Chapter 1: Prologue
Chapter Text
Link
I sat atop of the lookout once again staring off into the endless blue sea, watching as the sun set far beyond the horizon. Tomorrow is my seventeenth birthday, and it’s supposed to be a big celebration, but instead I only feel sad. Mom was supposed to be here to see this day instead she's with the spirits. Even though it’s been a few years since she died I can’t seem to move past it. I’m just glad she got to live the adventuring life she wanted. I only wish I was able to join her this year like we were supposed to.
The screech of the gulls shook me out of my thoughts. Glancing down to the bridge connecting the two sides of the island I saw Aryll running across, heading towards the lookout probably looking for me. She was in her nightgown looking like she was ready for bed. I couldn’t help but smile seeing her being followed by the gulls. On nights like this she reminds me so much of mom, such a wonderful carefree attitude. She is a sweetheart, and I would do anything for her.
“Hoy! Big Brother! Are you up here?” I heard Aryll calling as she climbed the ladder.
I looked back and saw her little head peak up staring at me with her telescope. Rolling my eyes with a slight smile sneaking across my face I said, “What are you doing up its getting late shouldn’t you be getting ready for bed?”
“I was but Grandma said she wanted to finish getting stuff ready for your birthday and told me to keep you busy until she’s done.” Aryll said, coming to sit down next to me with a little giggle.
Smiling, I put my arm around her bringing her closer, “Is that so, I don’t suppose you’ll let me use your telescope then to keep me busy?” I teased poking at her side with my other arm. Her telescope was nothing special a typical one used by navigators on the sea, but it was a gift from mom, she even painted seagulls on end of it for her. I always teased her about it, it’s like a teddy bear for her, but I know just how special it is for her.
Giggling uncontrollably she said, in between breaths, “Nope never its mine and I won’t share!” and she gave one last shriek of laughter while I poked her one last time, and bringing her in for a hug. She squeezed me back harder before we broke apart and leaned against each other and stared out to sea. The wind was calm blowing a genital warm breeze across our faces, and the ocean gently lapping against the island, attempting to lull us to sleep as the sun hid behind the horizon.
Even with Aryll here my thoughts still drift off to mom. If only she was here, as much as I wish she got to take me out to sea like we planned but I wish even more that Aryll got to know her better. They would have been an unstoppable pair and would have gotten into so much trouble together, even more so then I would have.
I felt a sharp jab into my side “Are you even listening to me?” Aryll asked a little annoyed, “or did you already drift off sleepyhead?”
Giving her an annoyed look I said, “No just lost in thought. What did you want?”
She looked at me like she didn’t believe me at all before repeating herself, “I want you to tell me a story!” She gave me a smirk before adding, “Maybe it’ll keep you awake for once.”
I ignored that last comment, “What story would you like to hear?”
Taking a second to think she tapped her chin in a way mom used to do. “Tell me grandmas legend!” She beamed with those big eyes of hers.
Smiling, I took a few minutes to remember the story of the legendary hero. It’s been on my mind lately especially with my birthday coming up, finally reaching the age of the hero is a big deal around here. Reaching the age of the hero is when we finally become adults. While excited to take on more responsibilities around the island, I couldn’t help but wish mom was here. I hope she would have been proud of me, I only wish I could know. Shaking away those thoughts I began to tell Aryll the story we’ve heard a million times.
“Once upon a time in a kingdom long forgotten there was a magical golden power said to have been left behind by the gods. This land was quite different from the great sea. This land stretched on far as far as the eye can see with more land then water. This land was known to have forests larger than even the one on our island and mountains taller than Dragon Roost island. Many people lived on this land in peace and prosperity. The knew not of suffering, they also didn’t have annoying little sisters who wouldn’t share their telescopes.” poking her in the side for added effect.
Giggling, she poked me back halfheartedly, “That’s not true, I’m not annoying” she protested.
Squeezing her a little tighter, “Noo of course not. Anyways where was I? Oh yes an endless land with large forests, tall mountains, and annoying sisters. Now while this land knew of only peace, there existed an evil like the world had never seen before. A man who sought the golden power for himself, being able to steal this power he plunged the kingdom into an age of darkness spreading his evil across the land. For a people who had only known peace to be plunged into fear and darkness they nearly lost all hope, and as we know all too well without hope all is lost.”
Adjusting further into my embrace Aryll looked up, “But they didn’t lose hope did they?”
“Of course not, for they had a hero dressed in green who had appeared as if from nowhere, wielding the blade of evil’s bane. On his journey to save this land from evil, he helped all those he came across. Many saw him as a gift from the gods to save them. Eventually in a final confrontation the boy was able to defeat and seal away the evil man, bringing peace back to the land. When his job was done he disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared.” I continued, while watching the waves in the distance blur together with the night sky as the stars started to sparkle to life.
Nearly in a whisper Aryll asked, “Why did he leave? Why didn’t he stay?”
“You know I’m not quite sure, maybe he wanted to go home and take a nap?” I smirked.
“Sounds a lot like you sleepyhead.” She said with a little giggle.
Smiling, I continued the story, “Years later the evil one broke free from his seal, however this time the people were brave believing their hero would return, in the end though he didn’t. No one knows why, but once it became clear that he wasn’t going to be there to save them, they were left with no choice but to pray for help leaving their fate to the gods.”
Sitting back up she looked at me, “But what happened? Did the gods help?”
Grandma never really said when I asked that question, so I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. I tried anyways, “you know I’m not quite sure, no one remains who knows what happened to that kingdom. I like to think that the gods did step in and help the people in lieu of their hero.” She frowned at that answer, but I didn’t have a better suggestion. Noticing the moon rising I figured it was time to send her off to bed. “Why don’t you head down and check to see if Grandma is done with her birthday secrets and I’ll be in right behind you.” Giving her a gentle poke in the cheek to make sure she was still awake.
“Ok, ok! I’ll go just be quick getting home.” She said giving me one last hug before running down the path to our house. Sitting down to give her a few minutes to get to bed I continued to stare out at sea. I always liked this spot, even if Aryll claimed it to be hers. This spot always made it feel like the sea was calling out to me. I sat there in silent contemplation, trying not to think too much about mom while the sound of the waves, and the warm breeze lulled me to sleep.
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Tetra
The sails were raised and anchored lowered just off of shark island where the crew had been looking for treasure all day yesterday without much luck. Unable to stay asleep I was awake earlier than usual trying to figure out our next move. We are near Outset Island but there isn’t anything of importance there just some fishing village and we already have plenty of supplies from our last stop at Windfall. While looking at the maps on my desk I heard a knock on my door. Grumbling to myself about being bothered, I walked over and threw open the door seeing Nudge I just grumbled back to my desk leaving the door open in a silent invitation for him to come in.
Hesitating, he took a few steps in, I normally don’t let others into my room but I’m tired and grumpy, so I don’t really care at this time. I slumped into my chair while he spoke up, “Miss Tetra I know it’s been rough but I’m sure it’s going to get better we…”
“We what? What can possibly get better? I’m sure you’ve noticed this is the third island this week that was full of monsters and no treasure. Things are getting worse, and the crew is looking to me to find us good treasure and all I’m doing is putting you all in danger!” I snapped at him. It isn’t fair of me to do, and I realized that spouting a quick apology immediately, while slumping further into my chair. To his credit, he didn’t think much of it knowing me for my whole life he understands the pressure I’m under being such a young captain especially after my mother’s death.
With a sigh he simply said, “Miss I think you need some air, the stars are still out, and the air is cool, I think that’ll help you clear your head. Niko is still on night shift, I’m gonna go get some rest before daybreak, I hope you’re able to get some sleep.” And with that he turned out of my room even though he wasn’t more than a few feet in. Deciding to take his advice I threw on my shoes and walked outside. Niko was on his post swabbing the deck trying to stay awake, used to my nightly walks he gave me a silent nod as I went up to the crow’s nest.
Nudge was right the early morning breeze is what I needed. The crow’s nest was always my favorite as a kid. Zuko was always so patient with me poking into his space and showed me how to use his navigation tools up here. This place was all I needed to calm my stressed mind. I stared out to the ocean seeing the dots of some of the nearby islands most of which were barely more than just rocks sticking over the waves.
I can’t help but be worried over the rise in monster attacks, it all reminds me of the story my mother used to tell me about a kingdom saved from a great evil with the sword of evils bane. The story was of course nothing more than a children’s story meant to instill hope or something but despite it being a dumb story it was still one mom used to tell me. I really hope it truly is nothing more than a dumb story, but the monsters are making me begin to doubt that. Then there’s the rumors of the Forsaken Fortress to the north, no its better to not think of it.
Staring out to the sea whispering to the wind, “Oh mom I wish you were here, you would know what to do or at least what to say to make me feel better.” Thinking about her I reached up to the golden necklace I hid under my necktie. It’s not particularly valuable just a little gold piece, but it’s one of the only things I have left from her, along with my cutlass seeing stone.
As I looked out around I noticed Niko stopped his cleaning and appeared to fall asleep, he can really be a pain in the butt he’s supposed to be keeping watch, but I’ll give him some slack it’s been a rough week for everyone with all the monster attacks. I planned to head back to bed soon but before I knew it I was nodding off listening to the sound of the waves rocking the ship.
Chapter 2: Outset Island
Summary:
It's Link's birthday and all seems normal until the island is greeted by some unexpected guests, drastically changing the lives of the islanders.
Chapter Text
Link
The clap of thunder woke me with a start, I quickly stood up making me dizzy for a second. There’s a massive storm raging around me the sky is dark enough for it to be nearly black out. After getting my bearings I went to the ladder, but it was gone, looking around I noticed the whole island was gone except for the lookout surrounded by nothing but crashing waves. Off in the distance stood a large stone structure sticking out of the ocean. Atop the island there’s a broken ship with more littering the rocks around the island. Off to the left there’s a massive birds nest with anchors dangling below. It’s clear that the storm originates from the island, lightning struck the crow’s nest of the ship lighting up the windows showing a large silhouette and instead of thunder came a cold thunderous laugh that shook me to my soul followed by a deafening seagull screech.
“Link!” Aryll shouted breaking through the nightmare. Hearing the gulls following her normally brought joy reminding me she was near, but now they only remind me of my nightmare. Groggily, I woke up realizing that I never made it to bed and fell asleep in the lookout tower again. Standing up stretching I heard Aryll behind me, “I knew you’d be here! You didn’t come home before I went to bed and grandma said you never came home at all.” She chastised. “Why do we even have a bed for you if you’re just going to sleep up here all the time?” She added with a laugh.
Looking out to the sea again I apologized, “I seem to have drifted off again without realizing it again.” Last night’s dream still weighed heavily on me. I didn’t dream all that often and when I did it was usually pleasant memories about spending time with mom or Aryll.
Still looking at me expectantly, “So, do you remember what day it is today?” she seemed giddy, but I was lost in thought that I didn’t comprehend what she had asked. “…You’re still half asleep, aren’t you? Did you forget? Link, it’s your birthday!” she nearly shouted that last bit with excitement.
That had woken me up, last night’s dream really seemed to have shaken me to my core. “That’s today isn’t it, I seemed to have forgotten.” I said while rubbing the back of my head. Her face was brighter then the afternoon sun she seemed more excited about my birthday then I was.
