I've been in the Navy for 6 years and thought I'd use my favorite fandom to tell some stories you've never heard.

The Red Lion heaved and surged against the oncoming waves. Link reveled at the sensation of becoming weightless then absurdly heavy as the painted deck of the ship moved beneath him. It reminded him of galloping through emerald fields with Epona. She and he moved as if they were one body, Link adjusting his position in the stirrups to impede his mare as little as possible. To stay comfortable on the deck, Link found himself flexing his knees in a similar manner. Not that he could interrupt the Red Lion as she went over and through the rolling waves.

"Link!"

Link turned his head as much as his blue suit would allow him. Solomon was a few feet away, clutching a line in his left hand, wearing an unfathomably grumpy scowl. The sailor spent most of his life at sea, almost always frowning in indignation.

"Yes?" Link called. He'd have cupped his hands over his mouth but the suit restricted movement until it was immersed. The spray from the waves wasn't quite enough to hydrate its skin.

"Yer smiling like an idiot again!" Solomon shouted. "Knock it off!"

The command made Link smile all the more.

"Aye-aye Chief!"

The grizzled sailor shook his head and muttered swear words under his breath. Link chuckled and allowed his suit to return his head to the forward position. His gruffness aside, Link really liked Chief Solomon. The man worked hard and held himself to a higher standard than the men under him. He was an expert sailor, navigator, and swordsman, and had been with the Red Lion longer than anyone else.

As the ship's Master-at-Arms, it was his duty to enforce the Captain's rule and report misbehavior. While he excelled at enforcing rules (usually with balled fists and calloused knuckles), he rarely reported misbehavior. If misconduct was reported to the Captain, the offending sailor was almost guaranteed a pay cut and demotion. Chief Solomon, when accused of dereliction of duty for failing to report a misdemeanor, explained that the wives and children of sailors were depending on their salary, and that a busted lip or broken nose was as efficient a corrective measure as anything. At first, Link mistook the man's intentions as an unhealthy appetite for violence. But after sailing with him for four months, he knew the man loved his crew more than he'd loved any of his three ex-wives.

"Why were you smiling?" asked the deep smooth voice of Yuuto. Yuuto had a way of whispering and yet being heard regardless of the environment. Whether it was a crowded bar fight or the gales of Hylia, if Yuuto spoke, he was heard.

Link didn't bother trying to turn his head. As his tender, Yuuto was posted just behind him and to his right, one hand carrying some of the weight of the air-flask strapped to Link's back.

"The ship riding the sea," Link replied, raising his voice to be sure he was heard. "It reminds me of my old horse."

He heard Yuuto hum behind him. "That is comforting," he said softly. "But deceptive."

"How so?"

"A horse is a companion who reciprocates love. The sea has no love for us. No mercy."

A chill went down Link's spine. Yuuto was always overly serious but rarely wrong. Yuuto, a native of Hylian island, Sakishima, was the most proficient diver aboard the Red Lion, and Link's most trusted comrade. If it weren't for an untimely ear infection, Yuuto would be in the blue suit and Link would be tending.

The islander was the same height as Link, but twenty pounds lighter. He had sharp features, sun-kissed skin, jet black hair, and hazel eyes. Despite his thin frame, Yuuto would never be accused of being the weak one in the group. The muscles in his forearms were corded and the ones in his shoulders and chest looked chiseled. Link couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but Yuuto also seemed to walk on the balls of his feet with a slight forward hunch as if he were eternally prepared to lunge forward and attack. Sometimes he saw Yuuto practicing with a knife, but in four months he'd never seen Yuuto instigate a fight, leaving Link to wonder if his imagination was getting the best of him and Yuuto simply had poor posture.

"You think we're nearing the spot?" Link asked to change the subject.

As if in response, Captain Matthew Rooster stuck his head over the bridge's railing. The faint glow of his magic compass helped illuminate his face against the dark clouds hanging over the Red Lion's mast.

"We're here!" he called, his excitement painting his face a brighter color than the compass. Captain Rooster was something of a rarity. He was half Gerudo, and his dark skin and red hair gave him away immediately. It wasn't the half Gerudo part that made him a rarity though, Link had served with half Gerudos in the Hylian Army. As far as Link knew, Captain Rooster was the only half Gerudo to stray from land and venture to the sea. Even more impressive, he earned the rank of Captain and was their commander for this expedition.

"Lieutenant Kilbert, get your man in there and bring us the last of piece of that Triforce!"

