#sandseal

“No Voeallowed in Gerudo Town!”

The guardspushed the hylian away from the entrance of the town. He growled a bit tohimself. He needed to go into the city. He had to talk to the Leader of thegerudo to turn down the beast. And he needed some items and ingredients forsolving the shrine outside of the town. With the fact he cannot enter at themoment, it would be a longer task than necessary.

He wentback to the shrine and tried to think about a good way of entering. To his luck,he just passed by a stranger who observed the entrance.

“Why areyou looking at the entrance such intensively? Or did you just observe…theguards?”

“I-I don’tobserve the g-guards. I am looking for the merchant who had access to the town”

Now thestranger had Link’s attention.

“Merchant?But Voe are not allowed”

“There is arumor…That the merchant found a way to enter the town. So I wait here for him”

Link wasreally glad he had this talk. Soon after, he found this merchant and a way toenter the town. He could talk to Riju and with her help, they took the divinebeast down. And yeah, he could finish the shrine for the town.

But therewas a shrine outside gerudo town. He talked to some persons and got to knowabout a seal race. He soon learnt that the access to that shrine was a ball.And he had to win a race for it.

It was asunny day like always when he entered the town in his vai armor to sign up tothe race.

“Oh, youalso want to participate in the race, my dear?” he got asked by an oldergerudo. He just nodded.

“Well, itsgood vah naboris calmed down so we can do the race. It’s clear a lot want tojoin.”

“A lot?” heasked a bit confused.

“Well yeah.You’re today the second hylian vai who signed up for it. The other participantsare gerudo who were spread around the kingdom. Good luck”

“Thanks”

He sighed abit. A lot of participants mean it would be a tough task to win and enter theshrine. And he thought the different temperatures in the desert would betoughest.

The dayended fast and the next day, the day of the race, came. It was early in themorning when he started waiting for the start. It took some time when everyonearrived. The old gerudo yesterday was right, there were a lot of participants.Most gerudo. Only he and another hylian participate. But he had not the time totalk. To his misfortune, the other hylian approached him.

“And Ithought I am the only hylian here” you said cheerfully. He just nodded. It waseasy to trick gerudo with his armor or other males. But every hylian female hemeets could identify him as a male when he spoke. So he shut up.

“Oh, not sotalkative? It’s okay. We can talk later after I win” you said and wavedgoodbye. Link quietly chuckled to himself while he waved back. It was a bitcute you assumed yourself as a winner of the race. It was cute he had to admit.

“So, myparticipants” he heard the voice and turned his glance to the older gerudo.“It’s a pleasure so many have interest in the race. For the ones whoparticipate for the first time: Everyone will ride a sandseal. You have todrive through six checkpoints without going from your shield or driving out thearea. If you did, you will be disqualified. When you can pass all check pointsand beat the record time from our champion, you win this race. Understood?”

Everyonenod and creating a line. He was the last one. You, theother hylian next to him, were before him. He took less thought in it andprepared himself for the race.

The racerseemed harder as Link expected. The checkpoints were hard to find and some werein a bokoblin camp. And the time to pass all was also short with one minute and30 seconds.

He had agood feeling. No one had succeeded the conditions and there was only you whocould be a rival. It would be easy for him.

Unfortunatelyfor him, you knew how to ride. The moment the race started for you, he gulped.

You foundthe checkpoints easily and you arrived at the destination in one minute and 20seconds. Now it was his turn. Link focused on the sandseal and the race path.He heard the starting sound and he started to drive.

One minuteand 24 seconds.

Link wasslightly annoyed he lost the race. You jumped happy with the glowing ball inyour hands. The ball he needed the most. He crossed his arms and looked away.

“Oh hey”

He turnedto you. Your happy smile annoyed him a bit. So he just growled a bit.

“Oh, are wea bad loser?” you joked around. His red cheeks confirmed what you said. “Oh my.It was just a race with a silly prize. I mean…I have no use for this ball”

You playeda bit with the ball while he observed how you played. He really needed it butstealing from you wasn’t a nice move he thought.

“Here, youcan have it”

He jumpedsurprise to the side. He didn’t expect it. He really didn’t.

“Theball…it seemed you have more use of it than me. And I saw how you look at it.So here…”

You gave itto him and turned around to go. You waved to him.

“Hope wesee us again to the next race”

Confused,he waved back while his glance wandered around you and the ball. He was quiteflattered by your acting. Now he regretted a bit not to talk to you. You werefriendly, cheerful and full of energy.

He took theball in the hole and the shrine appeared. He was glad he could now go into it.But his thoughts never left you and your action. When he had defeated thecalamity, he would come back and take part in the next race against you.

To see youand of course to prove he wasn’t a bad loser.

It tooksome time when you two meet each other again. You prepared yourself for the nextrace. You were a bit frustrated. You just saw this person one time and you twodidn’t talk much with each other. But they had something interesting and theatmosphere was calming. So you wished to see them to the next race. But theydidn’t come. They were the only one with a chance to beat you.

“Oh[Y/N]…did you hear? There is a new participant for the race” Shabonne told you.

“Yeah yeah”you just said in a neutral voice. You lost hope it could be them.

“And it’s aspecial one. You will never believed it who”

You lookeda bit curious to her. “Who?”

“A hylianvoe. I am quite impressed he knows about the race. He seemed eager toparticipate” she said.

It wasn’tcommon that a male had interest in the race. You had to admit this was a goodchance to forget for some minutes the person.

“And dear…”Shabonne went to you and whispered into your ears. “He’s quite a good-lookingone. Especially in this traditional gerudo armor for voe. I don’t know where hehas it…but it suit him well. You should talk to him after the race”

“What?” youyelped and you could feel your cheeks heat up. Shabonne just laughed about yourreaction.

“You’re inthe perfect age to find a voe and now, there is an attractive one. Catch himbefore I catch him”

You turnedaround and went back to your sand seal.

You weretoo embarrassed to say something. It was true that finding a mate wasimportant. But not in the race. Despite the fact you were still confused aboutthis person.

From afar, yousaw his figure. You cursed inside you Shabonne. He was handsome. But you shookyour head and started the race. You had to shown this guy who was the championof the race.

One minuteand 15 seconds

Quite happyabout your result, you stand yourself next to Shabonne and observed the hylianmale. You really didn’t know why…but he seemed familiar to you. Like you meetbefore. But it couldn’t be. The person was a female like you…or not. When youthought back, they never talked to you. And their posture was…more masculinethan feminine.

You saw howhe watched to you. That’s the moment the realization hit you. You knew theseeyes. And you knew this posture. It was all the time…him?

Before youcould question yourself why on earth did he wear woman cloths, the race startedand you observed how he managed it this time.

One minuteand 13 seconds

In totaldisbelief you watched how Shabonne congratulate him to be the new champion. Youcouldn’t believe what you just found out and saw. So you walked to him.

“Congratulation,you’re the first who beat me.” You offered him your hand to shake and he tookthe offer. He had soft hands but they were also strong.

He justscratched the back of his neck while he blushed a bit. You found it cute.

“What’syour name?” you asked.

“Link” hejust said. His voice was melodic and calming, it suited him. “And you?”

“[Y/N]”

It gotsilent between you. But no one moved away from each other. You really don’tknow why….but he fascinated you.

“So…Link…canyou answer me a question?”

“Mhhh?” heanswered. You only smirked.