.....
"Y/n! Watch where you're going!" A fellow villager called out as he quickly stopped his horse from hitting the young Hylian girl.
"I'm sorry sir! I'll try to be more careful next time!" She called out to the Hylian man before she continued to walk on ahead.
Ever since that night a couple of weeks ago, when that nice tall boy of Mr. Bari's, returned her flower that she grew, she's been obsessed with it. Y/n carried it around everywhere she went, her heart full whenever she held it in her hands. She would put it in her hair or in her pocket whenever she had to use her hands, and would take it out the moment she was done.
It was one of those days during dance practice that one of her fellow dancers pointed out that her flower somehow hasn't shriveled up and died yet. When another girl theorized that it could be because of the constant practice of the dance that brought it to life in the first place, the flower hadn't died because it was probably continuously getting rejuvenated, Y/n became a little too determined to keep working.
Every night before she went to bed and every morning when she woke up, she would take the Silent Princess and perform the dance a single time before continuing on with the rest of her day.
Y/n would now walk amongst the streets of her tiny village with that rare flower in her hands, making sure to protect it with her precious life.
The women of the town thought that it was just the sweetest thing, seeing a girl nearly of age walking around with a flower like it was a treasure of the highest caliber. They would see her skip past them and immediately begin talking to one another about how good of a child she was and how her mother and father must be so proud.
Now here she was almost getting hit by a wagon due to being in her own little world from a silly little event that happened about and hour before...
~ONE HOUR AGO~
Y/n was coming back from dance practice today clutching her flower as usual. Her route usually took her past the part of the woods where the boys would usually hang out, climbing trees and swinging wooden swords to practice at the chance of becoming a soldier for the village or even a knight of Hyrule someday. For Y/n it was pretty funny watching them try to impress her with roughhousing or sword tricks whenever she passed by, but she would simply give them a smile and continue on her way. Today was no different.
"Hey Y/n! Watch this!" A more than familiar voice called out to her, making her stop and take a deep breath before turning around. It was Mitch.
She was more than aware about the influential boy's crush on her. And it was ANNOYING.
He would always force his little posse to help him torment her and her fellow Tri-Dancers and would always go out of his way to purposefully make it known that he wanted her and that she would one day marry him. Which was absolutely not the case, but no matter how many times he would pester her and ruin her day, she wouldn't react, because that's what he wanted her to do.
So when she was called to 'watch him', all she could do was obliged, knowing that doing so would stop him from doing something else much more annoying later on than if she just ignored him.
She watched as he pulled out, A REAL SWORD?!
She took a silent step back and gulped. She had no idea where this was going, but she didn't want to stick around and find out, this was too much, even for Mitch.
"Woah woah woah Mitch, come on, you're scaring her." Another voice called out from among the trees. Y/n could feel her eyes light up slightly once out stepped the tall boy and her big brother, holding a bunch of sticks.
"Yeah whatever you're about to do, please don't. Trust me, my sister will not approve-!" Fletcher was cut off my Mitch rolling his eyes and telling the Hylian boy to shut up.
Ganondorf let out a sigh as the older boy got ready to strike a tree with the sword to show off his strength. At least he wasn't doing anything TOO stupid. Ever since he became of age last year (16) it was like a whole new layer of audacity formed in his mind now that he had the title of 'man'. It wasn't long before Ganondorf would become of age, two days actually! He was already planning his birthday celebration with his father and hoped that his new friends would attend. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't invited Y/n yet.
Setting down the pile of sticks, he dusted his hands off and calmly walked over to the young Hylian girl with a welcoming smile.
"Good evening Y/n...!" He greeted, taking the girl's eyes off of Mitch.
"Oh! Hello, Ganondorf!" She greeted back with an admirable sparkle in her eyes as she strained her neck to look up at him.
"I was just wondering, see my birthday is approaching in two days, and I was wondering if you would wish to attend?" He asked politely.
"Yes! I would love to!" She answered, bouncing in place excitedly. "How old would you be turning?"