Link and Yuuto didn't wait for their Dive Supervisor's commands. Careful not to trip over the fins attached to his feet, Link awkwardly waddled over to the side of the ship. Yuuto was instep behind him, one hand on the air flask and the other on Link's safety line, an impossibly long rope that would be the only thing connecting Link to the Red Lion.

Link peered down into the spray. Dark waves danced beneath him, daring him to step into their domain. Yuuto was right, there was no love for him in there.

Link steeled away his fears. "Diver requests permission to enter the water!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Enter the water, diver!" Lieutenant Kilbert commanded.

"Good luck," Yuuto whispered.

Link looked down to his left.

Down to his right.

Straight down.

Then out at the horizon.

The sun would be setting soon, not that the sky felt it necessary to show them. Dark clouds met the ocean where there should have been orange light. It was a bad evening for a dive, but a good evening to finish their mission.

Link secured his goggles to his face with one hand and reached back to hold the back of his air flask with the other. He counted to three in his head then stepped forward with his left foot.

The waterline was twelve feet from the deck of the Red Lion. Despite himself, Link tensed as he plunged through the air and into the water.

The blue suit, a very unique piece of equipment worn almost exclusively by divers in Hyrule's Navy, was considered cutting edge technology. Attached to the diver's back was a long cylindrical container called an "air flask". The air flask held pressurized oxygen and sponges soaked in Sodium Hydroxide, allowing the diver to continue breathing underwater for an absurdly long time. Attached to the air flask were two hoses that wrapped around the diver like a necklace. In the center of the "necklace" was an opening that the diver put over their mouth. Through this opening the diver could breath without producing any bubbles. Not drowning was also an intended feature. A one-piece suit, always colored blue to camouflage the diver, was worn over the tank and diver. The suits had built in fins and webbed gloves and were designed to be buoyant enough to counter the air flask's weight. Allegedly, blue suits were temperature controlled but, as Link found his body shocked by the frigid cold of the ocean, he doubted that claim.

His heart and lungs seized in his chest as the suddenness of the cold attacked his body. Quickly, so as to prevent himself from going into shock, Link kicked upward. His cowled head broke the surface and he shook the sea from the outside of his goggles. The Red Lion had drifted past him a few lengths but Lieutenant Kilbert and Yuuto were illuminated on the aft end.

Kicking doubly to free his arms from treading water, Link made an "O" with his arms over his head to signal he had entered the water okay. He could see Yuuto and Kilbert straining to see him over the waves, but when they did, they returned the signal. Kilbert then put one hand in front of him. Link couldn't see the two fingers that signaled "go to work" but he was confident they were there.

Link lifted the hose to his mouth and bit into the mouth piece on the inside. Once he was sure the hose was sealed around his lips he reached back through the hole between his hood and his "dorsal fin" and turned the valve that would allow him to breathe. Pressurized air hissed through the hose. He took a deep breath to "taste" the air, as he'd been trained. It was dry and metallic but filled his lungs easily.

Air pressure is sufficient, he thought to himself. Wasting no more time on the surface, Link turned himself upside down and dove into the depths. Darkness greeted him on all sides.

As a child, Link never imagined he would walk on the ocean floor in search of powerful magical artifacts. He was an orphaned ranch-hand from Ordon Village with few prospects other than his health and youth. He was raised with minimal formal education and even less wealth. Illia claimed she would have been happy being married to a ranch-hand but Link doubted it. He'd loved her as much as a sixteen-year-old could, and wanted nothing but the best for her. For him, joining the Royal Army made perfect sense. Rusl had taught him rudimentary swordplay, and Link was naturally gifted with animals, so it made sense for him to enlist and join the Royal Army's Light Cavalry Unit. He'd spent hours trying to console Illia, to convince her that there was no real danger. Hyrule had been at peace for half a century.

"But it can't last forever," she'd tried to warn him.

Sometimes he wondered if "I told you so" was her last thought.

Pressure in his ears pulled Link from his thoughts. He was descending at a good pace, and had probably reached 10 meters or 30 feet. He kept one hand ahead of him to feel through the darkness while he pinched his nose with the other one. He clenched his mouth shut then gently blew air. With his mouth sealed and nose plugged, the air traveled through the eustachian tubes in his ears and pressed against the inside of his eardrums, countering the pressure of the ocean. The discomfort subsided and Link returned to diving down with both hands in front of him.

This was the reason Yuuto wasn't diving right now. With an ear-infection, it could be very difficult to valsalva, or equalize the body's inner pressure with the increased pressure of diving. Depending on the ocean's depth, he may need to valsalva five or six more times.

