A Hero's Ballad

Chapter 9: The Gerudo Champion

Gradually my eyelids fluttered open. I rolled over, wondering what time it was. Glancing at the spot next to me, I found it was empty. Link was an early riser, getting up at the crack of dawn. I however had a much more sporadic wake-up schedule. Sighing, I rolled out of bed, knowing I should get ready to leave for Gerudo Town.

I rolled up my sleeping bag and then packed everything I had taken out back into my backpack, which wasn't much. Once this was done, I left the room, in search of my knight. Walking outside, I saw the sun was still low in the sky. The desert felt nice at this time of day, a comfortable warmth, not the beating heat of the midday sun.

The Bazaar wasn't as packed as it had been last night, most people were still asleep. This made it easier to spot Link, his red and green desert clothing easy to find. He was at a produce stand, buying some desert fruits and mushrooms. Once he was done, I approached him.

"Will you be ready to leave soon?" I asked him. He nodded. "Great. Let's leave shortly so we can avoid the heat."

With that the two of us gathered our stuff and soon we were leaving the Bazaar. The sand crunched beneath our feet. It was windy today and I prayed to Hylia that a sandstorm wasn't brewing. That was the last thing we needed. Yet the skies remained clear around us despite the wind.

As we commenced, the temperature gradually rose. By the early afternoon, the heat surrounded us in an envelope, thick and heavy. Luckily, Gerudo Town was visible in the distance. My eyes darted back to Link momentarily, wondering how this was going to work. If only we could dress him up in vai clothing and sneak him in. Although that was highly unlikely to work as they would surely notice Link was a voe.

Hopefully Urbosa would be willing to let him in... if not I would feel bad leaving him to camp outside Gerudo Town while I stayed at the palace. Although he could always stay at the Kara Kara Bazaar. I would be surrounded by fierce warriors during my stay in Gerudo, I definitely wouldn't need a knight with me at all times.

Nearing the front gate to the desert town, I turned to look at Link. "You'll have to wait out here while I talk to Urbosa, the Gerudo Chief. I'm hoping she'll give you permission to enter." I informed him. "Until then, you can wait underneath the tent they have set up. Sorry, I should have thought ahead more about this, but I'm just so used to being able to go right into Gerudo Town, I forgot!"

"Don't worry about it, Zelda." Link assured me. "I'll be fine. The salve you made really does help."

"It should. I spent a long time working on that." I exhaled, "Anyways, I'll try to make this quick."

I continued to walk to the gate, stopping when I was in front of the two Gerudo women guarding the front gate. The one arched an eyebrow at me and then beamed. "Why, Princess Zelda! We were not expecting you."

"Hello Fosaku." I said, recognizing the Gerudo Warrior. "And you too, Atun." I addressed the other Gerudo.

"Are you here for training?" Atun asked, her eyes moving past me to look at what I presumed was Link.

"No, I have other matters to attend to while I'm in Gerudo this time. I must speak with Urbosa. Could you send word to her? I would like to meet with her right away if able."

Fosaku nodded, "Certainly." Turning to the other Gerudo, Fosaku said, "Atun, will you inform our Chief."

"Right away!" And she was off.

"Who is the voe?" Fosaku asked.

"His name is Link. He is my personal knight. He will wait for me here while I talk to Urbosa."