Following Blondie

Chapter One: Setting Sail

The breeze ruffled Link's hair as the pirate ship set sail.

He had, quite literally, only just beaten Ganondorf that very day, and already his friends were leaving him.

He understood that they were pirates, and had places to go, people to see, but couldn't he have spent a little more time with them? Just a day? Was one night too much to ask to say his farewells?

Link suddenly missed Tetra, and Niko, and Gonzo, and all the rest so much it almost hurt.

He wondered, not for the first time, if maybe his decision to stay had been too hasty. He quickly wiped the notion from his mind, though, as he had previously, knowing that he needed to stay behind to protect his sister and grandma. His family was more important than adventure.

He raised his hand to wave, before letting it drop. He could almost see Tetra's smirk and hear her say, 'Cut the drama, kid.' Besides, they wouldn't be able to see him anyway. They were too far away.

Link trudged back towards his grandmother's house with a heavy heart and dry eyes, unaware that watching through a telescope atop the crows nest of a pirate ship, a blonde girl watched him drag his feet across the shore and wondered why he hadn't waved good-bye.

Aryll was trying to catch a crab.

She'd been trying to grab one of the nasty little critters all afternoon, since Grandma had said that she'd never eaten one the night before. Aryll wanted to surprise her.

Spying a purple-and-red specimen, Aryll dove into the coarse sand, clamping her hands firmly around the shell.

She let out a triumphant shout of glee. "Haha! Gotcha, you little sucker!"

Her giggles, however, were cut short when she saw a speck on the horizon. The speck had a mast, and a mainsail, and looked suspiciously as though it were packed with…

"Pirates!" Aryll whispered in disbelief, as fear flooded through her body. She had not seen pirates since that day, back when she was just six, when her big brother's friends had set off for uncharted land…

Quickly whipping out her telescope, Aryll peered through it, trying to discern whether she should jump for joy or run through the village like a maniac to warn everyone that they were under attack.

And jump for joy it was. Aryll caught a shock of yellow hair reflected in the sun, crowning a girl near the front of the ship who was yelling orders to her subordinates.

"Tetra!" Aryll whooped, thinking that this was turning out to be a really great day. Then she realized with dismay that she'd dropped the crab in her excitement over the pirates.

"Oh, foo!"

Five minutes later, Aryll was joined by the rest of the tiny island's population as they greeted their old visitors.

Aryll waited anxiously for her old pirate rescuer to disembark, wanting to see her old friend as much as she wanted to see her brother again.

"Tetra!" she exclaimed for the second time that day, running across the beach, kicking sand left and right (and into the faces of other island denizens). Upon reaching the older girl, Aryll lunged forward to grab the pirate captain around the waist in a bone-crushing hug.

"Hey hey hey!" Tetra protested, holding up her hands in refusal to return the hug. She smiled at the little girl's eagerness, though, and finally patted Aryll's yellow hair before gently prying her away.

"So!" Aryll began, hopping from foot to foot in happiness, "What's being going on lately? I mean, long time, no see! Where've you been? Why'd you come back after all this time, huh? Wha—"

Tetra laughed, placing a hand over the other girl's mouth. "One question at a time! Anyway, nothing really exciting's been happening lately, except, well…there have been an unbelievable amount of storms and tornadoes around lately. We can hardly sail anywhere anymore."

"Oh, wow," Aryll said as Tetra's hand dropped away. "That's gotta be tough. It's been pretty calm around here. Are you here to stay somewhere safe for a while?"

Sensing the younger girl's hopefulness, Tetra was hesitant to crush it. But she finally admitted, "Actually, we're here to see your brother… Is he around?" Tetra missed the smile slipping from Aryll's face as she claimed, half-joking, "He has got to own up to all these tornados sometime, after all."

Aryll stared at her. Tetra wondered what was wrong.

"What's the matter?" she asked sincerely.

Aryll shook her head. "I just…I don't understand. What do you mean, 'is he around?' I…thought he was with you."

Tetra raised an eyebrow. "Why would he be with us?"

Aryll, very confused and worried by Tetra's question, explained, "Because about a little over a year ago he left, and no one's had any word from him since. We all figured he found you guys and couldn't send any letters because you don't dock very often."

Tetra frowned. This was not good.

Aryll looked expectantly up at the taller girl, nervous. "Are you sure you didn't even see him…once?" she asked hopefully.

Tetra shook her head. "Sorry kid, I haven't. But don't worry. We're going to find him." She said the last part to her crew, and the other pirates quickly began scrambling to get the ship ready to leave.

"You're leaving?" Aryll asked in disbelief, watching the pirates rigging up the sails and yanking on pulleys. "Already?"

Tetra expression was businesslike and serious. "Well, yeah. There's no point in staying…we can't exactly get what we're looking for here."

Not missing the hurt look on Aryll's childish face, Tetra quickly added, "But don't worry! As soon as we find your brother, we'll come back to visit. I promise."

This seemed to cheer Aryll, as her mouth turned up a bit at the corners, but faltered as she remembered her missing brother.

She wondered where he was, and if he was cold or had a place to sleep, or food to eat. Aryll imagined him in his tiny boat, rocked by the waves with him clinging precariously to it, trying desperately to balance while getting soaked to the bone.

Then she imagined him sneeze and snapped out of her daze.

"Oh, Tetra…" Aryll pleaded, "Please bring him back. He's the best brother anyone could ask for."

Not willing to acknowledge that she was touched by the innocent sweetness of the other girl's plea, Tetra nodded and grinned.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Aryll. Your brother is as good as here!"

And on that note, Tetra turned toward the gangway and clambered up onto her boat, cutting her second visit in five years nearly as short as the previous one.

The other villagers all cleared off as the boat sailed away, a little put-out at the shortness of the whole event. Outset was so small, practically nothing ever actually happened.

Aryll stayed outside, though. She watched the boat fade into the distance, and slight zephyr swept past her, reminding her with a pang of her brother.

"Oh, Link…" Aryll whispered to the waves as she started to cry.