The Best Worst Date in the Great Sea
By TheLastApollo
The dizzying spectacle had reached its half-way point. Blow after vicious blow sent ripples in the damp air as Tetra's scimitar collided with Link's shield; only for their devastating blows to push them further back against the walls of the pirate ship's lower deck. Link readied himself, pressing his boots against the hard wooden decking and preparing for another round of Tetra's offensives. His defense was met with a series of blindingly-fast jabs at his torso, each of which he barely managed to withstand thanks to the protection of his trusty shield.
With each jab at Link's torso; Tetra grew impatient - ultimately finding herself becoming increasingly tired after pressing the attack for the longest time. His shield wasn't backing down and the pirate captain needed a way to break his defense.
"Twenty rupees on Tetra;"
A single set of jabs at Link proved futile; leaving Tetra to slowly back away from the Hero of Winds with an angry frown. Her gaze slowly shifted to the otherwise countless stacks of wooden containers and barrels dotted around the room - a mischievous grin slowly came forward - and she leapt forward to take the higher ground.
"You're crazy! I'd give a half-eaten loaf of bread and a treasure chart on Link!"
With Tetra's forward leap across the ships lower deck, she perfectly landed on top of a collection of wooden crates stacked high above Link's position. The awful grin and the accompanying mischievous look on her face forced the Hero of Winds to back off and take on another defensive position, preparing for whatever Tetra had planned.
For an entire minute; the two stood their ground and waited for the next move. Link continued to hold his shield level up to his face with Tetra close to crouching on all fours, ready to pounce. The tension quickly broke off soon after, with Tetra slowly relaxing her body, standing upright, and leaning up against a nearby wooden barrel. A single bead of sweat slowly dripped down her face.
"Not bad," Tetra began to speak, slowly taking in air with each valuable second she had to spare. Her posture slumped against a barrel, her fatigue quickly caught up with her and it was starting to become noticable. "If it wasn't for that stupid shield, then I'd have mopped the deck with you."
A cocky grin crept on Link's face. "You're so slow you can't get around a shield? That's too bad." he knew this game all-too-well.
"Ah, now they're trash talking each other!"
"Real men fight without shields, Link. Didn't your teacher back home teach you that?"
"That's our Tetra-!"
"A real captain would knock the shield out of their opponents hands."
Tetra bit her lower lip, "Since when did you start trash-talking?" Her hands gently rested on her hips.
"I learned from the best." A playful wink from her opponent sent an unusual shiver down her spine, even more so; Tetra felt her cheeks begin to redden by the slightest amount at Link's cocky response.
"You wouldn't know a good insult if it hit you in the face!"
"You're right." Link nodded in agreement, before smirking, "I don't know what it's like to be hit in the face by the ugly stick."
If Link wasn't able to see Tetra's red face earlier, then we was able to now. Her cheeks reddened to an embarrassingly visible amount; prompting her to wipe a seemingly non-existent bead of sweat off her forehead. It didn't do any favours for the irritated expression she wore - a completely different attitude from the grins and bravado she sported earlier.
"Ouch. That's going to cost Link a limb or two."
"You little-!" Tetra fumed; but held herself back verbally. She teetered to the edge of the crate and hopped back down to the decking, looking none too pleased about Link's comments. The Hero of Winds' playful expression quickly dipped, "Hey, it's just a little trash-talk. Nothing personal, right?"
"You- You-," Tetra continued to huff, lips pouting before standing a few steps away from her opponent. Her angry expression slowly diminished and turned back into the familiar grin that Link knew all-too-well. "Not bad, for an insult."
Link shook his head in disbelief, "You're not angry at me?"
"Oh, come on!" Tetra groaned. "It's just trash talk. That's not what's making me mad."
"Then what is?"
"This stupid fight!" Tetra growled, throwing her arms in the air. "We've been fighting for thirty minutes and none of us made any progress."
Link shrugged in response, giving a warm smile. "It's just training. There's nothing wrong with a little practice here and there."
When suddenly, a devious little grin crept on the side of Tetra's mouth. "I know what'll make things a little more interesting. What'dya reckon? Wanna' place a few bets?" she winked.
A gap in the conversation gave Link a moment to think, he glared at Tetra before relaxing his gaze at the captain with another warm smile. His grip on his sword and shield relaxed, "What do you have in mind?"
"Oh, I don't know." Tetra tapped her foot. "If I win; you'll have to do laundry duty for an entire month."
