ôCome on,ö the guard slinked toward me, smiling. ôItÆs a great honor to be invited to join our tribe, and the invitation is almost never extended towards men. And when it is, wellàö her smile grew wicked, ôthe celebrations last for days.ö
ôC-celebrations?ö I was sure I knew what she meant, but I honestly didnÆt know how to feel about it.
ôOh yes,ö she was very close to me now, close enough to reach out and play with my belt buckle, which she did. ôItÆs a lot of fun, for everyone.ö
I gulped, and the Gerudo cocked her head and looked at me strangely.
ôHow old are you?ö she asked.
ôUm, seventeen,ö physically anyway, I added silently. I was probably only up to fourteen mentally.
ôAnd are you a noble?ö
ôUh, no.ö
ôThen youÆre still considered young, by most people.ö
ôUm, I guess so.ö
The Gerudo leaned close and looked me directly in the eyes. ôAre you a virgin?ö
My eyes grew wide. ôA- a- a-ö
ôYou are! Oh this is fantastic!ö
ôW- what?ö
ôSince youÆre a virgin, it means you havenÆt picked up any bad habits, and probably donÆt have any misconceptions about what women want. Oh this is too, too perfect!ö She clapped her hands and laughed. ôAnd since NabooruÆs gone, she canÆt even claim dibs!ö
ôNabooru?ö I asked.
ôOur leader,ö the guard explained. ôThe one in charge usually gets dibs on any new men, but since sheÆs gone and IÆm second-in-commandàö She grinned wickedly at me. ôCome on, rookie,ö she grabbed me by the belt buckle and led me firmly to the cot in one of the cells. ôLet the training begin.ö
After Lesson One, NabooruÆs second-in-command (I never did catch her name) passed me off to a captain who gave me Lesson Two, who then gave me to a couple of Gerudo guards who gave me Lessons Three, Four and Five.
It went on like that for three days. Now, I enjoyed it, IÆm not going to lie, but I was conflicted. I wanted to get to the desert, find the ægoddess of the sandÆ awaken the sage, kill the monster, kill Ganon, and save the world. I wanted to save Zelda. But the Gerudos wanted to teach me things, things that I desperately wanted to learn.