DISCONTINUED

Author's Note (29/05/2016): I feel the need to say that the story you're about to read is really bad at times, kind of all right at other times, but no matter what it definitely is not an accurate representation of my writing as it stands now. The one and only reason this story remains on this site is because it garnered too much feedback and views/favourites/follows for me to delete. This story's premise has been mostly salvaged and lives on (heavily edited) in my other story The Legend of Zelda: Destiny's Call. But by all means, read on if you're curious.

Sky Pirates

Maloni

Chapter One: Narrow Escape

Somewhere in the Southern Calatian Sea...

He had really screwed up now. He still couldn't believe he had gotten caught. At least his Loftwing had gotten away. 'Good ol' Crimson could always take care of himself.'

Rain and seawater dripped from the ceiling, which explained him being thoroughly soaked. A thunderstorm had been brewing and was just making its appearance, coming out in full force.

The guttural snorts and low-pitched whines of his Moblin captors brought him back to his current situation, assaulting his pointed Hylian ears as they marched him through the dark concrete halls. He could have taken both of them if he had his sword but, like everything else he had with him, it was taken away when he was captured. The one exception being the clothes on his back.

A long, faded black coat, a long-sleeved white shirt, brown trousers, and knee-high, worn boots were all he had left.

Something hard snapped under his boot. When he looked down, he saw a dry, cracked skeletal hand. The middle finger had broken off, along with the bottom half of the palm. The resulting powder clung to his boot, painting the bottom a greyish white. Moblins were hated by Hylians and humans alike in Hyrule and the other nations, for their trait of eating human flesh. Drug and arms suppliers used them because of their trait of being easily turned into slaves. Get them hooked on something and they would do anything for it.

He briefly wondered whether or not he would become another skeleton. He quickly pushed the thought away as he stopped and looked down at the cracked hand with a mixture of sadness and disgust.

The moment was short-lived as one of his captors rammed his spear into the prisoner's back. The blow elicited a grunt of pain from the hand-cuffed prisoner, sending him stumbling forwards. He straightened and looked back, throwing the Moblins a hateful glare. They gave him another cruel shove. He continued to shuffle along, hearing the snorts of Moblin laughter behind him.

He was marched through corridor after grimy corridor hearing screams, groans and, oddly, hysterical laughter echoing around. He must have been close to some kind of cell area to hear his fellow prisoner's screams. Someone else screamed louder than the rest, and it sent goosebumps up the prisoner's neck. He knew he wouldn't be able to escape without the help of his pirate friends.

Finally, his entourage stopped in front of a plain metal door at the end of a hall. It was rusty and dented at some points. One of his Moblin captors pounded on the door, and a few moments later it creaked open on rusty hinges. No lanterns hung in the room; it was almost completely dark.

A voice sounded through the gloom. "Ah, I see you found our pirate friend," it said. "Bring him here."

The Moblins shoved him harshly through the door, then slammed it. He looked around the room trying to discern who else was in there with him. He had a guess at who it was, but he wasn't sure. He glanced around the room, seeing the outlines of furniture and other things neatly scattered around, yet there were no visible light sources. 'Goddesses, why does it have to be so damn dark?' he thought.

Some light may have been able to make it into the room from the large windows on one side of the room, but the moon was blocked out by the thunderclouds. The windows were shaken and pelted with rain from the storm outside. It surprised him they hadn't been ripped from the wall. Out the windows he saw the sea, and the rest of the concrete complex on the edges of the large rock cliffs.

While he gazed around the room, a soft thud snapped his eyes over to the windows again. His eyes came to rest on a desk with an elegant chair faced away from him. A leg hung over the side, the other on the floor and an elbow leaned on the arm, the hand's middle finger and thumb rubbing together.

"So, you were trying to steal from my stores of Light Energy Rods?" the man's voice echoed slightly. "You Sky Pirates are all the same! Thieving and sneaking your way in the world! You disgust me." The captive remained silent.

The man stood and turned around to face him. The prisoner should have known. Even through the gloom he could make out his features. He had short white hair, white lips, and brown eyes that had some sort of blue paint under them. A blue crystal hung from one pointed ear, while the other was bare and seemed to be cut short and round; Ghirahim.

