The Reformed Gerudo King (Legend of Zelda)

Chapter One- The Soldier's Daughter

An arrow rocketed out of the bushes and straight into the chest of a large stag, making it scream and fall to the ground, dead. A man riding a horse came out of the trees shadows, a bow in his left hand and the reins in his right. He had dark, short, well kept brown hair, a stern, aged face, tan skin, dark green eyes, and wore a dark green cloak with dark leather armor. In front of him sat a little girl, no older than nine years. She had dark red hair, green eyes, darker cream skin, a light brown cloak, crimson tunic, brown pants and black boots. On her back was a quiver of smaller arrows and her own handcrafted bow. He jumped off the horse and grabbed some rope hanging off of the saddle. "Wait here." He said firmly to the girl as he walked to the deer and tied its legs.

The girl smiled. "When can I shoot a deer, daddy?"

The man looked at her and gave her a smile. "When you can pull your bowstring back far enough." He laughed as the girl pouted at his teasing. "Oh come now, Nadia, you'll be able to hunt when you're old enough. For now, you watch and learn." He dragged the deer back to the horse and tied it tightly onto the back, along with two other deer. "Now let's bring this back, shall we? I bet the others were slacking again." He jumped back onto the horse, a large black Shire horse and he kicked into its sides lightly and headed back to Hyrule castle.

The father served as a ranger for the King of Hyrule. He had hunted for the palace and its people ever since he was seventeen years old, and was well known for his hard work. Today was a special day however, so he had to work extra. Today the Chief of the Gerudo and her son were coming to the palace to talk about their alliance and how they could make it stronger than ever, so he had to make sure everything he was assigned to do was done well so it wouldn't be an embarrassment to the kingdom. He dragged the deer to the castle, where he left them to be taken care of by the kitchen and he brought his daughter inside. "Behave now, I have to report to the king."

Nadia nodded and ran off to the knights training grounds, where she took out her bow and started to practice. She pulled out one of her small arrows, which had a small tip to it so she wouldn't hurt herself, and she nocked the arrow onto the string and took aim at the old, worn out target. She took a deep breath and pulled the string as hard as she could, but only made it halfway back. She grunted and pulled more, but couldn't make it any further. She threw down her bow in anger and sat down. "I'm never gonna be a ranger!"

"You're not pulling hard enough." A voice rang out from behind.

She let out a gasp and turned around. The voice was young and unfamiliar. When she turned, she saw a boy her age. He had fiery red hair, golden eyes, tan skin, and was adorned with gold plated and gem encrusted clothing. He looked at her with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall, a disapproving frown on his face. She looked at him confused. "Can you help me?"

The boy arched a brow and then shrugged his shoulders. "All the women of my race already know how to fight at your age, but I suppose I can help since you're hopeless." He watched Nadia look at him with a hurt expression and he let out a huff. "I'm sorry, I'm not exactly used to your customs, I suppose that came off as rude." He walked over and picked up the loaded bow. "When you pull back, you have to have your knuckles at the corner of your mouth." He demonstrated, pulling the string back with ease.

Nadia watched him, excited. "Wow, how did you do that?"

The boy fired the arrow straight into the center of the bullseye and handed her the bow. "It's easy, you're just not strong enough. I suggest you try and make your arms stronger so you can pull the string back easier." He then turned away from her and walked away. "I should get going, my mother is probably wondering where I am."

"Thank you!" Nadia called after him. She smiled and stood back up, nocking a new arrow. She held the bow up and took another deep breath. Tugging the string back, she felt the words the stranger said fill her with encouragement and she yanked the string all the way back to the corner of her mouth just as he told her to. Her arm shook from the strain, but she ignored it. She looked down the arrow and smiled, releasing it. The arrow flew straight into the target, inches away from the bullseye. She let out a gasp of pain, for the string slid across her forearm, leaving a long red mark. She rubbed her arm and promptly tried again. She continued to practice until it was evening and it was time for the feast with the guests. She had used all of her arrows and her whole forearm was cut and bruised, but there were arrows sticking in the bullseye of the targets.