A Triforce Romance
Sorry for the short break, you guys! Here it is!
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Windfall Island. The main location of commerce, events and general business of the Great Sea was bustling under the noon sun. Vendors everywhere flaunted their wares, and the villagers were busy shopping or in their house. The pirates had taken the news of Medli and Komali's relationship as an excuse to drink even more than usual, and Makar had been appointed the rather unenviable task of making sure nothing bad happened. Aryll was out and about on the island, no big deal, as she usually chose to stay alone or with the seagulls. The two lovebirds (pun intended) were going on a flight to ease their cramped wings.
This was lost on Tetra. As soon as she heard that wretched laugh, she vaulted right over the side of the pirate ship, splashed through the shallows onto the shore, and took off toward the main town as fast as her legs could carry her.
She was fuming. Link could barely be trusted to be left alone in the village for a while. She knew her impression of him on the summit of Outset Island had been at least partly correct. Though he was noble and gallant and chivalrous and all that, she wished he would spend less time talking to those girls.
There were two- Mila and Maggie, one rags to riches and the other in reverse. He liked both, despite the prissiness of Maggie and the dirtiness of Mila. Her lightning-bolt locks swayed faster than before as she careened past the pigs through the city gate, dashing as fast up the sloping path as she could.
Sure enough, there stood Link, talking to Mila. The little wretch was dressing a little better than usual lately, though to Tetra's biased eye it was no finer than her usual garments. Link was telling a joke.
"They don't call him the King of Red Lions for no reason!" he concluded as another peal of laughter emanated from her lips. He saw Tetra, and Mila was gone. "Oh."
"Oh? OH?" she bellowed, striding up to him and trying to stare into his face, having to look up by a good four inches. Link, the warrior who had cut down Ganon and thousands of his monsters, almost backed down. "How many times have I told you, Link, I don't want to see you with them!"
"Tetra, I know you're a pirate, but you have to stop seeing conspiracies and plots everywhere!" Link groaned. "It's just talk, that's all."
"The less the better!" she said firmly. "And I am not being paranoid! It's plain common sense!" She visibly deflated, an action that would not have happened for an instant in the presence of her crew. "I'm trying to look out for you, Link!"
She turned away, and Link turned her back toward him, giving her a quick embrace. "Don't worry, Tetra," he said. "I should be the one looking after you… but I know you wouldn't want that."
"You're probably right," she laughed.
Makar burst onto the scene. "Tetra… huff… the pirates… puff… escaped!"
Link's fists clenched. Tetra went red. "HOW?"
"I couldn't restrain them!" said a very flattened and dusty Makar. "They trampled me! Let's look for them and take them back to the ship!"
"We'll help," Medli said, flying with Komali onto a nearby rooftop.
"Me too!" Aryll exclaimed. "We'll each get one."
Komali got the first pirate, taking flight and carrying Zuko yards over the ground to the ship. Medli was second, getting Niko. That left four more.
Makar took his propeller and floated around the city. He had been given a needle by Tetra as a weapon. He soon found Gonzo, lurking in the auction room.
Makar attempted to reason with him, but the befuddled pirate did not budge. Sighing, Makar pricked him with the needle. Gonzo fainted at the sight of his own blood.
Link was looking around for his pirate when he saw a locked door.
"Pirate!" he yelled at it. "I'm coming through, I want to talk!"
"I want to go to the pirate ship!" whined Senza. "I just can't figure out how to open this!"
Link considered his choices. "Stand back!" he warned. The Skull Hammer came out with a flourish.
"No!" shrieked Senza. "I didn't mean it! I don't want to go to the pirate ship, don't make me come-"
Link smashed in the lock, picked up Senza, and with the help of the power bracelets carried Gonzo as well.
That left Nudge and Mako, who Tetra and Aryll were searching for. Tetra suddenly had an idea.
"Hey, Aryll, can you tell one of your seagulls to look for them?"
"Sure!" she brightened. "I'll even have it look for yours, since it was your idea." She stood still for a short time, humming a certain tune, and two seagulls flew over to her. She made several movements, and the seagulls flew off. A few minutes later, Mako was being carried by both of them together. By then, the two girls had already found Nudge hiding behind the mailbox, and they took them all back to the ship.
"Now that you're all here," Link said, "I'd like to make an announcement." All was silent.
"We are going to Dragon Roost Island in one day," he told them. All but Tetra looked surprised. "Medli and Komali have not seen home for a while, and we may be able to learn from Valoo. The only one who knows these seas better is Jabun the Sea Spirit. We will leave at noon tomorrow."
The pirates, who had been fidgeting throughout the lecture, gave a cheer and ran off to the bar again. Aryll began to talk to Makar. Komali turned to Medli.
"Did you hear them, Medli?" he said, almost hoarsely. "We're going home!"
"I know!" she said. "We can tell your father about everything- going to Hyrule- and about us!"
"Yes," he agreed. "And I can talk to your father about- about-"
"What?" she said, confused. "What do you need to say to him?"
Komali took a deep breath.
"Medli," he began, "ever since I met you, I've known that something wasn't quite right. Then when we got together, everything… clicked. But there was still something missing…"
Link was standing behind Komali, and he saw a small velvet box clutched in the Rito's wingtips.
"We can't talk here," he told her, and they went below the deck.
Tetra had seen what was going on as well, and she turned to Link. "What's he doing?" she whispered.
"Is he… no, he can't… he's not proposing?" Link wondered aloud.
"They couldn't!" she said, shocked. "They're so young!"