Ghirahim had caused a lot trouble to him and his pirate crew over the years, such as preventing them from getting supplies, dogging them all over the planet, and just beating them to the punch on some real nice merchandise that they could have 'acquired'. He was sadistic bastard, who raped and killed whoever he pleased, making sure to draw out their pain for as long as he wanted. He mostly dealt with weapons, but he was sometimes known for his drug production. Jabber Nuts, Glittering Mushroom Spores, and Golden Bugs all caused powerful hallucinations and were manufactured and sold by Ghirahim.

Ghirahim opened a drawer in his desk and took out a long object. In the semi-darkness of the room, the captive struggled to see what it was, but Ghirahim concealed it behind his back. He blinked a few beads of sweat from his eyes and Ghirahim was gone. He blinked again but Ghirahim was still gone. 'Tricky bastard', he thought bitterly.

He swallowed his fear and looked around but stood still, not wanting to walk into something. He looked back at the desk and sighed, getting tired of his games. He could barely contain a yelp of surprise as Ghirahim materialized in front of him, the air crackling with dark energy.

Ghirahim snapped his fingers and the lights brightly flared, momentarily blinding him. The captive opened his eyes and realized he was looking down the barrel of a Bolt Shooter. Bolt Shooters were a one shot crossbow-like weapon, the two limbs sticking out from the sides of the barrel. The limbs had to be pulled back and a bolt loaded, which was an eight-inch rod of metal, to be fired again.

"So, Captain Link," Ghirahim said darkly, "give me a reason I shouldn't shoot you here and now."

Before Link could respond or try to disarm Ghirahim, his pointed Hylian ears picked up on a steady hum getting louder by the second. It was the hum of Light Energy and Sky Ship engines; he had lived around those sounds for ten years. Link looked past Ghirahim and saw the outline of a Sky Ship quickly growing larger, the familiar black hull and sails blended in to the dark night as it sped right towards them. Link looked back to Ghirahim who was holding the bolt shooter and grinning cockily.

"Well?" Ghirahim asked, about to squeeze the trigger. The limbs tensed and pulled back slightly, ready to put a bolt in Link's head.

"Okay, here's a reason. You're about to die!" Link yelled before the ship rammed her hull into the building's side, the bow smashing through the windows. Lights sparked and flickered out as it continued to crash through the building.

Link ran in the opposite direction, then leapt to the side, landing painfully on the floor as glass, stone, and all other sorts of shrapnel exploded overhead, raining down on his back and head. Link waited until the sound of grinding and scraping ceased and for debris to stop flying, then raised his head and looked around.

The jet black hull of Courage loomed overhead, her gilded and shining green name on her side. Thankfully, no masts had been damaged in the crash, only the bow pushed through the building. Getting to his feet he stumbled around on the debris, coughing from the dust cloud thrown up by the impact. Ghirahim was nowhere to be seen as he was most likely crushed under the ship's massive hull. Link looked up to the top of his ship, and standing there, on the ship's railing with his arms crossed, soaking wet, was his second in command; Jak.

Even up where he was perched on the railing, Link could still make out his features. He had short fiery orange hair, red eyes, and a cocky smirk. Jak gave a booming laugh, surprisingly loud for a nineteen-year old, and shouted down to him, "Ahoy thar, Captain!"

Link smiled and shook his head slightly. "Jak! I told you to look after Courage, not ram her into Ghirahim's fortress!" he shouted back.

"Hey, I saved your sorry butt, didn't I? And besides, we stole that ship armour from one of the supply warships heading to Zora's Domain so I figured we should test it. Anyway, I've got a present for you." Jak tossed a small object over the railing and Link caught it in his handcuffed hands; a Hookshot. Hookshots were short but had a chamber in the middle that stored a coiled up chain with a spike on the end that could be used as a weapon or to grapple up to high places. "We can swing around and pick up the rest of the crew. We dropped them on the other end of the complex while Navi and I went to this side knowing you were probably caught."

"Well, you were right! I'm hand-cuffed, so get down here!"

"Keep your panties on. I'm coming down with your gear." He threw down a plain black scabbard and a bolt shooter belt that had a few bolts tied to it. Though bolt shooters were widely used, swordsmanship was still practiced by some people in Hyrule. However, it was a dying art, especially in the military. Pirates used them most because of their lack of ammo consuming weapons. He dropped the Hookshot and went to wrap the belt around his waist but the cuffs on his wrists restrained him.

Link picked up his Hookshot again, squeezed the trigger, and watched as it shot through the air and sunk into the railing of Courage. Jak nodded and ran down the chain, reaching him in seconds.

