Maiden Of The Sands

Chapter 1

[Naturally I don't own legend of Zelda]

Darkness.

That's all he knew at the moment. Darkness and the sensation of being jostled around along with an arrangement of objects indeterminable in the could hardly made sense of how fast it all happened.
How could a simple delivery turn into such a mess?

His head hurt, being particularly sensitive in one spot. Not that he wasn't sore all over from laying amongst hard objects for who knows how long now. When they cart came to a stop he was flung across the wood floor.

The sound of several voices speaking at once came muffled through the thick tarp. Most voices speaking in some strange language he did not know.
Once voice finally silenced the others, the speaker thankfully using the common tongue. "We didn't have a choice, got it? He put up too much of a fight and knights were on our tails. We woulda got caught if we hadn't snatched him.
"Get Nabri, she'll know what to do." Another voice exclaimed. Then it felt like an eternity, waiting for something to happen.

Two pairs of hands grabbed at him and yanked him out of the cart and onto hot sand.
With a hiss he squeezed his eyes shut at the sudden bright sunlight.

As his eyes adjusted he was surprised to find he was surrounded by a large group of women; many of whom held scimitars or axes in their tanned hands. And many, but not all, had the lower halves of their faces covered with veils.
They stood in a half circle around him, all staring down at him rather like vultures.
Or at least that's the image that came to mind. Especially given the bird like noses those who left their faces uncovered possessed.

Suddenly they began parting as a particularly fierce looking woman walked her way through the small crowd.
The woman had an oval face and slightly longer looking nose than the rest of them. Most of her hair was cut short but a thick, extremely long section was pulled up and held in place with a thick ring like object adorned with, in his opinion, a ridiculously large jewel.

Her sharp golden eyes squinted as she circled him. Bringing the image of vultures back.

She pulled him roughly to his feet by the arm and circled round him more, as if she was scrutinizing every inch of him.
"Well, girls, what should we do with the runt?" She barked. "From what I heard this squirt caused a fair bit of trouble for Zaboora and Haana. That can't go unpunished, now can it? Any ideas?"

There was a clamor of voices. Woman were pushing each other as they shouted suggestions.
Seemingly displeased by the ideas the woman held up her hand to silence the other women. "Alright, alright. Settle down now. Take him to the sparring hall and we'll settle it there."

He gave a start as a piece of cloth was forcibly wrapped around his eyes. Two pairs of hands hooked themselves under his arms and dragged him away.
There was a shift in the level of darkness and a cool breeze hit him from the back; The texture beneath his struggling feet changed from soft sand to hard stone and the sounds of his futile scuffling echoed dully around them.

A multitude of excited voices echoed louder and dozens of footsteps rang in his ears.

There was a loud creaking sound along with the sound of stone scraping against stone and his feet touched sand again. When the blindfold was removed they were in a new room- a large chamber with a sandy floor with training equipment scattered about.
Women stood jeering from every nook and cranny. Even from platforms above. He stood in the center of what had to be a training ring, judging by the stray weaponry, and his bonds were now attacked to a thick pole in the ground.
The woman from before stood in front of him, lips curled into a menacing smirk. She opened her mouth to speak but her voice fell silent as another voice rang through the clamor.