"We're young too," he reminded her.
"Are you saying we're getting married tomorrow?" she demanded.
"No…" In truth, Link had thought a lot about that option. His grandmother was unlikely to approve of a pirate girl at first, but he knew she would settle down after a while. But still… they'd only been in love for a few days!
"No," he repeated. "But I wonder… he was always brash-"
The door flew open, and in a puff of feathers Medli stormed out, two bright spots high in her cheeks. She immediately flew away, over the Sea.
"Something went wrong," Tetra said as soon as the bird girl was out of earshot. "He wasn't trying-"
"He respects her too much," Link said firmly.
The door opened, and Komali trudged forlornly out. His feathers were limp and his wings dropped. His large red eyes were wet and cast at the floor. Slowly and sadly, he feebly fluttered toward the island.
Link's eyes narrowed. He had to do something- at least talk to the Rito prince. "Tetra, wait here."
"What are you-"
"Tell Aryll everything. Have her talk to Medli if she comes back. I'm leaving!"
He vaulted right over the side of the ship, landing in a crouch to lessen the impact, and dashed underneath Komali's shadow. It disappeared as they neared some buildings, and Link cursed viciously. Back on deck, he saw a birdlike form talking with a small child. Aryll was on the job.
Link climbed to the highest vantage point he could find- the windmill tower. He still couldn't see Komali. This called for desperate measures…
As he rode up past the lighthouse beacon, Link took out the Hookshot and pulled himself to the roof of the tower. Komali was sitting there, tracing patterns over his wrists and throat with a small stick.
"Komali, tell me what happened," Link ordered.
"You can't do anything," Komali said, in a raspy voice. "I can't… not when…" He convulsed into sobs, but his tears were gone.
"I need to know," Link said. "I can help you."
"I've been thinking about asking Medli… you know… the question for a while," Komali admitted after a long pause. Link nodded. "I asked her… just then, in the cabin… and she…"
"What happened?" Link asked urgently. "I saw her angry-"
"She said she couldn't, that we needed to know each other longer and make sure it wouldn't turn out for the worse," Komali said, loosening up slightly. "Then I… got mad. Said things… said she wasn't faithful… then she stormed out…"
"I know how to deal with this," said Link, grabbing Komali's shoulder comfortingly. He looked out toward the pirate ship. Medli was flying away… clearly she was all right. Aryll was nowhere to be seen. "Go talk to her, I gotta find Aryll. Tell her you're sorry and what you meant."
With that, he leaped onto the windmill, rode it down, and snuck off past Aryll.
He had had a suspicion the last few nights, as Aryll had begun to excuse herself from dinner more and more, and it was time to confirm it. He remembered a similar occasion when he had chased a blond girl through the streets of this town, but it passed through his mind in an instant as he caught a glimpse of Aryll climbing up the ladder that reached partway up the lighthouse tower.
She stepped into the alcove with the switch, where Link had gone to activate the windmill. She knocked on the wall behind the switch, and it opened to reveal a tiny door. She entered, and Link managed to climb the ladder and hold the door open by a crack before it closed.
Aryll stepped into a haywire network of rafters, supporting beams and stone pillars, all making up the inner structure of the tower. What could she be looking for?
Torches flickered to life, one by one, and Link saw that part of the rafters had planks nailed over them to make a cozy loft, covered in furniture and carpets. Four boys and two girls were sitting there. Link remembered instinctively; it was the Killer Bees! The other two girls… the ones that picked daisies out by the beach!
She took a seat beside Ivan, the one in the hat. To Link's fury, he put his arm around her. The other two girls were being held by Jin and Jan, two of the others. Jun-Roberto, the hick, was by himself, but he didn't seem to be taking it too hard.
Link, wrathful, could only watch. He would wait until anything bad happened before he acted.
"So, which of you went to school today and who didn't?" Aryll asked skeptically.
"I did," Jun-Roberto said. "Just to see what it was like. It was TERRIBLE! So boring…" With that, he fell asleep right on the floor.
One of the little girls, Joanna, admitted to having gone. But the other, Potava, denied it.
"Potava!" cried Aryll, aghast. "You… you never…"
"I spent the day with Jan instead," Potava said, giggling very oddly. Jan smirked widely. Both Ivan and Jin said they had not attended class.
"You don't want to grow up to be stupid," she told Ivan severely.
"I'll be fine," he said. "I've got good friends… good home life… good girl…" He leaned in and kissed her briefly on the mouth.
This was all Link could take. He burst into the room. All assembled jumped in surprise.
"Link, what are you doing here?" Aryll asked.
"What are you doing, kissing this… this… this delinquent?" Link cried angrily. Ivan bristled.
"Excuse me?" she said angrily. "I can be with whomever I please, Link, and-"
"I'm looking out for you!" Link yelled. "And you'll be staying away from these punks!" The Killer Bees scowled and began to move around.
"You're no better, kissing around with Mila and Maggie!" she shouted. Link practically popped a capillary.
"I have been doing no such-" he cried, but a small, blurred form flew at him from the side and knocked him right off the beam he was standing on. He caught hold of another one and swung himself onto it, but the Killer Bees were launching themselves at him again and again. They clung to him, kicking and punching. It felt like having the Iron Boots on along with a healthy collection of the spiky one-eyed creatures that littered many dungeons on him, the Morths. He was knocked off again and again, eventually falling such a great height that they could no longer reach him without having to fight him fairly. They jeered and threw things at him. Link could see Aryll leaving. Furious and almost on the point of tears, he stormed out through a small maintenance door.
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