"I still don't get how you do that Jak. And why didn't you just use your Hookshot?" Link muttered, retracting the Hookshot.

Jak smiled and said, "Sheikah training. And I like to rub your nose in it. Hold out your hands." Link held his hands as far apart as possible and watched as Jak unsheathed and raised his sword. Jak brought it down, breaking through the chains and easing the tension on his wrists. As quick as possible, Link picked up the bolt shooter belt and wrapped it around his waist and then strapped the sword to his back.

Suddenly, Jak's expression brightened and it looked like he remembered something. "Here, Captain, I almost forgot," he said reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a three-tipped, brown leather object and handed it to him.

Link smoothed it out and laughed, remembering his favourite hat. He placed it on his head, feeling like he was a Captain again. Before Link could thank his Sheikah friend, a loud banging sound brought their attention to the door Link had been shoved through. There were sure to be Moblins that had come to protect their boss when the pirates had attacked.

Link looked to his friend. "Jak, get the door. I'll distract them."

"Got it." Jak ran over to the wall and leaned against it next to the door. He then slid his bolt shooter out of its holster and his sword out of its scabbard.

Link positioned himself a few feet away and in front of the door, ready to distract the Moblins. Finally, the pounding stopped and a few moments passed before it burst open. Moblins stood behind it, their disgustingly pig-like faces partially blocking the light spilling into the broken room. Smiling, Link waved cheerfully to the Moblins and watched as Jak tensed, ready for them to come through. Jak raised his bolt shooter and aimed it at head-height (or at least Moblin head height) as the first unlucky pig stepped through and got a bolt through his head.

The next one grunted and ran through to investigate, only to get sliced through the middle by Jak's sword. Its green blood spilled over his sword and onto the floor, then it snorted in pain as Jak tugged his blade free, letting the Moblin fall to the floor. Link laughed and ran over to his friend as he reloaded his bolt shooter then clapped him on the shoulder.

"Nice job, Jak. Lets get some fuel," Link said turning to the door and stepping into the light.

They raced through the damp corridors, oddly not being attacked by any Moblins. Link was glad for the simple infiltration, but it felt too easy.

"Hey Jak, why aren't there any Moblins around?" he asked as they rounded a corner and went down some stairs.

Jak laughed and replied, "We blew a big hole on the other side of the fortress, then dropped a boarding party in. Stupid Moblins never knew what hit 'em."

Link stopped and paled. "Uh, Jak?" Jak stopped. "The Energy Rods are on that side of the complex."

Jak stood there a moment, then groaned and raised a hand to his face in realisation. "Ah, crap! Of course they are!"

"Jak, how low on fuel are we?" Link asked hesitantly.

Jak looked back to his Captain with a grim expression. "Very."

"Dammit!" Link yelled in frustration as he kicked the wall. He let out a sigh, then continued, "We may as well check if any Energy Rods survived."

"Wouldn't hurt," Jak replied glumly.

As they continued through the hallways they went unchallenged, but when they rounded a corner they saw a thick smoke rising through a giant hole in the roof. 'Guess this is our little entrance,' Link thought, knowing Courage's firepower accomplished this. Rain poured through the hole, leaving the hallway soaked and covered in ankle-deep water.

Fires flickered in the hallway, debris littered the floor, and the din of battle steadily grew louder and louder. They both drew their bolt shooters, just in time. As they proceeded down the corridor, four Moblins went running past at the end of the hallway. Link and Jak tensed but stood still.

The Moblins continued to rush by until the Moblin on the end glanced their way and did a double-take, alerting his companions to the intruders. The four Moblins came charging down the corridor towards them, bolt shooters raised.

"Jak, split!" Link barked. Link and Jak took cover on opposite sides of the hallway, behind chunks of the fallen roof as the Moblins' bolts whizzed by overhead.

In complete unison, Link and Jak stood up and took aim; Jak's bolt missed, but Link's hit one of the Moblins straight in its ugly face. Link watched in satisfaction as it half flipped backwards, landing on its stomach. Seeing this, the others took cover behind more chunks of debris.

Link looked over to his friend. "I'll take the one on the left; you take the two on the right!"

Jak looked at him incredulously, "Two?"

Link pointed at Jak and said, "Yeah, two! You missed!"