"16." He answered, scratching the back of his head. "I'm kind of nervous actually...!"
"Don't be! Becoming of age is an honor! I'm only 14 at the moment and everyday I look forward to the day I finally become of age!" Y/n reassured the Gerudo male, giving him a pat on the arm.
Ganondorf looked down into the girl's eyes before finally noticing the familiar flower in her hands, then looking back up at her face, a small smirk appearing on his face before he looked away to watch Mitch attack the tree.
Y/n didn't know why, but the way he looked at her left her silently shaking in her boots. With a stiff body, she kept darting her eyes back and fourth away from glancing at the tall boy next to her. Y/n's fingers twiddled bashfully across her prized flower's stem as she felt an unfamiliar heat slowly make it way to her cheeks. What was this? This has never happened before!
Ganondorf looked down at her for a second, having to do a double take once he saw her face.
"Hey." He called out to her coolly. "You alright Y/n? You're face is red."
She felt her heart SINK.
No.
WAS SHE BLUSHING?!?!
Letting out a quick yelp of embarrassment, the Hylian girl covered her face with the Silent Princess and crouched down as far as she could.
"O-Oh no! I must have touched some poison ivy! D-Don't look!" She stuttered, walking away.
"Hey! Hey! It's alright! Here, let me see...!" Ganandorf reassured as he knelled down to try and help the Hylian girl.
With a single finger, the Gerudo pushed her hands down, lowering the flower from her face. The blush was still there, but barely.
"There see, it's not a rash, just red. You must be exhausted from practice yes?" Ganondorf whispered kindly, Y/n answering with a tiny nod. "Okay, come on stand up for me. You might actually run into some ivy on the ground like that! Haha!"
Y/n stood up as fast as an arrow.
"Thank you for that Ganondorf!" She cringed out, completely embarrassed.
"It's no problem, I have to practice being a gentleman, my father told me to show every woman respect." He softly took her hand in his and lifted it up far enough to where he could press a light kiss on the top of it.
Mitch, who was almost done chopping down the tree, looked over to see if Y/n was still watching, only to double take as he saw what he could only describe as what nightmares were made of.
That string bean, WAS KISSING HIS WOMAN! (on the hand, but that really doesn't make a difference to this psycho.)
Clenching his teeth with a deep growl, he changed his direction on the tree and raised the sword high, catching the attention of Fletcher.
"WAIT! MITCH NO! DON'T DO THIS-!" It was too late as Mitch put all of his anger into his swing and swung straight through the trunk of the tree, changing the direction of the tree to fall directly on top of the unsuspecting Gerudo. "GANONDORF! WATCH OUT!!!" Fletcher screamed, catching the attention of both him and Y/n at the same time.
Y/n let out a gasp as she stared up at the incoming tree, unable to think at how fast everything was happening. She let out a scream and blocked her body with her hands as the tree fell on top of Ganondorf with a large bang, the woods going silent.
"Ganondorf...?" Y/n whimpered out as she took a shaky step towards the fallen tree. No answer. "Oh no..."
Fletcher, after finally regaining his composure, quickly ran over to the tree sliding over on his knees as he assessed the tree with wide watery eyes.
"Oh Hylia...! MITCH WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?!" Fletcher screamed out, only to turn and see that he perpetrator was gone, the sword being the only thing evident of him ever being there. "T-THAT! THAT LITTLE-!"
The tree began to shake a little, startling the siblings.
"Ganondorf?" Y/n whimpered as the tree began to shake even more eventually beginning to rise up from the dirt, revealing the skinny boy that fell victim to it.
With his legs shaking, and his body aching, the Gerudo male revealed his potential strength as he stood up, the tree above his head. And with one last showing of strength, he threw it off of him draining the last bit of energy he had before he collapsed onto his knees.
The siblings quickly ran over and helped him up, wrapping his long arms around their shoulders as they begin to help lead him out of the woods.
