line-up before?" he asked.

"I'm not in any line ups, your highness." I didn't even know what the hell a line-up was.

"Really?" He finally looked me in the eye. His face started to look a little bit less angry by the moment. "Who is your family, then?"

"I am an orphan, your highness. My mother died a few years ago, when I was nine." I could tell how badly this sounded. A girl in my position should have died or been exiled from the desert by now, due to lack of any real use.

He didn't say anything. He just kept staring at me. It seemed like I was exactly what he wanted to see right then. I didn't want to look away, to make it more awkward. I just blanked out, forgetting what was actually happening. I stared into his eyes without any readable expression on my face.

"Where do you live?" I was thankful for this break in silence, though I really didn't want to tell him. "I sleep in the stables, your highness."

"Nabooru…" was all he said. He got back on his horse, and took off to the Spirit Temple. I was frozen in place. That was really weird. I didn't know why he sent some stupid guard to attack me, or why he didn't lock me up for following him. Maybe he was remembering my name so he could have me killed. Either way, that was by far the creepiest person I had ever met in my life. Believe me, I have met my share of psychos in the past few years. I never wanted to see him again. Something about him just made me feel so timid, when I usually carried myself with a fiery, vigorous manner. My legs carried me to the stables once more. After hours of endless thoughts, I fell asleep on the cold hard ground. And only to dream horrible dreams.