They each slid another bolt into their shooters and gingerly looked over their cover, only to have more bolts fly straight for their heads. Eyes wide, they ducked quickly, and Link felt the bolt graze his hat. Fuming, Link swiped off his hat and saw a large hole in the leather.

"You pig bastards! That was a good hat!" he shouted from behind his cover. Link shoved the hat back onto his head and, with renewed anger at the stupid pigs, stood up and aimed, waiting for one of them to raise its head.

After a few moments of waiting, Link noticed a Moblin raise its head above cover. He then took aim and shot it in the eye, watching as it screamed and fell back behind cover. That left only two.

Already forming a plan, Link turned to Jak as he took cover again. "Jak! Distract them and I'll get them while they're reloading."

Link peeked around the corner of the piece of roof he was sitting behind, then waited for Jak to stand. As soon as Jak showed himself, the Moblins aimed and fired, sending bolts flying towards him. Jak ducked at the last second, which signalled Link to move in. With a yell, Link sprang up and unsheathed his sword, running towards them as they reloaded.

In one quick motion, Link leapt over the Moblin that was taking cover on the left, rolled to the ground, and cut its throat as it turned around, sending green blood spraying onto Link's shirt and face. Link turned around and saw the other Moblin approaching him, spear raised.

The Moblin jabbed at him with its spear, a savage grunt escaping its mouth. Link grabbed its arm with his free hand, and twisted its wrist as it stabbed at him. It cried out in pain as it dropped its spear to the ground with a clatter. Link sliced along its belly then embedded his sword just under the Moblin's chin, gurgling as green blood ran down its throat.

Link tugged his blade free, letting the Moblin fall to the floor with a heavy thud, blood pooling around its body. Jak came up to him with grim smile. "That's pretty gruesome, Captain."

"Yeah, well, we're pirates," Link said with a shrug.

"Fair enough."

After fighting more Moblins, leaping fires, and shifting debris out the way, they eventually reached the boarding party, standing amidst a sea of Moblin bodies. One of his pirates strode up to him and Link recognized him as Wrench, the ship's chief mechanic.

Nobody knew Wrench's real name, and since Link recruited him for his extensive mechanical knowledge, everybody just called him Wrench. Long iron-grey hair tucked behind black goggles, green eyes, and rounded ears were his most obvious features.

"Ahoy, Captain!" he called out, crossing the distance between the two of them.

"Wrench, give me status report," Link demanded, looking past his friend at the moment and taking in his crew. Some were getting cuts tied off with pieces of clothing, while others stood guard and watched the corridors for any more Moblins.

Wrench grinned. "Aye, Captain. We blasted a hole with the Courage's cannons, then we rode our Loftwings down into the east side, then made our way here. We haven't found the Light Energy Rod storage yet though."

"That's fine. I already found it before I got captured. I can bring you and Jak with me," Link said, clapping him on the arm.

"That's not all. We lost Johnson."

The words hit Link like a bag of bricks. In the years he had been a Captain, his crew had served him loyally and had been with him since the beginning. To have one of them die because of him... He pushed those thoughts away and ran a hand through his hair.

"Alright," Link breathed. He looked back up. "Okay, Wrench, Jak, you come with me." He walked past them then addressed his group of pirates. "The rest of you lot! Get back to the Courage and make sure she's shipshape and ready to get out of here as fast as possible!"

Link watched as his crew rushed past them, but Jak stopped one he saw carrying a couple of burlap sacks. "Gill, give me those sacks. We're gonna need 'em to get the Energy Rods out."

Jak gave one to Wrench and kept the other one for himself. They were ready to go, but Wrench stopped him. "Take this, Captain," he said holding out his hand, "in case we get separated."

Link took the object and saw it was a radio earpiece. He attached it to his ear and they continued through the corridors. Again, no Moblins were there to challenge their progress. After a few minutes of silence, Link stopped his friends at a corner.

"Okay. Energy Rod storage should be right around this corner, get ready," Link whispered, drawing his bolt shooter. Wrench and Jak did the same.

Before they rushed in, Link peeked around the corner and saw six Moblins guarding the door he knew led to the fuel. Though he wasn't a religious man, he couldn't help but think, 'Thank the Goddesses that Jak didn't blow this part of the base.'

Link pulled his head back, whistled a tune, and listened to the sound of confused grunts from around the corner. As soon as the first Moblin came around the corner, Link stuck out his leg, causing the monster to crash to ground. He stopped it from getting up with a quick bolt to the back of the head.