Giggling she said, “Grandma has been waiting for you to come home, and sent me to come get you! It’s a good thing I came to get you, I’m sure you would have been asleep all day!” She practically shoved me over to the ladder to get me going. “I’ll be waiting for you here after you’re done talking to grandma.” After we got to the ladder she turned around and went to go play with the gulls.
As I climbed down the ladder I felt the breeze go across my face reminding me of the world around me and all its warmth, blowing away the memory of last night’s dream. Once I reached the bottom I ran across the bridge connecting the tower to the east side of the island near Mesa’s house. I heard the grunts of him working on his garden next to his house. I also heard the unmistakable oink of one of Rose’s piglets running lose. I couldn’t help but laugh as I saw Mesa chasing the pig out of his garden. It’s nothing but weeds right now but he doesn’t want the pigs getting used to the area.
I ran on over to see if I could help, “Hoy Mesa!” I shouted. “You look like you could use some help!” I couldn’t help but laugh at his annoyed face. Seeing me his face broke into a grin.
“Good morning Link! Glad to see you up, and my, isn’t it your birthday already?” Hearing the oink interrupt him, his grin turned into a frown, “That little pig is trying to tear up my garden.” He said turning to glare at the cute little pig.
With a smirk on my face knowing this is going to annoy him, “Isn’t your ‘garden’” I added with finger quotes, “just a field of weeds?”
Glaring at me knowing I’m just being a little shit, “Look it’s the start of the season, the last frost just passed a few weeks ago, and I’ve been busy with my trips to Greatfish, so I haven’t gotten a chance to deal with them.” He let out a big sigh, “I know it’s your birthday, and you just woke up, but can you bring the pig on over to Rose? I think she would be appreciative to have it back.”
“Yeah of course, I’m heading that way anyways it’s not a big deal.” I said walking over to the pig. Rose’s pigs have a tendency to dig holes under their fence and escape, so this isn’t the first time that I’ve had to help wrangle the piglets. I dread to think what’s going to happen when they grow up in the next few months.
Calling after me, “Even though this one’s been a troublemaker the pigs have been extra skittish today so be sure to go slow and sneak up on it or it’s going to run out of your grasp!”
That’s strange I wonder what caused them to be so skittish, they normally are so calm and will let you pick them up no problem at all. I walked on over to the pig making sure to go slow but the pig saw me getting close and the squealed and ran off before going back to rooting in the dirt. I stood there dumbfounded for a minute, trying to figure out what I did wrong. I heard Mesa chuckling behind me while he went back to clearing the weeds. I shot him a glare before trying again. This time I crouched low and scooted close to the pig and this time I was able to grab it and it squealed, and squirmed trying to get out of my hands. After a second of it squirming realizing I wasn’t letting go it calmed down. I said a quick goodbye to Mesa and began heading across the bridge to the west side of the island.
As I was walking across the bridge I saw little Joel jumping and swinging his little stick around on the rock splitting the bridge in two. Seeing me walk by he lit up practically shouting, “Link! Good morning, wanna play a game with me?”
The pig squirmed and squealed again in another feeble attempt to escape my grasp. Grimacing trying to stop the pig escaping, “Hey Joel I would love to, but I have to do a few things first and then I’ll play with you later ok?”
He looked a little disappointed at that, “Ok but be quick so we can play!” With that he went back to whatever game he was playing hopping around and swinging his stick. With one more squirm from the pig I decided to hurry on to get this pig over to Rose. I saw Abe Crouched behind a tree watching another pig. It seems all of their pigs got out today.
Seeing me run by, he called out, “I see you were able to catch one of the pigs, I appreciate the help, Rose is up in the pen taking care of it for the pigs if you don’t mind bringing it to her.” Not checking to see if I heard, he turned back to trying to catch his other pig. I kept running up the path running around the brothers house. Sturgeon was stepping out onto his porch to get his daily sunshine before diving back into his books. You’d think he’d have wanted to give his lifelong studies a rest and enjoy retirement, but he enjoys his books too much. His granddaughter Sue-Belle was walking by carrying a jar of water on her head that Aryll was always in awe of. She gave me a quick wave and saying a quick happy birthday as I ran by.
I also saw baby Zill with snot running down his face like always start to chase after me, not wanting to have him run into me while covered in snot. I can’t wait for him to learn to clean his face properly on his own. “I’m sorry Zill I’m a little busy helping your mom and dad why don’t you go play down by the beach and I’ll check on you in a little bit!” I shout as I run past, hoping to keep him distracted for now. It seemed to work cuz he started walking down towards the bridge where his brother was playing.
After climbing the hill towards Rose’s house and the pig pen. Spotting me with one of the pigs Rose gave me a massive smile, her white apron was caked in dirt and mud from working in the pig pen surprisingly her purple dress was spotless. “Link thank you so much for bringing little oinkers home, Abe was working on the fence while I went to feed them but when we had our backs turned the pigs bolted out.” She bent down to pet the pig I just placed into its pen.
Stepping out of the now repaired pen keeping an eye on the pig who now seemed to be a lot calmer now that it was back in its pen I replied, “Yeah I was walking past Mesa who was trying to garden but spent more time trying to grab the pig.”
“Oh dear that does seem like a hassle, I’ll send down Abe later to help as an apology.” She did look upset that her pig had caused a hassle but perked up immediately after, “Oh Link I’m so sorry for you to have to help and on your birthday no less!” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a red Rupee, “Here for helping on your birthday, and just after you woke up too!”
I hesitated for a second before replying, “I didn’t do it for the money I just was heading this way and wanted to help.” Her smile only seemed to grow at that.
“Oh there’s no need to be like that Link, you were such a big help to us today, it’s the least we can do.” Abe appeared behind me with the other two pigs in his arms dropping them in the pen.
Before I could deny them again Rose took my hand and placed the Rupee into my hand closing it around forcing me to take it. “Like he said, it’s the least we can do. Now I believe your grandma was looking for you, you should go and see her before she starts to worry.” I simply nodded and left them with a smile and a wave.
As soon as I opened the door to the small house, I could smell the start of my favorite soup. Grandma was making her famous pumpkin soup, she used to make it for me when I was young and having a bad day. After mom’s death it was the only thing I even touched for weeks. Her soup could cure just about anything. Not noticing I had walked in, I was able to walk up to nearly behind her, but she was more aware of me then I realized because she turned around and gently shoved me away from the pot. She gave me a halfhearted scowl and poked my chest once. I could tell she wasn’t really annoyed with me, she never was and not being able to hold the act she gave me a quick hug and whispered a happy birthday in my ear. I gave her a tight squeeze before breaking apart and looking towards the soup. Noticing where I was looking she, immediately said in a calm but stern voice, “Oh no you don’t, that’s for tonight’s party besides I only just started it and you’re in trouble for not coming home last night again!”
I slightly winced at that, “I know, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to.” I glanced back to meet her eyes, “It’s just with today being my seventeenth birthday I know a lot is changing, and it brought up a lot of memories about mom again and the lookout really reminded me of her.” I felt tears threaten to come out but wanting to look brave I shoved them back.
While I tried to hide my sadness grandma saw right through me like always. Grabbing my hand she said, “I know dear, that’s why I had Aryll keep you company last night also I needed to search for your present.” Dropping my hand she went and grabbed a little package off of the mantal. “This is a gift your mom wanted you to have when you reached this age.” She didn’t hold back her tears, “It was something your father found on one of his voyages and your mother saw something special about it and after you were born she just knew it had to be given to you.” She smiled at the memory. I didn’t recall her ever talking about some treasure my dad found, though mom didn’t talk much about him and he wasn’t around very much. I could tell mom loved him, but it always seemed she loved the sea more.
Grandma handed me the package expectantly. Attached to it was a letter, looking up at grandma questioningly, “What…what is this?”
“Your mother wrote that. I’ve never read it as she intended it for you.” By the look on her face she looked just as intrigued as I felt. My hands started shaking and I ended up sitting down on the bed taking a moment to breath. Grandma sat down next to me and started rubbing circles on my back, knowing this was a lot for me. Her death was hard on us, Aryll was too young to really understand what was going on, goddesses I was just a kid myself and grandma was stuck raising us all on her own. Knowing that this was left hiding in storage for all these years must have driven her insane, I know it would have for me. Taking a deep breath I took the letter and opened it and a fine layer of dust drifted down onto my pants, ignoring that I started reading.
Dear Link,
I’m sorry I can’t be there for you on this special day. I know this gift may not
seem like much but I just know it will be important for you and your own
adventure. I promise that one day it will make sense.
I only wish that I could have been the one to present this to you. You have,
do, and always will make me proud. Now remember protect your sister,
be kind, and always be courageous. I love you and will always be with you
on the breath of the wind.
~Love Mom
This time I couldn’t hide the tears that silently fell down my face. All I could do was lean into grandma’s embrace and cry all the tears I hadn’t been able to cry in a long time. After a minute of silent sobbing I sat back up and wiped away the remaining tears putting on a brave smile, “I’m sorry I sobbed all over your shirt.” She waved that off and made open the package. Carefully pulling apart the old paper revealed a small jewelry box. I normally don’t wear jewelry but if mom said it was important I would wear it proudly. Opening the box revealed a small golden shard attached to a simple necklace string. It looked like any old gold piece found on the sea except it was pointed at one end, strangely unlike normal gold there seemed to be a faint glow to it, probably just a glare from the morning sun. Surprisingly despite being wrapped in a box for years it was warm to the touch. Putting it on it felt strange like a small, tiny puzzle piece falling into place.
Grandma having also cried still had a tear or two in her eye, smiling at me as I put on mom’s necklace, “oh doesn’t that just look wonderful on you.” I couldn’t help but smile too. “Now there is one other thing, I was able to finish making you the hero’s tunic.” I grimaced at the thought of it, “Hey now, don’t give me that look, you know this tradition is important to our village, your mom would have loved to see you wear this. Besides I won’t let you train with Orca today if you don’t wear it.” While we lived in a peaceful village with no need for swords, mom always enjoyed the sport of it and said that it would be helpful to know for our adventures when I got older. Grandma didn’t always approve of it and often scolded Orca for pushing me too hard or giving me extra bruises, to his credit he has always been a good sport about it. I think he just enjoyed having someone to pass on his knowledge of sword play too. “Now go on and try it on and try not to grumble too much about it in the process.”
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Tetra
Thunder woke me with a start, storms on the seas are always dangerous while on a ship needing to rush the crew to keep the ship together. I stood up to go down the crow’s nest but after running around the entire crow’s nest, I realized there was no ladder. Looking around I realized there was also no ship it was just the crow’s nest sticking out of the ocean. Glancing out I could see Forsaken Fortress in the distance being the clear origin for the storm. Instead of thunder, there was a deep and evil laugh. It got louder and louder and the island seemed to be getting closer at an alarming rate. Before it reached me a bright beam shot out of the southern sky silencing the laugh and dissipating the storm and whiting out the world in its glowing light.
I awoke to the sun blinding me. I seemed to have fallen asleep on the crows nest again. Glancing around I noticed it was perfect out, the sun shined down with only a few clouds in the sky. The breeze was nice and warm and more importantly the boat was right below me like it’s supposed to be. I noticed the crew waking up and getting the ship ready while Niko prepared breakfast below decks. The crew has been doing this for years and wouldn’t need my leadership until we set sail for our next destination.