Leading the poor boy injured with his mortified father was extremely hard to do. He was bleeding from head to toe, cuts and purple bruises littered his body. The colors contrasting his green skin and making his injuries look even more gruesome to the Hylian eye.
The siblings wanted to tell Mr. Bari what happened to his son, but on the way to find him, Ganondorf told the L/n siblings not to tell. They thought that the tree must have hit his head a little too hard, but he insisted on not telling him, not wanting any drama to ensue when his birthday is so close. So they obliged.
It was then, after baring witness to the absolute power and humble nature of Ganondorf Dragmire, Y/n L/n finally cam to the conclusion, that she had a crush on him.
And she had fallen HARD.
~
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The crowd exclaimed as they threw some confetti into the air.
Ganondorf was now 16 years old, a man.
The people that were invited to his celebration surrounded him with pride and joy. The Gerudo was still healing of course from the tree incident, wrapped head to toe in bandages. So he was unfortunately unable to move around the way he wanted to, but it was too painful to do so.
Thankfully he had two amazing friends who were willing to sit and stay with him while everyone else stood and talked with each other.
Fletcher and his sister Y/n sat with him and talked with him like they've known each other there entire lives. They admired Ganondorf's ability to stay so happy and humble after everything that he had been through. He was seriously injured yet could still stare the world in the face with a smile.
Y/n of course, now realizing her new crush on the boy, pampered him as much as she could on his big day. Making sure to check his wounds, feeding him cake, and ensuring that he didn't push himself too much. This of course doesn't fly by her brother Fletcher, who catches on to this fairly quickly, so seeing his sister's sudden abnormal behavior, he immediately knew what was going on.
Honestly Fletcher wasn't a master on the mind of girls, far from it. But he knew one thing, and that was if he had a crush on someone, he wouldn't want anyone to point it out, so he left her alone.
So now the two were sitting next to each other speaking with each other peacefully.
"Oh, you're wearing your flower!" Ganondorf pointed out once he noticed the silent princess sitting in Y/n's hair, her eyes lighting up from him noticing her prized possession in her hair. The Gerudo lifted his hand slightly as he gazed at the glowing blue flower's majesty. "May I...?"
Y/n could feel her entire body begin to vibrate from the excited energy building up inside of her, answering by quickly nodding her head up and down.
As he smiled warmly at the Hylian girl before grazing his hand gently across the soft petals on the rare plant, the tips of his fingers trailing against her hair. She felt like she could explode where she sat.
"You're doing such an amazing job of taking care of it." Ganondorf praised as he pulled his hand back with a smile. "It's still as beautiful as the day you grew it."
Now she knew it was just him complementing the flower, but the way he said it almost made her feel like he was referring to HER as the beautiful one!
The red started to rise from her neck to the tips of her ears from being complemented from her hard word work, becoming overwhelmed with emotion. Being unable to control her actions, she thanked him by engulfing him in a giant hug and planted a kiss on his cheek before letting go and skipping away with a fit of giggles, leaving the Gerudo male stiff and confused from what just happened. Slowly raising his hand to touch his cheek, still feeling the tingle of her lips on his skin, he suddenly twitched out in delayed pain from the huge hug he just received.
"Ow." He hissed out.
~
Y/n had to step outside to calm herself down from everything that just happened. She kissed him she kissed him she KISSED HIM AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!
Pulling her flower out of her hair she twirled around with it down the street of her town. She was in her own little world again, her heart pounding with excitement. Unfortunately, bad things come around the corner when the innocent least expect it.
Out of nowhere, she was pushed onto the ground by two pairs of hands. She protected her precious flower from the impact and quickly gathered her bearings and swiftly identified the culprits. The Rembry twins. And that meant-
"I'm sick of this." A voice growled as the twins moved out of the way for the master mind of this encounter.
"Mitch?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Y/n spat as she rose from the ground, glaring him down for almost ruining her flower that he attempted to get rid of to begin with because of her ignoring him for taking it. He had never seen her this mad at anyone.
