Chapter One

I dashed around the corner of the small adobe-type house of the fortress. Legs pumping, heart hammering madly, I flew through the air like a wild cat, clutching my prize. I should have been more careful. Should have. But no. I was reckless. I had tested my skills carelessly. And now, I would pay.

My name is Nabooru. I am a simple Gerudo thief. Barely thirteen years old, still twelve, really. If you saw me, you wouldn’t think there was anything different about me. I have the reddish-orange hair like all of the Gerudos. My clothing is that of any other Gerudo my age. I am female, as all everyone living in the fortress is, except for the one man born every hundred years. And, at the moment, I was running for my life.

I mentioned I was a thief. It’s not something I’m ashamed of. We Gerudos have a long history in that, along with guerilla warfare, and that sort of thing. We have purple-clad soldiers guarding our fortress, and recently, we acquired a leader. The one male, the one born for this century. He was called Ganondorf.

Later, I would know his name well. But at this point, my only goal was to get out of here.

The person I had stolen the bread from, an older woman in her late forties, was right on my tail. You’d think that because of her age, I’d be much faster. But it’s completely the opposite. Gerudos don’t tolerate being physically unfit. So this woman was in pretty good shape.

Luckily, I had brains on my side. Putting on an extra burst of speed, I dashed down an alley and around a corner. Then I circled back around, and ended up walking behind the woman. She never noticed. I ducked into a small room of the fortress as the woman turned to go back to her dwelling. Crouched in a corner and ignoring all manners, I wolfed down the bread as fast as possible. Food was precious. Couldn’t go to waste.

Grinning at my cunning, and amount of luck, I headed back out of the small side room and to my dwelling. It was a one room hut, almost. I wasn’t ashamed of it, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled with it either.

Maybe I should explain a bit. My father I, obviously, never knew. All Gerudos are female, with the one male born every hundred years. My mother had been a guard of the fortress, but she soon perished. Why, I never knew. But one day she was there, the next, she was gone.

I was seven years old then. I soon learned what it meant to be “on your own.” Too soon.

I stooped to go through the small doorway, and into the room. I lay on my pallet, preparing for a short nap, so I could go out thieving in the night. But I soon found I couldn’t sleep. Rolling over onto my stomach, I began to daydream. Of gold, riches, things I didn’t have but wanted more than anything.

Greedy? Hardly. Everyone needs those things. I just want them more, is all. And I deserve them, don’t I?

Of course. Why wouldn’t I?

Life went on like that for awhile. I hung around the fortress, eavesdropping whenever possible. If I could overhear something important, or somehow get into a position of power . . . power, riches. What more does a girl need?

And power was the path to riches. Of that, I was more than certain.

I waited and waited, hoping for an opportunity. I did not go about this lightly; even at only twelve and thirteen, I was calculating all possible outcomes of my actions. But then, the time came.

I had gone through the required training of a Gerudo, and wasn’t bad with a sword. I was assigned first to be on guard duty. But then, slowly but surely, I began to work my way up. I pulled a few strings, was in the right place at the right time, and before I knew it, I was the commander of a shift of guards. Then, I was over-all commander of two shifts. Three. Four. I continued working my way up, seeming to be patient, though inside I was burning with a lust for money and power. I may sound awful, but what else did I have to look forward to? My race is like that, competitive and all. I was left with nothing else to work towards. Everything I had once held dear had been destroyed.

So, I’d become ruthless. I’d had to be. I had to survive. What choice did I have?

All the while, I began to hear rumors of the man born this hundred years, Ganondorf. The females were impressed with his leadership skills and knowledge of weapons, and nominated him to be a leader. I quickly realized that this man was my key to power. I continued to move up in our hierarchy, and soon was asked to lead an expedition through the Haunted Wasteland. Ganondorf would be accompanying the expedition.

I soon saw that this was my chance to impress him. If I could lead the party through the wasteland accurately, find what Ganon was looking for . . . I would get what I wanted most.

I probably sound a bit obsessed. Which wasn’t really true. I was very quiet. Careful. Cautious. I wasn’t about to let my victories be robbed by some stupid mistake.

By the time the expedition was to begin, I was almost fourteen. We left for the desert at sunset, so as not to have to travel under the hot sun. That was soon realized to be a mistake.

It was nearly impossible to find our way through the wasteland with its swirling winds and total darkness, but I refused to turn back. I sent out three search scouts to look ahead and made sure someone was watching our backs. We continued plodding forward, walking through the sand with great difficulty. And this was, of course, before the flags were posted to mark the way. So we had no idea where we were going.

Two scouts returned with news of a river of sand. The third, not been paying attention, had walked right in and immediately sunk clear to the bottom. No hope of escape.

I set my mind to work, trying to figure out a way to get across the river. I felt Ganondorf’s eyes on the back of my head, boring into my skull.

Ignore him. Don’t screw this up. Just think of a way to get across the river.

I motioned to my second- and third- in command officers, as well as those they commanded, and we walked to a separate area to talk. I noticed Ganondorf watching us. Not curiously, at least, he didn’t look that way. He was very good at hiding emotions. You only saw what he wanted you to.

We walked away from the group and sat down on a blanket to talk.

“All right,” I told them. “Obviously, we have a problem. We are an expedition. We must overcome the trials that face us, and get to where we are supposed to be exploring. I suppose you could consider this desert a place to explore,” I added, watching the winds blow sand that swirled about my face, “but I see no reason to stay in this place any longer than needed.” I noticed my comrades nodding in agreement.

“So,” I said, gaining even more confidence as I went along, “we need to be thinking of a way to get across that river. We are Gerudos. We are the most intelligent people in the land of Hyrule, we know that. Now let’s put that intelligence to good use.”

The meeting was over. “Any ideas, that may even remotely work, report to me. You are dismissed.”

Everyone got up and returned to the group. Except one. Our seer. Our can-see-the-future-fortune-teller-accurate-visions type person. Or so she said.

I stared at her, awaiting her leave. But she did not move. She did not breathe.

Walking closer, I noticed her face, in the dim torchlight. Her color was off.

Completely off. She looked . . . dead.

But no. Why? Why would someone kill a valuable soldier? One of our own kind? It was plain stupidity. Needless murder.

I touched her shoulder and shook it. She felt cold. I noticed her lips moving--yes, moving! But no sound was coming out. I am not skilled in lip-reading. I had no idea what she was saying. But she was alive, for the moment.

Then her lips stopped moving.

I had been holding her up with one hand supporting her back. When I took it away, to lay the body on the ground, I rubbed my fingers together. They were covered with blood.

I looked up to see Ganondorf coming toward me, the body in between us. He’d been standing some distance behind her. There was a bow in his hand. He looked at the shocked expression on my face. A slight, cruel smile twisted upon his lips. “Target practice,” was all he said.