I looked out to sea towards the south, mom always said dreams were important and to pay attention to them. I’m not sure what it could mean I wonder if it’s related to the rise in monsters we’ve encountered. That would make sense for the evil laughter but I’m still not sure what that light was. Zuko came onto the deck and noticed me up here. “Miss Tetra!” He shouted up, “Niko has finished making breakfast if you are ready!”
Nodding, “I’ll be down in a minute.” I took a moment to stare off into the horizon. Getting ready to head down, I heard a screech in the distance. It was a horrifying sound and was nothing like the gulls we see throughout the sea. I desperately searched for where that sound came from, but I didn’t have a telescope Zuko takes it down with him every night. Quickly shouting down, “Zuko I need you up here now!” I could tell everyone on deck heard it too because everyone is frozen. Continuing to bark orders, “I need everyone above decks and prepare to make sail!” Glancing around the decks I see most of the crew was already above decks but still not moving, “Well?! Don’t just stand there get your butts moving!” That second command got the crew scrambling. Zuko quickly made his way up the ladder.
While Zuko climbed I desperately searched for where that sound had come from but wasn’t having any luck. A birds shadow raced across the ship causing everyone to freeze and look up. Not letting the shock get to me I continued to yell down orders, “Senza, Gonzo ready the catapult and keep an eye out for that bird. Mako get Niko and ready the sails we need to get moving and not be a sitting duck.” The crew scrambled to get positions. Zuko was nearly up here and while I was looking down, I heard another massive screech, louder than before, shaking me to my core. I looked up in the direction I heard it, but all I ended up doing was blinding myself looking into the sun. Grunting I looked away and tried to fix my vision and when I opened my eyes I felt a tugging sensation and a deafening screech. Next thing I knew I was being pulled far above the ship. Realizing the bird had grabbed me I started freaking out punching the claws that gripped around me, and in a very un-me thing to do I screamed for help. I could tell the crew noticed me being carried away and started shooting at the stupid bird. I felt the bird squeeze me tighter and the ship became blurry, and everything was getting darker.
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Link
The tunic grandma made for me was a bit warm for this weather, but I’ll give her credit, it doesn’t look half bad on me at all. Glancing up to the family shield once said to belong to an ancient hero, and taking a deep breath before heading down to show off to grandma the outfit. Climbing down from the loft I turned to look at grandma who was rereading moms letter causing me to instinctively reach to the gold piece. As I walked over to her I put a hand on her shoulder. She glanced up wiping away a tear, “Oh isn’t that nice, Link? They suit you perfectly! A perfect fit!” She beamed at me with a genuine smile. “Here, make sure you always treasure them.” Handing me the letter and reaching to hold the gold around my neck. We’re having the whole town over for your birthday tonight, so I’d better start getting ready, shouldn’t I? Now why don’t you go and get Aryll and send her over here I’m going to need her to help me with some chores before the party.” With that she turned back to the soup and left me to go and get Aryll.
Walking outside the tunic was surprisingly not as hot as I was expecting. Grandma must have taken that into account when making it, so it stayed cool in the hot sun. Besides I only have to wear it for today, so it won’t be too bad. I made my way across the way passing Joel, letting him know that I just have to talk to Aryll and then we can play. Zill didn’t seem to hear me and kept chasing after me until I got close to the lookout tower, and he went back to the beach. I would play with them after, but grandma wanted to talk to Aryll, and so did I.
I climbed up the ladder hearing the gulls flying around as Aryll played with them. As soon as I got to the top they all flew off letting Aryll know I was there. Turning to look at me she smiled, and I couldn’t help but smile back. “Ah! ‘Hoy, Link! Is that the outfit grandma made for you? But wow… you look like you’d be way too hot in those clothes…”
Rubbing the back of my head, a nervous habit I’ve always had, “Actually you’d be surprised its actually not too bad.”
Her concerned face turned back to a grin, “Well I guess they’re pretty neat!” I walked closer to her and leaned against the railing looking back to our house. She leaned up and bumped our shoulders, “Soo what was the birthday secret that grandma prepared last night, she didn’t tell me.” She must have noticed the hitch in my breath and put her hand on mine, “It’s ok you don’t have to tell me…”
“No. It’s…um, it’s ok.” Taking a deep breath and composing myself I glanced down at Aryll and smiled once again, “Grandma’s gift was just the tunic, and her soup of course.” I chuckled, “The secret gift was actually from mom.” I reached down and pulled out the gold piece from under my tunic, “It doesn’t appear to be much, but mom’s letter said it was important, so I trust her even if it’s importance isn’t obvious.” She didn’t say anything she just squeezed my hand a little tighter. She was really young when mom passed and didn’t know her as well as I did but she understood that it hit me hard.
We both took a simultaneous deep breath letting the wind blow across our faces letting the moment pass. “So, anyway, Link… can you, can you close your eyes and hold out your hand?” Smiling, I complied closing my eyes and holding out my hands for her. I felt a round tube placed in my hands, “I’m going to give you my most treasured belonging… but just for one day! Happy Birthday!” I opened my eyes and just like I suspected in my hands sat her red telescope with gulls painted on it. “So? Well?! Do you like it?” She giggled, “I’m letting you borrow this just because I love you! Aren’t you lucky?!”
I couldn’t help but let out a laugh, “I must be really lucky!” I reached over and gave her a big hug squeezing her tight, “I love you too!”
Breaking away from our hug she got excited, “Ooh, why don’t you try it out! Right now! Try looking over at our house from here!”
Following her lead I looked into the telescope and pointed it towards our house. She showed me how to zoom in directing me to zoom in at the post box, I noticed Quill was making his weekly visit dropping off our mail, I was able to see him like he was right next to me. He was taking his time putting in the few letters for our island. While I was playing with the telescope and having Aryll show me how it works, we noticed that Quill was acting strange flapping his wings like crazy. Then Aryll Screamed, “Link! The sky! Look up in the sky!” Quickly drawing my gaze skyward I heard a massive screech, and a giant monstrous bird flying over the island, and it looked like it was carrying something. I pointed the telescope at its talons and noticed that it appeared to be some person. While trying to focus and get a better look, a giant rock flew past my view. “Link! Out to sea there’s a giant ship!”
I looked to where she was pointing and sure enough a ship larger then any of the boats I’ve ever seen was firing rocks at the bird. This ship flew a black flag with a skull and bones on it and the sail was painted with two cutlasses crossed over each other. I wonder if these were those pirates mom told me about? Their shots kept missing, though not by much, which seemed impressive that they were able to aim so well at a bird regardless of size. Just as the monstrous bird flew above the island a rock flew and landed its target smacking the bird right in the face. As it tried to recover it dropped the girl it was carrying. The bird still recovering tried to grab her again but missed. Forcing it to fly off, hopefully for good. The girl landed in the forest atop the mountain. I hope she’s ok the forest has been really dangerous lately and with the bridge broken no one has gone there for some time.
Aryll looked really freaked out, “Link, this is so terrible! That girl fell into the forest! She needs help! …But it’s too dangerous to go in unarmed, you need to be able to defend yourself!” Her breathing started to pick up quite a bit.
I knelt down and put my hands on her shoulders, “Aryll, just breath it’ll be ok I promise. I’ll go down to borrow a sword from Orca and help that girl.” I squeezed her shoulders reassuringly, I need you to go and take Zill and Joel home to Rose, they’re out playing, and we don’t want them to get hurt.” Honestly, I just wanted to send her home, but I know Aryll wouldn’t want to sit around hiding and she needs to keep busy to calm down. “After you take them home, go home and tell grandma what happened ok, and after I save the girl I will come and find you ok?”
She seemed to be ok with that as her breathing steadied. She took one more deep breath and gave me a brave face and nodded before leaving to go and follow my instructions. I took one last look at the pirate ship as it slowed down and began making its way to our dock, and then I followed Aryll.
Not wanting to waist any more time I ran into Orca’s house to ask to borrow a sword. His house was converted into a training dojo. He had shoved all of his furniture to the sides of the open room and had all kinds of weapons and memorabilia along the walls decorating the whole place. When I barged in he was doing some basic exercises. Hearing me barge in, he stopped his exercise and looked at me with a strange curiosity, “Oh! What is the matter, Link? You have an urgent look about you…Has something happened?” I quickly filled him in on the bird and the girl falling into the forest and the pirates. He started to rub his beard intrigued by the events unfolding outside. “I see, now I know you have done well training with me these last few years, but I cant just let you run out here with a sword without a final test.” I grumbled at that, I understood why he needed to test me, but time was of the essence. I was about to say that to him, but he merely put his hand up to silence me, “I know we must be quick, but I want to make sure you understand the ways of the sword before I give you your first blade.” He went over and grabbed the sword I’d been training with for the last three years and handed it to me. “The test will be simple, a duel, you must apply all that you have learned from me, and land a hit on me before I am able to hit you three times.”
It seemed a simple enough test, we’ve had practice duels before, and I knew how to attack dodge and parry very well by now. So I agreed. “I understand sir. Use your training, and land a hit on you while avoiding being hit myself.” I repeated back to him, while attaching the scabbard to my back.
“Very good, now to your position.” He stated plainly. We each made our way towards our starting positions and bowed. Immediately I made my first mistake and rushed into make a first move and he responded with very little effort to knock me on my back. “Link, child I thought I’ve taught you better, try again and don’t leave yourself so open.” This may have been a test, but he still wasn’t going to not give me advice.
I pushed myself back up and tried again going in for some basic slashes. He was able to block me pretty easily, this time however I was able to dodge his counter attacks. We spared like this while I poked for openings and dodged his attacks. Noticing the laziness in our fight, he picked up the pace and made more aggressive attacks. I was able to dodge the first two without much problem the third came as I was rolling away from his second attack and he smacked me across the forehead with the butt of his spear knocking me back on the ground again. I got up grumbling, which was the second of three times, and I still wasn’t even close to breaking his guard let alone getting a hit on him.
He could tell I was thinking of a way to break past his guard, it was obvious from the way his eyes watched me closely, as I got up rubbing my face where he hit me. This time I was on the aggressive end and forced him back. Trying to bait him into a mistake I could exploit. It took a few rounds of slashing and dodging, but he made the mistake I was looking for, it was a similar move to when he got me last time, the difference being I was baiting that move out of him and knew how to exploit it. As he swung the butt of his spear towards my face again I ducked away and used my sword to further push it in its direction, throwing him off balance while using the moment to roll around behind him and, elbowed him to the ground as I came back up and pointed my sword towards him.
He grumbled as he rolled over seeing that I had gotten him, and broke into a proud grin. I put my sword away and helped him up. “You know, Link, that wasn’t half bad at all. The parry move was exceptional, and the final blow would have been fatal to any monster you pulled that on.” I couldn’t help but be proud at that praise. “Link, I feel that even with your mistakes you made in our duel, you showed clear understanding of them and corrected yourself mid battle I feel you have earned that sword. Use it well, I trust that you wont misuse it. Go forth and help that girl in the forest.”