"You want to know what's wrong?! What's wrong is that I'm sick of you ignoring me!" He exclaimed, stomping over towards her. "You're using anything as an excuse to look away from me! Like anything, ANYTHING is better than being around ME!"
Y/n was sick of this. No more. She wasn't going to take this obsession from his loose cannon ANYMORE!
"Why can't you take a hint you freak!?" She exclaimed at him, finally giving him a piece of her mind. "I don't like you! I don't want to BE with you! I HATE YOU!"
She had finally said it. She finally told him how she really felt.
But of course, even someone as wise as her should have known that these kinds of things never end well...
Mitch's eyes dilated in pure fury as he bolted forward, manhandling her flower out of her hand and shoving her back onto the ground as hard as he could.
"HEY! GIVE IT BACK!" Y/n screamed out as she shot up and tried to get it back from him by trying to climb over his shoulder. Her sudden screams catching the attention of a certain Gerudo from the nearby building.
"I'm ending this right now. You need to learn your place! I don't know how you got this flower back, but I'm making sure you never get the chance to get it back again!" Mitch roared out as he kept pushing her off of him in the struggle for the precious plant.
"NO! STOP, PLEASE! DON'T HURT IT!" Y/n cried out in agony as she continued to try and fight for what was rightfully hers. But it was all in vein.
All she could do was let out screams of terror as he started harshly plucking the petals from the rare flower, crushing it in his hands right before her eyes before throwing it on the ground and ending it with one final stomp. Y/n fell to her knees as hot tears fell down her face from seeing the aftermath of the assault. Her trembling hands drifted over the destroyed flower before she finally let out the loudest cry of heartbreak a Hylian could muster, holding herself to find some form of comfort as Mitch stared down over her with no remorse in his expression.
Everything next, happened in the blink of an eye.
Faster than lightning, Mitch was sent flying across the street from a swift punch to the face.
Ganondorf had saw it all.
And he would rather die than sit back and watch someone other than himself be humiliated by someone so entitled and evil. Especially when the one being hurt was someone who treated everyone with kindness and respect, even the ones that don't deserve it.
He was in pain all over, he felt like he could barely walk. But all of that felt trivial as of right now, he felt a new layer of strength fill his body after seeing Y/n's filled with sadness.
He blacked out. Everything was red, every action he did after that first punch was unknown to him. But when he finally came to, he was being held back by nearly every man that attended his birthday party. With wide eyes he looked around to see nothing but destruction in the surrounding area.
And ahead of him another crowd surrounding his victim, lifting him up into a stretcher and carrying him away. Ganondorf's body language calmed down in shock of what happened his only limit being his imagination on what he could have done to the Hylian.
Unfortunately, he was about to get an idea.
Feeling something strange clutched in his fist, he lifted his arm to eye level and opened his palm.
His heart turned cold.
There, in the palm of his hand, was a perfectly intact and bloody eyeball, that he had pulled out from Mitch's skull.
Letting out a scream, he threw the organ away from him, falling backwards onto his rear, scooting and kicking himself away from it. The crowd backing away from him in fear. He looked around at the townspeople for help, only to find terror in their face.
"Dad..." He softly wailed, feeling nothing but dread filling his chest. "DAD!" He finally screamed out for his father, feeling like a helpless child lost in the woods.
"Ganondorf!" His father's voice could be heard from among the giant crowd of people. It was clear that the Hylian man was trying to find his boy from the hundreds of people. And now that he heard his son calling for him, he went into full dad mode, pushing and shoving people out of his way, barraging his way through to get to his kid.
Finally making his way through the crowd, he spotted his child and quickly rushed over and embarrassed him in reassurance, comforting him in this terrifying time.
"Come on, let's get you home..." Mr. Bari whispered in a rush, still covering his son as he stood to his feet leading him all the back home.
~
As if the day couldn't get any worse.
William Bari, father of Ganondorf Dragmire, finally told him everything.
What he was, and who he was meant to be.
And so, ignoring the pain still present in his body, he ran out of his home and towards the cliff near his home, to let it all out.