Remembering that the Red Lion was probably having trouble staying in one spot, and that he was still tethered to the ship, Link increased the pace of his descent. He continued to feel his way and look around but he knew there wouldn't be anything to see until he got close to the Triforce fragment. Even 1,000 meters or 3,000 feet below the sea, the Triforce's glow could penetrate through the darkness.

The glowing of the magical artifact was one of the only reasons their mission was possible. But it had an unfortunate side effect. As Link had learned on his first dive, all manner of sea life was attracted to the warm glow of the Goddesses' magic. Yuuto claimed to be able to grab the pieces without disturbing the ecosystem, but Link wasn't sure that was possible. Of the twelve pieces they'd retrieved, Yuuto collected eight, and Link four. All four dives involved giant eels, sharks, and oddly aggressive crabs. The blue suit provided a surprising amount of protection from teeth and claws, but Link would rather trust the sharpened steel he kept attached to his left leg.

The blade of his dive knife was the same length as his forearm, and sharp as any sword he'd carried in the army. Unlike his sword, the hilt of his knife was covered in sharkskin, an ironic material that kept him from losing his grip while stabbing sharks. Sometimes he dove with a spear, but more times than not the tool would get in his way during the retrieval.

Link cleared his ears four more times before he finally noticed a patch of paleness in the otherwise impenetrable darkness. Link marveled at his good fortune, but still cautiously slowed his descent. Usually he reached the ocean floor and spent nearly and hour walking in an extending spiral pattern before he noticed the glow of the Triforce. Regardless of his good fortune, Link was loathe to rush forward into the jaws of whatever denizen awaited him.

Swinging his arm backward and behind him, Link grabbed the line that had descended with him. It wasn't taut, which meant he still had time before the Red Lion strayed too far. Hopefully Captain Matthew Rooster circled around to where they'd dropped Link off but given the sea-state, Link doubted that. He had maybe 30 more minutes before he had to begin his ascent or risk untethering himself.

Link reached down to his leg and unsheathed his knife. He gave the handle a squeeze for confidence then thrusted through the water a couple times to wake up his arm. With the help of the blue suit, he'd adjusted to the cold quickly but his shoulders were still a little stiff.

Here goes, he thought.

Point of his knife leading the way, Link continued his descent. The paleness became brighter and brighter until the illumination made the coral reef and ocean floor visible. Color was still difficult to distinguish at this depth but Link was able to navigate a clear path. Everything that grew at this depth was sharp and jagged. The last thing he wanted was to cut himself and season the water with his blood.

On shallower dives, the ocean floor was a thing of beauty. The vegetation and sea life danced in vibrant colors, and the gentle currents of the ocean carved designs in the sand. At this depth, everything looked still and menacing. Nothing soft or colorful could survive this deep. After all, the ocean lacked love and mercy.

This fragment was not the largest piece Link had retrieved, but it certainly wasn't the smallest. The holy artifact was wedged between two curved boulders, glowing defiantly as if it was demanding to be rescued. On the surface, the Triforce piece would be the same color as refined gold, and radiate with a blinding yellow and white light. At this depth, the artifact looked green and the light it gave off was a pale blue.

Cautiously, Link scanned the area, turning himself 360 degrees in the water.

Well that's fishy, he said to himself. No fish.

While it was unlikely, it was possible there was no vegetation in this area. No vegetation would mean no herbivore fish, which would mean no prey for the predators.

Skeptical, Link slowly finned toward the fragment. Even though the piece was the same size as a pumpkin, Link knew it would weigh almost twice as much as he did, with zero buoyancy. Fortunately, he had a lift balloon with him. Just below his air flask, he kept a smaller air flask. This one was attached to a very large but folded balloon made of the same material as the blue suit. The miniature flask would be attached to the Triforce fragment, then activated so that all of its pressurized air would release into the balloon. This would create a giant bubble that would carry the Triforce fragment to the surface. The first time he'd tested it out, Link marveled at the ingenuity of the men and women who invented these sorts of things.

Link was now so close to the fragment it was difficult to look directly at it. Squinting through the light, Link climbed over one of the boulders so he was straddling the fragment. He knew from experience that the artifact was warm to the touch but not warm enough to be felt through the blue suit. Link sheathed his dive knife and went to work attaching the spare flask and balloon to the artifact. He let the rhythmic noise of his breathing through the hose accompany him while he worked.