We bowed to each other, and I gave a quick thanks before heading towards the door. “Oh and Link, just because you have passed my test do not assume that you’re done with training, do come back and train with me when you have a chance to help hone your skills!” I nodded and left.
As I left Orac’s house I noticed that everything seemed so much quieter like even the waves were holding their breath. The pirate ship was still slowly making its way to our island, clearly trying to safely dock so close to the island. The kids were with Able hiding behind him clearly curious. I couldn’t blame them at least they were safe. They all ignored me while I ran up the hill leading to the forest. The path up to the hill had a sign warning that the bridge was out ignoring it I continued on. Once I got to the bridge there was some boards temporarily installed blocking the bridge, thankfully they were easy for me to remove and continue on across the bridge jumping over the small gap.
The forest was noticeably cooler then the rest of the island. I used to come up here with Aryll when I was younger to avoid the summer heat and to try and hide from the memories the ocean tended to bring out. Unfortunately in recent years some monsters had started to creep around here, nothing big enough to threaten the village but enough to harm a couple of careless kids, the final straw was when the bridge broke out under Orca’s feet when he was leaving after dealing with some of the monsters. Luckily, he was able to stay on the bridge and closed it off to others.
Looking around I tried to find the girl, hopefully not dead. I started to move a little further in and heard a groan. Whipping around drawing my blade I searched for the sound. After a moment I heard it again, coming from above me. Looking up I saw her, she looked to be about my age with blond hair tied up in a cute bun, and tan skin from a lifetime of sun, a simple outfit much like what many of the sailors who make visits here wear. She had a red bandana around her neck, wore a purple sleeveless shirt and a blue vest that was holding her to the tree. Luckily for her that branch was strong enough to have caught her stopping her from falling all the way to the ground. Unfortunately, the tree she was dangling from was up on a rock face above the entrance. I knew of a path that would lead up to the other side on a raised area that would allow me to reach the tree. Normally the forest was only home to a few miniblin’s or morths. When things got really bad a mothula would make its way here.
Making my way around the familiar trees, I climbed over the first hill and froze before I made it over to the other side. Stright ahead blocking my path was a bokoblin. It stood as tall as a man wearing shorts and a vest with a skull belt nothing fancy. The monster was walking around sniffing the ground like it was looking for something, or perhaps someone? I’ve never seen one before. We didn’t have these larger monsters on the island, we never had, at least not any time I could remember. Some of mom’s stories featured these monsters but, monsters in general weren’t common around here these days.
Still at the top of the hill I quietly crawled forward hiding behind the nearest tree. It didn’t appear to be armed but I’ve never fought anything beyond my training with Orca. I could try to sneak past and get the girl out of here without dealing with him. However what’s stopping it from going after the village? I guess we could cut the bridge and that would stop any monster from escaping the forest. But it would probably be best if I delt with it myself. This is exactly the kind of thing I’ve been training with Orca to do wasn’t it? I clearly had the advantage here, and besides it was blocking my path there was no sneaking past if I tried.
Looking for a way to sneak up on it, I quickly moved from tree to tree checking to make sure the bokoblin wasn’t paying attention. Thankfully it was distracted with its search. I peaked around the next tree to make sure it wasn’t looking and took one step only to hear the deafening crunch of stick snapping. Freezing I slowly turned my head towards the bokoblin to see my fear had come true. I am not particularly good at sneaking it turns out, and it had noticed me. Time seemed to stand still while it stared at me, then it let out a scream pointing at me, grabbed a stick off the ground, and charged at me.
I drew my sword and before I could even react I was smacked across the face knocking me back. Thankfully, I recovered quickly, reaching up to my face I felt where it hit me, thankfully no blood but I’m sure it’ll leave a mark. Good thing it likes to gloat giving me a moment to fix my wounded pride and ready myself. This time when it swung I jumped back and moved back in when its momentum swung itself in a circle. I slashed across its back tearing its vest and cutting a shallow slash into the creature, and it tripped down in pain. I wasn’t so lucky for that to kill it. Hopping back up it charged me without its stick left behind on the ground. As it charged me I sidestepped and stuck out my foot to trip it and quickly sliced at it splattering purple blood along my pants. This time it let out a scream in pain before exploding into a puff of purple smoke that dissipated leaving nothing behind but a necklace with a butterfly on it.
Taking a moment to catch my breath, I stared at the necklace with a mix of horror and pride. I hadn’t killed much beyond common pests, but I had protected the village from a serious threat. I couldn’t dwell too much on what I had just done I had a mission to complete. Looking back up towards the tree the girl dangled in, she was still unconscious, but I saw her fingers twitching just a little bit giving me hope she was still alive.
Climbing up a stump and jumping across a small gap to the next ledge I pulled myself up next to the old fairy fountain. Grandma says that she used to visit it when she was a little girl to play with the fairies, everyone else says it was just an old well that was sealed when a boulder fell from the nearby cliff. Either way I took it as a good sign that things would work out well and continued on my way.
Just a little further up the hill was a small clearing that took me to just below the tree the girl dangled in. I was about to take a step forward when I heard a horrible screech coming from above me. Fearing the bird had returned I looked up and saw two more bokoblins flying in on some kind of weird bird much smaller than the one the pirates had been chasing. Just my luck they fell down right in front of me and took a swipe at me. However the goddesses may be looking out for me yet because both are unarmed. I was able to duck and avoid the first swipe, but the second one kicked at me, and I wasn’t ready for that. Fighting one opponent allowed me to focus on them entirely, two meant I was at a disadvantage. Bokoblins in the stories weren’t known for their brains but their numbers and it showed. Neither had a weapon however they knew to flank me and keep me on my toes.
Quickly thinking of a plan I put myself between both of them and figuring that they wouldn’t think beyond attacking me I waited for one to attack. Unfortunately, my plan failed immediately because I didn’t expect them to attack at the same time so when I went to jump out of the way I still got a long scratch along my sword arm from one of them while the other missed. Instinctively I grabbed at my arm and felt the blood running down my arm and a fresh wave of pain spiked up my arm. Seeing another attack coming from one I was only just able to dodge it but unable to get over my pain fast enough to counterattack.
Taking a moment to get over the pain I kept them both in my sight and worked on changing my strategy. When I had them both in my path I recklessly charged screaming at them, hoping to startle them, which sort of worked. They weren’t exactly startled, but it delayed their attack long enough for me roll below their swipes and slash at one of them across their chest. The one I was able to hit fell to the ground and exploded into that strange purple cloud like the other one had. The one I missed seemed to have been grazed by my sword. Being brought down to a one on one worked for me especially since this last one wasn’t proud of my work and just ran at me without thinking allowing for me to easily slash at it killing it like the others. Finally having a moment to rest I cleaned the blade in the grass and then went to put pressure on the scratch on my arm as best as I could. While tending to my wound I heard some groaning and looked over to the tree the girl was in and made my way over to try and help her down.
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Tetra
The throbbing in my head refused to go away and the sounds of a fight didn’t seem to help. I forced my eyes open blinking away the fuzzy feeling in my head I tried to see where I was. Seeing the ground below me I started freaking out flaying my limbs around trying to break free of whatever was keeping me in the air. Fortunately, I was able to free myself, unfortunately I wasn’t able to free myself from gravity and fell like a rock. Good thing there’s no one around to see me like this, Tetra the fearless pirate defeated by a tree.
“Hoy!” A strange voice called. Slumping further knowing that of course my luck would be someone saw. I quickly got up and dusted myself off and looked for the source of the voice. It didn’t take me long to see a kid about my age. He has blond hair with green eyes that match his strange costume. He almost looks like the kid in those old stories mom used to tell me. He climbed up onto the ledge where I was, “Hey, are you ok?”
I gave him a slight nod and then looked him up and down, sizing him up, “Wow. What’s with that getup?” It really was a strange outfit I’m not even sure why I even said that aloud. He made a slight frown at that clearly not happy with my question. Not waiting or even really wanting a response I kept talking without giving him a chance to respond, “Well, whatever. So, Where am I?”
He took a second to look me up and down probably also sizing me up, “We saw you fall from the bird, and I came to check on you.”
That seemed to have jogged my memory just a bit, “Oh that’s right! That giant bird came and…” and he carried me off, but I was interrupted by Gonzo emerging into the forest calling for me. At least my crew was able to help me get out of, well wherever we are. Ignoring the kid I climbed down towards the tunnel leading out of the woods and met up with Gonzo, with the kid following behind.
Looking exhausted Gonzo started speaking, “Oh! Oh, thank… thank goodness! You’re safe!” He wiped the sweat off of his brow and took a deep breath before continuing. “When I saw you get dropped on this summit, I thought for sure you’d…”
“Summit?” I said cutting him off, “So that bird dropped me on the top of a mountain? Well, wasn’t that nice of it!” I finished, glancing towards the forest’s exit. Wanting nothing but revenge I started to run out of the forest only stopping to yell at Gonzo, “Well, don’t just stand there! We have a debt to repay to that bird, in full!” He wanted to know about the kid, but I honestly couldn’t care about some islander right now, I have a bird to kill. “Don’t worry about him. Come on!” I said, exasperated.
Outside the forest lead to a narrow cliff with a simple rope bridge connecting to the other side that seemed to be in disrepair. At the other end was a little girl who wore a simple blue dress with hibiscus flowers on it. As the kid in green emerged behind us, the girl called out to him, evidently his little sister. He didn’t notice me looking back at him, he gave a genuine smile, it was kind of adorable, and waved back to her as she started walking across the bridge clearly not afraid of the holes in it.
As she crossed the bridge I heard that same horrible screech from before. I didn’t even have time to react as the giant bird swooped down and snatched the girl. It all happened so fast I didn’t even realize it, I could only stare. I was broken out of my trance by the sound of a sword being drawn. What is this kid thinking that he can just sprout wings like a rito and fly after it? Apparently so because he ran right after the bird only to fall off the cliff. This time I was fast enough to react and dove to catch him with Gonzo holding onto me stopping us from both falling off the cliff to the rocky water below. Grunting struggling to hold onto him while he struggles, “Stupid Kid! Get ahold of yourself!” Pausing for a second and trying to put on a sympathetic voice, “She’s gone. There’s nothing you can do.”
After that he just dangled there not even moving just staring off into the distance watching the bird fly away with his sister and mumbling, “…Aryll, no.” I felt for the kid, losing someone like that couldn’t be easy. Thankfully, he didn’t resist as we pulled him up. Once I was sure he wasn’t going to jump off the cliff again we made our way down the mountain, making it across the bridge before it broke behind us, no doubt damaged even further by the bird.
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Link
The whole way down the mountain I tried to process what had just happened, the bird bigger then any building on the island just flew off with Aryll and I had failed to save her. It was my job as her brother to keep her safe and all it took was an oversized cucco to fly off with her. Once we got back down to the beach near the dock I had made my decision, “I want you to take me with you to find my sister.” I blurted it out without much thinking because I knew I had to save her. The pirate, Tetra, I think her name was, looked shocked at me even asking that.
“What?!? You want to come with us on our ship?” She shook her head in disbelief, “Do you have any idea what you’re asking? You do know we are pirates!” She enunciated the last word as though I had never heard of it before. “We are the terror of the seas! We’d only get a headache bringing some annoying kid like you along.” I frowned at that, and she seemed to lighten up at my reaction, sighing she continued, “Look… I know how you must feel with your sister being kidnapped, but I’m sorry that’s not our problem now is it?” Frowning I was about to argue back saying its entirely her fault. After all Aryll wouldn’t have been kidnapped by that giant bird if they didn’t chase it to our island to begin with.