As Ganondorf finished screaming into the orange sky, he finally fell to his knees in defeat, weeping silently.
He still couldn't believe it.
Him? A King?!
"No no! It's not true! It just- CAN'T be true!" He wailed out as he slammed his fist into the ground over and over again, not showing any signs of slowing down even as his hand began to bleed. "I'm a kid! A normal kid with a normal life! I'm not A king! I'm-! I'M-!"
"What are you?" A soft voice interrupted, the Gerudo's body freezing as he processed the fact that someone was here. He slowly tilted his head to see who it was.
Y/n...
"I-I..." Ganondorf whimpered as he hung his head again. "I don't know anymore...!"
The Hylian girl gave a quiet hum as she lifted her dress to walk over and sit gracefully next to him.
"I never got to thank you, for what you did earlier..." She began softly, Ganondorf looking up at her as if she were crazy.
"B-But...! You saw what I did! I'm not normal! I'm a monster! I'm-!"
"Is that the label you've landed on now?" Y/n interrupted him again, looking over at him with a frown. "I don't care what other people say. I go by what I see..." She sighed as she looked out at the sunset, Ganondorf slowly sitting himself up as he waited for her to continue.
"You're telling me, that you looked DIRECTLY at me, and you DIDN'T see a monster?" He hissed, not believing a word she was saying.
"Would I be here right now if I did?" She asked directly, looking into his eyes as he backed down, the Hylian girl proving a point. "What I saw was a boy defending a girl's honor. Seeing you, and the strength you posses, it inspired me to become stronger."
"You- what?"
She smiled warmly.
"Uh huh, I've never met anyone like you Ganondorf. Minus the whole, tall green man thing." She giggled a bit, waving her hand towards him. "You're noble, kind, and unique. Who wouldn't want to be that?"
Ganondorf looked at her, then out over the horizon. Letting out a sigh, he placed his head into the palm of his hand. Moving a stray piece of hair out of his face, he took a deep breath.
"My father says, that I'm the missing king of the Gerudo." Ganondorf admitted, the Hylian girl gasping as she darted her head over to his direction after hearing the news. "He told me, that my mother is still waiting for me back in her homeland. And that, she told him to take me away after my birth."
"So that's what happened to you..." Y/n breathed out quietly as she looked upon him, now taking it in that she was now sitting next to an actual king. Her words didn't slip past Ganondorf though.
"You, know about what happened?" Ganondorf questioned, a little surprised.
"Are you kidding me? All of Hyrule knew about it! Though I wasn't born until about two years after, stories are still being told about what happened to the young king." She explained with a sigh. "You're the chosen one Ganondorf, the Gerudo king..."
"YEAH WELL I DON'T WANT TO BE!" He yelled, shooting up from the sitting position, now towering over the young Hylian girl. "I DON'T WANT TO RULE! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE ME?! WHY DID I HAVE TO BE BORN A BOY?! WHY DID I HAVE TO PUT MY MOTHER THROUGH SO MUCH PAIN, BECAUSE OF A LITTLE DIFFERENCE IN MY BODY?!"
Y/n could only sit in silence, allowing the Gerudo male to express his emotions. It was the best thing thing she could do in this situation. It was healthy for him to get this off of his chest
"CAN'T YOU SEE, Y/N?! I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A MONTER! SINCE THE MOMENT I WAS BORN-"
Okay, that was enough.
Y/n held up her hand calmly, signaling for him to stop degrading himself like that.
"A baby, is never a monster." She stated, lifting herself off of the ground. "A boy is influential, but a man, a man understands..."
Ganondorf looked a tad bit confused until he felt her press a finger on his chest.
"Tell me, Ganondorf. Are you a man?" She quizzed him, looking him dead in the eye for his answer.
"Well, I'm 16 so that technically means I am-"
"Age has nothing to do with what is learned, unless you've already learned it." Y/n crossed her arms. "You may be of age, but yet you still behave like a child. You don't understand. And you're not taking the time to. Therefore, you're not a man."