"Is that it...?"
"-And! You have to do it in my royal dress." Her tone of voice was reaching peak condescension at this point. Link's cheeks reddened, his lips wavering. It was a hefty, no; highly embarrassing price to pay if he were to lose. "What do you say to that, Mr. Hero?"
Admittedly, he originally opted for something more childish but if this was the path that he had to walk, then so be it. An outlandish bet wouldn't hurt, all in the name of good fun. "If I win,"
He rubbed his chin. "then I'll take you out for a romantic evening."
…
…
…
"-What!? Did he say what I thought I heard him say?"
…
…
…
"Is that the best YOU can do?" Tetra scoffed, almost breaking into laughter. "That's not how it works. You're supposed to choose something embarrassing, not pleasant."
"Oh," Link's eyes widened, he caught his opponent's words. "So a romantic date is pleasant?"
"Ofcourse it-" Tetra forced her hands to her mouth, shutting herself off. Her eyes widened in sheer surprise with Link accompanying her with a hearty chuckle. "Oh, Shut up!"
"I'll wear my best tunic." He continued to chuckle, almost breaking into laughter. "I think I'm getting the hang of trash-talking now."
"Shut up! Shut up!" Tetra felt her cheeks redden again, she pressed her lips together and puffed her cheeks. "It's not as if I like you, anyways. It's just a stupid bet!"
"It's settled, then?" Link asked, readying his sword and shield into another fighting position. "If I win, a romantic date. If you win-"
"I get to see you clean Gonzo's underwear in my royal dress." Tetra grumbled, raising her scimitar. Her former smirk slowly returned as she readied herself, her blushed cheeks slowly returned back to their normal colour.
Not much more needed to be said; leading Tetra and Link to regain their previous combat stances with them both glaring into eachothers eyes. Tetra took the first step forward and readied her scimitar and leapt forward, planting a horizontal swipe at Link's shield. Her blade clanged against the metallic surface of Link's shield which slowly ebbed him closer and closer into a pile of barrels - a pile that happened to be devoid of contents - and continued to hold down the remaining ground he had.
In the corner of his vision, Link noticed a nearby shelf which happened to present several large pots neatly stacked in a line, feeling confident; he waited for another one of Tetra's attacks and took the time to roll out of her reach. For the time being, this created a sense of space between the him and the captain.
The space between them didn't last long. Tetra threw herself towards Link, jumping into the air with a deep yell and landing back down with her scimitar - once again - landing on Link's hero shield. He needed to get her in the middle of the storage room, and fast.
For Tetra, her approach to combat became more frantic - and noticeably more desperate. Her small pauses in-between each horizontal and vertical slash ended up getting smaller and smaller with more of her energy exerted on knocking the shield out of Link's hand. "I'm going to tear that shield apart and throw it overboard."
And she did just that, in the small amount of time it took to re-adjust herself; Tetra raised her scimitar upwards and quickly slammed her blade against the side of Link's shield. A ear-splitting metallic clang rattled the ship's lower deck, causing both fighters to momentarily pause as Link's trusty shield landed far removed from his reach.
The Hero of Winds was taken aback by the sudden slam - ultimately finding himself toddling backwards in confusion. His ears rung with a high-pitched pinging noise accompanied by a sudden headache that pressed against the back of his head.
A few steps backward, and he slowly regained control of himself; quickly adapting his technique - opting to grip his sword with both hands. While the pinging noise in his ears consumed his senses, he couldn't but help frown at the overly-smug expression Tetra had begun to sport. He huffed in mild annoyance - ignoring the inaudible words coming from his opponent's mouth - unfortunately having a pretty solid idea regarding what she was trying to say.
"Ooh, I see. Miss Tetra knocked the shield out of his hands, that should make the fight more interesting."
"I know, right? It's always a sure-fire sign when Miss Tetra gets 'that' face; she tends to win."
"--What?! You're rooting for Miss Tetra? Link is obviously going to win."
"Pfft! As if!"
The pinging noise that drowned out Link's hearing slowly began to die-down enough for him to concentrate, prompting him to consider the situation. His shield was thrown across the arena and his defensive strategy was thrown out of the window, his gaze slowly took Tetra's condition into consideration; noticing the excessive beads of sweat and the uncoordinated breathing patterns as a result of her heavier strikes.
A smile grew on his face, if he were to push her over to the shelf and grab an empty pot - provided Tetra didn't catch onto his plan and smash them - he would be able to end this fight once and for all.