I didn’t even have a chance to say anything because the rito postman, Quill interrupted our conversation, “And how do you figure that?”
The tall pirate who joined us in the forest didn’t appreciate Quill interrupting our conversation saying, “Whoa now, just who do you think you are? And where do you get off butting into someone else’s conversation?” I was just glad to have someone back me up.
Quill didn’t even seem phased by this, “Look, all I am saying is that if you big, bad pirates hadn’t shown up here, the poor girl wouldn’t have been stolen by the bird now would she?” I noticed Tetra glanced away thinking she seemed to be considering what he was implying.
After a moment she frowned back at Quill, “And what exactly do you mean by that?”
“Now, as I deliver mail across the sea, I’ve spent time amongst the other islands, so I hear a lot. And since you lot also travel the sea surely you’ve also heard that young girls across the sea have been getting kidnapped girls that have long pointed years all around your age. Whether or not you’ve heard that it seems to be the case. And unless I’ve been mistaken Aryll looks similar enough to you that the bird mistook her for you, Miss Fearsome Pirate.” Sarcasm lacing his voice at the end. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I do believe it was young Link here who saved you from the monsters in the forest was he not?”
That silenced her, which surprised me I figured she would still be adamant in her stance, she seems like the stubborn type. “I didn’t know about the monsters…,” she mumbled glancing back at me.
“One other thing of note,” Quill continued, “the bird has been seen nesting to the north at the Forsaken Fortress.” I frowned at that, I have never heard of such a place but if the bird was there and it had such a terrible name it couldn’t be good.
Tetra, however, had a very different reaction to mine, she looked shaken up by the information, “The Forsaken Fortress?! Isn’t that the place where…?” She shook her head at that clearly not having meant to say that last part aloud.
“So, what are you going to do?” Quill said, “Under the circumstances I don’t think it would be unreasonable to help Link out now would it?”
She seemed to mull this over before grumbling, “Fine but I’ve heard nothing but evil rumors about that place, get a shield of some kind, even just a potlid if that’s all you have, you’re going to need it.” For someone who didn’t seem to even care about me it was a kind sentiment.
Staring at her in shock the tall pirate spoke up, “whoa now, Miss Tetra you’re not seriously considering taking this little twerp are you?”
She just glared at him silencing any further protest before continuing, “We need to prep the ship, and get supplies, it’s not a short trip and will be a few days.” She started to turn towards her ship, looking back at me “And… say your goodbye’s it’s going to be a while before you return here …” she heisted thinking over her words, “I’ll give you till first light tomorrow and it’ll give us time to prepare for such a journey.” With that she walked off towards her ship stopping for just a second and turning her head she added, “We will leave without you if you’re not ready in the morning.”
With that she made her way to the ship with the tall pirate following her, but the short one stayed for a second, “We never got introduced, the name’s Niko!” The small pirate stuck out his hand, I grabbed it and shook, “It looks like you’re gonna be our new swabbie and all swabbies report to me!” He chuckled at that, “I won’t have to wash the others dirty underwear anymore!” He did a little hop skip and followed the others back to the ship. What have I gotten myself into?
After they departed I turned back “Thanks Quill I appreciate the help.” I said turning towards the rito. “I don’t know if I could have convinced them without getting into a losing argument.”
He smiled at that and said, “It was the right thing to do. You’re a brave kid you know, running to the forest like that and then volunteering to go with pirates to the Forsaken Fortress.” He looked me up and down, subconsciously I reached up to the ache in my head where the bokoblin hit me. It had more then likely bruised, he seemed to notice this and reached into his bag, “Here take this, drink a little now and save the rest for your trip.” In his hands sat a bottle filled with a red liquid.
I uncorked the bottle and drank a small amount, it tasted terrible and went down like a bunch of rocks. I felt the effects almost immediately, the ache in my head went away even with the small amount of potion. Without even needing to see I knew the bruise that was beginning to form would be leaving. The cut on my arm while healing over still looked like it was going to leave a scar even with the potion. “Thank you Quill…” I wanted to say more but words seemed to be failing me. Quill seemed to understand the words I couldn’t speak.
He simply put his hand on my shoulder and smiled, “If anything happens, please come to my island, and find me there. I will help you in any way I can.” Then he took off and flew away presumably to continue on with his mail deliveries.
I watched as he flew off onto the horizon. I took a deep breath and looked towards the pirate ship. I could see Tetra up there talking to one of her other crew members, and as I was watching she looked back down and stared back at me. It was hard to read her expression, the best I could get was curious. Our eyes locked for a second too long and I felt my face warm and quickly looked away and started to head home.
Grandma was inside waiting for me, from the look on her face she had heard some of what had happened. My face must have given away everything she feared, I took a step towards her, “Link… please tell me Aryll is still out playing with the gulls.” I could hear the sobs she was holding back, and it nearly broke me.
“I’m sorry grandma…” I couldn’t even finish without tears silently rolling down my face. That’s all it took for her to also break down crying. I quickly closed the gap between us and held her in a tight hug trying to stop my tears so I could be strong for her.
“I guess it’s true then… Aryll really has been kidnapped… Hasn’t she?” She sobbed into my shoulder, “What kind of monster could take such a sweet, young child?” We stood there just holding onto each other while she sobbed occasionally repeating, “Oh, Aryll.”
Eventually I was able to guide her over to her chair next to the fire, hoping the warmth and smell of the soup she had started would help. It seemed to help a little as she stopped crying, but she just stared at Aryll’s picture that hung above the mantel and didn’t say much. I did my best to stay productive and worked on the soup, thankfully most of the prep work was done and it just needed to simmer. Not being able to put the day into words we just sat their in silence with the other villagers stopping by throughout the day to check in on us.
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Tetra
I don’t even know why I’m knocking on the kids door especially this late, but that sap Gonzo told me to check on him before we leave tomorrow. I don’t know why I agreed, I guess I figured I should at least thank him for protecting me when I was knocked out today. I still don’t think it’s a smart idea taking the dumb kid, he may be brave, but he doesn’t seem to have the brains to put it to much use. I mean I watched him jump off a cliff to chase after a bird twice as big as my ship for goddesses sake. The only reason I even agreed to take him to that cursed place up north was because that dumb rito guilted me into it. Regardless of the reason I was here and before I could back out he started to open the door, and before the door was fully opened he started speaking, “Thank you for stopping by Mesa but like I told the others she’s not responding to anyone right now and…” But before he finished his sea green eyes locked with mine. “Oh, um hi” he started, rubbing the back of his neck, “I was expecting someone else, sorry.”
He had finally changed out of his weird costume and was now wearing a blue shirt with a crawfish on it and orange pants. His hair now out of the pointed hat was messy and all over the place like it refused to ever meet a brush. Looking closer I noticed a faint bruise along his eye. It wasn’t there this afternoon when we talked on the beach so he must have gotten it recently maybe even when he came to get me in the forest. Not that I needed saving or anything.
“Sooo? Did you need something?” he asked with a tinge of pink creeping up his cheeks. I must have been staring.
Shaking my head, “Sorry, um I just wanted to check in with you, we’re just about done and ready to set sail and the crew is turning in for the night, were you able to find a shield?”
He nodded and the pink seemed to leave his face, “Um, yeah actually my family has an heirloom that has been passed down, supposedly from an ancient hero if you believe in that kind of stuff. It may be old but it works.” I was skeptical, but I did tell him that a potlid would be acceptable. I simply nodded and unsure of what to say I was about to take my leave surely having satisfied Gonzo’s request to have me check in with him.
“Anyways, I just wanted to check in on you, and to remind you that we will leave early so no sleeping in.” I needed to get back to the ship anyways and really didn’t want to stay around this kid longer then I had to.
He stared for a second, deciding his next words as I started to turn, “Wait! Why don’t you come in for a few minutes, we still have some soup left, we were expecting everyone over today but with everything that happened its mostly just been me and grandma, and she hasn’t really had any appetite today.” This kid is going to be difficult this whole trip wont he.
I was going to say no, the less time out here the better, however, the soup won me over. Even at the entrance of the house I could smell it, and after living off of nothing but hardtack, rice, and occasional salt pork when rations allowed it for the last few months made me really miss a nice home cooked meal. Niko’s cooking was all right, but it was bland at best and nothing like my mother’s cooking ever was. I agreed figuring allowing myself some soup wouldn’t hurt anything.
He showed me over to a small table next to the hearth, sitting on a chair next to the fire was a small old lady who simply stared up at a picture of Link’s sister. She must be his grandma, my heart broke seeing her so… so, broken. She didn’t even seem to notice me, until Link got her attention and introduced her to me. She gave me a short smile, “You’ll help Link save my little Aryll won’t you?”
All I could do was give her a slight smile and nod, “Yes ma’am.” She gave me a very slight smile before staring up at the picture and losing any and all focus she had left. Link just looked at me with those sad eyes of his giving me a gentle smile, before reaching over to the shelf to grab an extra bowl and ladled me some soup, and handed it to me before getting himself some more. We sat in mostly silence as we ate, it was good, really good. I hadn’t had food like this in a long time, ever since I was a little kid when mom’s friend still joined us on occasional adventures.
My reaction must have been amusing to him because he gave out a light chuckle, “It’s good isn’t it. Grandma always made this soup on special occasions, or when we aren’t feeling well. It’s my favorite, and from the look on your face I think it just might be your favorite now too.”
That got a quick smile from me. The rest of the meal we ate in silence, after we finished eating, I helped clean up my bowl despite his protest and said a quick goodbye before heading back to the ship. After all of the excitement of the day and all the prep that took place I am exhausted. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I passed out into a thankfully dreamless sleep.
Chapter 3: Weigh Anchor
Summary:
After watching his sister get kidnapped Link doesn't hesitate to join a mean looking pirate crew becoming their newest swabbie, and makes his way to the terrifying Forsaken Fortress
Notes:
This one took way longer then I expected, between work, life and some writers block what i expected to take at most 2 weeks has quickly turned into almost 8.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Aryll
When Aryll finally awoke it was dark out. She was on a soft bed in a strange room with window frames but no windows bringing in the cold sea breeze. She tried to remember what happened but all she could seem to recall was crossing the bridge to the forest to see her big brother and meet the girl he saved. As she started to wake up it came back to her she was crossing the bridge and then heard a loud bird screech and then she was flying away calling for help. She started panicking looking around, “Link! Big brother! Where are you!”
As she looked around she saw a large dark figure standing by the windows at the center of the room, and before she asked who they were, they spoke, “Hush now child, no one else can even hear you so don’t bother wasting your breath.” The figure had a deep gravelly voice unlike any she had ever heard before. He turned around, his face was still covered in shadows, and she was unable to get a good look at him he took a few steps forward. “You are not the one I search for, yet you look a lot like she once did, no matter, you are just another piece for my collection I suppose.”
She was terrified of this giant man who stole her away from her family and home despite this fear she spoke up shouting at the man, “You won’t get away with this, I don’t know who you’re looking for, but my big brother is going to come and save me and he’s gonna beat you up!”