With practiced hands, Link had the contraption rigged in no time. He gave his handiwork one last look, then swam backwards to give the balloon room to expand. He spun the flask's valve then kicked away, turning while he did. He enjoyed watching the balloon expand.

With an audible gurgle, thousands of bubbles escaped from the little flask and were trapped by the balloon in their attempt to escape to the surface. In seconds, the balloon had expanded to half its size. Inside of a minute, the balloon was full and straining to pry the fragment from between the two boulders.

Link frowned as well as his breathing hose would let him. He drew his knife again and approached the Triforce fragment. At this depth, the balloon wouldn't move very fast, but still fast enough to snag Link if he wasn't careful. In the diving world, ascending too quickly was the second most dangerous thing a diver could do. The first most dangerous thing was obviously run out of air.

Link jammed his knife between the fragment and the boulder and tried to pry the two apart. He strained against the knife's handle and grunted into his breathing hose. He had no success. Frustrated and annoyed he moved to the other side to see if he had better luck. He jammed the knife into place and pushed against it as hard as he dared. Suddenly, the boulder shifted slightly.

"Are you serious!?" Link shouted into his hose.

The boulder had shifted the wrong way, almost rolling backwards so the Triforce piece was wedged even deeper between the two boulders. Link slammed the pommel of his knife into the boulder angrily.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

The boulder shifted again.

Link instantly recognized his folly.

While the boulder shifted, what looked like a giant tongue, slid from within the side of the boulder and began sliding around its surface.

A giant clam! Link realized. Probably both boulders are.

As the tongue made its way toward the top of the clam's shell, Link carefully glided backwards, keeping his movements as smooth as possible. The clam's tongue paused where Link had struck with his knife, then moved to the side where the Triforce fragment was stuck.

Tentatively, the tongue prodded the Triforce piece.

Don't you do it.

The tongue wrapped around the piece, holding it in place while the clam shifted around, stirring up the ocean floor in the process.

Don't you eat it.

In an instant, the light from the magical artifact vanished as the clam sucked it into its mouth.

Goddess dammit!

It was pitch black. So absolutely dark that Link couldn't see his fingers when he tapped on his own goggles. Darkness, no matter how old and wise you are, is unnerving. The darkness that comes from being at the bottom of the ocean, breathing borrowed air, surrounded by giant carnivorous clams, is even more so. Link felt panic sneaking up on him from within his chest. His breathing became faster and the pressure of the water around him suddenly felt crushing.

He took more than a few panicked breaths, hardly able to stand the dry metallic air his life depended on. He forgot which way was up and which was down. He couldn't orient himself. He pushed his arms over his head to propel him downward, worried the ocean floor wasn't there to find him. Link feared he'd turned himself sideways as the light disappeared, and now moving in any direction would mean losing his way. He had failed! He had failed and he was going to die at the bottom of the ocean!

Something brushed against his right arm. Link flinched away, slashing out with his knife in the darkness. He felt his knife connect with something and slashed again. Only when he felt a slight vibration to his own hip did he realize what he was slashing at. Frantically, he reached behind him and grabbed his lifeline, the rope connecting him to the Red Lion. He felt his way down to his hip then back up where the rope should continue endlessly. But there was an end. The knife he sharpened with pride made sure of that.

Woe, that the Goddesses made a creature as stupid as me, Link thought as a strange wave of acceptance washed over him. He had just killed himself. Now, even if he ascended, he had no way to get back to the Red Lion. He would die in the open ocean of either exhaustion, dehydration, or hypothermia. Even if he could get the Triforce piece out of the clam, he would have no way to find the ship.

Then it occurred to him, the light! If he could get the Triforce fragment out and ascend with it, the Red Lion would see the light. That's how they always found the Triforce fragments they sent up with lift balloons anyway! The piece was visible even miles away if it was anywhere near the surface.

The realization felt like salvation and calmed Link. He was okay. He could survive this. With renewed confidence Link pushed the water above him until he descended to the ocean floor. Just like any other blind ocean floor search, he would walk in widening circles until he bumped into one of the two clams. He would bang on it until it opened. If he felt it open and didn't see light, then it was the wrong clam and he was going to have to swim away quick. But if the clam that swallowed the artifact opened its mouth, he was sure it would light up like a treasure chest full of gold.

Heel to fin, Link walked in widening circles. With nothing better to do he counted his steps while he moved. In a position like this, it did him no good to look around for monsters so he just stared straight ahead into the darkness of nautical depths. He was at 74 when he bumped into a large boulder shaped object. He stepped closer and felt around with his palm to ensure he was at the boulder and not pounding away at a random piece of coral. The shape felt right, he figured.