His chance to strike back was now.
By taking advantage of Tetra's fatigue, Link charged forward and jabbed directly towards her chest; noticing an instant counter, he quickly pulled back and swung for her head. Tetra took a few steps back, panting loudly, she quickly raised her scimitar and swatted the invading blade away. Her sword clashed against his, both locked together; pressing their body strength against one-another to try and desperately ebb the balance of the fight in their favour.
Their bodies were intertwined, and it was starting to wear both of them down physically. The amount of stress Tetra underwent was starting to take a toll on her muscles - leading to several cramping sensations in her arms and legs.
A few seconds later, Tetra finally broke away and took a few steps backwards - unknowingly standing directly underneath the shelf. The opportunity to strike was now; and Link was prompted to throw his sword at Tetra. The pirate captain effortlessly dodged the incoming blade by ducking her head and shifting to the side.
"Is that best you've got, Mr. Hero?" Tetra huffed, her arms visibly shaking. "You missed! You threw your sword at me and now you're defenseless!"
"You talk too much!" Link responded, only exchanging a smug look towards Tetra.
"Wha-"
The shelf's supports took the full-frontal blast of Link's throw, the supports slowly fell apart which forced two entire rows of large blue pots to fall onto the lower decks flooring. A single large pot perfectly latched onto Tetra's head and threw her balance off-centre. The rest shattered upon impact on the hard wooden surface, spilling out rupees and other goods that happened to rest inside.
Tetra fell to the floor in a blind-panic. Her vision was completely blockaded by the large pot and her scimitar had dropped from her grip. She struggled under the weight; failing to budge the large pot from her head. "You fu-"
The victory against the captain, while elating; felt incredibly short-lived when Link sprung into action and dashed over to Tetra's flailing body. He dodged her un-coordinated kicks and wild punches and used the butt of his sword to crack the pot's ceramic surface - gently making sure that he didn't hit Tetra in the process.
Tetra closed her eyes in sudden fright as the pot crumbled around her. "I hate you!" Her cheeks puffed, while the colouration turned back to a familiar bright red that glowed like from earlier.
"Easy there," Link began, kneeling down. "You're fine."
"I'm fine." Tetra grumbled, she looked at Link and glared at the Hero of Winds. Her arms were crossed as if her behaviour were that of a pouty child.
Link blinked, "Are you sure?"
Her agitation with losing was clearly showing. Tetra slowly brushed off the remnants of the destroyed pot and continued to glare daggers at Link, all-the-while standing up. A sigh escaped her mouth, "Well done, airhead! You beat me. I can't believe I fell for one of the oldest tricks-"
"It's just a little bit of practice. No hard feelings, right?"
"No hard feelings."
It felt awkward, but Tetra slowly softened her fierce glare at Link and took a moment to think. Her cheeks continued to burn a bright red, and she could feel the sensation in her stomach - quickly assuming that it was from exerting her physical energy. The creaking metal frame of the ship's lower deck made the awkward silence even worse, not for Link; but for herself.
"A deal's a deal." Tetra bit her lower lip, groaning in defeat. "I'll go on a date with you."
"It'll be fun." Link felt his cheeks redden, sporting a sheepish grin.
"So...?" Tetra picked up her scimitar. "What's the plan for tonight?
"I'm thinking of someplace quiet."
"How quiet?"
"It's a surprise."
"Oh," Tetra scoffed, "So that's how it's going to be?"
"Trust me," Link reaffirmed. "I think some time to ourselves will do some good."
"Pfft! Whatever, Mr. Hero." Tetra rolled her eyes, she headed over to the lower decks ladders and proceeded to climb up. "If we're going for a bite to eat, you're paying for it."
As Tetra left the lower deck, the sound of scrambled footsteps from the upper decks could be heard. Link chuckled to himself. He stood alone and looked at the smashed pots, admiring his own handy-work.
"Dinner for two. How hard can that be?"
Author's Notes:
Thanks for reading! This is my first attempt at writing on so I hope you've enjoyed this chapter.
If you've got a moment to spare then feel free to write up a review and tell me what you think. I'll always be open to hearing constructive criticism, and overall general feedback. I'm looking to improve my writing and storytelling abilities so I'll be happy to hear what you have to say.
"Date Tetra" artwork by TeLinkfan1 on DeviantArt.
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
- TheLastApollo