The Open Sea Calls
- Bad Day -
CLANG
The swaying box scraped an underwater cliff and swung wildly.
"What are you doing, kid!? You're wrecking the salvage arm!"
Link jumped and looked around guiltily. Linebeck was glaring up out of the cabin door.
BOOM! Water exploded everywhere. The ship rocked with the salvage arm.
"ARGH!!!" Linebeck tore at his hair and slammed the door shut.
"It's your own fault!" Ciela fluttered angrily at the window, trying to beat it down with her wings. "If you hadn't been yelling, he would'nt've gotten distracted!"
Link clenched his teeth and quickly wound up the chain, lugging the big metal box out of the waves. He swung it over to the deck, taking painstaking care not to bump anything else on the way. The box came down with a thud, and Link sucked in his breath in anticipation. He lifted the lid to reveal...
"Oh," Ciela said, floating over. "A Conning Tower. Another one. Isn't that three now?"
"Four," Link reminded her glumly.
"And they don't even sell for much..."
Link sighed dejectedly, looking out over the sparkling water. Gulls called to each other. The boy's shoulders slumped a little more as he thought of his sister back on Outset Island. She loved seagulls, and the birds always flocked to her. How long had he been away now...?
A fish jumped in the distance, and Link looked up again.
"Linebeck?" the boy in green called, his voice cracking a little as he raised it. "I'm going fishing on the way back to Mercay, okay?"
"Fine," came the muffled answer. "Catch us something for dinner, I'm hungry. No Loovars, they're deformed, oily, and barely edible. I'm sick of them."
Link grinned and cast his line out. Within five seconds he had a bite, and was pulling and reeling in the line with expert skill. As it came closer, the fish jumped. The sun glinted off pink scales.
"It must be a toona," Link muttered to himself.
At five meters out, all hopes of toona steaks for dinner were crushed.
The boy grimaced as he hung the monstrous pink fish from the battered salvage arm.
The cabin door opened, and the captain strolled out.
"Well, kid? What's the catch of the – oh." He stopped, the smug smile slipping from his face. Hardened green eyes dropped from the weakly struggling Loovar to the young hero who quickly slid down it to land on the deck.
"I guess it's moldy potatoes for dinner, then," Linececk said, his deadpan stare never wavering. He spun on his heel and stalked away, sighing.
"Linebeck, you're so MEAN!" Ciela shouted, flitting in front of his face and making him pull up short. "Link's out there all day, chopping up monsters and hacking his way through temple after temple to save his friend and the Ocean King, and he STILL decides to make time for your petty little whims, and this is the thanks he gets!? You're the most horrible, selfish person in the world!!"
Link watched the older man's expressive eyebrows rise, knit together, then slam down over his eyes. He gulped.
"I can't expect a ball of fluff like you to understand, but SOME of us here need to eat," the captain said haughtily, turning away and crossing his arms. "Food is hardly a petty whim. Neither is safe passage across the sea. But if you think you know what's best, by all means, let's starve and let my ship fall apart. I'll just be watching and waiting for the kid to collapse. Or the ship to sink." He waved the angry fairy aside and stamped down the stairs in a huff.
"RRG!" Ciela zipped around the ship, a pinball of rage. "I can't STAND that Linebeck! He's so infuriating! How you put up with him, I'll never understand!"
Link shrugged, watching the Loovar's huge eye glaze over in death. "People are more likely to be nice to you if you're nice to them," he said quietly.
"But he was mean first! You've been nice to him this whole time, and he does nothing but take advantage of your good nature," Ciela fumed.
"Well... maybe there's more to it than being a jerk. He's okay sometimes," Link said.
"Hmph. Not likely," the fairy grumbled.
BOOM!
The deck rocked, and Link was thrown into the railing. A trio of pirate ships was closing in, and the young hero scrambled to pull up the cannon and return fire.
"You proud of yourself, kid?" Linebeck's dry voice sounded more tinny than usual, echoing up through the speaking tube. Link ground his teeth as he fired the cannon again and again.
At last, the three enemy ships were reduced to smoldering wreckage sinking into the water. Link breathed a sigh.
"I'm heading for Mercay," he said into the tube. "Can we... just call it a day?"
"Best idea you've had all day, kid. I think I can talk the barman into trading us all the supplies we need, in exchange for that nasty Loovar."
"Great!" Link grinned at the huge fish in relief.
"I've got the course set. Let's go!"
As the ship made a beeline for Mercay Island, Linebeck rubbed his face with both hands, steering with his elbows. He watched as the island appeared and drew nearer on the horizon. The kid and the fairy were talking about something or other up on deck. The captain's sharp green eyes caught his own name on the boy's lips, and he frowned.
"Hard turn to port!" he called as he swung the wheel. Link grabbed the rail and laughed at something as they pulled into Mercay's port. As soon as they docked, the boy hopped over the rail and trotted into the shipyard. Linebeck watched for a moment, then sauntered off to the milk bar before the mechanic could come out.
. . .
This was supposed to be the first of a series of funny one-shots. Clearly, that didn't work out. More is on its way! This begins shortly after getting the salvage arm, but before the Temple of Courage. I know there are inconsistencies with the types of fish and number of treasures available. But it's fine, you're not mad. This is not my best work, I just wanted to write some Phantom Hourglass stuff. You have been warned. Who knows, it might get better!