He only laughed in his terrible deep laugh, “Your big brother is more then willing to try but he won’t even get close to seeing me.” He continued laughing at the girls bravery and turned back to the window. A moment later a moblin came into the room and without turning he simply said, “Take her down with the others and leave not a scratch on her.”
Aryll tried running from the creature but got herself cornered, and being unable to escape the monster easily grabbed her. She was dragged out of the room kicking and screaming trying to escape the grip of the monster that dragged her down a long spiraling ramp to a cage with several other girls who came to her side when she was thrown into the cage.
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Link
For once in my life I woke up before the sun, I didn’t get much sleep tossing and turning all night. Without waking Grandma I climbed down from my bunk and went out onto the deck out front and enjoyed the early morning breeze. The Pirate ship was still docked and silently waiting for morning. My mind was racing a mile a minute, I don’t know if Aryll is even ok or if she will be when I get to her. Getting lost in my thoughts I didn’t notice myself wandering across the island until I made it to Aryll’s lookout. Figuring I probably wouldn’t be back until I found her I might as well try to find some comfort before I left and climbed the ladder.
When I got to the top I walked up to the ledge and looked out to the north, towards wherever it was Aryll was taken too. The breeze this morning was unseasonably cold and even the gulls, which normally would have fled with my presence, seemed too depressed to even notice. The gulls rarely left her side except for when she was inside and even then she did try a few times to let them in the house, but grandma had put a swift end to that one threatening to have Aryll clean up all bird poop on the island. As much as she loved the gulls even she grimaced at the idea of having to clean even just the lookout let alone the whole island.
“Oh, sorry I didn’t know anyone else was here” a familiar voice startled me out of my thoughts. Trying to hide my jump I turned and saw the pirate captain behind me standing by the ladder. “I’ll leave I don’t want to bother your last moments of peace.” She seemed genuine and started to turn around to head back down the ladder.
Not really thinking I called back to her, “Wait, you can stay I was just lost in my thoughts, if you want I can head back home.” She did stop and thought about it for a minute and then turned back around deciding to stay. She leaned against the railing a few feet to my right.
“I’m not gonna send you away, if you want to be up here, it is your island after all.” She said with a sad tone looking off to the north. I forced myself to look back out to sea since her guilty look wasn’t helping my own mood. “You know you don’t have to go through this, no one will fault you if you are too scared to go.”
“I’m not going to let my sister get taken away by some monster and then just sit at home hoping someone else will do something.” I start feeling the heat of anger rise in me, “Would you have even thought to chase after that bird, to save my sister or the other girls who have apparently been stolen away if I didn’t ask for you to take me?” She stared back at me seemingly studying me, not fazed by my outburst.
Glancing back to the sea again and sighing, “Kid, I’m gonna be honest with you, no we probably wouldn’t have, if the rumors about the fortress is true…, well they don’t call it forsaken for nothing.” She took a breath and started to say something else but simply shook her head and held her tongue.
Taking a deep breath trying to control my frustration, it wasn’t fair for me to take my anger out on her, she just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and happened to have people who would go after her. It’s not exactly her fault that Aryll was taken, “Look, I’m sorry I snapped this isn’t your fault, I’m just scared for her, she and my Grandma are the only family I have left, and if something happens to her, I would never be able to live with it.” I let out a heavy sigh, “There’s nothing you can say to stop me from going.”
There’s a long silence neither of us looking at each other, just staring out at the sea watching the early morning light peak over the horizon. It seems like a cruel joke for the sun to be out after such a tragedy, but I guess the weather doesn’t care if a monster kidnapped a child. There was another cold gust blowing past us followed by a sigh off to my right. Glancing over to Tetra I saw her give me a pitiful look before quickly switching to her stern face once again, and then saying, “The sun will be up shortly, I have a crew to wake up, those lazy bums will probably sleep in all day with us docked. You should go and get ready for our trip, and say your goodbyes cuz it wont be a while till you’re back home.” Simply nodding I headed towards the ladder to begin heading home to gather my things. “Oh and Link, was it? Once you board that boat you will not be getting any special treatment, you will be putting in hard work while you’re there.” I just simply nodded and climbed down the ladder.
When I got home Grandma still hadn’t woke up and I didn’t plan on waking her just yet, after everything that happened she’s gonna need as much sleep as she can get. I gathered what I could, the only bag I had was quite small. Thankfully I won’t need much since the pirates will have food and water for the trip. I packed an extra pair of clothes deciding that I would keep wearing the green tunic grandma made me it was surprisingly comfortable and helped with movement which is going to be important if I’m going to be doing any more fighting. I also made sure to bring the rest of that red potion that Quill had given me. After I finished packing I knew it was time for me to get the shield and wake grandma to say my goodbyes.
I decided to grab the shield first figuring I could quickly say my goodbyes and then leave without lingering. I quietly made my way up into the loft where the family shield was displayed only for it to not be there at all, only the wreath around it remained. As I tried to figure out where it could have gone I heard Grandma waking up and figured I should be at her side.
“Link…” Grandma had started waking up but was struggling to get out of bed and I quickly made my way to sit next to her and rubbed circles on her back to try and help her stay grounded. “Are you really leaving Link?” she asked suddenly.
I wasn’t very surprised by this even though we discussed this last night. After Aryll got taken she was going to need someone to keep an eye on her, unfortunately I can’t both take care of Grandma and save Aryll, and even then it never was a choice, I have to go and save her.
Something in my face must have told her that I was still leaving, “Link, if you have to go then take the shield and bring our little Aryll home safe and sound, please.” She sounded so exhausted as she pulled out the shield that she must have slept with. “I know you will be able to save her.”
I couldn’t help the sad look on my face as I took the shield. Knowing she was counting on me I put on a brave face, “I promise.”
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Tetra
Before I was born, when mom was still the captain, the Forsaken Fortress was simply a gathering spot for other pirate crews across the great sea. A few years ago, if the rumors are to be believed, a nasty group of monsters took up residence there shortly after I became captain. Not that it mattered to us, even before they showed up and mom was captain we rarely ever traveled there. As annoying as it is to have to take the kid, I will say that he’s at least brave enough to go willing go there no matter what. After he left the lookout tower I lingered before heading down to wake up the crew. Unsurprisingly Gonzo was already up and moving, checking up on the wheel. “Gonzo please tell me you’re not the only one awake.” I called as I boarded the ship.
He gave me a sad look before saying, “Sorry miss Tetra last I checked I was the only one, did you want me to wake the rest of the crew?”
Shaking my head unsurprised at the crews laziness, “No don’t worry about that just get the ship ready, we leave once kid gets here.” I then made my way below decks to get my cowbell and wake the crew. The crew were snoring peacefully like we didn’t just agree to go on a mission to the worst place in the entire Great Sea. I was going to enjoy ruining their morning. Taking the cowbell and making sure I rung it as loud as I could and shouted, “Get your lazy bums up and get to work we set sail within the hour! Niko, get your sorry butt up and get started on breakfast and make use of the fresh food while we still have it. Zuko, Mako, chart a course for the forsaken fortress. Senza go and get the catapult prepped and ready, I will not be taking any chances of that bird coming back to us on the way there.” The crew all scrambled nearly falling out of their hammocks and rushed to get their chores done.
Before I could give Nudge his orders he came up to me. “Tetra why are we doing this, you know just as well as I do that the Forsaken Fortress is supposed to be avoided at all costs, nothing there is worth the risk. Please tell me you’re not doing this because a postman guilted you.” He gave me a look that said he wasn’t going to believe any of my lies.
After mom died Nudge was always the one who ended up providing me the most advice and made sure I grew up to be a good captain and I respect him for it, but I couldn’t tell him the truth that yes I was guilted into this, but worse then that, I actually did want to save the girl she doesn’t deserve whatever fate awaits her there. I took a minute to gather my thoughts before giving him a wink and smirk, “Don’t be ridiculous, you must think I’m soft if you think I could be so easily guilted by a rito, no I see this as an opportunity. There’s been several girls who have already been kidnapped we could send the kid in to do the dirty work, let him take his sister home and then we take the other girls home and their families will have no choice but to pay us a handsome reward for rescuing them, it’s a win, win.” In truth I couldn’t really care for the reward, but I knew that it would be enough for the crew to be motivated to go through this risky mission.
Something in my face must have given my feelings away because he didn’t seem to believe me, “You know, it’s not a bad thing to just want to do the right thing.” I gave him a look that didn’t let him finish that thought.
“I need you on the deck to help Gonzo get the ship ready to depart, we leave the second the kid sets foot on bored.” I didn’t let him reply marching back to the deck to oversee the crew.
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Link
I struggled to leave my house, but the sun was coming up and I wasn’t about to test if Tetra’s threat of leaving without me was true or not. I gave grandma one last hug before gathering my equipment and other supplies and heading out. As I made my way to the ship I saw the rest of the village gathering to see me off, I was about to make my way to the group, but Tetra was waiting for me at the dock waiting for me to board. I gave everyone a quick wave saying goodbye and made my way to the gangway.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this? Theres still time for you to back out.” Tetra said as a greeting, eyeing me up, as I boarded. She was dressed similarly to yesterday when I found her in the forest, with her hair tied up in a bun once again.
I just gave her a look ignoring her attempt at getting rid of me and continued up to the ship. The deck was simple with a raised level at the bow with the catapult and a raised area at the stern where the helm was. There was a single mast with a ladder that led to the top and a door below the catapult that I assume lead to the interior of the ship. As I reached the top Tetra took the lead showing me to the stern where I could wave goodbye as we set sail. She gave the order to Gonzo at the helm to set sail. As she gave the order he called out to the rest of the crew and one of them started ringing a gong and the sails dropped and began pulling the ship away from the dock.
I climbed up onto the railing and started waving goodbye to those who gathered on the beach. I heard Tetra climbing up behind me and sitting on the railing to watch me say my final goodbyes. As the ship pulled further away, I noticed grandma standing out on the deck of our house and I ran further along the railing and with a sad face I waved to her as she watched me sail off.
“Ugh… How much longer is this going to go on, do you think? Do you have an estimate?” I heard Tetra say behind me. I turned to look at her and she was giving me a smirk, “Are you really sure you don’t want to quit right now? Its not even a far swim we wouldn’t even need to stop the ship or anything.” She winked putting her hands behind her head, “I can tell you’re just going to get more sentimental from here on out.” I turned back around and gave a determined look too the island my mind having been set the moment I asked for this on the beach, there would be no backing out now. She must have sensed my determination, though I suspect she already knew I wasn’t backing out since our talk at the lookout and was just trying to get rid of me.
I turned back to her with a scowl as the island became just a silhouette in the distance, “You already know my answer so why do you keep asking?” She just gave me another smirk and began climbing down before offering me a hand to help me down. I accepted her hand and allowed her to help me climb down.
“I just want to make sure you aren’t gonna get scared and give up on us because once we set out on a mission we don’t turn back and for the time being you are now apart of this crew. I don’t need any of my crew members being a weak… link.” She grinned at the unintentional pun. All of that made sense I suppose, and she doesn’t really know me but honestly the constant doubt is getting annoying. “Now that being said, since you’re a part of this crew now, you’ve got to put in the work and since you’re a newest member you’re gonna be doing work with Niko. He’s currently below decks preparing breakfast so go and see what he needs help with. He will also show you to your hammock and where you can store your bag.” Not having anything to add I gave her a nod and headed to the door.