Link took a deep breath then slammed the pommel of his knife into the object three times. After the third time he kicked straight backward, doing his best to maintain his orientation. He kept his knife close to his body. If the clam without light did reach for him, he would only get one chance to lash out and swim away. He held his breath and counted to 30. He imagined the tongue slipping out, feeling around its surface, then slipping back into its shell. 30 seconds should be long enough.

Just to be safe, Link counted 30 more seconds before approaching again. He found the object where he expected to, and put his right palm on it, with this knife in his left hand. When the light cut out, the two clams were still within arm's reach of each other. If he walked the circumference of this one with his arms spread out, he should be able to find the second one.

He found the other one just as he'd hoped. Now, it didn't matter if the previous object was a clam or a clam-shaped boulder. This one was for sure a giant Triforce eating clam. Link slammed his knife into the clam's shell as hard as he could. Instead of scooting backwards, he swam upward to meet the Triforce piece as it ascended. For a moment, nothing happened, and Link worried he'd been so disoriented he'd drifted over to two random rocks instead of the clams. But just then a blinding light appeared in front of him, revealing the insides of the clam and the ocean floor.

The Goddesses had finally shown Link some pity. The balloon was still attached to the Triforce piece and instantly hoisted it out of the clam's mouth. The tongue tried to dart forward and reclaim its prize but Link was ready. He dashed forward and slashed at the tongue, intercepting it before it stole his prize. The tongue shot back into the clam's shell wounded and angry. Pleased with himself, Link grabbed onto the Triforce piece and let it carry him a few feet to safety.

Once he was sure they'd cleared the ocean floor, he let go. The lift balloon would accelerate as the pressure became less and less. If Link held on to it, the air bubbles in his own lungs and blood would expand, killing him in an exceptionally painful way. He would trail behind it, rising at the same pace as the bubbles he blew with his nose.

The ascent was slow and mostly boring. A few fish larger than Link followed the ascending piece for a while but eventually lost interest. One creature actually tried to swallow the thing whole but the lift balloon was too buoyant and carried the fish with it. Distraught, the gilled would-be thief let go and sought its prey elsewhere. Link kept his knife close in case it chose the strange "blue fish" following the light, but the sea life seemed to care very little for him.

As usual with night dives, the surface surprised Link. Since the lift balloon left the Triforce piece hanging almost ten feet below the surface's edge, Link almost cracked his head on it. Pleased that the hard part of his dive was over, Link kicked past the object and breached the surface. The sea state had calmed a little but the sky was still dark. That was for the best though, Link figured. The water around him was glowing as bright as a star. The Red Lion would have no problem finding him.

Link turned about in the water, using the crest of each wave to get a good look at his surroundings. With delight, he saw that the Red Lion was surprisingly close. And, she was headed directly for him. Link reached back and shut off the valve to his breathing hose and pulled it out of his mouth. He cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered indiscernible excited noises. The Red Lion crept closer, angling its bow so it wouldn't run Link or the balloon over. A long boat dropped from the side. It was probably Yuuto and Lieutenant Kilbert, maybe even the Captain. This was their last mission, after all. With this fragment, they had successfully recovered all of the submerged Triforce fragments. The Queen would throw them the biggest feast the kingdom had ever seen.

The longboat was very close so Link decided to save them a few strokes by swimming closer.

"You will not believe what I found this time," Link said as he reached the side of the boat. He looked and reached up, waiting for Yuuto to grab his hands and pull him into the boat while Lieutenant braced against the far side to keep them from capsizing.

An ugly unfamiliar face peered down at Link.

"You're not a Zora."

Link pushed off the boat and plunged himself beneath the water's surface. He knew every member aboard the Red Lion and he had no idea who was in that longboat. He had no intention of finding out either. He kicked with his fins and started to work for his breathing hose when pain exploded in his leg.

In shock he realized there was a barbed harpoon sticking through the outside of his thigh. In a sickening moment he felt the sudden pull as whoever speared him began to hoist him back to the longboat. The pain was too much. He exhaled into the water and shoved his hose into his mouth. He tried to breath but realized he hadn't turned the valve to his air flask.

Frantically he tried to turn the valve.

Between the excruciating pain in his leg and the failed attempt at breathing, Link couldn't get the valve in time.

Involuntarily his mouth opened and his lungs demanded oxygen.

Instead of air, they filled themselves with sea water.