Link reloaded, then nodded to his crewmen. They dashed around the corner, surprising the approaching Moblins, and fired, all their shots hitting their respective targets.

The two remaining Moblins backed off, realising they were now outnumbered. Link smiled and lowered his bolt shooter as they moved in. Taking advantage of Link's unguarded state, the Moblins raised their shooters and fired, sending bolts speeding through the air towards Jak.

Mentally cursing his overconfidence, Link leapt over to Jak and pulled him down, hearing the bolts sink into the wall behind them. As soon as Link jumped to protect Jak, Wrench took out one of the Moblins which left one, scrambling to reload its shooter.

With a cry of anger, Link leapt into action, his sword springing free of its home on his back. A squeal of fright escaped the Moblin's mouth as it dropped its bolt shooter from its trembling hands. Link jumped and spun, bringing his foot out to connect with the creature's jaw, sending it stumbling to the ground.

Without pausing, Link performed a move his sword master taught him. The greying old man that still knew how to kill, had called it, the ending blow.

Once the Moblin went still, Link sheathed his sword and turned to his crew mates, gesturing to the door. "Shall we?"

Link, Jak, and Wrench sprinted through the debris covering the large room, towards the Courage with bags of Energy Rods in hand. The pirates stopped, pulled out their Hookshots, and fired, each of their shots landing on the railing.

As Link pulled himself over the railing, Jak shouted down to the crew on the deck. "All hands to battle-stations!"

The crew responded with a chorus of "Aye sir!" as they scattered below to the cannon deck, some staying up to secure the sails and to give firing instructions to the cannons below.

Jak passed his bag of Energy Rods to Wrench before he ran off below as well, leaving Link and Jak at the bow. A blue ball of light hovered above him and Link recognized it as Navi. Each ship had a navigator that controlled the engines and other technological aspects of the ship, making things significantly easier for the crew. "Navi, plot a course out of here! Let's not give them the chance to shoot us down!" Link shouted over the storm.

"Aye, Captain! Full speed, um, backwards!"

Link rolled his eyes at Navi's cheerful yet sarcastic attitude and turned to Jak with a gleam in his electric blue eyes. "This ought to be fun."

The engines roared into life, sending the familiar hum of Light Energy and Sky Engines into the air. The black sails above him rippled like a dark ocean as they unfolded. The sails were for yawing while the engines controlled the pitch and speed. With a shuddering lurch, the Courage pulled out of the building, sending loose concrete falling to the crashing waves below and dousing them all in cold rain.

"Ready aft to fire!" one of the pirates on the deck shouted, crashing his train of thought. "Two ships inbound! And they don't look very friendly!"

Link turned to look out into the torrential rain and lightning storm. Two ships with black sails and white hulls with golden diamonds along the sides were closing in fast. 'Oh damn. This is going to be bad,' Link thought, panic lacing his mind.

"Navi!" he yelled over the storm. "Any possibility we could have a warp gate happening soon?"

Navi growled, glowing a deep red, obviously working hard. "Shut up, Captain, I'm working on it! I'm still waiting for Wrench to get the Energy Rods inserted for the necessary power!"

Link whipped around to look at the two approaching ships and, much to his dismay, they were opening their cannon ports. "Um, Navi? Wanna hurry it up over there?"

Before she could respond, an enormous explosion sounded through the air as fourteen of Courage's cannons fired, rocking it to the side slightly. Plumes of smoke billowed from the cannon ports as the cannonballs soared through the air, giving off a whistling sound. A few seconds of silence passed until there was a crash and an explosion of wood on one of the approaching ships. Two of their masts went down, the sound of wood cracking and splintering as the two poles fell down to the sea. The other ship's crew cried, alarmed, as it dropped below the cloud line, smoke pouring heavily from the stern and port side. It seemed Wrench didn't wait for Link to give the firing order.

"Captain! Warp gate imminent!" Navi shouted in triumph.

A kaleidoscope of colours assaulted Link's eyes as it floated in the air in front of them, shifting and glowing brighter. It opened up to reveal a dark hole filled with purples, blacks and dark blues, ringed with the rainbow of colours.

"Here we go!" Navi yelled.

Link squeezed his eyes shut against the light. Another explosion of cannon fire sounded from the other ship.

Time froze.

Then there was a whoosh, as if someone had blown in his ear. The Courage was swallowed by the dark rift; as were the approaching cannonballs.