The moment I closed the door everything went black as my eyes tried to adjust from the bright morning sun into the dark barely lit interior once I got my bearings I noticed another door straight ahead and a set of stairs leading further below. Ignoring the door figuring that Niko would be further down, I took the stairs. Somehow it was even darker, and it took longer for my eyes to adjust. Niko must have seen me stumbling down the stairs and called out to me, “Ahoy, swabbie you’re just in time!” He wore a blue bandana and a red and white striped shirt and had an apron on and was covered in flower. “Do you know how to cook pancakes?” I gave him a simple nod as he led me through the ship.
We passed a set of hammocks and once we reached the end of them he pointed to one, “This one here is yours, you can leave your bag there and don’t worry we may be pirates, but we don’t steal from one another.” I set down my small bag in the hammock so I could remember which one for later. He led me a bit further down to a small kitchen area and the end of the ship. The area set up for the kitchen was only just big enough for the two of us and we’re both fairly small. The room consisted mostly of counters and shelves for storage wasting no space. There was a small metal stove box that seemed to be fairly well insulated to prevent fire from spreading outside it. The counter was covered in a massive mess of flower and eggshells. Niko seemed to not leave any spot of counter visible, cleanliness clearly wasn’t a priority for the small pirate, I figured if I was gonna help, I could make sure the kitchen was clean. Grandma would kill me if I left our kitchen that dirty even while I was using it.
After showing me around the small kitchen and how to operate their stove, I got to work whipping down the counter and using what space I could to mix together the pancake batter and began pouring it onto the frying pan. While we worked on breakfast Niko never really stopped talking, rambling about anything and everything while I mostly worked in silence I couldn’t really focus on what he was saying. It has already been a day since Aryll was taken and we still had a few days of travel before we even got to the Forsaken Fortress. I don’t know what kind of condition she’s in, I just hope she is safe. “Anyways, that’s what I have planned for you over the next few days!” He said excitedly. I was startled out of my thoughts and nearly dropped the bowl with the remaining pancake mix.
He gave me a confused look, “I’m fine, it just slipped, sorry” I lied to him, and he simply nodded believing my lie. I quickly finished the rest of the pancakes and cleaned up the area while he finished cooking the eggs. I noticed as I cleaned Niko left a mess of eggshells and other scraps around his side of the counter. Unable to leave a kitchen messy I began cleaning up his area too not thinking much about it. As he finished up the eggs I noticed a figure coming down the stairs towards us.
Tetra walked over to us with an eyebrow raised, “Wow I haven’t seen the kitchen this clean since I gave Nudge kitchen duty six months ago. Keep this work up kid and you’ll pass up Niko here soon enough.” She said with a bit of a teasing voice. “How’s breakfast coming along, now that we are out to sea most of the crew are ready for food.”
Niko piped up before I had a chance to say anything, “Foods just about done, thanks to the kid I was able to get the eggs done without burning anything this time!” He seemed quite proud of himself that he didn’t burn the eggs which feels like it shouldn’t be an accomplishment, and Tetra seemed to agree with me.
“Wow Niko, you managed to not burn our breakfast, I’m proud of you” She said, her voice laced with sarcasm that he didn’t seem to pick up on it and went back to getting the breakfast ready to serve to the crew. “After everyone’s done eating you two will be on dish duty and then I want you to show the kid your daily chores, there’s two of ya now so this place better be spotless.” With that she turned around and left presumably to gather the rest of the crew.
Breakfast went quick with the crew not wasting any time scarfing down their food before returning to their duties. As the crew left one by one they left behind their dishes on the table not even bothering to bring it over to the kitchen so we could clean, the only one besides me and Niko who brought our dishes over was Tetra. I got a feeling that the crew was doing it on purpose just because we were at the bottom of the hierarchy. I didn’t appreciate it, but I was only going to be with them for a week at most until I saved Aryll and then they could go back their lives without me having to worry about their dirty dishes.
As the day went on the chores became second nature. Lunch is typically skipped, in favor of a larger breakfast and dinner allowing the crew to focus on sailing or looting as the day demanded. Throughout the day we were tasked with scrubbing the deck. Nudge also was tasked with showing me how to operate the sails and which knots to tie and where. Despite the grueling work I was actually grateful for it, since it allowed me to focus on the work around me instead of worrying about Aryll.
As evening threatened to approach, Niko and I were once again tasked with making dinner. When I came down to the kitchen he was already working on prepping everything that we needed. “So, what is it we’re making tonight?” I asked him walking up getting ready to help.
He gave me a smirk and set down a knife and turned to look at me, “Well, WE aren’t making anything tonight, YOU on the other hand will be making a soup.” He crossed his arms eyeing my reaction, “Thanks to that little island of yours we have some fresh vegetables, so we need to use them before they go bad. We don’t have a lot but use what you can find, think of this as a test of your swabbie skills.”
It feels less like a test and more like he’s finally got power over someone and wanted to use it to his advantage while he still could. Not that it bothered me too much, from the sounds of it and everyone’s shock at breakfast he isn’t exactly the best cook. I simply nodded and walked over to the cabinets holding the vegetables. There wasn’t a lot of options, but I saw all that I needed to make a solid soup. There was plenty of potatoes, onions and garlic which usually last a while, so I’m not surprised they have a lot. I also spied some carrots and celery that appeared fresh, which must have come from Outset. I gathered enough to and set them in a bucket on the counter to prevent them from rolling away with the sway of the boat.
I then filled a large pot with water, set in on the stove to boil and searched around for anything else, and spotted some salt pork. It wasn’t ideal but it would provide salt and additional flavor to the soup along with some meat. Once I found it, no thanks to Niko who was being as helpful as a box, I started cutting up the meat and adding it to the water letting it cook and moved onto the vegetables. Once I finished getting those chopped up and in the water I turned to Niko who appeared to be drifting off. “Thanks for the help” I mumbled to him.
“He made you do all the work didn’t he?” I jumped as she spoke, sneaking behind me. She was leaning against the doorway leading to the small kitchen giving me her signature wink and smirk. “Honestly I’m surprised it took this long for him to give you all his work and laze around.” She stepped forward and shrugged, “I’ll reprimand him later make sure he does extra work after you leave us but for now that soup better be good, or I might have to make you do extra work yourself.”
It was kinda hard to tell when she was being serious or not sometimes, but I had no doubt that the soup would be good, Grandma taught me how to cook after all. “I’m sure it’ll meet your expectations, at the very least it wont be worse then the eggs.” I said with a nervous chuckle.
She smirked at that, “I’m sure, but that’s not hard to do. Gonzo could do better and he somehow burnt our water, I’m still not sure how he managed that one.” She turned to walk away, “Make sure you make him clean up this mess you’ve made…” She looked around and noticed that there wasn’t much of a mess to begin with, “Hmmm, you’re even cleaner then him, we might just make a good swabbie out of you yet.” With that she walked away presumably to get the crew to drop anchor and get ready for dinner and nightly chores.
After dinner the crew finished their chores and went about their evening free time. Tetra went to her cabin and Mako went to go read down in his hammock. Niko was stuck doing dishes since he made me do all the cooking, leaving me with nothing to do. Since I spent most of the day below decks I headed up to the main deck to get some fresh air. I apparently wasn’t the only one who decided to enjoy the evening air the rest of the crew was also up here.
As I appeared on the deck the tall pirate wearing a purple shirt that looked a bit small on him, I think his name was Senza, called me over, “Hey kid we were thinking since you’re with us pirates for the time being we want to test your skills. We already know you can cook and clean, but we want to know if you can actually use that blade of yours.” The others chuckled clearly thinking I had no skill whatsoever, “Zuko here is around your height and despite his time up in the nest he is quite the swordsman why don’t you spar with him?” The look in their eyes said they weren’t going to accept no for an answer.
Tetra had me store my sword with the others just inside the doorway for easy access grabbing it returned to the others. “Ok how do we want to play this? First blood? Or till surrender?” I’ve spent years training with Orca and was confident in my sword play, either would work for me, I wasn’t about to let these pirates make fun of me so easily.
Zuko looked me up and down, “Normally I think First blood is boring, but I think you almost have a chance to beat me at that so in the interest of being fair lets do that.” He smirked at me thinking that this was going to be an easy fight for him regardless. I nodded in agreement and walked to a clearing for us to duel in and readied my blade.
Senza was going to be the judge for our duel and make sure it went fair, not that it was needed though because not even ten seconds after he allowed our bout to begin I had nicked Zuko’s cheek causing a red line to appear there. Everyone seemed shocked and just shrugged it off and Zuko called for a rematch. After three rounds all lasting less than ten seconds each, I called for a new match, “Since this whole first blood thing clearly is boring why don’t we make this interesting and have an actual duel.” He shot me a glare, clearly upset with how things were going and only nodded.
After taking a minute to reset and prepare for our fight we got into positions and once again Senza stood as judge. This time the fight was far more interesting since it was more then just drawing blood, it required strategy and being able to subdue the other without seriously hurting them. We circled each other looking for an opening and even taking a quick swing at each other. Once I felt comfortable enough with how he moved I went in for a few quick swipes to keep him on his toes. Unsurprisingly he was able to deflect my attacks. However, on the last strike he was able to parry my sword away and got a slash at my arm cutting into my skin. Thankfully it wasn’t a deep cut, but it was enough to get my attention.
Taking that momentum he went on the attack swiping at me forcing me to jump back and on the third swipe I rolled to the left and tried rolling around him. Unfortunately his small stature allowed him to follow me as I rolled so I just ended up in front of him once again, but it didn’t stop me from getting a swipe at him and nicking his arm in return.
We both stared at each other catching our breaths and thinking our next play. Just when I thought we had an even match he made a simple mistake, he spread his legs just a little bit to far apart giving me an opportunity to knock him unbalanced. Mirroring his movements as he stepped closer I leaned in and I ducked under his swipe, risking getting my face cut up badly, and kicked out his legs causing him to fall back and drop his sword and before he even had a moment to react my foot was holding his sword arm down and my blade was pointed at his face forcing him to concede.
I backed up offering him my hand to help him up which he slapped away and got up on his own. Looking around I noticed the rest of the crew were shocked at my display. Niko, who seemed to finally finish the dishes, was the only one who looked proud of me, probably thinking he was a good mentor to me or something. Despite his misplaced pride, I was still grateful for it and shot him a quick smile. “Ok kid, you seem to have some skill, but lets see how you are against Gonzo.” Senza said with a smirk, “Zuko is good and all but Gonzo is the best fighter here after Miss Tetra of course. If you think you’re any good why don’t you duel him?” I saw no reason to deny it, I enjoyed swordplay and being able to duel someone other than Orca was good practice.
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Tetra
The kid was surprisingly good at the domestic chores on the ship, for once food was actually good, the hardtack was less than ideal but it helped fill us up where the soup couldn’t. On top of that the kitchen was clean of most of his dishes before the soup even finished cooking. I’m beginning to wonder why we don’t just toss Niko to the sharks and keep the kid. Truth be told Niko is like a brother to me I couldn’t get rid of him even if I wanted to. The whole crew was my family even if we didn’t share a drop of blood. The kid on the other hand was a stranger and practically stowaway, a stowaway that was also a great cook, but a stowaway, nonetheless.
