A Fatal Mistake

Then, the unthinkable happened.

Until that moment, I believed my mother to be invincible. I learned that all life is fragile.

It was the dead of night. I was still in training. Rather than being on the raid with my mom, I was stuck at the fortress on patrol. I heard shouting for help, the galloping of a horse, and the rickety wheels of the wooden cart it pulled. Something was wrong. They were back early, and in a panic shouted for bandages and water. I felt all rational thought escape me as I abandoned my route. My mom should have been driving that horse, instead she rode on the wagon. I dropped to the next level of the fortress, and then to the ground. I raced toward the approaching group.

I saw she was wounded because her uniform pants were torn, and blood flowed down her leg.

Another Gerudo appeared beside me, and began to clean the wound with precious water from the well. "What happened?" I asked, shaking with fear.

"Nabooru did not follow orders, which led to endangerment of her fellow Gerudo. Our team was discovered because of her bold actions," my mother explained, glaring at and scolding Nabooru. My eyes focused on my rival. I shoved her as she approached, her mouth open to protest.

"Don't try me, runt!" she snapped at me. "If Savaeya wasn't so weak, she would not have been injured."

"When will you learn that we must function as one, not as individuals. If it wasn't for the success of these raids, our children and our sisters would starve," my mother countered.

"Yes, and if it were not for me, we would have returned empty handed!" Nabooru countered.

My mom stood on her bandaged leg and limped toward her. "If not for you, we would have returned filthy rich! When Ganondorf finds out about this, you will never leave the fortress!"

Nabooru slapped my mom. The sound of the smack startled me. I immediately reacted by tackling my rival to the ground. I screamed, "Don't you ever insult my mother like that!" I emphasized each word by throwing my fists wildly without direction. All the Gerudo shouted at the same time for me to stop, but I was blinded by anger. They rushed and grabbed my arms, throwing me back on the ground at my mom's feet. As I stood, she snatched my shoulder and held me in place to prevent me from attacking again.

"Let's go, Ganondora. This girl isn't worth your energy," my mom said proudly, and directed me home. I felt Nabooru's glare on my back the whole way.

I supported my mother's limp. When we were nearly home, I said, "Will you be all right?" I asked with hope.

"I'll be fine," she said, and smiled at me. "I am proud of you."

I smiled too, and trusted in her that everything would be fine.

I shouldn't have listened though. Over the next few days she grew sick, and could barely move. Her fever was dangerously high. The wound and the area around it turned all shades of green. I knew I could save her life if I could just procure medicine, but doing so was dangerous. That's what I'll tell you about next time.