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Sand Seals and Sapphire Stones

   The Gerudo Desert's heat was hard to get used to. Link sluggishly trudged through the fields of sand. He had started walking through the desert during the early morning, when it was cool, but now the blinding sun was out. He wasn't roasting under the sun, but it was still undesirably warm.

   After stopping to take a small sip of water, Link glanced around. Finally. He spotted Gerudo Town in the distance. Sometimes, it feels like this desert never ends. He continued on in the direction of the town.

   Outside of the town, there were usually a few people hanging around. Today was no different. Near the entrance to the town, Link saw a Gerudo woman standing next to a rugged looking sand seal. The woman seemed to be deep in thought, like something was bothering her. 

   Link unconsciously walked up to her. He had a tendency of wanting to help solve people's problems.

   The Gerudo woman stood tall and muscular. She wore icy blue makeup, which contrasted nicely with her ruby red top and unruly hair. She had a fierce look to her. The seal resting beside her yawned and occasionally glanced around at its dusty surroundings.

   "Hello. Are you ok?" Link asked the woman. She looked up, surprised to see the Hylian in front of her.

   "Oh! Sav'aaq! I didn't know you were there. I'm just stuck on trying to make a decision," the woman replied.

   "What decision?"

   "Well, mine and my wife's anniversary is tomorrow, and I want to get her a gift," she explained anxiously. "But I've never been the best at gift-giving. I spend a lot of time sand surfing. I'm much better at that. I thought I'd make her something. I just don't know what yet."

   Link thought for a minute. "You could make her jewelry," he suggested. The redhead jumped up excitedly.

   "That's a great idea! A necklace would be perfect for her!" 

   Grabbing the sand seal's reins, she eagerly added, "Ikomi, my wife, likes sapphire. I don't have any on me, but I do know where to find some near here!"

   "There's sapphire in the Gerudo Desert?" asked Link, who was clearly surprised by this information. I've only ever seen sapphire in and near mountains. 

   "A few days ago, I found a small cave with some ore inside while sand surfing. I remember seeing sapphire there. It's south of the town."

   "Isn't the Molduga also south?" Link replied hesitantly.

   "Yep!"

    . . .

   "You do know that being in the area with the Molduga is dangerous, right? You could get launched into the air and get seriously hurt, or worse," Link warned the Gerudo. 

   "That's part of the fun! I find danger like that quite thrilling. Besides, I think I could beat it," she stated confidently.

   And I think you've been spending a little too much time with the sand seal. Link had seen that thing himself. The Molduga was huge and could easily swallow a person up.

   "You can rent a sand seal and come with, if you want. You can take the ore that I don't need. I'm sure there's more than I'll be using."

   "Sure, I'll join you." He figured the ore could be useful in some way, and if not, he could just sell them. Besides, he thought to himself, I don't feel good about her going near the Molduga.

   "Oh!" She shouted. "I never told you my name. I'm Geibona. And this guy is Golan." She pointed at the seal next to her. Golan barked in response.

   "I'm Link," he smiled.

   After Link rented out a sand seal for himself, the two set out to the south. Geibona led the way past dusty golden hills. Wind and sand blew past Link's face. The seal he had was fast, but Golan swam even faster. The blonde's seal started to struggle with keeping up. All of a sudden, Golan started to slow down. He slowed until he matched the other seal's pace.

   "Hey Link! Let me show you a couple of fun sand surfing stunts," Geibona shouted.

   "Ok!"

   Geibona directed Golan slightly to the left of them. They rode up a small slope, flying upwards into the air. Geibona flipped the shield mid-air and stuck the landing with a 'thud'. Link watched, impressed. He hadn't ever tried to perform a jump or flip while sand surfing.

   "How about you try?" Geibona challenged.

   Link searched around for a slope and found one fairly quickly. He and his seal raced up the slope. The blonde successfully imitated Geibona's mid-air shield flip and landed in the sand just as she had. He laughed in relief, glad that he hadn't fallen.

   "Nice job, kid!" Geibona praised. The sand seals matched each other's pace again. 

   Suddenly, a threateningly loud rumble came from the ground around them. The seals barked and swiftly sped up, as if frightened by something. Link became worried. Was that the Molduga? 

   The rumble only lasted a few seconds before the desert became silent again. A few minutes later, Geibona spoke up.

   "I don't think it's gonna attack us. We're probably far enough away from it now."

   "I hope we are," Link replied back.

   Shortly after, the Hylian and the Gerudo approached the entrance to the cave. It was down a somewhat steep sand hill. Right before it sloped down, another, much smaller, sand hill was set up to look like a ramp. It seemed as if Geibona made the smaller hill herself.

   "This hill is perfect for one trick in particular," Geibona explained.

   Golan stopped in front of the sand ramp. He then started slowly spinning on the spot. They spun once, twice, then three times. On the third spin, Geibona let go. She slid up the ramp and flew into the air, all while holding her shield. Balancing perfectly, she crouched and jumped off the shield, performing a remarkable front flip. The Gerudo landed at the bottom of the slope, extending her arms out in order to stay standing. The shield tumbled down after her.

"Woo!" Geibona turned and shouted with a smile, "Your turn now!"

   The young champion looked on in awe. I think it would take a lot of practice for me to land as skillfully as she did. Despite his lack of confidence in his own sand surfing abilities, Link decided to give it a shot.

   The blonde and his sand seal spun once, twice, and on the third spin, he made sure to let go at the same angle Geibona had. He flew up the slope and through the air. He leaped off the shield and attempted a front flip. He very quickly realized that he hadn't pushed off of the shield at the right time to make the full flip. His brief flight ended with his face buried in the sand.

   A hearty laugh rang out beside him. "You alright, kid?"

   "Yea," Link groaned. "I'm good."

   "Don't worry, you did pretty well for your first time with that stunt. I've face-planted quite a few times myself attempting it. It took me a while to get the timing right and to stick the landing properly," Geibona explained as she helped Link pick himself back up.

   "It does seem like a difficult move to master. I have to admit though, that was pretty fun!" Link swiftly brushed off the sand while smiling.

   "Right? I love sand surfing!" Geibona cheerfully shouted.

   Link looked over at the cave. He could clearly see the brilliant blue sapphire inside, as well as some flint and topaz. He also saw a dim light coming from one particular stone. The two headed inside.

   "Alright. All I need is one sapphire stone and two pieces of flint!" Geibona said as she looked around at the ores. 

   "Stand back." Link took out his sword and swung at the ore deposit holding the precious metals. It crumbled, and three hand-sized pieces of sapphire tumbled to the ground. He then did the same with the three other ore deposits. Geibona picked up the sapphire and two pieces of flint she needed.

   "Thank you for helping me get the materials, and for helping me come up with what to make for my wife!" Geibona smiled and stuck the stones into the small bag she was wearing. "You can take the rest of the ore."

   "Of course! And thanks for showing me those tricks. They're fun to do," Link said as he picked up the extra ore and stuffed them into his seemingly bottomless pockets. Link was happy to help others.

   After collecting the materials, they went back outside to their sand seals. The sun was almost beginning to set over the sandy horizon. They started to travel back to Gerudo Town. Then unexpectedly, Link heard the same ground-shaking noise he had heard earlier.

   Oh. I forgot about that.