As the evening went on I put down my work and went to grab a book to wind down for the night when I heard shouting on the deck and noticed even Mako seemed curious as he walked up to the deck and not much could pull that man from his books. I figured they must be up to no good and should probably check it out. Before I left I glanced at the pictograph I had of mom shaking my head, “I don’t know how you put up with them for so long mom.” I made my way up to the deck to see what had gotten the crew so riled up.
As I walked out onto the deck I saw Gonzo with his sword drawn circling someone. They must be sparing again, not one to stop them from keeping their skills honed. I was about to head back down to my cabin when I caught a flash of green opposite Gonzo. Link appeared to be the one dueling him, now this was something I had to see firsthand. I walked up to where Zuko was sitting holding his arm, he only nodded to me and offered me a seat next to him to watch the duel.
The crew where completely engrossed in the duel and didn’t notice me, so I sat in silence and watched. The duel lasted only a couple of minutes, but it seemed to drag on as each took blows at the other. Link was starting to look a bit roughed up but just when I thought Gonzo had him Link was able to jump over a stab and spring off of Gonzo’s sword and flip over him and kicked the back of his head and elbowed the small of his back forcing Gonzo to fall face first into the deck causing a cheer from the others.
I couldn’t help the smirk that grew across my face, maybe this kid wasn’t completely useless after all. As Link helped Gonzo up I walked over giving him a slow clap catching the attention of everyone, “You know, not many people can stand up to him in a duel, and even fewer can beat him, I’m impressed.” The crew came to a quick silence while they stared at me, “Nudge help get Gonzo to his bed and make sure Link didn’t knock his brain around too much.” He gave me a quick nod and rushed to guide Gonzo out of the way. The rest of the crew watched me carefully trying to figure out what I was going to do next. I wasn’t even sure myself at first, but I knew I had to see exactly what this kid was made of.
Drawing my sword and pointing it at him I said, “As impressive as it may that you could beat Gonzo I can’t just have you going around beating up my crew, I saw what you did to poor Zuko. You may think you’re good but as good as you think you are I’m better.” The challenge was clear enough that even the island kid was able to pick up on it. The rest of the crew knowing that I was an acrobatic fighter, much like the kid seemed to be, backed up giving us space.
He eyed me up and drew his own sword, “Of course you would be the bragging type.” Oh I could not wait to put this kid in his place. Not letting him get comfortable I wasted no time swiping at him. He was able to keep up with my fast paced style. Gonzo was good because of his size and strength allowing him to hit hard, but it did make him slower. Zuko was small and used that to his advantage. Link seemed to have a talent for reading people and using whatever advantage he could against his opponents. Unfortunately for him I’ve spent my whole life learning to read people. We had no size difference that mattered, and we both used similar fighting tactics, this fight should be as even as it could be.
He was able to get a few blows in, but I easily blocked them. I was able to get a few quick cuts in nicking his arm and hand. He did have a slight advantage being left handed as I had little experience fighting an opponent like that, but it wouldn’t matter to me. As our swords clashed he attempted to roll around me, but It was such an obvious move that only worked on slower opponents, and it was all too easy for me to kick out and trip him. However before I could pin him to the ground he was able to jump back up and recover. Our fight continued like this for several minuets waiting for the other to tire out.
He finally made a mistake I could exploit, he tried to move close to me to get inside my swing, which would be effective if I had a longer blade however, my blade is shorter than his, so I was able to push it away towards my left, grabbing his wrist and forcing him to drop his blade as I held mine to his throat ending the duel.
Our faces were inches apart and we simply stared into each other’s eyes, both breathing hard after such an exhausting fight. His eyes darted back and forth between mine like he was trying to figure something out. It was hard to tell what he was thinking with those sea green eyes staring at me. The longer we stood there the hotter my chest seemed to get, my thoughts were interrupted by clapping and realizing how close we still were, I quickly shoved him back and took a few steps back.
I put my sword away and shrugged giving him a wink, “I’ll admit it you’re a good fighter, but I am still the best on this ship.” He gave me a nod clearly disappointed he lost. As I was about to tell the crew to go to bed I noticed a faint glow coming from under his shirt and wondered about the heat coming from my chest. I quickly turned around and reached up to my golden necklace mom had given me and realized that the heat was coming from it. I glanced back noticing the glow was gone, must have been a trick of the eyes. Not fully turning around I spoke, “It’s getting late, and we have another long day ahead of us, get some sleep all of you, I will not tolerate sleeping in, that goes double for you Link, I won’t have my breakfast be late.
I couldn’t seem to follow my own instructions, I laid in bed seemingly unable to fall asleep. My thoughts were all over the place, why did mom’s necklace get warm when near the kid and why did his chest glow? I doubt I’ll be getting answers anytime soon and eventually sleep took me into a restless sleep.
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The next day was much like the last two with calm seas and simple navigation. Except at breakfast and dinner I didn’t see Link at all, he was locked up below decks working with Niko. As we sailed north, and the day moved on the crew got quieter and more skittish. Eventually as the sun was setting, the fortress began appearing on the horizon. I hadn’t been up here since I was a kid back when pirates would gather here but as the years went on and after mom passed, we never came up here again. The crew was getting antsy, none of them wanted to show it but I’ve known them my whole life and they were all showing signs of anxiety.
As we drew closer I had Gonzo pull us in behind some rocks to minimize what was visible and hope that if we were spotted they would think we were just another shipwreck. The Fortress was an intimidating presence, a stone structure jutting straight out of the sea that seemed to defy all logic of being on land like every other island in the sea. There was three sets of spotlights on the towers around the outer wall. Each is double sided with one end pointing out to sea and the other pointed inside.
“Why would they be searching inside their own fortress? Its not like the entire thing is a prison right?” Gonzo spoke behind me once we had anchored. It did seem strange but as long as Link stayed out of those lights once we got him in they shouldn’t be a problem.
Turning to around I spoke, “Doesn’t matter, the real question is how are we going to get the kid in there without being spotted? We can’t sail closer those lights will spot us and based on the other wrecks in the area I suspect it won’t end well for us.” We only have a catapult, which without bombs is going to be useless against a fortress which likely has cannons.
He grinned at me with like he knew exactly what we could do, “Remember that time we needed to get Niko onto the cliffs on the backside of Greatfish?” That was all he had to say, and I was laughing knowing exactly what he was referring too.
A few years ago Niko had lost a bet, and as punishment he had to sneak into the pub at Greatfish and steal some beer for the crew. It was supposed to be a quick and easy job, more so as a joke then for anything of substance. He planned out the whole thing and all he needed from us was to get up to the cliff behind the building. The only way he thought of getting up there was being launched from the catapult, I found it dumb since the cliff was very climbable, but we were all curious to see how it would go. It worked but we deemed it too risky to use more often. He made it in the building but only because he was overshot, and broke through the roof of the building, breaking his arm and was forced to spend a night in jail for destruction of property. The rest of us just walked through the front door and bought a round not wanting to make more of a name for ourselves.
The idea seemed good enough here, it would get him in, I just hope it wouldn’t cause too much damage or get us caught. “Go get Link from Niko and then prepare the catapult in case I can’t figure out another way to get him, and don’t tell him anything other than that we’re here and I need to see him.”
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Link
As I was wrapping up my chores for the night Gonzo appeared below decks informing me that we had arrived, and Tetra wanted to see me. I finished wiping down the kitchen and grabbed my gear on my way onto the deck. I hadn’t realized how much time had passed but night had long since fallen and the stars were out and clear and no moon to be seen. I couldn’t see the fortress from where we were anchored since there was a massive rock next to the ship.
As I looked around I heard her call for me, “Took you long enough Link, we’re running out of moonlight get up here.” Looking up I could see her peaking down from the crows nest. So, following orders I started climbing. When I got to the top she was looking out at the fortress. “We finally made it, I hope your happy because the deal was to get you here, we aren’t going in, so I hope you have a plan on how to do that.” Looking around I had no clue where to even start, I pulled out Aryll’s telescope and tried to come up with a plan.
As I searched the fortress trying to come up with a plan I noticed one of the spotlights pointed up at the main structure, and around one of the windows was a flock of seagulls. That has to be the room that they’re keeping Aryll in. Now that I figured that out the question is, how am I going to get up there?
There was no clear way in, I could see a door, but it was sealed shut, along with that there was too many sharp rocks and spotlights that would spot even the smallest of boats with no cover. “Well unless you have a small boat that can go under water to avoid being spotted or perhaps a giant bird to ride on above the spotlights, I can’t figure out another way in without being spotted.” I admitted.
She looked at me and gave me a wink and smirked, “you’re right, the place is under a tight guard and while we don’t have a submarine handy nor do I have a bird big enough to carry you, unless you think you can convince that roosting cucco over there to give you a ride, though I don’t think that would work out well.” I doubted I could even get its attention from here and if I did there would be no way it would carry me to the fortress in any way that would work for me. “Follow me, while I don’t have a bird I do have a way that might just work.” She patted me on the shoulder and headed back down the ladder. I gave the fortress one last look before following her down.
As we made our way to the front of the ship at the catapult before I could even ask her what her idea was, someone had picked me and shoved me into a barrel. I didn’t even have a chance to struggle and the next thing I knew the barrel with me in it was loaded on the catapult. I started struggling but I was unable to do much but shake the barrel around, “And what exactly do you expect me to do now? If you just wanted to kill me why didn’t you just do that when we had left Outset!?” I said while panicking, I always hated being restricted and unable to move.
She just smirked at me again, “Relax kid, I’m not gonna kill you, and don’t struggle I don’t have anymore spare barrels and this wont work nearly as well if you have to swim halfway there and scale those walls.” She stepped closer placing her elbow on the edge of the barrel next to me, “Besides, we pirates do this all the time. You’ll be fine, we’re pro’s, you’re gonna be launched nice and good. Besides the worst that could happen is a broken bone or two, but that only happened the one time.”
“I kinda need my bones!” I protested, which was only responded to with a wink before she turned to look at the rest of the crew.
“Alright everyone! Lets make this one count we won’t get a second shot!” She stepped away and started a countdown I tuned it out and tried to control my breathing, as each number passed I grew more confident. “Three!” Deep breath in through the nose, “Two!” Deep breath out through the mouth, “One!” Deep breath in, “Fire!”
Notes:
So I was going to make this chapter the trip to and exploration of, the forsaken fortress but it was getting fairly long and I felt like I needed to make some progress on this story so I split it into two, hopefully I won't take as long to write the next chapter.
AustSakuraKyzor on Chapter 3 Sat 02 Nov 2024 12:28PM UTC
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TrueDocRose on Chapter 3 Sat 02 Nov 2024 04:43PM UTC
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AustSakuraKyzor on Chapter 2 Thu 05 Sep 2024 08:39PM UTC
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TrueDocRose on Chapter 2 Fri 06 Sep 2024 01:02AM UTC
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AustSakuraKyzor on Chapter 2 Fri 06 Sep 2024 01:17AM UTC
Last Edited Fri 06 Sep 2024 01:18AM UTC
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