"B-But! I am! I'm the right age! I'm tall and strong! And I-!" Ganondorf started to ramble, his face turning a light shade of red after being called out by a GIRL.
"I'm sorry, but what King rambles on like an offended toddler?" Y/n teased as his face turned even redder, clashing with his green skin.
"I already said, I'm not a king!" He spat out.
"According to Gerudo law you are."
"Yeah but that doesn't mean any... thing." Ganondorf slowed down as he began to realize what just came full circle, Y/n's smile growing as she saw that he caught on.
"You see now? Just because someone says so, doesn't mean it's always true to another person!" She took in a deep breath. "Law says you're a man, But I don't believe you are. Law says you're a King, but you don't believe you are. People say you are a monster, and you believe you are. But I don't."
Ganondorf could only stand in silence as he stared down at the Hylian woman. His eyes were wide as if he looked upon the world in a new light. Fletcher was right, his sister was wise beyond her years, she was a woman. She was put together, unlike himself.
"Now the million rupee question is, which ones are you going to be?" She finished, turning and walking away. "I don't know about you! I but I'd definitely pick the king one! That's a once in a lifetime opportunity!" She called out for the last time, before she was gone, leaving Ganondorf alone with his thoughts.
The wind blew across the sky, the orange hue of the setting sun shining down upon him as the corners of his lips tilted up into a faint smile.
~
*One week later*
"Ganondorf! No! Don't leave me like this!" Fletcher wailed out as he clung onto the Gerudo's leg as he was dragged across the ground from Ganondorf trying to walk.
Ganondorf had decided that he was going to leave the hidden town, to train with his father in the Tri Mountains that surrounded Trinity Village.
"I'm sorry my friend! But I got to do this!" Ganondorf responded as he placed the last box in the cart with his father waiting.
"No you don't! Just because some 100 year prophesy says that your supposed to be a king doesn't mean you SHOULD!"
"I'm not doing this because I want to be a king!" Ganondorf laughed.
"You're not?"
"Of course not." Ganondorf sighed out as he watched his best friend pick himself up and dust off his tunic. "Someone just, opened my eyes, and, I want to try and attempt to well, grow..."
"HUH?! But you're already huge! Why would you wanna get any- oh you meant as a person." Fletcher sweat dropped as he corrected himself. "Though I wouldn't stop myself from recommending that you put some meat on your bones. I know you're tired of Mitch calling you string bean..."
"Haha! I'll keep that in mind!" Ganondorf chuckled as he placed a reassuring hand on the Hylian boy's shoulder. "Listen, I don't know when I'm going to return, but do you think you can do this one favor for me while I'm gone?"
"I can only promise to try." Fletcher sniffed as he straightened his glasses.
"Trying is more than enough." Ganondorf smiled warmly. "I want you to grow as well. It'll help me get through my own journey knowing that someone I know is doing the same."
Ganondorf grabs a traveler's sword from the cart and walks over to his best friend and holds it high.
"As King of the Gerudo, it is my honor to gift another person worthy, of more than they believe they are." He lightly placed the blade of the sword onto Fletcher's shoulder. "My first act as king (Now that I know I am one) I knight thee, Fletcher L/n of Trinity Village! Let your intelligence and bravery, lead your people into greatness, and prosperity! Protect them as I wish I had, and love them as I have always. For they are my people too..."
Fletcher's lips began to tremble as he began wiping his eyes underneath his glasses, the clear tears pouring out from in between his fingers.
"You're really leaving! Aren't you?!" He sniffed, still rubbing his eyes. "You sound just like my sister! So wise a-and brave! Why do you have to leave?!"
Ganondorf said nothing as a single tear trailed down his cheek.
He took the traveler's sword and held it out, wanting the Hylian boy to take it. With one final sniff he took it and held it close.
"Thank you, for being my friend..." Ganondorf smiled sadly as he pulled him self up in to the wagon next to his father, who signaled the horse to start moving.
And soon, he was gone.
TO BE CONTINUED...